▶Elizabethan Lodge · 604-610 Middleborough Rd, Blackburn North VIC 3130 · Melbourne
▶A winter garden wedding in Melbourne's east, with everything from the three o'clock chapel ceremony to the midnight finish under one roof at Elizabethan Lodge in Blackburn North. The couple planned a cash bar hour after the vows, pre dinner drinks by the fire, a five piece band beside the fireplace, four family and friend speeches, a bridal waltz and a two hour extension so the dancing ran late into the July night.
Home mornings · Vows in the Sandstone Chapel · A classic car and the garden bridge · Speeches by the fairy light window · Rain on the gazebo
The morning was split between two homes. The groom pinned his buttonhole in a backyard with his parents and a high five from his best woman, while the bride had her curls set in her mum's kitchen with a baby in a bow tie passing from lap to lap. By three the Sandstone Chapel was full, timber pews under stained glass arches, and her dad walked her in to a celebrant waiting beneath the chandelier. Vows were read from little cards, the rings went on, and the pair came back up the aisle to a chapel full of grins before a whole group photo on the front steps.
A white classic car in the car park became the first portrait stop, then the couple wandered the gardens past the timber bridge and the fountain while guests found the bar. Inside, the dining room glowed under its chandelier, with marquee letters on the bridal table and a wall of fairy lights behind it. Both fathers, the groom's step father and the best woman spoke, the couple answered together, and the cake was cut before the bridal waltz. The band played by the fireplace, the floor filled with every generation, and late in the night we slipped the couple out to the gazebo under an umbrella as rain fell through the fairy lights.
Ceremony spot · Moving between spaces · Light · How the day ran · Portrait spots · Our advice
The vows were in the Sandstone Chapel at Elizabethan Lodge, a warm timber room with pews on both sides, arched stained glass windows and chandeliers over the aisle. The couple stood at the front with the celebrant, the best woman and the maid of honour either side, and the mirrored wall behind them bounced the chandelier light back onto faces. For a July wedding it is a gift: no coats, no wind on the vows, and the whole room hears every word. Guests walked in from the car park through the front doors, so the first glimpse of the bride is through the open doorway. Watch at 4:44 Watch at 5:18 Watch at 5:40
Everything after the chapel sits a few steps apart. Guests came out onto the front steps for the big group photo, then moved to the bar while we took the couple to the classic car in the car park and on into the gardens, over the little bridge and past the fountain. The dining room opens off the same garden, and the gazebo is right outside its doors, which is how we managed a night portrait in the rain without anyone getting wet for more than a minute. No cars, no transfers, no waiting around in the cold. Watch at 7:24 Watch at 8:48 Watch at 16:30
Winter sun in Melbourne sits low all afternoon, so even at three the garden light at Elizabethan Lodge was soft and side on, kind to skin and lovely on the bride's curls. The chapel runs on chandeliers and the glow through coloured glass, warm and even, no harsh patches. By the time guests sat down the windows had gone dark and the fairy light curtain behind the bridal table did the work, twinkling behind every speaker. After rain the gazebo lights reflected off the wet paving, which gave the last portrait its sparkle. Watch at 6:50 Watch at 11:00 Watch at 16:38
Hair and make-up at home from one, the chapel at three, a group photo on the steps and then a cash bar hour while the couple and their families were photographed in the gardens. Guests were seated at half past five, the couple were announced in with their parents and dinner moved briskly to speeches: both fathers, the step father, the best woman and finally the couple together at the microphone. Cake, then the bridal waltz, then the band had a full floor. A two hour extension took it to midnight, with the bridal suite upstairs. Watch at 3:00 Watch at 10:12 Watch at 15:22
All the portraits stayed on site. Straight after the chapel we did the whole group on the front steps while everyone was together, then family groups beside the hedges. The white classic car in the car park gave us ten minutes of old world glamour, and the gardens another twenty: the timber bridge, the fountain and the path under the bare trees. Half past three to half past four is the window in July, because the sun is gone by a quarter past five. Keep a wrap handy for the bride between set-ups. Watch at 7:32 Watch at 7:50 Watch at 9:16
What our team noticed was how little this couple left to chance. A chapel for the vows, a bar for the gap, a dining room with its own fairy light wall and a gazebo lit for the dark: the plan worked whether it rained or not, and it did rain. The best woman in a tux beside the groom, the marquee letters on the table and the gold photo booth curtain all gave the room personality without fuss. Book the extension if you have a band, because at Elizabethan Lodge the floor was still full at midnight. Watch at 9:24 Watch at 10:48 Watch at 15:30
Elizabethan Lodge is a family owned wedding and function venue on Middleborough Road in Blackburn North, about twenty minutes from the Melbourne CBD by the Eastern Freeway. The family has run it for more than thirty years. Its Sandstone Chapel has timber floors, chandeliers and lead light detail for an indoor ceremony, and there is an outdoor ceremony area around a gazebo for warmer months. A pre dinner drinks room with a stone fireplace and polished timber floors leads to a dining room in soft gold tones with a crystal chandelier, looking over the garden.
The gardens are closed to the public and planted for the seasons, with fairy lights, a stone water feature, a small bridge, an aisle through the trees and a bluestone loveseat for portraits. For a garden wedding in spring or summer the gazebo ceremony and lawn drinks make the most of them; in winter they still give ten minutes of fresh portraits between the chapel and the bar without a car trip. The venue also keeps a private photography studio and a hair and makeup station on site, which is useful on a wet July day when outdoor time is short.
In July the sun sets before a quarter past five in Melbourne, so a three o'clock chapel ceremony leaves about an hour of soft, low light for garden photos before guests sit down. That is why a cash bar hour between the ceremony and pre dinner drinks works well here: guests are warm and busy while the couple and their families are photographed outside. Keep the formalities moving after the entrance, with speeches straight after mains and the first dance right behind them, so the band has a full dance floor by half past eight.
The lodge has forty guest suites, enough for around a hundred guests to stay on site, plus a bridal day room available from the morning and a honeymoon suite for the couple. That makes it easy for interstate family, and it means a midnight finish needs no taxis for most of the room. There is ample on site parking for everyone else. With getting ready, ceremony, photos, reception and beds all at one address, the day runs without a convoy, and a two hour extension costs nothing in logistics.
The dining room has a wall of fairy lights that makes a natural backdrop for the bridal table, bay windows on either side of the entrance that suit a wishing well and a photo booth, and a fireplace that doubles as the stage for a band. Ask the venue to set the floorplan with those in mind. The venue supplies menus, table lists, centrepieces and a wishing well, so the couple's own list can stay short. A plated dinner with alternate serves and the cake cut after mains keeps the speeches on time.