Barn & Co wedding photos: Jena and Matt kiss in the middle of a road lined with tall pines, her long veil trailing, Mornington Peninsula
Home/Weddings/Barn & Co, Balnarring
Real country wedding · Balnarring, Melbourne

Barn & Co Wedding Photos: Jena & Matt

Barn & Co · 238 Myers Rd, Balnarring VIC · Melbourne

Country Wedding · Winery & Vineyard Wedding · Region: VIC - Mornington Peninsula · City: Melbourne · Venue: Barn & Co

A white dinner jacket, a curly little dog in Matt’s arms and two white doves lifting off over the pergola the moment the vows were done. Jena and Matt’s Barn & Co wedding in Balnarring on the Mornington Peninsula was a summer evening of peach satin, pampas and dried flowers, with pencil pines and old cypresses doing the framing for us. We stayed with them until a veil caught the low sun on a tree-lined road, and then the barn filled up for the reception.

The gallery
Two wedding rings rest in a carved wooden heart box beside a white rose, pampas and a soft feather on timber.
Matt pulls on grey patterned socks on a cream couch by bright windows, black monk strap shoes waiting on the rug.
Matt grins from the arm of the couch in a white dinner jacket, black bow tie and dried flower buttonhole.
Close portrait of Matt in his white dinner jacket and bow tie, smiling softly towards the window light.
Matt and two groomsmen in grey suits sit on white chairs along a timber deck, lavender and old trees behind them.
Matt laughs beside a groomsman in a grey suit and black bow tie, with lavender and a tall cypress behind them.
Matt shakes hands with a smiling groomsman in grey on the lawn, dry lavender heads in the foreground.
Matt and a fair haired groomsman stand side by side on the timber deck, both grinning in black monk strap shoes.
A curly apricot dog sits between Matt's knees as he laughs on a white chair on the deck.
Matt lifts the curly little dog off the deck with a grin, still perched on his white chair.
Jena's fitted white gown hangs against a wall of ivy in a small courtyard, beside potted flowers and a white statue.
A loved one in a blue leopard print dress laughs as she settles the long veil into Jena's low ponytail.
Jena looks back over her shoulder with a wide smile, her veil swirling around the low back of her gown.
Jena laughs in the hallway doorway, her sheer veil lifting from one wrist beside a potted plant.
Jena fans out her long veil with lace flowers along its edge, a mirror and chandelier behind her.
Over the shoulder view of Jena smiling down through her tulle veil, a peach and cream bouquet with pampas beside her.
Jena sits on a sheepskin draped chair by the fireplace, holding her bouquet under a lamp and framed pictures.
Jena gazes down at her bouquet of roses, orchids and dried palm, her veil pooling across the pale floor.
Jena stands between two bridesmaids in peach satin slip dresses, each holding a bouquet of roses, orchids and pampas.
Jena and two bridesmaids in peach satin burst out laughing together, bouquets held low in front of them.
A bridesmaid in peach satin rests her head on Jena's shoulder, their bouquets of pampas and orchids pressed together.
A blonde bridesmaid squeals with laughter as Jena turns to her, both holding blush and white bouquets.
Jena and a blonde bridesmaid in rose satin smile side by side, fairy lights glowing in the curtains beside them.
Jena stands between her dad in a navy suit and a loved one in leopard print for a family portrait against a white wall.
Her dad wipes his eye behind a laughing Jena while a loved one in leopard print smiles beside her.
Jena trails her veil beside a zebra head artwork and a row of white bamboo poles strung with fairy lights.
Jena smiles over her shoulder holding her bouquet, her long train and veil spread across the pale stone floor.
Jena looks down at her bouquet on a covered deck, her veil falling behind her towards the garden trees.
Two older loved ones, a woman in a lace cardigan and a man in a dark suit, stand either side of Jena on the deck.
Jena leans on a timber post in the garden, her cathedral veil and train stretched along the gravel path.
Jena walks in with her dad and a loved one under the festoon lit pergola at Barn & Co for a country ceremony.
Matt beams under the pampas and dried flower arbour as her dad brings Jena to him at a Mornington Peninsula winery.
Loved ones laugh by the cream weatherboard wall of Barn and Co as Jena and Matt hold hands to begin their rural ceremony.
Jena and Matt hold hands beneath the pampas dressed arbour at their vineyard ceremony, her lace edged veil spread over the gravel.
Two bridesmaids in peach satin smile through the vows, vine rows and tall trees behind them at Barn & Co, Balnarring.
In the front row her dad looks on as a loved one in leopard print dabs an eye during the winery ceremony.
Guests in lace and polka dots watch from their seats by the barn door at this Mornington Peninsula wedding, one hand on her heart.
Jena slides the ring onto Matt's finger as the celebrant holds his folder under the pampas arbour at the winery.
Jena and Matt hold hands and laugh through their vows before the smiling celebrant at their rural barn wedding.
First kiss under the triangular arbour of pampas and roses at Barn & Co on the Mornington Peninsula.
Her dad and the front row clap and grin as the vows finish under the covered pergola of this rural vineyard.
Older guests applaud from their chairs beside the timber doors of Barn and Co in Balnarring, a lady in sunglasses beaming.
Two older loved ones in lace and a dark suit clap beside a guest in a white hat during the country winery ceremony.
Guests on timber benches clap along at Barn & Co, a vineyard and tall trees stretching away beyond the gravel.
A guest in rust satin and a man in a tan suit laugh beside a wine barrel planter at this rural Mornington Peninsula wedding.
Jena and Matt throw their arms up as two white doves lift off over the pergola at Barn and Co, out over the vineyard.
Jena tips her head back laughing as Matt signs the register at a round timber table, the garden and vine rows blurred behind.
A groomsman in grey leans in to sign the register as Matt and Jena watch, a country garden and the vineyard behind.
A bearded guest in a dark suit signs beside Jena as Matt grins over the register at this Mornington Peninsula country wedding.
Jena and Matt rest their ringed hands on the signed certificate beside a silver pen and dried flowers at the winery.
Jena and Matt sit at the signing table at Barn & Co, Balnarring, with two bridesmaids and two groomsmen gathered behind.
Jena shrieks with joy and Matt grins as petals fly around them back up the aisle of their country wedding.
Guests toss white petals over Jena and Matt under the pergola beams at Barn & Co on the Mornington Peninsula.
Jena and Matt kiss halfway up the aisle between wine barrels topped with pampas, roses and orchids at the country winery.
The whole wedding crowd gathers in front of the cream weatherboard barn at Barn and Co in Balnarring, its round window above.
Arms fly up and the crowd cheers around Jena and Matt between wine barrels outside the country barn on the Mornington Peninsula.
Family portrait at Barn & Co under the big cypresses with her dad, the loved one in leopard print and two older loved ones.
Jena and Matt line up with her dad, two loved ones, a bridesmaid and a groomsman on dry Mornington Peninsula grass among the vines.
A closer family group beneath the spreading cypress at the rural vineyard, everyone smiling in navy, lace, white and peach satin.
A larger family group gathers on the country lawn of Barn and Co in the cypress shade, Jena and Matt in the middle.
Jena and Matt pose with a silver haired loved one in pale blue lace under the old cypress at their Mornington Peninsula country wedding.
Jena and Matt stand with her dad and the loved one in leopard print, cypress branches arching over the winery lawn.
Extended family line up across the dry grass under the cypress at Barn & Co, Balnarring, a lamp post and blue flowers at one end.
Jena and Matt stand with the two older loved ones, in tiered lace and a striped tie, on the country lawn of the winery.
Another family group gathers around Jena and Matt on the lawn, a little boy held up in the middle, at this Mornington Peninsula winery.
Friends in black, red lace and a flower crown crowd in around Jena and Matt under the cypress on the rural winery property.
Matt grins down as Jena walks beside him across the golden grass of the country vineyard, her long veil streaming out behind.
Jena and Matt laugh towards us hand in hand at Barn & Co on the Mornington Peninsula, the low sun lighting her veil.
The bridal party walks arm in arm across the sunny lawn of this country winery, rows of pencil pines behind them.
The bridesmaids and groomsmen flank Jena and Matt's kiss beneath a huge old tree at Barn and Co in Balnarring, vine rows beyond.
Jena and two bridesmaids hold their bouquets up high and grin back at us over their shoulders on a sunny Mornington Peninsula lawn.
Seen from behind, Jena and her bridesmaids raise their bouquets beneath tall old trees at Barn & Co, her veil trailing over the grass.
Matt walks hand in hand with two groomsmen in grey across the sunlit lawn of this Mornington Peninsula vineyard, pencil pines behind.
The bridal party stands one to a gap along the row of pencil pines at Barn and Co, Jena and Matt in the centre.
Jena and Matt walk away down a quiet tree lined country road past the vine rows, her lace edged veil spread across the tarmac.
Jena looks back over her bare shoulder as Matt leads her along a rural Mornington Peninsula roadside, her veil billowing.
Jena and Matt kiss in the middle of the empty country road while her long veil sweeps across the foreground.
Backlit by the low sun, Jena and Matt hold each other in dry golden grass beside the road on the Mornington Peninsula.
Jena and Matt stroll hand in hand down the centre line of a rural road, smiling as tall trees close in overhead.
Matt pulls Jena close for a kiss on the country road, her bouquet lifted behind his shoulder and her train fanned out.
Matt kisses Jena's cheek from behind as she beams on a Mornington Peninsula country back road, her pampas bouquet in his hand.
Jena and Matt stand ready to cut a semi naked cake on a wine barrel against the timber walls of Barn & Co, Balnarring.
Jena and Matt touch foreheads beneath her veil, eyes closed and smiling over her pampas bouquet at the winery.
Matt lifts Jena into a kiss on the gravel beside the pencil pines at Barn & Co on the Mornington Peninsula.
Matt carries a laughing Jena across the gravel, her bouquet swung wide against the vineyard's pencil pines and open country sky.
Jena and Matt walk hand in hand on the gravel at Barn and Co in Balnarring, her bouquet raised high in the evening light.
Jena cheers with her bouquet in the air as she and Matt head back to the winery barn for a Mornington Peninsula reception.
The wedding story

Our Barn & Co wedding photos: doves over the pergola, peach satin under the cypresses and a veil on a tree-lined road

Getting ready at home · Vows under the Barn & Co pergola · Doves and petals · Family groups under the cypresses · Pencil pines and a tree-lined road · Reception in the barn

Read the full story

Rings in a wooden heart

Our day began with the smallest things. Matt’s and Jena’s rings sat in a carved wooden heart, with a sprig of pampas and a white feather beside it, and we photographed them on the timber table before anyone could move them. Then Matt sat on the arm of the couch by a big bright window, pulling on his socks with the light pouring in from the side. In a white dinner jacket, black bow tie and a dried-flower buttonhole, he looked off towards the garden and grinned. Side light from one window flatters a face better than any lamp.

Lavender, a deck and a dog

Outside, Matt and two groomsmen lined up on white chairs along a timber deck, with lavender in front of them and a garden of old trees behind. It is a lovely, simple setup for groom photos: one level surface, a tidy row and a deep background that softens into green. A handshake with a groomsman in grey turned into a proper laugh, and the two of them stood side by side in their black and white. Then the curly little dog sat at Matt’s feet and he scooped it up, and for a moment nobody cared about the suit at all.

A gown among the ivy

At Jena’s, the gown hung in a small courtyard against a wall of ivy, next to pots of flowers and a little white statue, which made a far better backdrop than any wardrobe door. Inside, she turned in the hallway in her fitted gown, lifting a long veil with one hand and laughing. We moved in close over her shoulder as the tulle fell across her peach and cream bouquet. Then she settled into a chair draped with a sheepskin beside the fireplace, framed by a lamp and two pictures on the wall, and let us take our time.

Peach satin and pampas

The bridesmaids arrived in peach and rose satin, each holding a bouquet of roses, orchids, pampas and dried palm, and the giggling started straight away. One leant her head on Jena’s shoulder, another threw her arm around her, and we kept shooting rather than stopping them for poses. Jena stood with two loved ones in front of a white wall for a quiet family portrait, then posed beside a zebra head on the wall and a row of bamboo poles, her train spread across the pale floor. Outside on the deck, two older loved ones stood proudly either side of her.

Walking in with her dad

The ceremony started in the early evening under the covered pergola at the front of Barn & Co, with a triangular timber arbour dressed in pampas and dried flowers. Jena came in on her dad’s arm, and Matt’s face broke into the biggest smile of the day before she even reached him. Guests sat in rows on the gravel, an older guest dabbed an eye in the front row, and a few were laughing before a word had been said. A roofed ceremony on a summer evening is a gift for photos: everyone sits in even shade, so nobody squints.

Doves over the pergola

Jena and Matt held hands under the arbour while the vows were read, and we worked from the side so we could see both faces at once. The first kiss came under that frame of pampas, and the guests were on their feet clapping. Then came the surprise: two white doves, released by the couple with their arms up as the birds flew out from under the roof. We had a wide lens ready for exactly that. At a round timber table they signed the register, with a groomsman leaning in, and the bridal party gathered around them.

Petals and the whole crowd

Jena and Matt walked back up the aisle through a shower of petals, with guests reaching out from both sides and Matt laughing as he dodged the confetti. Straight after, we gathered everyone in front of the cream weatherboard barn, with its round window above the doors and wine barrels along the front. Doing the full group photo at this point is a simple trick: nobody has wandered off to the bar yet. Then we moved the family groups under the big cypresses beside the lawn, where the shade kept the light even on every face.

Pencil pines and old trees

Portraits started as the sun began to drop. We walked Jena and Matt across the grass with the light behind them, so it lit up her veil and the edge of his white jacket. The bridal party gathered under a huge old tree, then the bridesmaids threw their bouquets up and their peach satin caught the sun. The wide frame we love most in our Barn & Co wedding photos lined the whole party up between a row of pencil pines, each person in their own gap. Natural repeating shapes like these do the composing for you, and they read clearly even when everyone is small in the frame.

A veil on a tree-lined road

Then we found a quiet tree-lined road, with tall trunks on both sides and the evening light slanting through. Jena’s long veil spread across the tarmac as they walked away from us, and they stopped for a kiss in the middle with the trees closing in overhead. In the dry golden grass at the roadside the sun came through behind them and turned everything warm. Back on the gravel by the pencil pines, Matt lifted Jena into a kiss, and she raised her bouquet high in the air before they headed into the barn for the reception.

Photographer's venue notes

Barn & Co, Balnarring: pergola vows, cypress shade for family and a veil on a golden road

Read the venue notes

Pergola, barn front and the lawn

Jena and Matt said their vows in the early evening under the covered pergola at the front of the barn, with guests seated on the gravel and the pampas arbour framing them. Everything after that flowed outwards in a few steps: the whole crowd in front of the cream weatherboards and wine barrels, families under the big cypresses beside the lawn, then the bridal party across the grass to the pencil pines and a huge old tree. A quiet tree-lined road nearby gave us the last of the sun before the barn filled for the reception.

A summer evening’s light

Under the pergola roof the light was soft and even, but the open sky beyond it was far brighter, so for the dove release we set our exposure for faces and let the sky go pale as the birds flew out. Once the families were done, the sun was low enough to come through behind Jena and Matt, rimming her veil and the edge of his white jacket. Thrown bouquets turned the peach satin into flashes of colour, and at the roadside the dry grass caught that backlight and glowed gold around them.

The spots that worked for Jena and Matt

The cypresses throw a deep pool of shade, which let us run family group after family group with nobody squinting and no patchy light on faces. For the bridal party, the pencil pines gave us a ready-made rhythm, one person per gap, and the vine rows kept the background tidy. On the road we walked behind the couple first so the long veil could spread across the tarmac, then brought them back towards us under the trees. The gravel by the pines gave us one last, joyful lift before dinner.

Ideas to borrow

If you are planning a surprise like the doves, tell us beforehand so we can be standing out in front of the pergola with a wide lens, facing back under the roof. Move straight from the petal walk to the big crowd photo in front of the barn while everyone is still on their feet and close by. And if your veil is as long as Jena’s, save time for open ground, because a gravel path or an empty road is where that length really shows.

Keep exploring

Barn & Co weddings

Every Veri wedding at this venue

Melbourne weddings

More real weddings across the city

Mornington Peninsula weddings

Real weddings across the region