Blue Mountains wedding photos: Gloria and Jason embrace beneath a white iron garden arch framed by tall cypress trees and red leaved shrubs, NSW
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Real country garden wedding · Blue Mountains, Sydney

Blue Mountains Wedding Photos: Gloria & Jason’s Country House Garden Wedding

Blue Mountains · Sydney

Country Wedding · Garden Wedding · Region: NSW - Blue Mountains · City: Sydney

Mismatched timber chairs on a country lawn, a bouquet bursting with blue hydrangea and orange lilies, and a dad who hugged his daughter so hard at the arbour that everyone cheered. Gloria and Jason’s Blue Mountains wedding kept the whole day at one country house, from a white staircase in the morning light to a bouquet toss on the grass, games on the lawn, a crackling fire pit and festoon lights against a pink autumn sky. We were there for all of it.

The gallery
Mismatched timber and white chairs face a ladder arbour on the lawn, set for a country garden ceremony in the Blue Mountains.
An instant camera sits on a log slice beside white flowers and a handwritten guest sign on the welcome table.
Cream roses and burgundy leaves garland the top of the weathered timber ladder arbour for the garden wedding.
Bentwood and spindle-back chairs line the aisle to the arbour, with a pond, pines and paddock beyond, at a Blue Mountains country house.
Snapshots of the couple and friends on hikes and climbs hang from pegs on a clothesline in the gardens.
A chalkboard seating chart and framed photos of the couple on a white easel stand on the grass by a hedge.
Jason in a navy suit and red tie chats with guests under festoon lights before the country garden wedding.
A brick fire pit ringed with log benches waits beside a wood-fired oven, gum trees and bush behind, in the Blue Mountains, NSW.
A guest message board with the couple's names and handwritten notes lies on a white tablecloth beside a black pen.
Gloria stands at French doors at the end of a narrow hallway inside the country house, her lace train pooled behind her.
Gloria looks over her shoulder by a glass door, showing the lace back, buttons and fingertip veil of her gown.
By the window, Gloria lowers her eyes to a bouquet of blue hydrangea, peach roses and orange calla lilies in the Blue Mountains.
Gloria pauses on the white staircase under a painted floral panel, her bouquet in one hand.
A wall clock hangs beside the white staircase as Gloria comes down in soft side light, one hand on the rail.
Gloria walks down the stairs with a hand on the white banister, her train trailing over the steps of the country house.
Guests stand among mismatched chairs on the lawn as the garden ceremony begins in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
Jason waits for his bride in a navy suit and red patterned tie, an attendant in pale grey beside him.
Gloria crosses the garden lawn on her dad's arm, passing long white reception tables under festoon lights.
Gloria smiles on her dad's arm in his blue jacket as they near the guests at the country garden ceremony.
At the ladder arbour, Gloria wraps her dad in a long hug while Jason waits beside them, smiling.
Gloria and Jason face each other at the arbour as guests watch from timber chairs on a Blue Mountains country lawn.
Gloria beams at Jason during the ceremony, attendants in pale grey suits and purple bow ties behind her.
Jason laughs as he holds Gloria's hands under the rose-topped ladder arbour beside a white picket fence in the gardens.
A guest in a floral dress dabs her eye as she watches the garden ceremony from a bentwood chair.
A guest in a grey suit laughs out loud in the rows, friends grinning beside him on the country lawn.
Her dad sits in the front row in his blue jacket, smiling, with red-leafed shrubs behind him in the Blue Mountains, NSW.
Gloria wipes away a happy tear while reading from her phone at the arbour, the paddock sloping away behind her.
Gloria reads to Jason from her phone, red-leafed trees and tall cypress glowing in the gardens behind her.
Guests in sunglasses grin along a row of chairs as someone raises a camera at the back of the garden ceremony.
Jason slides the ring onto Gloria's finger as a woman in red holds a phone between them, pines behind.
Gloria and Jason kiss under the ladder arbour, tall pines and white clouds behind them in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
Jason high fives guests as he and Gloria walk back down the aisle, a guest filming on a pink phone.
The newlyweds grin as they stride down the petal aisle past clapping guests, country paddocks and gums behind.
Her dad and a woman in dark green lace sit side by side in the front row of the country ceremony.
Gloria and Jason turn to laughing guests at the arbour beside the white picket fence and the bush.
Gloria and Jason pose with family at the arbour, her dad in his blue jacket beside her, at a Blue Mountains garden wedding.
Extended family gather around the couple at the arbour, a few crouched at the front on the paddock grass.
Everyone raises their arms and cheers for one big group photo in front of the arbour on the country lawn.
Gloria throws a red and white bouquet high over her head as friends wait on the garden lawn beside the house.
Friends dance and wave their arms as a woman in a black jumpsuit comes away with the bouquet under the gums.
The friend in sunglasses shouts with delight, clutching the bouquet among laughing guests under the gums of the Blue Mountains.
The bouquet winner hugs Gloria tight, grinning in sunglasses with the flowers in her hand on the country lawn.
Friends in white shirts and sunglasses watch from among the chairs, one holding a camera, with bush behind them.
Jason scoops Gloria up as she waves her bouquet in the air on the lawn of the country gardens.
Close on Gloria and Jason's hands, her lace sleeve and new ring resting over his red patterned tie.
Friends raise bottles and cheer around Gloria and Jason in front of cypress trees and red-leafed hedges in the Blue Mountains, NSW.
The groomsmen lift Gloria flat across their arms, laughing in front of the red-leafed hedges of the garden wedding.
Gloria laughs from a white wooden chair as Jason kneels beside her silver shoes by the picket fence.
Jason bends low over Gloria's foot as she laughs on a white chair beside the arbour on the country lawn.
Long white tables stand under festoon lights beside the house and a willow, set for a Blue Mountains garden reception.
Guests play a giant four-in-a-row game on the lawn, a few holding coloured discs, at the country garden reception.
A tiered stone fountain stands between tall cypress trees in the gardens of a country house in the Blue Mountains.
Jason laughs with guests around a white easel, a beer in hand, under the willow at the reception.
Friends crowd around the message easel with drinks, laughing in the late afternoon garden.
Gloria, a grey scarf over her gown, laughs with friends gathered at the easel during the garden reception.
Gloria and Jason stand under a wrought-iron arch between red-leafed hedges, the house behind, in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
Jason kisses Gloria's cheek beneath the wrought-iron arch, her lace train spread across the grass of the gardens.
Jason holds Gloria from behind under the arch as she clasps a bundle of rainbow ribbons for garden portraits.
Gloria lifts her gown and smiles back from the gravel path, stone urns and garden steps behind, glowing light circles in front.
Jason kisses Gloria's forehead on the gravel path between white roses and lavender in the Blue Mountains.
Gloria and Jason hold each other and laugh by a white rose bush and lavender during their garden portraits.
Gloria and Jason walk hand in hand along the gravel path toward tall dark hedges and a stone urn in the gardens.
Gloria and Jason touch foreheads beneath a tree with pink blossom, framed by soft foliage.
Jason smiles down at Gloria as they hold hands under pink blossom on a Blue Mountains country garden path.
Jason holds Gloria close among the blossom trees, her eyes lowered, seen through soft blurred leaves.
Gloria and Jason kiss on a shaded path framed by ferny leaves and pink blossom in the country gardens.
Gloria and Jason rest foreheads together, framed by red-tipped hedges and white blossom in the gardens.
Jason leads Gloria by the hand down a stepping-stone path under bronze leaves and tall cypress in the Blue Mountains, NSW.
Friends pose around a long white reception table on the country lawn at dusk beside the picket fence.
Guests gather around the brick fire pit as the first flames catch, the house and a white marquee behind.
Eight friends line up behind the crackling fire pit with drinks in hand as evening falls in the Blue Mountains.
A guest in a grey suit splits a log with an axe beside the water tank and the bush.
Cypress fronds hang over glowing circles of festoon light in the evening garden.
Guests mingle on the open grass as festoon lights glow against a fading sky over the country garden reception.
Festoon lights glow against a pink dusk sky over the empty ceremony lawn and ladder arbour in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
The wedding story

Our Blue Mountains wedding photos: a white staircase, vows among mismatched chairs and a fire pit at sunset

Getting ready in the house · Lawn ceremony at a timber arbour · Bouquet toss on the grass · Fountain, cypress and rose-garden portraits · Lawn games and long tables · Fire pit and festoon lights

Read the full story

Chairs that did not match

We arrived to a lawn set for a ceremony like a family lunch: rows of mismatched timber chairs, bentwood, spindle-back and painted white, facing a timber ladder arbour topped with cream roses and burgundy leaves, with white flowers marking the aisle. A chalkboard seating chart and framed photos of Gloria and Jason stood on easels, a string of snapshots hung from pegs, and an instant camera sat on a log slice next to a sign asking guests to shake it like a Polaroid. We photograph those touches early, in full sun, before the first guest walks past and moves anything.

A staircase full of light

Inside the house, Gloria stood at a pair of French doors at the end of a narrow hallway, her lace train pooled on the floor behind her. We framed her from the far end so the walls led straight to her, a trick that turns any corridor into a portrait. At the window she lowered her eyes to her bouquet: blue hydrangea, peach roses, orange calla lilies and purple blooms, all colour against the white lace. Then she came down a white staircase with a wall clock ticking beside her, one hand on the rail.

Her dad at the arbour

Guests stood among the chairs as Jason waited at the arbour with his attendants in pale grey suits, red roses on their lapels. The bride came across the lawn on her dad’s arm, both of them smiling wide, and when they reached the arbour he wrapped her in a long hug before stepping back. We kept a longer lens on that moment from the side of the aisle, so we were close on their faces without standing in anyone’s view. Behind them, the paddocks and pines rolled away under huge white clouds.

Laughter in the rows

It was a ceremony full of laughing. Guests in the front rows grinned and leaned in to each other, an older guest beamed under her sunglasses, and the bride had to wipe away a happy tear before the rings. The ring slid on, the kiss got a cheer, and they walked back down the petal aisle past a row of phones held high. On a bright day with patchy cloud, we time the key moments for when a cloud drifts over the sun, which softens the light on faces for a few precious seconds.

Groups, then a flying bouquet

Family groups lined up at the arbour, from small groups to everyone in one big frame with a few guests crouched at the front. Then Gloria turned her back on a crowd of friends on the lawn and threw a red and white toss bouquet high over her head. Arms went up, there was a scramble, and one friend came out of it laughing with the flowers and a hug for the bride. Doing a bouquet toss outside in daylight is a gift for photographs: no flash, no dark corners, and every face in the crowd lit.

Lifted off her feet

The bridal party decided Gloria had walked enough for one day. Jason hoisted her up while she waved what was left of her bouquet, and then the groomsmen lifted her flat across their arms while everyone cheered behind them. Later the groom crouched at her feet beside a white chair on the grass while she laughed. In between, we slowed right down for a close frame of their hands together, her lace sleeve, his red patterned tie and the new ring catching the light.

Fountain, cypress and roses

Blue Mountains wedding photos at a country house like this one need no car: the garden was the portrait session. We started at a stone fountain framed by tall cypress trees, then stood Gloria and Jason under a white wrought-iron arch in front of the house, with red-leafed hedges on either side. On a gravel path she looked back over her shoulder with stone stairs and urns behind her, and we shot through the leaves for warm, soft circles of light. Among the roses and lavender they stopped for a slow kiss.

Games and long tables

The reception spread out across the lawn beside the house, with long tables in white cloths under strings of festoon lights. Guests crowded around an easel to write messages, a giant Connect Four game turned surprisingly competitive, and tables of friends waved us over for photos. A garden reception like this lets people drift between conversations, so we move with them, and the best frames are rarely at the tables: they happen on the grass, over a game, with a drink in one hand.

Fire pit at sunset

As the light softened, guests gathered around a fire pit ringed in brick, and one guest in a grey suit took an axe to a log to keep it going, to loud applause. The sky turned pink over the trees and the festoon lights came on above the lawn, with guests still standing in little groups below them. That half hour between sunset and dark is our favourite on any country wedding: the sky still has colour, the lights glow, and nobody wants to go inside.

Photographer's venue notes

A Blue Mountains country house: lawn vows at a ladder arbour, garden portraits and a fire pit at dusk

Read the venue notes

One property from morning to night

Gloria and Jason spent the whole day on one country property, and the flow was beautifully simple. Gloria got ready inside the house, using the long hallway, a bright window and the white staircase. Guests then gathered on the lawn among the mismatched chairs facing the ladder arbour, with paddocks and pines sloping away behind. Groups and the bouquet toss stayed on that same grass, portraits moved into the garden beside the house, and the reception tables sat on the lawn under festoon lights, a few steps from the brick fire pit.

Clouds, autumn colour and a pink dusk

The afternoon gave us bright sun and big white clouds drifting over the hills, so the light on faces kept changing through the ceremony and we stayed ready for each soft moment. Autumn had turned the hedges red and bronze, which meant the garden carried plenty of colour on its own, and pink blossom still hung over one shaded path. As evening came the sky went pink above the trees, the festoons switched on and the fire pit began to glow, and we stayed outside with the guests until the colour was gone.

Garden corners we used for portraits

Each part of this garden gave a different frame within a short walk. The stone fountain between two tall cypress trees gave a dark, even backdrop while the sun was strong. The white wrought-iron arch in front of the house, with red-leafed hedges either side, became our signature frame for the couple. On the gravel path, stone urns and steps added depth, and a stepping-stone path under bronze leaves suited a quiet walk away from camera. Shooting through leaves held close to the lens gave us warm circles of light.

Ideas for a home garden wedding

Set out the signs and little touches early so we can capture them before people arrive; the clothesline of snapshots and the instant camera on its log slice were favourites here. Keep a hallway or staircase near a window free while you get ready, because it turns into an instant portrait spot. Lawn games give guests something to do while you are in the garden with us, and a fire pit holds everyone outside once the sun drops. Keep a warm wrap handy too: Gloria slipped a grey scarf over her gown by evening.

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