Canterbury Gardens wedding photos: Ellen and Robert kiss on a shady garden path under a canopy of trees with sunlight bursting through, Melbourne
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Real wedding · Canterbury, Melbourne

Canterbury Gardens Wedding Photos: Ellen & Robert

Canterbury Gardens · Canterbury VIC · Melbourne

Garden Wedding · City: Melbourne · Venue: Canterbury Gardens

A chalkboard welcome on the front path, vows under a lattice arbour in the back garden and a first dance beneath a canopy of hanging eucalyptus. Ellen and Robert married at home with their people packed in close around them, then slipped away for an hour of low golden light among the old trees and flower beds of Canterbury Gardens in Melbourne’s inner east. By the time the festoon lights came on, the whole garden was dancing.

The gallery
A chalkboard welcome sign wrapped in eucalyptus and white roses stands on the curved front path, greeting guests to a garden wedding at home.
A baby's white shirt with braces and grey shorts hangs beside a dark suit jacket on a red brick wall by a leadlight window.
Black lace-up shoes, cologne, a leather belt and gold cufflinks laid out on old timber floorboards before the back-garden ceremony.
Tiny navy sneakers for the baby wait on the corner of a white dresser in soft window light.
Gold mesh cufflinks set in front of a cologne bottle on the corner of a white dresser.
The wedding bands rest together on a polished table, circled by lace curtain shadows cast by the afternoon sun.
A black satin bow tie and crisp white shirt hang ready inside Robert's dark suit jacket.
Robert buttons his white shirt in a bright bedroom beside an ornate mirrored mantel.
Robert ties back his hair by the tall bedroom windows while a loved one in purple looks on and the baby plays on the bed.
Robert cups both wedding rings in his open palms, ready for the vows under the arbour in the back garden.
Side profile of Robert in a white shirt, his long locs gathered into a bun, in a pale room with framed prints.
Robert works on a cufflink at his white shirt cuff, eyes down and concentrating in soft side light.
Reflected in a tiled bathroom mirror beside a leafy plant, Robert straightens his black bow tie and collar.
Robert sits in a carved timber armchair by the window in his shirt and bow tie, glancing towards the garden wedding outside.
Robert smiles up at the camera from the carved armchair, hands clasped, bow tie on and nearly ready.
Robert in his dark suit leans against the old leadlight bay window, coloured glass swirling around him as he looks out.
Framed by a curtain and stained glass, Robert stands with a hand in his pocket and gazes out at the leafy gardens beyond.
Close detail of Robert's hands adjusting his black bow tie, warm window light along his jaw.
Robert waits quietly in a shadowed doorway, a sliver of light falling across his suit and bow tie.
In the mirror above a timber mantel, Robert beams while holding the baby, who peers back at his own reflection.
From the upstairs balcony, the lattice arbour and a white signing table wait in the brick courtyard for the back-garden ceremony.
Ellen's pale pink tulle gown, embroidered with tiny flowers, hangs in a tall leadlight window under a lace valance.
Close detail of the gown's embroidered pink and gold blossoms glowing against the window light.
A diamond ring rests on the white garden roses of Ellen's blush and cream bouquet with eucalyptus leaves.
Nude block heel sandals wait on a white dresser beside a patterned curtain, ready for the garden wedding.
A round perfume bottle with a red ribbon and a pair of crystal drop earrings on Ellen's white dresser.
A loved one in purple lifts the baby in his flat cap and braces as a woman in orange watches from the doorway.
Robert grins beside an older guest in glasses who holds the baby in a flat cap and pink braces.
The older guest kisses the baby's cheek while Robert, phone in hand, laughs beside them before the garden wedding.
Two loved ones prepare a jug of lime and mint punch at the kitchen bench under a lace-curtained leadlight window.
Orange, pink and white gerberas in a green jug sit on a round side table against a sunlit lace curtain.
Still in an orange top, Ellen smiles up at her gown hanging in the tall leadlight bay window.
Ellen laughs over her shoulder as she lifts her embroidered tulle gown down from the window frame.
Grinning, Ellen holds the flower-scattered gown up against herself in front of the stained glass windows.
A loved one kneels to buckle Ellen's nude sandals as she sits in her gown beside a white chest of drawers.
Ellen's nude sandals peek out from under layers of pale pink tulle scattered with tiny embroidered flowers on the floorboards.
With roses pinned in her waves, Ellen fastens an earring, getting ready at home for her garden wedding.
Ellen looks down as she fastens her crystal earrings in a carved armchair, a small tattoo on her wrist.
Smiling down at her blush and white roses, Ellen perches on a carved armchair beside a white chest of drawers.
Ellen sits back in the tapestry armchair with her cascading bouquet of cream and pink roses and eucalyptus.
Ellen gazes across the room with pink and white roses in her hair and her bouquet in her lap, moments before the garden ceremony.
Her gown pooling across the floorboards, Ellen sits side-on to the stained glass bay window with her roses.
Ellen looks down at her bouquet of pale roses beside a tall window, in black and white.
Close portrait of the fresh roses and berries pinned in Ellen's hair beside a crystal drop earring.
Close black and white portrait of Ellen's roses tucked behind her ear and a long crystal drop earring as she looks down.
Ellen lowers her eyes in soft window light, a crystal earring and the beaded flowers of her gown catching the glow.
Ellen looks towards the window from the carved armchair, holding her rose and eucalyptus bouquet close.
Ellen holds a glass of bubbles in one hand and her bouquet in the other while seated in the tapestry armchair.
Ellen stands in the leadlight bay window with roses in her hair and her bouquet held low, gazing out towards the gardens.
Holding a cascading rose bouquet, Ellen turns towards the light of a stained glass window before the garden ceremony.
Looking towards the window, Ellen rests her cascading roses on the flower-scattered tulle of her gown.
Eucalyptus, rosemary and small pink and white roses wrap the timber arbour, with the lattice and gardens soft behind it.
Guests on white folding chairs sip drinks in the dappled shade of the brick courtyard as the garden ceremony begins.
Friends in lace and pastel dresses chat on the brick courtyard by the verandah steps before the vows.
An older guest in a navy blazer smiles from his white folding chair against a tall hedge in the sunlit gardens.
A loved one in purple steadies the baby in his pink bow and braces as he sits on the bed by a sunny window.
Ellen laughs as she cuddles the baby in his flat cap on her lap in the carved armchair.
Ellen and her dad stand by the bay window with a loved one in purple holding the baby, ready for the garden wedding.
A loved one in purple rests a hand on Ellen's shoulder as they pose by the tall windows and long curtains.
Ellen stands beside her dad, in his bow tie and white rose buttonhole, in the sunlit bedroom before the ceremony.
Ellen and a friend in cream polka dot lace smile together in the bay window, her bouquet held at her side.
Ellen and her dad wait side by side on the hallway runner, ready to walk out to the gardens and the waiting guests.
Seen through a doorway, Ellen and her dad walk down the long hallway beneath glowing pendant lights.
Robert waits under the lattice arbour on the brick courtyard as the celebrant opens her folder for the garden ceremony.
Three friends in blazers stand on the flagstones in front of the verandah, waiting for the bride.
Robert, the celebrant and a guest in purple wait beside the arbour and signing table as the back-garden ceremony gathers.
A loved one in purple carries the baby in his flat cap down the brick aisle between white chairs.
Guests in the courtyard smile as the baby rides down the aisle in a loved one's arms under the leafy lattice.
The baby grins over the crowd from a loved one's arms as she walks the aisle of the garden wedding.
Arm in arm, Ellen and her dad walk the side path through the gardens, past birch trees and flower beds, towards the guests.
Grinning so widely he can barely keep still, Robert waits under the rose and eucalyptus arbour beside the celebrant.
Ellen and her dad step onto the brick aisle past the red brick house as seated guests turn to watch.
Beaming, Ellen walks the aisle on her dad's arm while a guest raises a phone to capture the moment.
Her dad places Ellen's hand in Robert's beneath the greenery-wrapped arbour as the garden wedding begins.
Robert smiles at Ellen as her dad steps back under the leafy tree, the gardens green behind them.
Robert lights up as Ellen reaches him, the celebrant smiling at her folder and her dad at their side.
Her dad watches the vows from a tulle-tied chair beside a loved one in purple holding the baby against the hedge.
Her dad shakes Robert's hand before taking his seat, Ellen standing by the leafy arbour of the garden ceremony.
Robert gazes at Ellen across the vows, his white rose buttonhole bright against his dark suit.
An older couple lean in close on their folding chairs in front of a wall of glossy hedge.
Holding hands under the lattice arbour, Ellen and Robert listen as the celebrant reads from her folder.
A loved one in purple reads into a microphone from a sheet of paper during the back-garden ceremony.
Ellen and Robert hold hands at the arbour while a loved one in purple gives a reading to the guests in the back garden.
Guests in pastel and lace listen intently from rows of white chairs in the courtyard of the garden wedding.
Rows of guests watch the vows from the courtyard while more stand along the verandah behind them.
Friends in lace, florals and blue silk sit quietly in the dappled shade as the vows carry across the courtyard.
Guests fill the courtyard chairs while others watch from the green verandah railing above the gardens.
Seated guests, one resting on a walking cane, follow the vows beside a table of white roses and eucalyptus.
Guests in sunhats and sunglasses watch from chairs tucked between the hedges and leafy gardens around the house.
Over Robert's shoulder, Ellen smiles softly at him in dappled light as the celebrant holds out the folder.
Ellen meets Robert's eyes with a gentle smile as late afternoon sun filters through the trees behind her.
The baby clutches a pink ribbon in a loved one's arms, a dummy clipped to his braces.
Robert takes the rings from the pink ribbon held by the baby while a loved one in purple steadies him.
Ellen speaks her vows into the microphone, holding Robert's hand beneath the rose-dressed arbour.
Under the arbour of eucalyptus and white roses, Ellen reads her vows as Robert listens in the garden ceremony.
The celebrant holds the microphone out for Robert's vows as Ellen watches him from beneath her hair roses.
Ellen signs at the white-clothed table beside Robert, the eucalyptus of the arbour trailing behind her.
Ellen and Robert exchange rings at the lattice arbour, the celebrant holding her folder and microphone between them.
Ellen and Robert share their first kiss under the rose-trimmed arbour, the high point of their home garden wedding.
Holding hands after the kiss, Ellen beams up at Robert under the lattice arbour on the brick courtyard.
Robert signs with a flourish at the white signing table, Ellen leaning in beside him under the eucalyptus.
Close detail of a gold pen signing the marriage certificate through a soft blur of eucalyptus leaves.
An older guest in a polka dot blouse watches the signing calmly from her chair, hedges and gardens glowing behind her.
A loved one in a purple top signs as a witness at the table beside the lattice screen.
An older guest in a white shirt and striped tie bends to sign at the little table, his cane at his side.
The older guest signs at the round table on the brick courtyard while the celebrant points out the line, Ellen and Robert nearby.
Ellen and Robert hold both hands and smile at each other in the sunlit corner by the lattice.
Her dad claps from his chair in the dappled shade as a loved one in purple holds the baby.
Guests applaud the newlyweds among the gardens as the loved one in purple smiles over the baby in her lap.
Ellen and Robert start back up the aisle under a spreading tree as guests turn and cheer.
Hand in hand and laughing, Ellen and Robert walk back up the brick aisle as newlyweds, the arbour behind them.
Ellen and Robert pause for a kiss in the aisle while guests in florals smile from the back garden.
A guest in a straw hat and sunglasses claps Robert on the shoulder with a big grin, the gardens a soft blur behind.
Glass of bubbles in hand, Ellen laughs up at friends as they gather round her in the courtyard.
A friend in navy polka dots clinks glasses with a beaming Ellen among guests in the dappled courtyard.
Ellen falls into a long hug with an older guest in a floral dress as friends reach in to congratulate her.
Ellen closes her eyes and cheek to cheek hugs a friend in a yellow and purple floral dress.
Robert smiles as friends gather round with congratulations beside the leafy gardens and lattice fence.
A guest in a straw hat kisses Ellen on the cheek as friends grin around them in the back garden.
An older guest in a floral blouse laughs among the crowd while Ellen chats with friends nearby.
White roses in a glass vase and a pillar candle on a timber side table, set out on the lawn for the garden wedding.
Three older men in a navy suit, a striped blazer and a cream jacket share a laugh against the red brick wall.
Ellen hugs an older guest in a coral and black floral top, both raising glasses of bubbles in front of the hedge.
Seen from above, Robert holds the baby and Ellen her roses on the lawn as guests mingle around a white rose urn.
Group photo from the balcony, with every guest squeezed in between the trees, the lattice arbour and the brick path of the back garden.
The whole wedding crowd looks up from the lawn and brick courtyard, Ellen and Robert at the centre of their garden wedding.
Guests wave and cheer around them as Robert kisses the baby and Ellen leans in with her rose bouquet.
Robert laughs with the baby on his hip while Ellen grins beside him and friends wave up at the camera.
Everyone raises a hand and a glass for a second balcony shot over the leafy gardens, the arbour off to one side.
Arms in the air, guests cheer from the lawn and brick path below the balcony, the couple front and centre.
Ellen and Robert line up with her dad, a loved one in purple holding the baby and three more loved ones by a hedge.
A vertical family group on the flagstones, the clipped hedge rising high above Ellen, Robert and her dad.
Her dad, Robert, Ellen and the loved one in purple with the baby on her hip smile together against glossy green foliage.
Ellen and Robert stand on the lawn with a friend in a cream polka dot lace dress, the hedges bright with afternoon sun.
A man in a blue suit and the friend in cream lace join the newlyweds on the flagstone path for a garden wedding portrait.
An older guest in a white-spotted black dress stands between Ellen and Robert below the green verandah railing.
Robert holds the baby in his sailor top close against his chest, white taper candles lined up in the pebble bed below.
Robert lifts the baby to meet an older guest with a cane and a glass of orange juice as a guest films behind them.
Robert carries the baby up the verandah steps beside the red brick wall as Ellen climbs behind and guests chat below.
Two guests laugh over a giant timber block tower game on the lawn among the gardens, beside a black lamp post.
A guest in a green floral dress lights white taper candles among roses and pebbles beside the verandah.
Friends relax on white folding chairs and a patterned rug among the leafy gardens, white roses on a little side table.
Guests lounge on rugs and folding chairs in the back garden, a carriage lamp glowing on the lattice wall beside them.
Three friends in floral, pale blue and black dresses smile arm in arm by the lattice arbour, glasses in hand.
Three older guests in spotted, floral and paisley tops pose on a white bench against the hedge and brick courtyard.
Four guests, one in a pink and gold silk wrap, sit with their drinks on folding chairs in the dappled courtyard.
Her dad raises a glass with three guests beneath a gum tree and an owl figure perched against the lattice fence.
Her dad and six guests in suits and party dresses toast together on the brick courtyard of the home garden wedding.
A small timber wishing well planted with silvery foliage sits on the pebbles beside the verandah.
White taper candles glow in a row through the pebble bed, leading past a posy of pale pink and white roses.
An older guest in a striped tie sits smiling by a candle and juice while a woman in a sleeveless purple dress stands behind.
Close portrait of Robert with the baby in braces and a blue dummy, his white rose buttonhole catching the light.
Four friends in navy florals, burgundy lace, lilac lace and green print gather by a black lamp post with their bubbles.
Four young men in shirts and blazers sit in a row behind candles and white roses, Ellen glimpsed by the house behind them.
A couple in a blue shirt and black lace dress lean together on folding chairs in the courtyard, guests seated behind.
An older couple in a bright floral top and a checked shirt and panama hat smile against a tall hedge.
Seven friends in bright summer dresses sit in a row of folding chairs on a patterned rug among the palms of the back garden.
Ellen and Robert slip away down the dappled side path past stained glass windows and red mulched beds.
Garden portraits begin at Canterbury Gardens as Ellen and Robert stroll hand in hand along a curving path under huge spreading trees.
Robert wraps Ellen in his arms beside a gnarled old trunk in the gardens, the lawn and a black lamp post soft behind them.
Ellen smiles with her eyes closed as Robert rests his forehead against her hair under the green canopy of Canterbury Gardens in Boroondara.
Her hand on his shoulder, Ellen gazes up at Robert, pink roses tucked behind her ear and leaves glowing behind.
Ellen and Robert embrace under an arching branch at Canterbury Gardens in Melbourne's east, yellow flowers in the beds behind.
Robert pulls Ellen close in warm side light beside a red brick cottage and blue flowering shrubs in the public gardens.
Sun bursts through a great spreading tree at Canterbury Gardens as Ellen and Robert embrace in a garden portrait below its long branch.
Ellen and Robert kiss beneath a sweeping low bough, late sun dappling the path and the leaf-strewn lawn of the gardens.
Robert kneels on the grass to gather Ellen's train as she laughs, bouquet raised, by a brick cottage at Canterbury Gardens, Canterbury.
Hand in hand, Ellen and Robert walk beneath a sprawling old tree for their garden portraits, golden light filtering through the leaves.
Hands in pockets, Robert grins on the path under an overhanging branch, his white rose buttonhole bright against his dark suit.
Ellen and Robert walk across a sloping lawn at Canterbury Gardens in Boroondara, her pale pink train sweeping the grass in late sun.
From above, the couple cross a sunlit patch of lawn in the gardens, their long shadows stretching out over the grass.
Ellen and Robert share a kiss, small against a glowing wall of leaves at Canterbury Gardens in Melbourne's east.
Ellen glances over her shoulder on the open lawn beneath a tall tree in a solo garden portrait, roses and eucalyptus held low.
Robert smiles straight at the camera with his white rose buttonhole and bow tie, the lawn and trees of the gardens soft behind.
Ellen swishes her pale pink tulle skirt on the lawn under a drooping conifer at Canterbury Gardens, red flower beds bright along the path.
Ellen walks across the sunny grass beneath conifer branches, lifting her skirt, with bright red and yellow blooms behind her.
Bouquet held at her hip, Ellen smiles out across the lawn beneath a feathery conifer bough at Canterbury Gardens in Boroondara.
Smiling to one side, Ellen holds her cascading bouquet of cream and pink roses with eucalyptus against the soft green lawn of the gardens.
Ellen looks down at her roses with a wide smile, a fresh flower and crystal earring in her hair as the light warms.
Robert and Ellen kiss under the hanging needles of a conifer at Canterbury Gardens in Melbourne's east, red and orange flower beds at their feet.
In black and white, Ellen and Robert embrace, tiny beside the trunk of an enormous spreading conifer in the gardens.
Ellen and Robert kiss at the bend of a curving path at Canterbury Gardens, beds of red flowers sweeping round behind them.
Ellen and Robert sit close on a red timber garden bench beside an ornate black lamp post, her roses in his lap.
Ellen smiles at Robert on a red bench beneath leafy branches at Canterbury Gardens, Canterbury, her pale roses resting between them.
Robert's hand on her shoulder, Ellen gazes towards him with blush roses pinned in her hair and a crystal earring.
Their hands rest together, both wedding bands showing, on the embroidered tulle of her gown during the garden portraits.
Seen from behind, Ellen and Robert walk hand in hand along the curving path at Canterbury Gardens in Boroondara towards bright red flower beds.
Ellen and Robert glance back over their shoulders, holding hands on a shaded garden path lined with purple flowers.
Sun breaks through the canopy as Ellen and Robert kiss on a narrow path at Canterbury Gardens in Melbourne's east.
Ellen smiles down at her bouquet as she walks a shaded path through the gardens, sunlight flaring through the canopy above her.
Ellen pauses on a leafy path at Canterbury Gardens, Canterbury, her cascading roses held low beside purple flowers and a black lamp post.
Under a glowing canopy, Robert touches Ellen's cheek as they face each other on a tree-lined walk, ending their garden portraits.
Ellen smiles back over her shoulder, leading Robert by the hand down a sun-flecked path at Canterbury Gardens strewn with fallen leaves.
Back at home, guests settle on white chairs around a birdbath of white flowers as dusk falls over the garden reception.
A loved one in purple stands on the brick courtyard as older guests talk on folding chairs against the hedges.
An older couple sip their drinks on folding chairs on the lawn, white roses and candles on a timber table beside them.
A guest in a blue tie speaks into the microphone from the verandah while her dad and Ellen look on, glass baubles hanging above.
Her dad reads his speech from a sheet of notes into the microphone, standing at the verandah railing.
Her dad laughs mid speech with his notes and microphone as Ellen and Robert grin beside him on the verandah.
Ellen and Robert listen from the verandah, glasses in hand, as her dad reads on beneath the hanging glass globes.
Two friends in a floral wrap dress and burgundy lace raise their glasses towards the verandah from the lawn during the speeches.
Close view of her dad speaking into the microphone, Ellen smiling beside him with her glass of bubbles.
An older guest in a purple dress lifts her glass high from her chair as the toast rises across the garden reception.
Friends in front of the clipped hedge raise their glasses in a toast, one filming the speeches on her phone.
Friends in blue, cream lace and pale blue laugh along with the speeches beside the eucalyptus-draped arbour.
Two friends in navy and black dresses crack up laughing in front of the lattice screen as the toasts carry on.
Seated guests in polka dots, navy and a yellow floral dress raise their glasses under a leafy tree in the gardens.
An older guest with red hair and a spotted jacket smiles from her chair against a wall of ivy in the back garden.
The loved one in purple smiles softly as she listens, framed by glossy leaves and a vase of white roses.
Friends in pale blue, navy and black stand on a rug by the eucalyptus-covered arbour, drinks raised for the speeches.
Portrait of an older guest in a pale pink shirt, looking calmly at the camera against a dense wall of creeper.
Framed through the verandah posts, a guest in a blue tie speaks into the microphone while Ellen holds her glass nearby.
An older guest in a floral top roars with laughter during the garden reception speeches as guests behind her smile and sip juice.
The older guest in purple chuckles from her chair among candles and white roses while friends film and laugh behind.
Robert takes the microphone on the verandah, a glass in his other hand and a white rose on his lapel.
Ellen throws her head back laughing as Robert grins through his speech, microphone and drink in hand.
Robert turns to Ellen as he speaks into the microphone, the two of them smiling across the brick verandah wall.
The whole verandah in view, with Robert, Ellen and a guest in a blue tie laughing under the terracotta roof.
Ellen and Robert chat with a bearded guest holding a beer in front of the greenery-wrapped lattice arbour.
A friend in pale blue beams as she greets Ellen and Robert among guests near the arbour in the evening light.
A row of older guests in a hat, a pink shirt and a dinner suit relax on folding chairs beside a wall of creeper.
Seen through the leaves, Robert chats with two friends among the chairs and hedges of the back-garden reception.
Vases of white hydrangeas and pink roses line a long table against a curtain of fairy lights under trailing branches.
Close detail of the timber wishing well holding a small bucket of silvery eucalyptus above the cards inside.
Pink roses and eucalyptus in a tall glass vase beside pillar candles on a little red timber table on the lawn.
A chalkboard guest book sign with a hand drawn heart sits beside cream and pink spray roses in a blue glass jug.
Soft pink spray roses and eucalyptus spill from a glass vase in front of a twinkling fairy light curtain.
Two glass vases of white roses and silvery foliage on a white table, a round mirror and lattice screen behind.
Seen from above, three older guests hold hands in a cosy circle of white chairs among the gardens beside a candlelit table.
The older guest in purple chats with a friend by a stone urn of white flowers as twilight settles over the gardens.
Six older guests in shirts, braces and a black hat sit along the hedge on the brick courtyard, drinks in hand.
Ellen gathers four friends in burgundy lace, navy, cream lace and green print against a tall hedge at the garden reception.
A singer and guitarist play from the verandah of the red brick house as festoon lights stretch across the evening sky.
Ellen and her friend in cream lace laugh together, arm in arm against a wall of tiny green leaves.
Ellen and Robert squeeze in with two older guests for a laughing photo as candles glow on the tables behind.
Ellen and Robert smile with a couple in a blue suit and a pink and gold silk wrap beside the ivy-covered wall.
Guests gather on a patterned rug under a canopy of hanging eucalyptus as Ellen and Robert step onto the floor.
Ellen and Robert begin their first dance under the hanging eucalyptus as friends watch from chairs along the lattice.
Ellen smiles as Robert leads the dance, friends lined up along the fairy light curtain with phones out.
Robert pulls Ellen close beneath the eucalyptus canopy as they dance in the back garden, a bright light glowing through the leaves.
Ellen and Robert share their first dance beneath hanging eucalyptus branches while friends line the lattice with phones raised.
Friends in florals and black watch from a fairy light curtain as Ellen and Robert sway close at their garden reception.
Ellen smiles up at Robert as they dance hand in hand, a bright lamp glowing through the eucalyptus leaves behind the guests.
Ellen and Robert laugh mid dance on a patterned rug as guests in mustard, polka dots and florals join them.
Two friends in a black floral dress and a mustard dress dance arm in arm under eucalyptus hung from the timber rafters.
A friend in a peach floral jumpsuit throws her head back laughing as a guest in glasses spins her at the garden party.
An older couple dance cheek to cheek with the baby held between them, wide eyed beneath the eucalyptus canopy.
The older couple lift the baby high on the dance floor while candles flicker on a table by the fairy lights.
Champagne in hand, Ellen gently touches Robert's chin, a quiet moment amid the dancing of their home garden wedding.
Ellen and Robert raise their glasses to each other against the yellow lattice walls, a round mirror and potted greenery behind.
Robert dances towards Ellen with a huge grin as guests laugh along the lattice walls of the covered dance floor.
Ellen kisses Robert on the dance floor, her flower-scattered tulle train gathered in one hand over a patterned rug.
Eyes closed and smiling, Robert wraps Ellen in a hug with his drink still in hand as the garden reception hums around them.
Friends in floral dresses laugh and clap as the dancing gets going beneath eucalyptus trailing from the timber rafters.
Ellen holds up a sprig of eucalyptus and a white rose as Robert dances beside her and friends laugh along the lattice.
Festoon lights glow against a deep blue evening sky as guests mingle on the lawn and brick paths of the house and gardens.
An older guest in a black dress with white spots carries a platter of nibbles across the brick courtyard under festoon lights.
Robert cradles the baby as Ellen smiles with a glass of bubbles beside a rounded hedge in the evening garden.
Ellen and Robert, the baby in his arms, stand behind the two-tier semi-naked cake with peach roses as older guests look on.
From above, guests circle Ellen and Robert at the cake table under festoon lights strung across the garden reception.
Festoon lights zigzag over the lawn, the bird bath and the brick path as everyone gathers in the gardens for the cake.
Close detail of a peach rose and a cream rose tucked at the base of the semi-naked wedding cake.
A two-tier semi-naked cake crowned with peach and white roses and fresh green leaves.
A crate of potted succulents with handwritten thank-you tags waits on the brick courtyard as favours for the garden wedding guests.
Five older guests squeeze together on the brick courtyard by a clipped hedge, two of them holding their succulent favours.
Ellen poses with two friends against the yellow lattice, one of them throwing up a peace sign from behind.
Ellen and a friend in black dance arm in arm by the lattice wall as the garden wedding party carries on.
Ellen hugs two friends in powder blue and black for a cheek to cheek photo against the lattice walls.
An older guest in braces busts out his best moves on the patterned rug while friends cheer him on.
The older guest in braces and a friend in a lace-trimmed dress dance face to face on the garden wedding dance floor.
Robert grins and Ellen sings along as the older guest in braces dances with his arms out beneath the eucalyptus.
Robert dances hand in hand with a grey-haired loved one in purple under the eucalyptus canopy, both laughing.
A loved one in a long purple outfit twirls with Robert on the patterned rug while friends sip drinks and watch.
Older guests relax on white chairs among the night-time gardens, the red brick house and green verandah lit behind them.
Robert bends low with a dance move as Ellen laughs beside him and a guest films on her phone.
Robert and a guest in a navy tie throw their arms out to the music while a loved one in purple dances along.
A loved one in purple and a friend in black copy Robert's hand moves, palms down, in a playful group dance.
Robert flashes a peace sign mid dance beneath the eucalyptus canopy, a fairy light curtain glowing behind the garden reception guests.
Three friends in burgundy lace, a black floral dress and a white shirt pose arm in arm on the patterned rug.
Ellen squeezes in between friends in navy and a bright zigzag print, her bouquet up front, by the green verandah steps.
Laughing friends lift Ellen sideways in their arms for a playful group photo by the brick verandah in the back garden.
Ellen leans over the verandah railing, bouquet in hand, as friends gather on the brick courtyard below, ready for the toss.
Ellen tosses her bouquet from the verandah as friends reach up beneath a huge tree strung with festoon lights in the gardens.
The bouquet sails over the brick courtyard as friends stretch their arms high and Ellen watches from the verandah.
Friends scramble for the falling bouquet in the festoon-lit garden while Ellen leans on the verandah rail to see who wins.
A friend in a black floral dress grins with the caught bouquet as the others laugh and clap around her on the bricks.
Ellen hugs the friend who caught her bouquet, both laughing in front of a tall hedge and lattice fence.
Cheek to cheek, Ellen and the bouquet catcher share a smile as guests in bright prints drift through the gardens at night.
The bouquet catcher poses with a guest in glasses and a patterned shirt by a greenery-wrapped arch, festoon lights overhead.
Ellen raises her glass and dances with friends in navy, black and red lace under the greenery-hung rafters.
Ellen twirls a friend in black under her arm, both holding bubbles, beneath strands of eucalyptus and fairy lights.
A guest in a dotted lace dress dances with a sprig of eucalyptus between her teeth beside two carved timber chairs.
A friend in burgundy lace grins with a white rose stem clenched in her teeth, a glass of bubbles in hand.
Ellen and three friends, one in a straw hat, pose with drinks on the brick path through the gardens under festoon lights.
A friend in a peach floral jumpsuit dances with a eucalyptus sprig held high as guests in burgundy lace and yellow watch.
Ellen and Robert embrace on the verandah of the red brick house, festoon lights swooping overhead at the end of their garden wedding.
Foreheads together, Ellen and Robert share a quiet moment on the verandah, festoon lights strung over the garden behind them.
The wedding story

Our Canterbury Gardens wedding photos: vows in the back garden, golden light under old trees and dancing beneath the eucalyptus

Getting ready at home · Back-garden ceremony under a lattice arbour · Group photo from the balcony · Portraits at Canterbury Gardens · Verandah speeches · Dancing under festoon lights

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A welcome on the front path

Ellen and Robert married at home, and the day announced itself on the front path: a chalkboard sign wrapped in eucalyptus, welcoming everyone to the wedding of Robert and Ellen. Inside, we laid the rings on the floor where sun through a lace curtain threw a pattern of shadows around them. Robert stood in a white shirt by one window, then in his dark suit against an old leadlight bay window, coloured glass all around him. From an upstairs balcony we looked down on the back garden, with the lattice arbour and the little signing table waiting.

Pink tulle and gerberas

Ellen’s room was full of small, lovely things: a perfume bottle and earrings on a white dresser, orange and pink gerberas in a green jug against a lace curtain. Her gown was pale pink tulle scattered with tiny flowers, and her sandals peeked out from under it. A flower went into her hair, and she sat with her blush and white roses beside the window. Soft window light flatters a dress with texture, so we kept her side-on to the glass. A friend in cream lace joined her in the bay window, and an older loved one sat nearby with a baby.

Vows under the lattice

The ceremony was in the back garden, with guests on white folding chairs across the brick courtyard and under the verandah. Robert waited at the lattice arbour, wrapped in greenery, grinning so widely he could barely keep still. When Ellen reached him he lit up all over again. We stood behind his shoulder for part of the vows, so the frame held her face and the edge of his, then moved round for his. The woman leading the ceremony held the microphone out for each of them in turn, and the dappled shade from the trees kept the light soft on their faces.

Signatures and hugs

Robert signed with a grin and a flourish, and an older guest sat down at the little table to sign as well. Then Ellen and Robert walked back up the aisle between the chairs, hand in hand and laughing, while guests reached out to them. Ellen went straight into the arms of an older guest in a floral dress for a long hug. Home weddings are full of moments like this, because everyone is close enough to touch. We kept a longer lens at the edge of the crowd, so we could catch the hugs without stepping into them.

Everyone from the balcony

For the group photo we went back up to the balcony and shot down into the garden, so every face fitted between the trees, from the front row to the back fence. Height is the easiest fix for a big group in a small space. Then we worked through family groups beside the house, Ellen and Robert with loved ones of every age. While candles in glass jars were lit along the courtyard, Robert scooped up the baby, dummy in and braces on, and the two of them studied each other very seriously. Friends settled onto a rug among the plants with their drinks.

Golden light at Canterbury Gardens

At twenty to six we slipped away to Canterbury Gardens for an hour of portraits while the guests settled in. The light was already low and gold, coming sideways through the old trees, so we put it behind them to light Ellen’s hair and the edges of her gown. Under one huge spreading tree, Robert knelt in the grass to gather her train, and she looked down laughing. We came back to the same tree for a kiss with the leaves glowing behind them. For Canterbury Gardens wedding photos, that late, low light is the thing to plan around.

Flower beds and a shaded path

Ellen took a moment on her own on the open lawn beneath a dark conifer, bouquet held low, the pink of her gown glowing against all that green. Then we walked them to where the path curves past beds of bright red flowers and let them kiss at the bend, small in a wide frame so the garden could show off. On a path under the trees they walked away from us hand in hand, and further along, with the sun breaking through the canopy behind them, they stopped and turned to face each other. Curving paths give you leading lines for free.

Speeches from the verandah

Back at home the reception began as the light faded. The speeches came from the verandah, an older guest reading from his notes into the microphone with Ellen beside him, glass in hand, while everyone below raised theirs and laughed. Another speaker followed and the cheers kept coming. Ellen and Robert stood together on the verandah with their drinks, taking it all in. Inside, pink roses and eucalyptus sat on a table against a curtain of fairy lights, and out on the lawn Ellen gathered her friends for a frame, all pale lace, florals and big smiles.

Eucalyptus and festoon lights

Their first dance happened under a canopy of hanging eucalyptus branches, with friends lined up along the lattice, phones out. An older couple danced with the baby held between them, and the cake came out, semi-naked with a peach rose. Festoon lights strung over the yard turned the whole back garden into a dance floor. One guest danced with a sprig of eucalyptus between her teeth, Ellen hugged a friend who was holding her bouquet, and we finished with the two of them under the festoon lights by the verandah: a quiet portrait at the end of a very full day.

Photographer's venue notes

Canterbury Gardens, Canterbury: an hour of low golden light between a home ceremony and a garden party

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Slipping away for an hour

Ellen and Robert married at home and came to Canterbury Gardens purely for portraits, leaving their guests behind with a drink. That made the gardens a breather in the middle of a very social day. With only an hour, we kept the walk simple: a loop from the big spreading trees on the lawns, past the brick cottage and the conifers, to the curving path by the flower beds and back along the shaded walks. Each spot sat a few steps from the last, so the hour went on portraits, not on walking.

Sun low and behind them

The sun was already low when we arrived, slipping sideways between the trunks, and that set the plan for every frame. We kept it behind Ellen and Robert as often as we could, so her pale pink tulle and the edges of her roses lit up rather than flattening out. Under the canopy the light broke through in bright flares, which we saved for the kiss on the narrow path. Out on the open lawn their long shadows stretched across the grass, and a higher angle made those shadows part of the picture.

Colour from the beds and trees

Ellen’s soft pink gown loved the deep greens here. A drooping conifer gave her a dark, feathery backdrop for her solo portraits, with red and yellow blooms along the path adding warmth. The red timber bench beside an ornate black lamp post made a sweet seated frame, and a shaded path lined with purple flowers gave us a walking shot with both of them looking back over their shoulders. When we wanted scale, we stepped away from an enormous spreading conifer and let them sit tiny beside its trunk.

Tips for portraits away from a home wedding

If you marry at home, a nearby public garden like this gives you open lawns and big old trees that a backyard rarely can. Keep the gardens session to about an hour and set it for the end of the day, when the sun is low. Bring the bouquet, leave the bridal party with the guests and let us lead the walk. For a gown with a train, ask your partner to gather it on the lawns, as Robert did, because grass and fallen leaves love to cling to a long hem.

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