Rings on the invitation
Our afternoon at Potters started in the bridal room, where Danielle’s rings sat on a round invitation printed with both their names, tucked in among eucalyptus leaves. Her bouquet of dusty pink roses, white dahlias and trailing greenery lay across the white lounge beside a little gold perfume bottle. We shoot these details first, while the room is still calm and nobody needs us yet. Her gown hung from a tall gilt mirror, and Danielle, in a white robe, reached up to straighten it. White walls and that big mirror bounce soft light all over the room, which is lovely for skin.
Mauve dresses, bouquets up
Then the bridesmaids arrived in mauve and the room got loud. Once Danielle was in her lace-topped gown, we lined everyone up in front of the mirror and asked for bouquets in the air, which turns a stiff group shot into a real laugh every time. Danielle sat back on the lounge with her veil over one shoulder while we moved in close on the lace and the roses. Her dad came in grinning from ear to ear, a loved one in navy lace beamed at her, and a loved one in a white jacket shared a joke that had her in stitches.
Past the LOVE letters
The ceremony was in the wisteria courtyard at four o’clock, under a high frame of green vines, with red brick underfoot and white folding chairs on either side. Guests settled in smiling, and some of the older guests took the front rows. Danielle came in on her dad’s arm, walking past giant marquee LOVE letters at the head of the garden path. We stood well back for that moment so the letters, the vines and the two of them all fitted into one frame. Then we swapped ends to catch her lace-edged veil spilling down the brick aisle behind them.
Laughter under the vines
Joe waited at the far end beside wine barrels and a brick wall dressed with pink and white flowers, and he didn’t stop smiling once Danielle reached him. The vows had the whole courtyard laughing: more than once we turned around to find rows of guests in stitches and clapping. When the rings came out, even the person holding them was laughing. Under a vine canopy the light is soft and even, so we can move around freely and catch faces from any side. At the signing table Joe leant in for a kiss while two loved ones grinned behind them.
A cheer at the gazebo
Straight after, we walked everyone down to the white garden gazebo, a fixture in so many Potters Receptions wedding photos, for the big group photo. The whole crowd squeezed onto the path and lawn in front of it, and on the count of three every arm went up. Then we worked through the family photos one group at a time, with the gazebo’s white posts and timber railing framing every line-up. A gazebo makes family photos easy: it gives each group the same clean background, so the whole set sits well together in an album. The bridesmaids and groomsmen finished the run, lined up in front of it.
Mates on the gravel drive
Next we took the bridal party up the gravel drive under the gums. Danielle raised her bouquet high in the air beside Joe, then the whole group strolled towards us between the grasses and tall trees. Joe’s groomsmen took turns with him, arms over shoulders, and the bridesmaids laughed their way through their own frames in mauve on the brick path. Someone pulled out a phone for a group selfie, so we photographed that too. We stood Joe on his own on a grassy slope for a portrait, one hand in his pocket and his burgundy tie bright against the green.
The old gum and the bridge
With cloud keeping the light soft, Danielle and Joe had the garden to themselves. We found an old gum with a pale, peeling trunk and kept them small at its base, because a tree like that deserves the whole frame. Then they walked hand in hand along a brick path lined with tall grasses while we hung back on a longer lens. On the little bridge near the front of the venue, between old-fashioned lamp posts and a curling copper rail, Joe pulled Danielle in for a kiss. A leafy garden path brought them back towards the reception, smiling, with Joe carrying the bouquet.
Cake on a wine barrel
Inside, the reception was warm and full. Two loved ones, one leaning on a walking stick, posed proudly with the couple on the patterned carpet, and Danielle and Joe cut their cake on a wine barrel against old red brick. At the bridal table the groomsmen sat in white shirts and burgundy ties with a garden waterfall framed in the big window behind them, and the bridesmaids gathered around Danielle for their own table photo. A window like that is worth planning the bridal table around, because it brings the garden into every reception frame, even after the sun has gone.
LOVE in lights
After dark we took them back out to the courtyard, as the couple had asked, and it had changed completely. The LOVE letters were lit up, the brick floor glowed gold and the vines had turned into a dark ceiling. We used the letters as our main light and let everything else fall away. They kissed in front of the letters, then again on a set of garden steps among the plants, and the bridesmaids came out for one more. Last of all, Joe twirled Danielle across the warm brick with her gown flaring out, and that was the frame we had been waiting for.
