Pyjamas and lace sleeves
The morning started with Jessica’s gown standing on a dress form by the window and her bridesmaids dancing around her in matching pink satin pyjamas. Then the lace went on: off-the-shoulder, long sleeves and a full tulle skirt. A loved one placed a sparkling hair vine in her curls while another in navy helped with the last buttons, both of them grinning. Her bouquet was deep red and white roses with eucalyptus, and the bridesmaids changed into burgundy off-shoulder gowns. White walls and big windows kept every frame clean and bright.
A red rose on a black lapel
David got ready at Burnham Grove Estate, and we found him in the garden fixing his cufflinks with a red rose on his black lapel. A classic black tuxedo and bow tie look sharp against clipped green hedges, because the dark suit and the green never fight each other. He stood on the gravel path with a groomsman, both trying to look serious and failing, and then his family arrived for photos among the hedges. Jessica, meanwhile, arrived by car, quietly reading a card on the back seat with a soft smile.
Through the hedge arch
The ceremony was in a garden enclosed by tall hedges, with a timber arbour dressed in red and white roses at the end of the lawn. A flower girl in white walked in between two little pageboys in bow ties, very serious about the job. Then Jessica’s dad led her through an archway cut into the hedge, and we stood at the far end with a long lens so the green arch framed them like a doorway. At the arbour he shook David’s hand, and David laughed, beaming at Jessica.
Songs and umbrellas
A guitarist and two singers performed beside a hedge, and a reading followed. Then the rain arrived. Out came the umbrellas, and the ceremony simply carried on: Jessica and David sat together at the front under a black umbrella, guests huddled in pairs under theirs, and David held an umbrella over the register while they signed, both laughing. Rain gives soft, even light, so we kept shooting and loved it. Their kiss at the arbour happened under a sea of umbrellas, and two guests under bright blue and red ones could not stop laughing.
Clear umbrellas at the homestead
After the ceremony we gathered the families on the verandah of the old brick homestead, in front of a pair of white wicker peacock chairs and a bed of white roses, all dry under the roof. The bridesmaids cheered under a white pergola with their bouquets in the air. Then the whole wedding party took clear umbrellas out onto the gravel in front of the homestead, with its striped awnings behind them, and danced through the drizzle. Clear umbrellas are our favourite rainy-day prop: you can still see every face.
A kiss by the fountain
The garden fountain was running and the rain had eased to a drizzle, so we brought Jessica and David to the edge of the pool under one clear umbrella. He held her close, she laughed into his shoulder, and we moved in tight for a cheek-to-cheek frame with raindrops on the umbrella above them. Wet gravel, green hedges and white lace are a lovely mix on an overcast day. Then they walked hand in hand along the drive, Jessica lifting her skirt out of the puddles, before heading on to The Woodlands for the reception.
Faces pressed to the glass
At The Woodlands the tables were set with white linen and a three-tier white cake with deep red flowers. Before the entrances, Jessica and the bridesmaids pressed their faces to the glass of the door, pulling faces at the guests, and we shot it from the inside. The family and wedding party danced in one pair at a time: loved ones waving their arms, groomsmen strutting, bridesmaids flipping their hair. Then Jessica and David burst in together, pointing at the room, and the whole floor stood up to clap and dance.
Balcony groups and speeches
The room has tall windows with timber frames looking straight out into the bush, and a long balcony that suited one big group photo with the trees behind. We went up high to fit everyone in, with a loved one in a wheelchair right at the front. Back inside, a bridesmaid in burgundy gave a speech at a clear lectern, and Jessica took the microphone too. For The Woodlands wedding photos, the windows matter: during the speeches they lit faces with soft daylight, so we placed ourselves with the glass beside us rather than behind the speaker.
Fog, napkins and sparklers
When the dancing started, an older guest leapt into the middle of the room waving a white napkin over his head, and the floor exploded. The first dance happened in a cloud of low fog, with fairy lights blurring into soft circles behind them, so we used a long lens and let the background melt. The night finished outside, where the guests formed a long tunnel with sparklers, and Jessica and David ran through it with their arms in the air. It was the perfect end to a rainy, joyful day.
