Cufflinks and cream jackets
Our day started with Callum at a big bright window, fastening his cufflinks while the light came in sideways across his waistcoat. Two loved ones leaned in the doorway laughing, and an older family member got a proper bear hug the moment Callum had his cream jacket on. Then a quiet drink and a big grin from the armchair. Outside, Callum and his four groomsmen lined up under the pergola and then out on the lawn, all cream jackets and black ties. A groomsman cracked up halfway through, so we kept shooting, and that was the frame.
Bubbles in the backyard
Meanwhile, Lauren put her earrings on in a white robe beside her gown, which hung on the door like it was waiting its turn. Then the bridesmaids came outside in matching robes, a bottle was popped and the bubbles went straight up into a blue sky. We stood low so the spray caught the sun against the dark green hedge, which is why it reads so clearly. Back inside, a loved one in a black off-the-shoulder dress gave Lauren a card and a little gift wrapped in pink and silver, and talked her through it with a smile.
A hand over the mouth
Once Lauren was in her gown, two family members came in to see her for the first time. We stood back by the stairs with a longer lens so nobody had to think about us, and it paid off: a hand went straight over a mouth, another went to a heart, right in front of a wall of family photos. Then her four bridesmaids in plum dresses gathered round her on the timber floor. Their bouquets were white and peach roses, and we moved in close for Lauren’s ring against the stems and a sliver of plum dress.
A veil across the deck
Lauren’s long veil needed room, so we took her out onto the timber deck and fanned it right across the boards, with tall poplars and a blue sky above. Early afternoon light is bright, so we kept her face turned away from the sun and let the veil carry the glow. She sat in a wicker chair with her bouquet and a glass of bubbles, then stood by a window holding the veil out wide like wings. An older loved one in a dinner suit kissed her hand before they left, and she laughed at him the whole time.
Down the rose-lined path
At Yarra Ranges Estate the ceremony began at four o’clock, outdoors on the gravel pathway lined with white standard roses. Lauren walked down the aisle on her dad’s arm, and from behind them we could see everything at once: Callum waiting beside an arbour covered in white flowers, his groomsmen in a row and the vines rolling up the hill under white nets. Shooting from behind like that tells the whole story in one frame. Then came the walk back, with petals in the air, Lauren laughing out loud and both their arms up.
Cheese wheels and a crowd
Instead of a cake, Lauren and Callum cut a tower of cheese wheels sitting on a wine barrel under the timber pergola, with the bridal party crowding in around them. Corrugated iron walls, brick floors and string lights make that corner look warm in any light. Then we climbed up high for the whole crowd on the lawn. From above, everyone fits, the vineyard fills the background and the guests get a wave and a cheer in. Family groups came next on the grass in front of the old windmill and the rose garden, quick and relaxed.
Party at the windmill
Our Yarra Ranges Estate wedding photos got loud on the lawn by the windmill. The bridal party lined up, plum dresses on one side and cream jackets on the other, then dissolved into laughing. A groomsman popped a bottle and sprayed it into the air while the bridesmaids threw their bouquets up high. Then Callum scooped Lauren up while his groomsmen hammed it up around them. Big clouds with sun behind them make this kind of frame: we expose for the faces and let the sky go bright. Lauren laughed over her shoulder by a wine barrel, veil trailing on the grass.
Sunset in the vines
Lauren and Callum had planned sunset photos for about half past seven, right before mains, and the timing was perfect. In March the sun drops behind the tall gums early, so the light turns soft and golden across the grass. They walked arm in arm past the windmill, Callum twirled Lauren beside the vine rows and her skirt flared out, and she laughed into his hug. On a gravel track under tall gums we kept them small against the trees, then moved in tight for a forehead touch with the veil glowing behind them, in colour and black and white.
Fairy lights and a first dance
Dinner was in the reception room at Yarra Ranges Estate, where the glass walkway under a grapevine pergola looks straight out to the hills. We put Lauren and Callum at the far end of it as the light went blue. They came into the room with their arms in the air and the guests clapping. After speeches, the first dance ended with Callum lifting Lauren off the slate floor under fairy lights and timber walls. Then everyone joined in: Lauren danced with a bridesmaid, glass in hand, and finished the night up on Callum’s shoulders, one arm reaching for the chandelier.
