Bimbadgen Palmers Lane Wedding

The Leaves and Fishes wedding of Andrea and Mitchell in the Hunter Valley was a beautiful and intimate wedding with some really lovely moments. I love shooting weddings in the Hunter Valley and I particularly love shooting at wedding venues that I have never been to before. So I was really excited to photograph this wedding as I have heard so many good things about this amazing venue.

Leaves and Fishes

Leaves and Fishes is located in Lovedale, right in the heart of Wine Country in the Hunter Valley. It is just two hours from Sydney and just forty-five minutes from Newcastle.

This beautiful property is set overlooking a gorgeous lake and has a luscious natural Australian bush surrounding it. The restaurant and the reception venue have an almost Tropical North Queensland feel to it with some of the huge palm trees and ferns surrounding it.

It first opened in 2004 and has become known for its luxury accommodation and delicious and innovative food. What I also love about this venue is that the whole day from start to finish can happen here. There is accommodation available, and you can do the ceremony the photos and the reception all onsite. So it makes it much easier for you and for your wedding guests.

Wedding Preparation

The bride and groom both got ready in separate properties. The boys got ready at a private property just around the corner from Leaves and Fishes, while the girls did their wedding preparation onsite at Leaves and Fishes.

Leaves and Fishes offers some beautiful and luxurious wedding accommodation called ‘the boathouse accommodation’. There are only four of these private boathouses available. They have their own deck and they overlook a lovely pond. And they are perfect for wedding preparation. This is where Andrea and the girls got ready.

Leaves and Fishes wedding ceremony & photos

The wedding ceremony took place just out the back from the wedding reception in a beautiful garden area surrounded by trees.

After the ceremony, we took some family photos before taking a few relaxed photos around the pond. We chased the setting sun and got some lovely golden light through the trees.

The Wedding Reception

The wedding reception took place at “The House”, which is separate from the main Leaves and Fishes restaurant. There were heaps of laughs, just the right amount of tears and some crazy dancing!

So enjoy this beautiful Leaves and Fishes wedding and I can’t wait to go back there to photograph more weddings at this gorgeous venue.

This Turon Gates wedding in Capertree was such a beautiful and memorable wedding with one of the nicest couples you could ever meet, Jordy & Lachy

This was a DIY wedding to the extreme. Jordy & Lachy did absolutely everything themselves. Well… them and their small army of family and friends. Everything you see in the photos below was brought in by truck by this couple and I really can’t believe how much work they did. And it paid off because the wedding looked amazing!

This beautiful wedding took place in Turon Gates, which is located in Capetree, just over the Blue Mountains. It basically sits between Mudgee, Bathurst, Lithgow and Katoomba. And this place in breathtakingly beautiful.

The original landowners at Turon Gates were the Wiradjuri people prior to white settlement. From the 1950s Turon Gates was the site of a gold rush. With thousands of miners working in the Turon River searching for gold.

To get there, I drove over the Blue Mountains and down into the Capertree Valley which is stunning in itself. Then I took a long dirt road that led me into Turon Gates and through farmlands and up into the mountains. Turon Gates is a huge area, with over 6000 acres. And there are log cabins located along the mountain top that has some of the best views you can imagine.

The Turon Gates wedding venue was located over the mountains and down in another valley and was situated next to the Turon River. Where there were camping facilities, log cabins, the Pavillion and luxury glamping tents. What a location! This was an Aussie bush wedding at its best.

The wedding ceremony took place down on the river bed itself with the sound of the flowing water and check out the amazing wedding arbour.

After the wedding ceremony the couple hung out with their guests for a while and then we drove back up the mountain for some sunset photos.

The wedding reception was outside under festoon and fairy lights with a mobile wood fire pizza oven, caravan bar and lots of casual seating. The Pavilion Tent was used as a wet weather back up and had the food buffet and the dancefloor.

This Turon Gates wedding was so relaxed, informal and totally joyful. I can see this place becoming very popular with couples in the future because it has everything you need for an amazing country wedding. And the location is absolutely stunning!

The Uluru elopement Mary-Anne & Edward was an amazing experience and one that has been on my elopement bucket list for a long time. We actually honeymooned at Uluru and had thought of doing our elopement at Uluru ourselves. So I am so grateful that they trusted me with this really special Uluru elopement.

Uluru is located right in the centre of Australia in the Northern Territory and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is also known as Ayers Rock, a name given by the Europeans in 1873. But Uluru is the Aboriginal name and its official name. It is probably Australia’s most famous and iconic landmark. People come from all over the world to see this amazing, giant stone monolith. Which at 348 metres tall is higher than the Eiffel Tower. It is 600 million years old and is an incredibly spiritual place, particularly to Australia’s indigenous people. And it can be said that Uluru is Australia’s heart.

And it absolutely blows my mind that more people, and yes I mean Aussies, aren’t getting married and eloping in this magical destination.

Uluru is only a three-hour flight from most state capitals. It has heaps of accommodation options, ranging from camping grounds, apartments to five-star luxury and more. It is a great central destination to have your wedding or elopement. So if you are planning a destination wedding, I strongly recommend you short-list Uluru. If you don’t mind a little red dirt on your wedding dress, then Uluru is the ultimate location to have a truly Australian wedding.

Longitude 131 Elopement

Mary-Anne & Edward decided to have their elopement at the luxury desert resort called Longitude 131. It is the premier place to stay at Uluru and is the ultimate in glamping if you can even call it that. Luxury tented pavilions with the most amazing views of Uluru from every room.

I met up with them the day before the elopement at Uluru to have a chat, meet them in person, meet their amazing kids and take a couple of casual photos of them.

The elopement day itself was a beautiful relaxed day at Longitude 131 and was all about their two families coming together as one. A sunset ceremony at ‘The Dune Top’ with 360° panoramic views of Uluru and Kata Tjuta. It doesn’t get any better than that. And it was so wonderful to witness them say their personal vows to each other.

After the ceremony, we popped some champagne and did a few photos around the property. And as the sun fully set they were whisked off to a secluded private dinner just for Longitude 131 guests.

They had travelled from Cairns and I had travelled from Sydney. So we arranged to meet up the following morning for a few photos before we caught our flights back to our home cities. Uluru is a truly amazingly beautiful and spiritual place. I feel so privileged that have been chosen by these guys to photograph their elopement. And I can’t wait to return and explore more of this amazing region of Australia.

Uluru Milky Way

I really wanted to get a night shot of Uluru under the stars. On the night of the elopement, there was actually clouds in the sky… I know it never rains in Uluru and I got clouds. So on the final night, before I left to return home to Sydney, I headed out to a sand dune in the dark and took this panorama photo below. I was just hoping for a clear sky so that I could see the stars. I wasn’t expecting to see the Milky Way like this!

It is actually about 30+ photos, stitched together because you just can’t fit the whole milky way in, in one shot. And the milky way actually went over Uluru like this. It was incredible to witness in person and this photo really doesn’t do it justice. I haven’t photoshopped the milky way from somewhere else and put it in this photo.

And while taking this photo in the pitch black, I swear I could hear a Dingo sniffing around in the bushes not too far from me… but it was totally worth it for this Uluru elopement!

“In one word, amazing!
We love them all and the variety and quality of the shots is just what we were hoping for. You truly have a wonderful eye and superb skills.”

Mary-Anne & Ed