Eli & Charlotte: A Rainy Adelaide Botanic Garden Wedding

Eli and Charlotte married under the tall pines of Araucaria Avenue in the Adelaide Botanic Garden, on a grey, wet day that never let up. The rain was already falling as their guests crossed the lawns, so the umbrellas were up from the very first photographs, and by the vows the clear ones were out over the couple. Nobody seemed to mind in the slightest.

Their ceremony was small and personal, the kind of day where every guest is someone who matters to the couple. You could feel it in the way everyone leaned in during the vows, and in the laughter that broke out between the quieter moments. Afterwards we walked the garden for portraits, and then everyone headed across town to Woodville Town Hall for the reception.

Guests arriving with umbrellas behind rows of white folding chairs

Umbrellas on the lawn

The guests came across the open lawns under orange, black and clear umbrellas, past the garden benches and the big old trees, to a clearing at the end of the avenue. Two curved blocks of white folding chairs waited on the grass there, with an aisle of lawn between them and the pines rising all around. Eli and his groomsmen, in black suits, black ties and small white buttonholes, talked under the branches and greeted family as they arrived. Eli hugged a woman in a green lace dress under a clear umbrella. Then the groomsmen lined up at the front with the celebrant, an older man with a black folder and a microphone, hands folded, waiting.

Guests with orange and black umbrellas crossing the lawn beneath the pines

Groomsmen in black suits talking under the pines before the ceremony

Guests with clear and coloured umbrellas walking across the lawn to the ceremony

White ceremony chairs in a clearing at the end of the tall pines of Araucaria Avenue

Black and white wide photo of the groomsmen at the edge of the pine avenue

Eli hugging a woman in a green lace dress under a clear umbrella as the groomsmen wait behind him

Black and white portrait of the groom and his groomsmen lined up on the lawn

Groomsmen standing in a row, hands folded, waiting for the ceremony to begin

A bridesmaid in a blue floral dress walking down the grass aisle

Walking in under the pines

The bridesmaids gathered behind a hedge at the edge of the clearing, then walked down the grass aisle in mismatched pale blue, sage and blue floral dresses, each with a bouquet to match. Charlotte followed on her father's arm. He carried a folded white umbrella, and three flower girls in white tulle held up her long train between them as they passed the guests, who stood under their umbrellas to watch. Charlotte wore a strapless textured gown, with a sheer white scarf tied at her throat and falling down her back, and carried white flowers with touches of blue and long trailing ribbons.

Bridesmaids gathered behind a hedge before walking down the aisle

Charlotte walking down the aisle with her father, who carries a folded umbrella

Charlotte walking in on her father’s arm past the standing guests, three flower girls carrying her train

The celebrant and groomsmen waiting at the front of the ceremony under the trees

Charlotte on her father’s arm while flower girls hold her train

Charlotte holding Eli’s hands under a clear umbrella during the vows

Vows under clear umbrellas

Eli turned around as Charlotte reached the front, and the celebrant beamed beside him. As she took Eli's hands, a bridesmaid opened a clear umbrella over her, and from then on the vows happened under clear plastic, with every face still in view. The bridal party stood behind them under umbrellas of their own, and family stood among the white chairs to watch. There was plenty of laughter. Eli laughed as he held Charlotte's hands, and the celebrant and the groomsmen grinned around them. Then the celebrant took the umbrella himself and held it over the two of them while they smiled at each other.

Eli turning to Charlotte as she reaches the front, the celebrant smiling beside him with his folder

A bridesmaid holding a clear umbrella over Charlotte as she takes Eli’s hands in front of the celebrant

Charlotte smiling at Eli under a clear umbrella, her bridesmaids in blue, sage and floral dresses behind her

Close-up of Eli and Charlotte holding hands as the celebrant reads

Black and white photo of Eli looking at Charlotte during the vows, a groomsman smiling behind him

Eli laughing as he holds Charlotte’s hands, the celebrant and the groomsmen grinning around them

Family and friends standing among the white chairs to watch the ceremony, umbrellas up behind them

Charlotte and Eli smiling at each other under the clear umbrella the celebrant holds over them

Eli kissing Charlotte’s forehead under the pines

Rings and a kiss

The celebrant was still holding the umbrella when Eli took a ring from its box, and Charlotte smiled down at her hand as it went on, then up at Eli. From further back you can see the whole scene at once: the bridal party under a row of clear umbrellas, Eli and Charlotte in the middle with the celebrant, and the pines towering over all of them. Then came the kiss, close, with her arms around his neck under the pine branches, and a kiss on Charlotte's forehead straight after.

Charlotte smiling as Eli takes a ring from its box, the celebrant holding the umbrella over them

Charlotte smiling down at her hand during the ring exchange, Eli and the smiling celebrant beside her

Charlotte smiling up at Eli during the ceremony, bridesmaids behind her

Eli and Charlotte kissing in a close embrace under the pines, her arms around his neck

Signing at the little round table

They signed the register at a small round table with a white cloth, right beside the ceremony spot, with Charlotte's bouquet of white flowers resting in front of them. There was a kiss at the table, her hand on his cheek, and then Eli kissed Charlotte's cheek while she grinned upwards. Before they stood up, the two of them held up their hands to show off their rings, both of them laughing. Around them the guests waited under their umbrellas for their turn to say congratulations.

Eli signing the register at a small round table beside Charlotte, a bouquet of white flowers in front of them

Eli and Charlotte kissing at the signing table, her hand on his cheek

Charlotte grinning upwards as Eli kisses her cheek at the signing table

Eli and Charlotte laughing as they hold up their hands to show their wedding rings

Charlotte laughing with a friend in a cream dress under clear umbrellas after the ceremony

Congratulations in the rain

Once the register was signed, the guests crowded in, every one of them under an umbrella. Charlotte laughed under a clear umbrella as people gathered round her, and laughed again with a friend in a cream dress. Eli and Charlotte each held a clear umbrella of their own as they moved through the crowd, and a man in a dark suit threw an arm around Eli, who couldn't stop grinning. The lawn was soaked and the rain kept coming, and nobody let it slow them down.

Charlotte laughing under a clear umbrella as guests gather round to congratulate her

Eli and Charlotte each under a clear umbrella as they walk among their guests after the ceremony

Eli holding a clear umbrella and grinning with a man in a dark suit who has an arm around him

The bridal party

Family groups and one big photograph of everyone came next under the pines, and then it was the bridal party's turn. They lined up on the lawn, then cheered with their bouquets in the air. Everyone held a clear umbrella over Eli and Charlotte while a bridesmaid crouched down to fix Charlotte's dress, and we finished with the whole bridal party under a canopy of clear umbrellas, laughing together.

The full bridal party lined up on the lawn after the ceremony

Black and white photo of the bridal party cheering with bouquets in the air

Eli and Charlotte with their bridal party on the lawn

The bridal party holding clear umbrellas over Eli and Charlotte while a bridesmaid crouches to fix Charlotte’s dress

Eli, Charlotte and their bridal party under a canopy of clear umbrellas on the lawn

Eli and Charlotte laughing with friends under clear umbrellas after the ceremony

Eli and Charlotte in the columned doorway of the Museum of Economic Botany

Portraits around the garden

Then we took Eli and Charlotte through the garden for portraits, all within a short walk. First, cheek to cheek under the pine branches, her bouquet in hand. Then the Museum of Economic Botany, a pale building with tall columns and stone steps, where Eli dipped Charlotte for a kiss in the dark doorway and the two of them stood looking at each other by the handrail. Further on, a garden path ran under an arch of trees, and they kissed there as the light faded. Our last stop was the entrance of the Palm House glasshouse, where the wet paving held their reflection.

Charlotte and Eli cheek to cheek under the pine branches, her bouquet of white and blue flowers in hand

Eli dipping Charlotte for a kiss in the dark doorway of the Museum of Economic Botany

Charlotte and Eli looking at each other in the doorway of the Museum of Economic Botany, a handrail beside them

Eli and Charlotte kissing in the doorway of the Museum of Economic Botany

Eli and Charlotte kissing on a dark garden path as the light fades

Eli and Charlotte at the entrance of the Palm House glasshouse, reflected in the wet path

Eli and Charlotte cutting their cake in front of white draped fabric

Reception at Woodville Town Hall

For the reception everyone left the garden for Woodville Town Hall. The long bridal table sat on the floor in front of the stage, dressed with white cloths, greenery, candles and a hand-lettered "Just Married" pennant, with round tables for the guests and fairy lights strung across the hall. A man gave a speech into the microphone beside the bridal table while little boys played on the stage steps behind him. Charlotte and Eli sat back to back on two chairs for the shoe game, each holding the other's shoes, hers pale blue. They cut a three-tier white cake with white flowers in front of white drapes, Eli kissed Charlotte's cheek beside it, and later Eli danced with a woman in a dark floral dress under the fairy lights.

A man giving a speech into a microphone beside the long bridal table at Woodville Town Hall, the stage behind

Charlotte and Eli sitting back to back with each other’s shoes in hand, playing the shoe game in front of the bridal table

Guests at round tables watching the cake cutting at Woodville Town Hall

Charlotte smiling as Eli kisses her cheek beside the cake

Eli dancing with a woman in a dark floral dress under the fairy lights of the hall

The edit

Eli and Charlotte came to us wanting a vintage look, and we built the edit around it: grainier textures, lower contrast, soft open shadows and gentle blacks. The grey light under the pines suited it, all dark greens and soft whites. The result feels less like a modern wedding gallery and more like a box of old prints from a family album, which is the feeling they asked for.