Jessica & Max: A Shaws Road Winery Wedding

Jessica and Max knew exactly the day they wanted: relaxed, romantic and a little rustic, with an intimate ceremony, a big sharing dinner and then a bit of a dance. They love a laugh, and they asked for photographs that felt natural and true to them. Shaws Road Winery, a family farm and winery out among the paddocks at Arthurs Creek, was the right place for all of it, and they married there on a Friday afternoon at the end of March 2026.

Autumn gave them a grey, soft sky from the first frame to the last. The light stayed even all afternoon, gentle on faces and kind to the green of the vines and the hills.

A woman in a red floral dress pinning a white rose buttonhole onto Max’s jacket

Max and the boys

Everyone got ready on the farm. Max and his friends had one of the farm's brick apartments among the gum trees, with a timber balcony looking out over rounded hedges and paddocks. A woman in a red floral dress pinned a white rose buttonhole onto his jacket. A baby boy in a waistcoat and bow tie, who was with Jessica and Max for the whole day, lay on the bed while Max leaned over to kiss him, then got passed from one of the men to the next. Out on the balcony, Max and two friends clinked beer bottles with the gums and the hills behind them.

Max, dressed for the day, leaning over to kiss a baby boy lying on the bed

Max and two friends clinking beer bottles on the balcony, gum trees and hills behind them

Black and white photo of Jessica looking out of the window while her dress is laced up

Jessica gets ready

Jessica's room had dark walls, a timber ceiling and a tall window hung with sheer curtains, and her gown was hanging in it. She smiled at it in her white robe, and cuddled the baby before anyone mentioned the time. Just after three the dress went on: a woman in a floral dress adjusted it, and Jessica looked out of the window while it was laced up at the back. She had a quiet moment on her own by a doorway in her off-shoulder gown, then the women around her came in for the final touches. A look back over her shoulder by the window, the veil fixed into her hair, and one last spray of perfume.

Jessica in a white robe smiling at her gown hanging in the window

Black and white photo of Jessica in her robe cuddling a baby boy

Jessica getting ready while a woman in a floral dress adjusts her gown

Black and white photo of Jessica in an off-shoulder gown looking down beside a doorway

Jessica in her gown surrounded by women helping with the final touches

Jessica looking back over her shoulder in her off-shoulder gown beside a sheer-curtained window

Black and white photo of a woman in a floral top fixing Jessica’s veil into her hair

Black and white photo of Jessica putting on perfume before the ceremony

Jessica’s dad hugging her on the balcony, the vines and hills behind them

Dad on the balcony

The bridal room opens onto a balcony with a black railing, high above the vines and the green hills. That is where Jessica's dad, in his burgundy suit, saw her in her gown for the first time, at 3.35, and wrapped her in a hug. Her mum, in a purple floral dress, joined them for a photograph of the three of them with the vineyard spread out below. A few minutes later, it was time to walk.

Max walking down the grassy aisle between the vines with a woman in a bright floral dress

Down the aisle

While Jessica was on the balcony, the guests gathered on the grass beside the vines and took their seats in white folding chairs, either side of a grassy aisle that ran between the vine rows to a white timber arbour. Max walked down first, arm in arm with the woman in the red floral dress. Then Jessica came down on her dad's arm, with the guests on their feet and smiling, and as she reached the end of the aisle Max pulled her into a hug while the guests filmed it on their phones.

Max hugging Jessica as she reaches him at the end of the aisle, guests filming on their phones

Black and white photo of Jessica smiling at Max over his shoulder during the vows

Vows among the vines

The arbour was trimmed with pink, peach and white flowers, and the celebrant, in a red jacket, read from a folder beside it. There was no bridal party standing up with them, just the two of them with their guests close around. They read their vows from cards into a microphone. Jessica smiled at Max over his shoulder, Max read his while she listened, and in the front row her mum wiped away a tear with Jessica's bouquet in her lap. Further back, a young man held a floral umbrella over the woman beside him as they watched.

Jessica and Max at the white arbour with its pink and peach flowers, the celebrant in red reading beside them

Jessica’s mum wiping away a tear in the front row, the bouquet in her lap

Max reading his vows into a microphone while Jessica listens

A young man holding a floral umbrella over a woman in a bright floral dress as they watch the ceremony

Jessica signing at a round table among the vines while Max smiles beside her

Rings, a kiss and petals

At 4.09 Max slipped the ring onto Jessica's finger, and a minute later they kissed under the arbour. They signed at a small round table among the vines, set with a white cloth, a candle in a glass vase and her bouquet, with their two witnesses beside them and Max smiling the whole time. Then they walked back up the aisle through a shower of petals, Jessica laughing, and kept going, the two of them, down a long grassy row between the vines.

Black and white close up of Max slipping a ring onto Jessica’s finger

Jessica and Max’s first kiss under the arbour, seen from behind the seated guests

Jessica laughing as she and Max walk back up the aisle through a shower of petals

Jessica and Max walking away together down a grassy row between the vines

Family on the farm road

The family photographs happened on the farm road, lined with tall gums. Every guest gathered around Jessica and Max there for one big photograph, waving and cheering with their arms in the air. Back among the vines, the family threw handfuls of petals over the two of them, and Jessica's mum and dad kissed her on both cheeks at once. It all took about a quarter of an hour, and then it was time for the two of them to wander.

All the guests waving and cheering around Jessica and Max on the farm road

Family throwing petals over Jessica and Max among the vines

Jessica’s hand and new rings resting on Max’s lapel

Among the vines

We started the portraits right there in the vine rows. The wind kept lifting Jessica's long veil, and we let it. They clinked glasses between the rows, Max held her close with her head resting on his chest, and he twirled her down the grass. We stopped for her hand and new rings on his lapel, a kiss with the veil trailing behind her, and a walk hand in hand that we kept in black and white.

Jessica’s long veil lifting in the wind as she and Max stand between the vines

Jessica and Max clinking glasses between the rows of vines

Max holding Jessica close among the vines on a cloudy afternoon, her head resting on his chest

Max twirling Jessica between the rows of vines

Jessica and Max kissing among the vines, her veil trailing behind her

Black and white photo of Jessica and Max walking hand in hand between rows of vines

Jessica laughing in her veil beside a pale gum tree

Hedges, hills and the lookout

From the vines we walked up to the rounded hedges, where the wind took the veil right up over them as Max kissed her. At the paddock fence it streamed out with the hills behind, and we caught a kiss under it in black and white. Jessica laughed beside a pale gum, they kissed on the path between the hedges with the farmland beyond, and they held up their rings with cattle grazing in the paddock behind them. The last stop was the gravel lookout under the trees, where they stood nose to nose with the valley falling away behind them.

Jessica’s veil streaming out over the paddock fence as Max smiles, hills behind them

Black and white photo of Jessica and Max kissing under her veil, rolling hills behind them

Jessica and Max kissing on a path between rounded hedges, farmland and hills beyond

Jessica and Max holding up their rings among the rounded hedges, cattle grazing in the paddock behind

Jessica and Max nose to nose at the lookout, the valley falling away behind them

Jessica dancing into the reception with her bouquet raised, Max behind her

Dinner and speeches

The reception room runs along the valley side, with tall black-framed windows over the hills, timber beams, lantern pendants and a brick floor. Their two-tier cake, iced in pink marble with roses, waited on a wine barrel by the window. Jessica danced in with her bouquet held high and Max behind her, and they cut the cake straight away, with a kiss. Dinner ran along the windows as the light faded outside. Then came the speeches: a man in a cream suit whose words had Max wiping his eyes, Jessica's dad with the microphone in his hand and a hug from her when he finished, and Max, with Jessica looking up at him. An older woman in a polka dot dress joined them on the dance floor just before the first dance.

Their two-tier cake with pink marbled icing and roses, standing by a window over the hills

Jessica and Max kissing as they cut their cake on a wine barrel by the window

Jessica’s dad giving his speech beside the long table, microphone in hand

Jessica hugging her dad after his speech

Black and white photo of Max giving his speech as Jessica looks up at him

Jessica and Max with an older woman in a polka dot dress and white cardigan, her arm through Max’s

First dance

At ten past eight their guests made a circle on the brick floor, and Jessica and Max had their first dance in the middle of it, Jessica laughing as Max spun her out, then the two of them dancing close. Jessica danced with her dad, and Max with the woman in the red floral dress. Then Max lifted the baby, in a pair of blue ear muffs, high over his head above the dance floor. A little later Jessica held him by the cream curtain while Max kissed her cheek.

Black and white photo of Jessica and Max dancing close, surrounded by their guests

Jessica dancing with her dad as their guests gather round

Max lifting a baby in blue ear muffs high above his head on the dance floor

Max kissing Jessica’s cheek as she holds a baby boy in front of a cream curtain

The party

The chairs went back against the windows and the dance floor stayed full. At a quarter to ten Jessica threw her bouquet back over her head to the guests behind her. Just after ten Max took a seat on a chair in the middle of the floor and Jessica danced for him, and the guests jumped and cheered around her. At 10.25 everyone went outside into the dark with sparklers, and Jessica and Max walked out through the tunnel of light, Jessica's arm in the air.