Kim & Ben: A Wedding at The Lane Vineyard, Hahndorf

Kim and Ben had been together for twenty years when they married on Valentine's Day 2026, at The Lane Vineyard just outside Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills. It was a clear, hot summer afternoon, and they kept the day close: a ceremony at the estate's Boatshed over the pond, drinks and family photographs on the deck, a walk around the water in the late sun and dinner at one long table in the restaurant.

Red roses ran through all of it. Kim walked in holding one, a boy held one when she hugged him during the ceremony, and single roses stood in bud vases along the dinner table that evening.

Twenty years, and a sign at the top of the path

The welcome sign stood at the top of the path, with the Boatshed among the trees below it, and it said it simply: twenty years. It also told guests to ask the staff for directions down to the water. By the time we started, everyone had found their way and taken a seat under the vine-covered pergola, and Ben was waiting at the front of the deck beside the woman holding the microphone. There was no getting ready to photograph on this day. It began with the guests in their seats and the pond shining in the afternoon sun.

A welcome sign for Kim and Ben’s day, marking twenty years together

Walking in with the boys

Kim walked down the gravel path beside the pond with a boy on each side of her, past a stone wall and the trees along the water, a single red rose in her hand. She wore a white off-the-shoulder dress with a sheer layer over the top, a wide white hat with a birdcage veil and a small white bag on her wrist. From the far bank you could see the whole Boatshed across the pond while she walked: the guests seated under the vines and Ben in his check suit and burgundy tie at the front, waiting for her.

Kim walking along a garden path beside the dam with two boys in blue and white shirts, red-leaved trees on one side

Kim walking down the gravel path with a red rose, a boy on either side of her and autumn trees behind

A boy in a white shirt standing at the high table in the Boatshed, autumn trees behind him

Vows at the Boatshed

Kim and Ben stood hand in hand at the front of the deck, beside one of the Boatshed's timber posts, with the pond behind them. A woman in a pink floral dress spoke into the microphone at a wine barrel that served as the ceremony table, and a woman in burgundy stood beside her holding a red rose. Two tall glass vases of green stems marked the front of the deck. Under the iron roof the ceremony sat in soft shade while the sun hit the water outside. A boy in a white shirt leaned on the high table at the back, one guest smiled from the shade and an older guest in pearls listened closely. Ben read his vows from his phone, so the whole deck could hear him. Then Kim read hers from a card, and Ben listened with her rose in his hand.

Black and white photo of Kim and Ben holding hands beside a timber post of the Boatshed, Kim in a wide hat with a rose

Kim, in a wide-brimmed hat, holding a red rose and Ben’s hand beside the pond

A woman in a floral dress speaking into a microphone at a wine barrel beside a woman holding a red rose

A guest smiling as she watches the ceremony from the shade of the Boatshed

An older guest in pearls listening to the ceremony, vines and the pond behind her

Ben saying his vows into a microphone as Kim listens beside him

Kim reading her vows into a microphone as Ben listens with a red rose in his hand, the pond behind them

Kim beaming as she holds Ben’s hands on the deck, the pond and gum trees behind them

Roses, rings and a kiss

Then came a moment with the roses. Kim and Ben held a single rose between their hands, and Kim bent down in her wide hat to hug a boy who was holding a red rose of his own. The rings followed: Ben smiled as he slid Kim's onto her finger, and Kim held up Ben's between her fingers with a grin before it went on. They stood holding hands over the water for a second, and then Ben took Kim's face in his hands and kissed her, the pond behind them, while their family cheered. Kim was beaming when they turned around, still holding on to both of Ben's hands.

Black and white close up of Kim and Ben’s hands around a single red rose

Kim in her wide hat hugging a boy who holds a red rose, autumn trees across the pond

Ben smiling as he slides a ring onto Kim’s finger beside the pond

Close up of Kim holding up a ring while Ben holds her other hand

Kim smiling up at Ben with a ring between her fingers as they hold hands by the water

Ben holding Kim’s face as they kiss at the end of the ceremony, the pond behind them

Kim laughing at the signing barrel on the deck with two women, Ben and a man in a dark suit

Signing and hugs

They signed at the same wine barrel, and the signing turned into a fit of laughter, with two women, Ben and a man in a dark suit gathered around the folder. Another kiss followed at the barrel, with a boy and his rose in the foreground. While the guests waited their turn, we took Kim and Ben to the edge of the deck for a few quiet minutes by the water: Kim with her eyes closed as Ben leaned in close, then a black and white frame of her in the wide hat with her rose. Back inside the Boatshed, Ben pulled an older man into a hug while friends smiled around them.

Kim and Ben kissing at the end of their ceremony beside the water

Kim with her eyes closed as Ben leans in close beside the pond, a red rose in her hand

Black and white photo of Kim in her wide-brimmed hat holding a single rose, Ben beside her

Ben hugging an older guest inside the Boatshed while friends smile around them

Everyone on the deck

Then everyone crowded onto the deck for one photograph together. We took it from the far bank, across the pond, so the whole Boatshed fitted in the frame: the roof grown over with vines, the timber deck standing out over the water, the reeds along the bank and the guests squeezed in around Kim and Ben in the low sun. Straight after it, the whole deck cheered. It is the photograph that shows best what the Boatshed is, a small, shaded deck right on the water with room for the people who matter most.

Kim, Ben and their guests gathered on the Boatshed deck over the water, seen from across the pond

Close up of Ben’s and Kim’s hands resting together, both wedding rings showing

Family in the corner by the barrel

Drinks came out on the gravel courtyard by a dry-stone wall, and Ben did the rounds. Kim took off her hat for this part of the afternoon and wore the birdcage veil on its own, her hair down, a red rose tied with a ribbon in her hand. Family photographs followed in the corner of the deck by the barrel, willows and pond behind. Between the posed frames came the other kind: Kim between two friends, one resting her head on Kim's shoulder, her cheek on a smiling boy's head, a laugh up at Ben, a hug for the woman in the pink floral dress and a happy tear wiped away between Ben and a woman in blue. Ben stood with an arm around each of the two boys, and the last frame was Kim and Ben with the boys and a young woman in burgundy.

Ben chatting with guests holding drinks on the gravel beside a dry-stone wall

Kim in a birdcage veil holding a red rose tied with a ribbon, the pond and willows behind her

Kim between two women by the wine barrel on the deck, one resting her head on Kim’s shoulder

Kim resting her cheek on the head of a smiling boy in a blue shirt on the deck

Kim laughing up at Ben by the wine barrel, a red rose in her hand

Kim smiling as she hugs a woman in a floral dress, Ben looking on beside the deck

Kim and Ben sharing a kiss beside a wine barrel at the edge of the pond

Kim wiping away a tear between Ben and a woman in a blue dress under the Boatshed roof

Ben touching the rose in Kim’s hand as they talk under the vines of the Boatshed

Black and white photo of Kim and Ben in silhouette, framed in a doorway

Black and white photo of Ben with an arm around each of two boys on the deck

Kim and Ben on the deck with a young woman in a burgundy dress and two boys

Kim and Ben standing together on the lawn by the pond in the late sun, their long shadows on the grass

Golden hour on the far bank

Late in the afternoon the light dropped low and warm across the pond, and Kim put her hat back on for a walk with Ben around the water. On the far bank, with the Boatshed across the pond behind them and tall reeds at their feet, she looked up at him with a handful of red roses. They smiled at each other in the golden light and stood together on the lawn while their shadows stretched long across the grass. Then the two of them walked the track around the pond, back towards the courtyard and the white umbrellas, before heading up the boardwalk to the restaurant.

Kim in her wide hat looking up at Ben on the bank of the pond, the Boatshed across the water behind them

Ben and Kim smiling at each other on the bank of the pond in golden late afternoon light

Dinner at one long table

Dinner was at one long table down the middle of the restaurant, with glass walls on every side and the evening sun coming in across the room. The wine was poured, plates of bread went around and single red roses stood in bud vases between the glasses. Kim and Ben sat together with a rose in front of them, smiling at the people who had been with them through those twenty years. Kim still had her hat on, and when someone at the table made her laugh, she threw her head back with a glass in her hand.