Porscha & Jordan: A Castle Wedding at The Manor

Porscha and Jordan came to us after days of searching for photographers whose work matched the look they had in mind: dark, moody and cinematic, with plenty of black and white. Their venue could not have suited it better. The Manor in Basket Range is a stone castle in the Adelaide Hills, modelled on England's Warwick Castle, with battlements, woodland paths and a tiny copper-roofed chapel in the garden. They married there in the middle of winter, on a grey July day that kept threatening rain and, in the end, delivered it.

Black and white close up of hands lacing up the back of Porscha’s gown

Getting ready

We arrived early to walk the rooms and the grounds before anything started, so we knew where the light would be when we needed it. The last of the getting ready was under way: the laces at the back of Porscha's gown pulled tight one by one, the tiara set in place, a quiet minute on her own in a doorway with the grey light behind her. Down the hall, the groomsmen were doing up their jackets by the windows.

Black and white photo of Porscha in a tiara leaning in a doorway and looking out

One of the men in a dark green suit, smiling by the window as they get ready

Porscha stepping out of a narrow stone archway on the castle terrace for the first look

A first look on the battlements

Porscha and Jordan wanted to see each other before the ceremony, away from everyone. Jordan waited at the castle wall, looking out over the hills. Porscha stepped out of a narrow stone archway, crossed the terrace and reached for his shoulder, and he turned around. It was just the two of them, the battlements and the bare winter trees of the hills below.

Porscha reaching for Jordan’s shoulder on the castle terrace before he turns around for the first look

Porscha and Jordan holding hands at their first look beside the castle wall

Porscha and Jordan close together in a dark corner of the garden, ferns and dried flowers around them

Around the castle

From there we went straight into portraits while the light held. The stone courtyard beneath the battlements, under a heavy sky, was made for black and white. Porscha twirled across the flagstones, and we found the two of them a deep stone archway to stand in and a dark corner of the garden full of dried flowers and ferns. The Manor puts all of that within a few minutes' walk, which is why we could move so quickly.

Porscha and Jordan standing together in a deep stone archway in the castle walls

Porscha and Jordan small in the stone courtyard beneath the castle’s battlements and arched windows

Black and white photo of Porscha and Jordan in the stone courtyard of The Manor, its battlements against a stormy sky

Porscha in her veil among tall dried flowers in the garden, looking into the camera

Porscha in a long-train gown standing in a leafy autumn garden

Jordan twirling Porscha in the stone courtyard in front of the ivy-covered castle

Private vows

Before any guests arrived, Porscha and Jordan read each other their private vows under the white pergola in the garden, with nobody else listening. By the end Jordan was wiping away tears. They are some of our favourite frames from the whole day, because nothing about them was for an audience.

Jordan wiping away tears as Porscha finishes her private vows

Black and white photo of Porscha smiling beside Jordan in the garden

The quiet light inside

Back indoors, the tall windows gave us the softest light of the day. Porscha stood at a window with a glass of champagne, then at a long mirror with her gown's laced back to the camera, and she laughed her way through a few close portraits under her tiara. Out on the stone stairs she glanced back over her shoulder, the veil trailing behind her.

Black and white photo of Porscha at a tall window, her gown’s laced back to the camera and her reflection in a mirror

Black and white photo of Porscha in a tiara holding a glass of champagne by a window

Porscha laughing in her tiara and veil, the garden soft behind her

Porscha glancing back over her shoulder on the stone stairs, her veil trailing behind

Jordan touching Porscha's face among dense green leaves

The woodland and the chapel

The last stop before the ceremony was the woodland path that leads down to the little chapel. Porscha's long train spread across the fallen leaves, the trees closed in overhead, and the chapel sat at the end of it all like something out of a storybook.

Jordan laughing in his black brocade jacket

Jordan kissing Porscha’s cheek on a woodland path, her train spread across the leaves

Porscha’s dad turning around to see her for the first time on the garden path

Two more first looks

There were two more first looks before the ceremony, both of them family. Porscha's dad waited on the garden path, turned around and pulled her into a big hug. Then it was Jordan's turn with his mum, in her red dress, beaming at him.

Porscha hugging her dad at their first look in the garden

Jordan’s mum in a red dress beaming at him during their first look

The flower girl in a pink coat running down the wet stone path

Rain at the chapel

The weather turned just as the guests arrived. They found their seats under clear umbrellas on the shining wet stone beside the chapel, passed the couple's mirrored welcome sign framed in red roses, and didn't seem to mind in the slightest. The flower girl, in a pink coat, ran down the aisle.

Guests sheltering under clear umbrellas as they take their seats by the chapel in the rain

Porscha reading her vows to Jordan beneath the floral arch

The ceremony

Jordan walked down the aisle with his mum on his arm. Porscha followed with her dad, past the guests on both sides, and he gave her away with one more big hug under the white floral arch. Porscha read her vows into the microphone and drew plenty of laughs, the rings went on, and they kissed with her train spread over the wet flagstones.

Jordan walking down the aisle with his mum on his arm

Porscha walking to the ceremony on her dad's arm along the wet stone path, her veil trailing behind

Porscha passing her guests on the way down the aisle with her dad

Porscha’s dad hugging her as he gives her away under the floral arch

Guests laughing in their seats during the ceremony

Porscha laughing as she reads her vows under the arch

Close up of Porscha sliding the ring onto Jordan’s finger

Porscha and Jordan kissing under the floral arch, her long train spread over the stone

Porscha laughing as she signs at the white desk

Signing and bubbles

They signed at a little white desk in front of the stone cottage, laughing with their witnesses, and the drone caught the whole garden from above, the two of them small in the middle of it. Then they walked back out together through a cloud of bubbles and petals, and Porscha raised her bouquet high on the lawn.

Porscha and Jordan smiling at a white desk as they sign the register

Porscha and Jordan laughing with their witnesses while the register is signed

The garden drive and the couple from above, taken by drone

Aerial view looking straight down on Porscha and Jordan on a garden path at The Manor

Porscha and Jordan walking out through a shower of bubbles beneath a floral arch

Porscha and Jordan walking out through their guests in a shower of petals

Porscha raising her bouquet high on the lawn after the ceremony

Jordan dipping Porscha during their first dance on the stone terrace

The reception

The reception tables ran long under candlelight on the covered stone terrace, set with green runners, menus framed in lace and a gold-framed photo of the two of them on every table. The head table stood in front of a giant Poké Ball made of pink and white flowers, and Cass Creates' white cake waited beside it with a black heart on top. Porscha and Jordan made their entrance to cheers, then had their first dance on the stone floor of the covered terrace, finishing with a dip. Jordan danced with his mum, Porscha danced with her dad, and before the night was out their guests were poking their heads through the middle of the Poké Ball.

Long reception tables set with candles, green runners and a gold-framed photo of the couple

Black and white photo of a place card for Porscha beside crystal glasses and a lace-framed menu

The head table in front of a giant Poké Ball made of pink and white flowers, green and peach silk below

Close up of the white wedding cake with pink sugar flowers and a black heart on top

Porscha smiling as she and Jordan make their entrance to the reception

Porscha and Jordan's first dance on the stone floor in front of the flower wall

Jordan dancing with his mum in her red dress

Porscha laughing as she dances with her dad

Porscha and Jordan laughing at the head table in front of the Poké Ball flower wall

Two guests grinning through the centre of the flower Poké Ball

Porscha standing up to give her own speech, one arm raised

Speeches and cake

The speeches had the two of them laughing at the head table, and Porscha stood up to say a few words of her own. Then they cut the cake beneath a stone archway and raised a glass with everyone who had sat through the rain for them.

Porscha and Jordan cutting the cake beneath a stone archway

Porscha and Jordan raising their glasses beside the cake

The edit

Porscha shared a Pinterest board full of high-contrast, darker images, and we edited the whole gallery towards it: deep shadows, rich blacks and a lot of black and white, so the photographs feel as romantic and dramatic as the castle itself.