Adelaide Botanic Garden

The Adelaide Botanic Garden sits at the east end of North Terrace, a short walk from the middle of the city, and it has nine places to get married. They range from a small covered rotunda for a handful of people to open lawns for a big crowd, with Araucaria Avenue and its tall pines the one we know best. Weddings here are run by Blanco Weddings, who also manage the Rose Garden Pavilion marquee for receptions, and the garden's heritage buildings, glasshouses and paths give you a full portrait session within a few minutes' walk of the ceremony.

This guide follows the day in order, the way we photographed Eli and Charlotte's wedding here: where to get ready, the ceremony sites and how bookings work, the portrait spots, the reception options, how their day ran, what to do when it rains and the garden's rules.

Getting ready nearby

There are no rooms in the garden, so couples get ready somewhere else and arrive dressed. The garden is at the edge of the CBD, and a directory notes that plenty of city hotels are close by; we found no partner hotel. No vehicles may drive into the garden, wedding cars included, so plan the last part of the arrival on foot from a gate, with someone carrying an umbrella if the sky looks doubtful.

Our photographs of Eli and Charlotte's day begin with the guests arriving across the lawns, so we can't show you where they got ready.

Ceremony sites in the garden

Blanco lists nine ceremony sites and reviews the list every year. It can also move a ceremony for safety or to protect the garden.

• Araucaria Avenue. An avenue of tall araucaria pines on a gentle slope, which Blanco describes as hoop pines, with views across the gardens. Eli and Charlotte married in the clearing at its end.
• The Summerhouse. A historic covered rotunda near North Terrace, with five lawn areas around it.
• The Barber Shop. A small covered rotunda near the wisteria arbours, for very small ceremonies.
• The Palm House Lawn. A large lawn in front of the heritage-listed Palm House, suited to big groups.
• The Cycad Collection. A sloping lawn under a Kauri pine, looking over the Main Lake.
• The International Rose Garden. For large or small groups. The marquee stands here too, and the 2026 to 2027 map marks it for the marquee only, so check whether it is open for ceremonies on your date.
• The North Lodge Lawn. Beside First Creek, near the Friends' Gate.
• The Economic Garden. A formal garden with a fountain.
• The Sunken Garden. Small and private, with succulents and ponds overlooking the wetlands. The path down to it is steep.

The 2024 to 2025 ceremony package allows up to 500 guests, without a published limit for each site. Sites are hired for two hours: the booking starts 30 minutes before the ceremony and must finish 30 minutes before the garden closes. It is a public garden, so you don't get it to yourselves, and other weddings or visitors may be nearby.

Eli and Charlotte's ceremony was in the clearing at the end of Araucaria Avenue, with two curved blocks of white folding chairs on the lawn and an aisle of grass between them. It rained from the moment the guests arrived. The bridal party stood under clear umbrellas, a bridesmaid held one over Charlotte for the vows and the celebrant held one over both of them for the rings. They signed the register at a small round table with a white cloth, right beside the ceremony spot.

Portraits around the garden

The garden puts a lot within a short walk, and each spot looks completely different:

• Araucaria Avenue and the clearing. The pines make a tall green backdrop for group photographs. We photographed Eli and Charlotte's family, everyone together and the bridal party here, straight after the ceremony.
• The Museum of Economic Botany. A pale building with tall columns and stone steps, and a deep doorway that frames a couple beautifully, out of the rain.
• The garden paths. A path under an arch of trees, dark and quiet as the light fades.
• The Palm House. The heritage glasshouse and its steps. In the rain the paving in front of it turns into a mirror; it was our last stop with Eli and Charlotte.
• The Bicentennial Conservatory. Entry comes with the photography permit if it is requested.
• The wisteria arbours, the Economic Garden fountain, the Main Lake, First Creek, the Rose Garden and the bamboo. Blanco names all of them as photo spots; the Rose Garden is at its best when the roses are out.

Allow at least an hour for family, bridal party and couple portraits if you want two or three of these spots. Keep an eye on the closing time, which comes early in winter.

Reception in the Rose Garden Pavilion, or across town

The garden has one reception option of its own, the Rose Garden Pavilion: a marquee in the International Rose Garden for up to 250 guests, with a timber floor, a dance floor, a canopy of fairy lights, ducted air conditioning and an outdoor cocktail area with a bar and umbrellas. The package is based on a minimum of 120 guests and five hours of venue hire. Blanco's documents give its size two different ways, so ask for the floor plan. Blanco holds the exclusive catering rights in the garden. Candles are allowed inside the marquee; sparklers are not, and amplified music during opening hours needs the Board's approval.

Blanco also runs receptions outside the garden, at the SA Museum, Adelaide Town Hall and The Sanctuary. Marrying in the garden and celebrating somewhere else in the city works well too. Eli and Charlotte went on to Woodville Town Hall: a long bridal table in front of the stage with white cloths, greenery and candles, round tables for the guests, fairy lights strung across the hall, and a three-tier white cake in front of white drapes.

A day at Adelaide Botanic Garden, hour by hour

The files from Eli and Charlotte's day carry no capture times, so here is the order it ran in, with the garden's own timings around it:

• Thirty minutes before: the two hour site booking begins, and the chairs go out on the lawn.
• Arrival: guests cross the lawns under umbrellas, and the groomsmen greet family under the pines.
• The ceremony: the bridesmaids, then Charlotte on her father's arm with three flower girls carrying her train; the vows and the rings under clear umbrellas, and the kiss.
• Straight after: the signing at a small round table beside the ceremony spot.
• Congratulations: hugs and laughter on the lawn, every guest under an umbrella.
• Group photographs: family groups, one photograph of everyone, then the bridal party in the clearing.
• Portraits: the pines, the doorway of the Museum of Economic Botany, a garden path and the Palm House as the light faded.
• The evening: the reception at Woodville Town Hall, with speeches, the shoe game, the cake and dancing.

All of the ceremony and the group photographs fit inside the two hour booking. Couple portraits can run on afterwards, as long as you finish before the garden closes.

If it rains

Rain is the one thing to plan for at an outdoor garden ceremony. The Summerhouse and the Barber Shop are covered rotundas, and instant marquees and umbrellas can be hired through Blanco for the open sites. Aisle carpets may be taken up in bad weather. Under the 2024 to 2025 terms, part of the cost is refunded only if the garden closes because of the weather, so a wet day alone isn't grounds for a refund.

Eli and Charlotte's day was wet from start to finish, and the umbrellas were up before the first guest sat down. Clear umbrellas made all the difference: they kept everyone dry without hiding faces, and they gave us the frames people remember from that wedding. If you are marrying in the garden, have a box of them ready whatever the forecast says. The museum's deep doorway and the Palm House entrance are good places for portraits when it is pouring.

Practical notes

• Opening hours. The garden's own site lists closing at 6.30pm from October to March and 5.30pm from April to September. Blanco's 2024 to 2025 package lists later summer closing times, so confirm the time for your date, especially for a late ceremony in winter.
• Getting there. The Botanic Gardens tram stop is a short walk from the Main Gate. There is ticketed parking on Plane Tree Drive and Hackney Road, paid by card from 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and free on Sundays and public holidays.
• Vehicles. No vehicles inside the garden, wedding cars included, and fines apply. Deliveries come in only under conditions and may need permits.
• Accessibility. Wheelchair access from every gate except the Hackney Gate, mostly paved paths with some gravel, free wheelchairs to borrow if booked ahead, and a Changing Places toilet that needs an MLAK key. The Sunken Garden path is steep.
• Rules. No confetti, rice, petals or balloons. Nothing attached to plants or structures, no pegs or spikes, and stay out of the garden beds. No drones. Visitors can't bring their own alcohol; drinks come through Blanco.
• Photography permit. Any paid photographer needs a commercial wedding photography permit from Blanco, including for engagement sessions. The photographer applies at least five business days ahead, the permit arrives by email the day before, and it isn't refunded for weather. Each ceremony package includes one.
• Holding a date. The ceremony terms hold a tentative booking for 14 days and the 2026 to 2027 reception package for five working days, so ask which applies to you.