Lauren + Lindsay: A Relaxed St Leonards Vineyard Wedding Near Rutherglen
There is a lot to love about a wedding that knows exactly what it wants to be.
No enormous production. No disappearing for hours for photographs. No need to turn the day into something it isn't.
Just your favourite people, somewhere beautiful, good food and wine, and enough room in the day to actually enjoy being married.
Lauren and Lindsay’s wedding at St Leonards Vineyard near Rutherglen was exactly that.
When Lauren first contacted me, she described what they were planning as a “very relaxed, intimate wedding” of around 60 people.
And that is exactly how it felt.
Beautifully thought out, personal, full of family and wonderfully unfussy.
A vineyard wedding that still feels like the Australian bush
St Leonards is one of those North East Victorian wedding venues I genuinely love photographing.
There are vines, of course — rows of green disappearing into the landscape — but it doesn't feel like a manicured wedding venue dropped into the countryside.
There are enormous gum trees, bushland, old buildings and the Murray River nearby.
It feels unmistakably Australian.
And importantly, it feels private.
Once everyone has arrived, you can settle in. There isn't the feeling that you have to keep moving people from one destination to another or manufacture a collection of different locations simply for the photographs.
The place itself gives us plenty to work with.
For a photographer, that is rather lovely.
For a couple who actually wants to spend their wedding day at their wedding, it is even better.
Outdoor wedding ceremony at St Leonards Vineyard near Rutherglen
A relaxed daytime wedding
Lauren and Lindsay chose a daytime celebration, with their ceremony beginning at 11.30am.
And yes — we had glorious sunshine.
Photographers spend an awful lot of time talking about golden hour, but the truth is that a wedding doesn't have to be designed around a photographer's favourite light.
The photographs need to serve the wedding.
Not the other way around.
Bright Australian summer light is simply part of the story sometimes. We look for shade when we need it, work with the landscape and allow the photographs to retain the feeling of the day.
And this day felt like summer.
Blue skies. Green vines. Gum trees. Cold drinks. People spilling out onto the lawn.
Exactly as it should.
Their boys were part of the wedding — not an accessory to it
One of my favourite things about Lauren and Lindsay's wedding was watching the four of them together.
Their two little boys weren't being carefully managed around the edges of proceedings so the grown-ups could get on with having a wedding.
They were simply part of it.
There they were during the ceremony.
There they were in Dad's arms.
There they were in the family photographs.
There they were walking back through cheering friends and family after Mum and Dad were married.
Those are often the photographs that become more precious as the years pass.
Little hands.
Little shoes.
The child being held on a hip who will, impossibly, one day be taller than both of you.
Family life doesn't stop because it is your wedding day.
And I don't think your photographs should pretend that it does.
St Leonards Vineyard wedding venue in Wahgunyah near Rutherglen
You don't need hours of photography to tell a story
Lauren and Lindsay only asked me to photograph a small part of their day.
No getting ready photographs.
No enormous shot list.
No marathon portrait session.
I was there for two hours.
And yet within those two hours there was a complete little world to photograph.
The anticipation before the ceremony.
The flowers.
People arriving and finding one another.
Their boys.
The ceremony.
That first kiss.
The confetti.
Family.
Friends.
A walk through the vines.
And those few quiet minutes when I took Lauren and Lindsay away together and the noise of the wedding disappeared for a moment.
Good wedding photography isn't necessarily about having more time.
It is about recognising what matters in the time that we have.
Lauren and Lindsay with their boys during their St Leonards wedding ceremony - there was laughter and a few tears…wedding days can be big for the small people!
Natural wedding photographs don't mean having no portraits
This is something I think couples sometimes misunderstand.
When photographers talk about natural, documentary or candid wedding photography, it can sound as though we hide behind a gum tree all afternoon and absolutely refuse to intervene.
I don't work that way.
Most of the day, I'm watching.
I'm anticipating.
I'm looking for the relationships and little moments happening around me.
But when it is time for a beautiful photograph of the two of you, I will help.
I might find the light.
I might suggest where we walk.
I might make a tiny adjustment.
And then I want you to forget about me again.
Lauren and Lindsay didn't need to perform their relationship for the camera.
They just needed a little space to be together.
That photograph of Lauren looking at Lindsay while he kisses the top of her head?
That's the stuff.
Relaxed wedding portrait down by the river at St Leonards Vineyard
And perhaps that is the secret to a relaxed wedding
Lauren wrote to me afterwards and confessed that parts of the day had actually felt a little chaotic to them and that not everything they'd planned had gone according to plan.
Which made me smile.
Because that is weddings.
Something nearly always moves, runs late, gets forgotten, changes shape or decides not to cooperate.
But she also said:
“I don't think we would have done it any differently.”
And there it is.
A relaxed wedding isn't necessarily one where every single thing runs perfectly.
It is one where perfect was never really the point.
The people were there.
Lauren and Lindsay got married.
Their boys were beside them.
Their family and friends cheered.
The sun shone.
There was food and wine waiting.
And they had the best day.
That sounds pretty successful to me.
Newlyweds Lauren + Lindsay walking through the vines at a Rutherglen vineyard wedding
Planning a relaxed wedding at St Leonards Vineyard or around Rutherglen?
If you are planning a wedding in Rutherglen, Wahgunyah, North East Victoria or somewhere further afield and you're looking at these photographs thinking, yes — that's what we want our day to feel like, then we may be a very good fit.
My approach to wedding photography is relaxed, observant and gently directed when you need me.
I want you to have beautiful photographs.
But more than that, I want you to actually experience the day those photographs are going to remind you of.
You can learn more about my relaxed wedding photography here, or get in touch and tell me what you're planning.
I'd love to hear about it.
Georgie
“Lindsay and I can’t thank you enough for being such a big part of our day. You helped make it so very special for us. I am just so thankful I found you and that you agreed to capture our special day — you truly are so wonderful!”
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