These days, most of the weddings I shoot tend to go for a 3-4pm ceremony, with a classic dinner reception, followed by partying into the wee hours of the next morning. With Tracy and Steve’s wedding – they decided to do things a little different with a daytime wedding!
Enter – their drop-dead gorgeous, laughter and smile-filled morning ceremony and lunch reception. A daytime wedding is one of my new favourite things.
I loved this decision for a number of reasons. Yes – one of these reasons was because I didn’t find myself driving home in the dark after a long day, as I usually do. But the best thing about their daytime wedding was it felt so much more relaxed, which was super important to Tracy and Steve.
Weddings can be stressful occasions at the best of times. So much rushing around from point A to point B, all the while racing against the dwindling light and the setting sun. By choosing a daytime wedding, we didn’t have to fight against time – we were able to make the most of the daylight hours, and be far more flexible on popping away to do the creative photos. And although it wasn’t one of Tracy and Steve’s priorities, it’s an added perk – going for a daytime ceremony and reception can also keep the cost down.
Let me run you through the wedding day timeline for this beautiful occasion. Then I promise to share even more stunning photos with you!
9.30am
I started with Tracy, spending about an hour capturing her bridal preparation, through to the final touches and first look with her parents. As she and Steve decided not to have a bridal party, the time it took to get ready was shorter. So no early starts required!
10.30am
I then made my way up to their wedding venue, Gear Homestead, to capture Steve’s final preparations. This included putting together their wedding cake (which he had made) and spending some time with his daughter and greeting the guests as they arrived.
11am
Tracy made her grand entrance just after 11. They then had their ceremony on Gear Homestead’s side lawn, which was a perfect spot tucked away from the Wellington wind.
12pm
After their love-filled ceremony, which was conducted by one of my favorite celebrants Rachel Dudfield, and included so many lovely personal touches from friends and family. We then took some time to capture Tracy and Steve with their family. After which we snuck away to do some creative photos in the beautiful gardens surrounding Gear Homestead.
1.30pm
Tracy and Steve wanted to keep their lunch reception low-key and small. So they made the decision to invite just close family and friends, keeping the numbers to about 40 guests. For them, this meant plenty of time to catch up with each of their guests. For me, it meant plenty of opportunities to capture photos of everyone enjoying themselves, with lots of room to move in Gear Homesteads upstairs reception room. Another advantage of having a daytime wedding is that a lunch reception takes a lot less time. And usually people aren’t quite as hungry, and you can have fun planning a menu filled with smaller tasty dishes and canapes.
2.30pm
After lunch and a few short speeches, it was time to cut the amazing carrot cake that Steve had made, before everyone said their goodbyes. But not before we snuck in another quick shoot with Tracy and Steve to make the most of the beautiful afternoon light!
So there you have it! Tracy and Steve’s beautiful daytime wedding at Gear homestead was done and dusted in six short hours, where most evening weddings last well over 10 hours. Short, sweet and simply perfect – what more could you want from your wedding day?
As always you can click here to check out my Facebook page, and here to find out more about my wedding photography.
And, as promised – keep scrolling to check out their daytime wedding day images….
