Kate and Jack’s Adelaide City Wedding

 Kate and Jack

Adelaide City sets such a scene for a wedding being the city of churches and today’s celebration of Kate and Jack captured by Adelaide photographer Kate Pardey Photography show the atmosphere of Adelaide beautifully.

Kate tells the story of how they came to be. “Although we met a few times while in (different) schools, it wasn’t until university when we found ourselves in all the same classes, and attending the same church, that we really got to know each other. With the encouragement (and sometimes bullying!) of mutual friends, it didn’t take us too long to start dating.”

The bridal party was carefully chosen. “We carefully chose three guys and girls that we knew would love and support us not only on the day, but although throughout our future together. We didn’t realise how much fun they would be when thrown together as a group – that we could spend so much of the day laughing together was a great gift.”

“On the morning of the wedding, I was determined to be as relaxed as possible which translated in my bridesmaids’ minds into playing some classic love-based pop songs while enjoying a glass of champagne and an impromptu dance party. We spent the whole time while we were getting our hair and make-up done busting some (questionable) dance moves while laughing together. It was such a brilliant start to the day!” Kate chose a San Patrick gown.

“Both my brother and my Dad passed away when I was in my teenage years. I wanted them to be a part of the wedding day so a close friend made a tiny two-sided frame with two of my favourite pictures of me with them. This was attached to a ribbon and tied into my bouquet. It was a really lovely way to carry them with me as I took the big step into marriage. Given my Dad couldn’t walk me down the aisle, my younger brother Tom agreed to. Tom knows Jack well and was close with him in school before we even knew each other, so it was lovely to have him be the one to give me away.”

Holy Trinity Church was chosen for the wedding ceremony, Kate remarking, “We were married in Holy Trinity Church Adelaide – a gorgeous old Anglican church in the city. It was particularly special as we attended the church together throughout our dating years and had seen several friends and siblings walk the long aisle before us. We had photos taken in the beautiful grounds of Jack’s old school -Saint Peter’s Boys.”

Kate walked down the aisle to, “A musical arrangement of “Au font du Temple Saint” from ‘The Pearl Fishers”, an opera we saw together when we were dating. It was a fun little quirk that we were able to share together. Jack comes from a musical family so his Dad and older brother agreed to coordinate all of the music for the day. His brother arranged the song I walked down the aisle to while his Dad both organised both the music and the small orchestra for the day, and accompanied the musicians on the church’s grand piano.”

“I have so many lovely little girls in my life and couldn’t bear to select only one or two to be flower-girls so we invited all of them to join in – resulting in 15 flower-girls on the day!”

Guests celebrated immediately following the ceremony with afternoon tea and wedding cake! Kate tells, “We had so many people at the wedding but were limited in the number we could fit into the reception venue so we decided to host a large afternoon tea following the service with lots of food and drinks, where we cut the cake and had a speech from my brother. It was a great way to include as many people as possible.”

Of their photographer, Kate says “Our photographer Kate was just amazing! Throughout the entire process she was so supportive, brimming with creative ideas for the wedding while giving us lots of space to make decisions, always encouraging us to take the time to relax and enjoy each other in what was otherwise be a very busy and stressful period. On the wedding day Kate worked tirelessly to capture the first pictures of the morning preparations in both households through to the departure from the reception. She was always discreet as she took photos capturing many intimate moments of shared joy. “

Continuing with the city celebration, the couple held their reception at Adelaide Festival Centre, Kate explained ” The reception was held in the Lyrics Room of the Adelaide Festival Centre, a long, slender room with large glass windows overlooking Elder Park and the Torrens. Our photographer had some great contacts within the Festival Centre which meant we were allowed to sneak on to the main stage to have some pictures taken against the backdrop of the empty theatre, just 10 minutes before the audience were let in for a concert to be held there that night!”

“We wanted the wedding and reception to be quite traditional but with lots of touches of ‘us’ so we decided to make all of the decorations ourselves. Over the course of our engagement, Kate scoured every op-shop around Adelaide collecting over 100 blue, white and glass vases of every shape. These we filled with an assortment of flowers from a local flower market. Each table at the reception had an assortment of heights and colours with up to 8 vases, along with candles and a vintage photo frame marking the table number. It really added to the intimate feel of the reception venue.”

“Our wedding was made easier by many of our vendors, but none more so than Kane from the Festival Centre. In the early stages of visiting venues we happened across the Festival Centre where we were greeted so warmly as we were shown around the gorgeous site that we both set our hearts on the venue. Given the busy “mad March” festival season of Adelaide, we had some trouble finding a date that would work, and had many nervous back-and-forth email exchanges. Throughout the whole process Kane was helpful and eager to make the Festival Centre work for us – an attitude he continued once we had found a date, and set about planning for the wedding. We would strongly recommend the centre, not only for it’s superb views and excellent hospitality, but also for the outstanding customer service!”

Of their first dance, Kate remembers, “We danced to David Campbell’s version of “The way you look tonight” and although we had had a couple of dance lessons fell hopelessly out of time (fortunately the photos don’t reveal this!)”