A Centennial Vineyards Wedding in the Southern Highlands

On the morning of Adam & Sandy’s wedding, I drove out to Centennial Vineyards alone to walk the grounds and re familiarise myself with the place, check where the light will fall that time of year, which angles and backdrops would work best this time around, as well as what’s changed since my last visit. As a Southern Highlands Wedding Photographer it’s something I do for every Centennial Vineyards wedding I shoot, and it pays off once the day gets underway because once it starts you often get little time to think.

Their morning was split between Mittagong and Bowral, Adam looked very dapper in his suit and Sandy was soon to steal the show in her Moira Hughes dress. The ceremony was held at St Francis Xavier Church in Berrima, and the afternoon and evening unfolded at Centennial Vineyards. On this particular day it was sunny in the morning but the clouds rolled in during the afternoon, no blue sky, no golden hour. If you are imagining this as a bad thing, it most definitely wasn’t, let me explain..

Overcast Isn’t a Setback, It’s Often Better

This is the part most blogs won’t tell you, direct sun on a wedding day can often result in harsh light and unflattering shadows if you don’t shoot in the right orientation or spots. Ultimately you spend the whole day somewhat fighting it. Overcast conditions turn the whole sky into one giant softbox, think even, flattering light in every direction, at any hour. This means at a venue like Centennial Vineyards you can make the most of the surrounding landscape and varying backdrops without being limited because you can shoot in any direction you choose. It can also deepen the colour in your photos rather than a resulting washed-out haze direct sun can often create when you shoot into it. Some of my favourite frames from Adam & Sandy’s day are ones a sunny afternoon never would have given me.

Centennial Vineyards Has More Backdrops Than You Would Expect

It’s not a small venue by any means, and there are so many backdrops you can use for photos, the historic entry stairs leading up to the reception room, the vineyards themselves, textured stone walls, symmetrical gravel paths lined with beautiful gardens, and grassy tree-covered hills to name a few. The best part is that all of these are in close proximity to one another, dotted around the estate, which means the couple is never far from their guests and portraits don’t eat up a big chunk of the day. That always makes the couple feel like they’re still part of their own wedding rather than being shuttled off for an hour of photos while everyone else is having a good time without them.

The Winery Restaurant at Night

By the time Adam & Sandy’s reception really got underway, the big windows that surround the room had gone dark and the day had changed gear. It shifted into a warm and relaxed environment with low reception lighting creating a unique mood. The Sound of speeches soon echoed through the air followed by a generous meal which paired well with the estate’s own Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as it did the rounds. It’s a genuinely good room to shoot in, it doesn’t fight you with mixed colour temperatures or awkward down-lights the way a lot of function rooms do.

What Adam & Sandy Loved About the Day

What came up again and again talking to them was how different each part of the day felt, a relaxed morning, a formal church ceremony, then an afternoon and evening of celebrations at Centennial Vineyards. Neither of them had planned around the weather forecast, and by the end of the day they didn’t need to, the vineyard looked just as good under grey skies as it does in every sunny photo you’ve seen of the place.

Check out the images below to see how incredible Sandy & Adam’s Centennial Vineyards wedding really was!