Hunter Valley elopement photographer: Just the two of you
A Hunter Valley elopement is the two of you, a celebrant and two witnesses, somewhere that means something to you: a row of vines at sunrise, a sandstone church in Wollombi, the beach at Merewether before the swimmers arrive. We photograph it with the same care as a day for two hundred.
Small on purpose
Eloping isn't a wedding with the guests left off. It's a different day: no seating plan, no speeches, no getting everyone in the one place at the one time. That leaves room for things a big wedding can't do, like a ceremony at sunrise on a Tuesday, or a lookout you have to walk twenty minutes to reach.
It's photographed differently too. With nobody else to look after, we spend the whole time on the two of you, and the pictures are closer, quieter and more about the place than a wedding gallery ever is.
Two hours with Nell
Enough for the ceremony, the signing, a walk and the light at the end. Add an hour if there's a dinner or a toast afterwards.
The place, scouted
We find the spot with you, check whether it needs a booking or approval, and stand there at the same time of day so we know where the sun will be.
A celebrant, if you need one
We know celebrants across the Hunter and Newcastle who are good at small, quick ceremonies, and we'll pass on two or three names.
Twenty frames in three days
A preview to send your families that week, then the full gallery, edited by hand, in about three weeks.
Everything the elopement includes sits beside the other three on the collections page. Planning something bigger, with a reception? That's a wedding, and it's covered differently.
From the date to the gallery
An elopement is short on the day and simple on paper, as long as the paper goes in on time. Put in your date and the roll fills in when each thing has to happen.
As soon as you have a date
Hold the date
Send us the date and the place, and talk to a celebrant. Weekdays and winter dates are often free only a few weeks out.
At least one month before
Your notice goes in
The Notice of Intended Marriage, signed and with your celebrant. Bring birth certificates or passports, and a divorce or death certificate if either of you has been married before.
Three weeks before
The place, booked
A ceremony in a national park needs approval from National Parks, and council parks and beaches are booked through the council. We find out which applies and walk the spot with you.
The week before
Witnesses and the plan
Two witnesses over eighteen, and a one-page timeline from us, built backwards from sunset.
The day
Two hours, ending at sunset
Nell meets you there. You sign the register at the ceremony, and your celebrant hands you a certificate on the spot.
Three days after
Twenty preview frames
The first twenty, edited by hand, so you have something to send your families that week.
Within fourteen days
It's on the register
Your celebrant lodges the paperwork with the NSW Registry. Order the official certificate from them once it's registered: it's the one for passports and name changes.
About three weeks after
The full gallery
Every frame worth keeping, edited by hand, to download, share and order prints from.
Where to elope in the Hunter Valley
Most of our elopements are in the Hunter Valley, with the rest on the coast an hour away. Four places couples ask about most, and why they work for two people rather than two hundred:
Pokolbin, in the vines
A row of vines at sunrise, before the cellar doors open, with balloons over the valley on a still morning. The winery has to say yes first, so we ask before anything is booked.
Wollombi
A village on the old convict-built Great North Road, with a sandstone church, a pub and bush on every side. Quiet on a weekday and about half an hour from Cessnock.
Merewether at sunrise
The sun comes up over the water, the beach is near empty and the light is soft for an hour. Married by seven, breakfast on the hill by eight.
The lake shore
Lake Macquarie's eastern shore looks west, into the sunset, with jetties, sandy edges and calm water. Plenty of spots where nobody else will be on a weekday evening.
Somewhere else in mind? Tell us. If it's in the Hunter Valley, around Port Stephens or down on the Central Coast, we'll scout it with you.
Asked before eloping
How many people can come to an elopement?
As many as you like, but most are the two of you, a celebrant and two witnesses, sometimes parents or a few close friends. Past about fifteen people it starts to work like a small wedding, with family groups to organise and more time needed, and we'd plan it as a half day instead so nobody is rushed.
Do we still need a celebrant to elope in NSW?
Yes. To be legally married you need an authorised celebrant, two witnesses over eighteen, and your Notice of Intended Marriage with the celebrant at least one month before the day. Without those it's a lovely ceremony but not a marriage. Some couples marry quietly at the registry first and do the elopement as the day they remember; that works too, and we photograph it the same way.
Can we elope on a weekday?
Please do. Most of our elopements are Monday to Thursday, when the vineyards are quiet, the lookouts are empty and we're free at short notice. A weekday also makes a sunrise easy: by nine o'clock you're married, photographed and having breakfast while the rest of the Hunter is getting to work.
Do we need a permit to elope in a national park?
Usually, yes. A ceremony in a NSW national park needs approval from National Parks, even a small one, and council parks and beaches are booked through the council. Rules and fees change, so we check them for your spot and your date rather than guess. A couple and a photographer walking through for portraits is generally a different thing from a ceremony.
What if the weather turns on the day?
On a weekday we can often move a day either way, and we'll say so early if the forecast looks bad. Otherwise we choose a covered second spot when we scout the first, a cellar door verandah or a church porch, so the ceremony goes ahead. Light rain and a clear umbrella make some of the best elopement photos we take; wind and lightning are the only things we wait out.
Can you stay for dinner afterwards?
Yes, add an hour and we'll come along to the restaurant or the house for the first toast and the start of the meal, then leave you to it. Most couples find two hours covers the ceremony and the portraits, and the extra hour is for the part where everyone relaxes. Tell us when you book and we'll build it into the timeline.
Say it somewhere quiet.
Tell us the date, or the month, and the place you have in mind. We'll tell you if we're free and what the two hours would look like.
Newcastle ▸ Hunter Valley ▸ Port Stephens ▸ Central Coast