Since Covid has put a stop to conferences and wedding photography workshops, I wanted to give a little back, and so have created a free wedding photography workshop in an online course format. This contains around 7 years of my workshop content (head over here for wedding photography podcasts), drawn from an award-winning background in design and photography, and I have separated the best bits into easy to consume, bite-sized chunks, and released them on Instagram as a 100 frame wedding photography workshop.

To see these for free, scroll further down.

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Who this wedding photography online course is for:

• Photographers looking for wedding photography courses online
• Folks looking for wedding photography education that’s a little bit different
• Wedding photographers who want some simple education in a format that isn’t overwhelming

The free wedding photography workshop is divided into three main areas.

1. Creativity
2. Community
3. Business
4. Editing
5. light

Each of the 100 frames speaks to one of those. The current climate of workshops I found doesn’t appeal to my style of learning personally, and it made me wonder if other folks out there were the same, so I tried to create something to fill that gap!

I remember thumbing through MAD magazine, comics, and encyclopaedias, and found that a curiosity-driven approach to learning, where you can open a book up at any page and take something away without feeling like we have to complete a full course: the best way to learn for me, personally.

So that’s how i’ve crafted this.

I want this to be useful no matter what page it’s opened up at: rather than me dictating the learning from front to back (there’s plenty of brilliant other options for that out there), so this is something where I hope there’s a nifty surprise useful to wedding photography, and photography in general wherever it’s opened.

The workshop is available from frame 35 onwards on my instagram, and as new ones are uploaded, old ones will be removed, so follow along and catch them (save, screen grab) them while they’re available.

At the end, i’ll be releasing them all, along with a set of bonus annotations totalling 400+ pages. It’s the exact wedding photography workshop resource I would have liked starting out, and has been tailored for both new photographers and working professionals 5+ years in the game.

To see the free wedding photography workshop:

Follow it on Instagram while it’s there.
Sign up for the School of Strange, 52 weeks of free wedding photography mentoring, for access to the full 400+ pages.

Some conferences i’ve had the brilliant honour of sharing this at:

Conferences and retreats this workshop content has previously been shared at:

Wedding photography conference: Way Up North, Rome, Italy

Wedding photography retreat: RURAL Workshop Barcelona, Spain

Wedding photography conference: BODAF Portugal

Wedding photography conference: Midwest Gathering Detroit USA

Wedding Photography Workshops Melbourne

Transplant workshop at Tanglewood Estate

It was such a treat sharing with photographers such as Briggsy, Ashleigh Haase Photography, Sarah Tee, and even inter-staters like Cassie Sullivan at the most beautiful wedding venue in Victoria. Here’s a mugshot of the last ones left standing after it was all done. Tanglewood Estate hosted “Transplant”, my one-day workshop on alternative-thinking strategies for wedding photographers, with a day full of hands-on techniques and follow-up mentoring for wedding photographers. This format is one I have delivered over a period of 5 years all over the world.

Structure of the wedding photography workshop

The day began with roundtables, building community through sharing everyones own current journeys, pain-points and joy-sparkers from the job. Many of the points were known ahead of time as the onboarding process ensured everyone felt heard as an individual and was able to share these things before the day. We then moved into a day of interactive content and thinking strategies and follow up strategies to action the content.

I’ve always had a “eyes at the back of the classroom” approach. I know what it’s like to be sitting at the edges, a little intimidated by the scale of a room and structured offering, and ending up feeling like you weren’t seen. For this reason these workshops have been anti-clique, and pro embracing new faces. So it’s been such a treat to advocate this way in my own courses, and then see students such as Ashleigh Haase (also an attendee of Story and Light in NZ, co-facilitated with Bayly & Moore – it’s incredibly flattering to see folks come along for the ride to more than one workshop) move on to take their learnings from Transplant into their own education offerings, sharing adaptations of Transplant into their own education community.

I don’t look at others work anymore, I’m finding inspiration from lots of things I learnt whilst at the workshop.

Ashleigh Haase Photography, who since Transplant has launched Ashleigh Haase Education!

Transplant wedding photography workshop itinerary

1 – Participant introduction and journey sharing
2 – Context-setting: creative thinking holistically rather than wedding industry specific
3 – Don’t do what you love: servitude and people mindset
4 – Challenging biases: fundamental mindset strategies 101
5 – Bias challenging: 3 specific techniques, and applying them to a small business
6 – Storytelling is dead (also the title of my Los Angeles Field Trip talk)
7 – Anti-storytelling techniques
8 – Separating yourself through community and branding
9 – Practical magic: separating yourself through the art of image-making
10 – An analogue primer: introduction to the world of analogue
11 – From the ad-agency, with love: simplified business and marketing techniques
12 – Actionable follow up strategies

Plus Image n’ Tech Athens, Greece, ABMS New Zealand.

Starting a wedding photography business involves long hours, and a dash (or twenty) of grit. It’s easy for folks to see the highlight reels on instagram, without considering the enormous work that goes on around it that’s never seen. Pinterest strategies, SEO, editing, outsourcing, upskilling, community building, software and harware testing, accounting, systems… all of the things inherent with running a small business. For us, just a few takeaways from some brilliant wedding photography podcasts have made such a difference in easing the load in any given area of our business.

We’ve been fortunate to be a guest on a bunch of brilliant Wedding Photography Podcasts, which has let us share knowledge back to the community after 8 years of photographing ceremony all around the world, and here’s a selection of them. Thanks to these incredible podcast hosts for supporting both the photography and the wedding photography industry with these diverse and open Wedding Photography Podcasts. More to be added here soon. Or not?

The top 20 podcasts for wedding photographers

1. Wedding Photography Podcast: Make Your Break

Make Your Break is the brilliant wedding photography podcast from local scallywag Jai Long. We focus on not paying lip service to turning negatives into positives, but actual ways we can do it in our creative business.

2. Photography Podcast: Getting Candid

Mason runs Getting Candid, and brings his hilarious and engaging natural game to his own wedding photography podcast. In and around heavy metal and all manner of ridiculous things, we had a beautifully deep chat about all things photography.

3. Wedding Podcast: Celebranting

Anthony Cribbes, Melbourne Wedding Celebrant, founder of Celebrant Easy and The Celebrant A-List, and co-founder of Melbourne wedding venue The Altar Electric, somehow found time around these things to have me on his Wedding Photography Podcast, chatting all things wedding industry.

4. Photography Podcast: TPJ

A chat with Agustin Sanchez of The Photographic Journal. The Photographic Journal is one of the most brilliant showcases of emerging photographers and bodies of work, so it was an extra thrill to have a chat with eminent curator and founder Agustin. On his Photography Podcast we chat a little about weddings, but more about general approach, personal work, and my trip to Antarctica with Homeward Bound Projects.

5. Wedding Photography Tips Podcast: Up and Becoming

Kurt and I linked up for his Wedding Photography Podcast Up and Becoming. Kurt is a brilliant photographer in New South Wales, and his podcast focuses on Wedding Photographers journeys, challenges, wins, fails, and everything in between. We talk about sharing your work authentically in an ever more saturated industry, and how lifting others up is always the key. Thanks Kurt for having me!

6. Wedding Photography Podcast: LXS

What do you say about Bjorn Lexius? He’s an award-winning photographer out of Hamburg, and we first met at Way Up North years ago, where he somehow was able to pull some meaning from my talk on a stage in Rome after several sleepless timezone crossings. In his Wedding Photography Podcast, we chat about disconnecting ourselves from our brands in an industry where there’s a temptation to “be” our brand.

7. Wedding Photography Podcast: Baby Got Backend

Morgan Roberts. Dark lord, raconteur, and Wedding Photographer. Where there are lots of Wedding Photography Podcasts out there chatting all things creativity, Morgan, in his usual way, bucks the trend and tackles all things dry and challenging: in this case, the backend of business. We discuss the merits of divisive, polarising branding, industry homogeny and more. Morgan also joined me for my Brisbane workshop – see a little preview of what my workshops are like:

8. Photography Podcast: What Do You Make

Another one with old mate Morgan, except this time from a few years ago. In this one, we scratch that esoteric itch, and manage to almost entirely avoid talking about photography.

9. Wedding Photography Podcast: Way Up North

One from way back, I caught up with the crew at Way Up North on their Wedding Photography Podcast, ahead of my appearance at the Rome edition of their conference series. What a treat. These marvels are doing great stuff for our space – that is, the nostalgia space. Thanks Cole and Jakob for having me.

Watch me do a live wedding photo edit with the founder of the international competition, IWPOTY

Sign up for the free 12 month wedding photography e-workshop: 52 Strange Invitations

Find out more about film wedding photography

Film wedding photographer insights here.

How to take dark and moody wedding photos: a complete guide (apparently this is what i’m supposed to write, but more like my high-school exam output, it’s probably more the “enough to get by, hopefully” guide).

Something i’ve always loved to do is find ways of photographing things in a “moody” way no matter what the scenario. Usually though at a wedding, these sort of images end up representing about 10-15% of what the couple receives, because the “dark and moody” stuff in reality only ever represents a small percentage of a wedding day.

Typically it’s areas like moody preparation rooms, or sometimes indoor receptions with natural light, that sort of thing. Regardless, they’re super fun to make, and nice to celebrate.

Why make dark and moody wedding images?

Weddings are joyous! Full of fun and confetti! Why would we try and imprint some Tarantino, Wes-Anderson-esque painterly vibes into something supposed to be uplifting? WELL.

What qualifies as a moody feel can be just as uplifting as the bright stuff in it’s own way, and it can channel a whole lot of other ways of connecting to the set of images that we deliver. My job is to generate the widest amount of emotional connection with the images as I can. That means tapping not just into the bright stuff, but also providing some images that nudge our brain into another direction, because all of those moments and moods are present somewhere on a wedding day – and we might as well show them for what they are.

So, my approach to dark and moody: photograph things as they are!

If something feels dark and moody, I want to photograph it that way, and edit it in such a way that the qualities of that feeling are brought out in the best way. If someone tosses charcoal-coloured petals in Gollums cave lit by a line of candles, then it’ll be moody. But if theres a bright petal-toss with colours and glory, that should also end up looking as it felt.

In this shot above, two single points of natural light in a bathroom made for a beautiful soft vibe, and the real thrill is making that come alive in the image.

If changing an image, change it gently: see this post about editing.

I wanted to use a photo shoot with Dan and Dre as a main example, who flew down from their hometown of Canberra to have a play over a couple of days for their couples shoot, in some of my favourite locations in Victoria (see these other favourite Melbourne wedding photo locations) as an example.

Before we crack on, this thread on Reddit is worth a look, as it highlights a common misunderstanding of what dark and moody is, and how it can be interpreted as a trend, which is a bit of a misnomer that we can say about anything, and kinda implies there’s a “right” or authentic way of making an image. If we go deep into the real esoterics of photography, pretty quickly we discover there is no such thing as authentic capture: not only that, but the rich, hazy, beautiful colours of overexposed Fuji film for example, look nothing like reality: just a (really pleasant) interpretation of it.

So everything is a trend, and everything isn’t: the key is to nail the vibe in a really careful way, sympathetic to point #2 below: we want our folks in the image to love themselves in it.

How our eyes interpret light, differs from the person next to us. How theirs interpret light and mood, differs wildly from insects and other animals. photography is an act of interpretation, not a way of “taking something as it is”.

The images in here mostly use chiaroscuro, and open-shade.

My tips for creating dark and moody wedding photos

1. Find chiaroscuro light.

This is the MVP (most valuable player) of the dark and moody vibe. Chiaroscuro is, to put it simply, highly contrasted light and shade. This can be found in the most unlikely of situations. Hot tip – anywhere that you have a room with a small window – the smaller the better – you’ve got yourself an instant kit for Chiaroscuro light.

Expose for the highlights, and you’re good to go. See also – this Provenance Wines wedding.

2. Skin is king.

Keep orange out, and flattering tones in. Per the Reddit thread up above, we should probably be more worried about making our couples look like they’ve swallowed a stick of uranium or a bag of carrots than them being too moody necessarily: this means that flattering tones and flattering light are a higher priority than whether the image is too light or dark per-se.

A great way to stay on top of this is to constantly reference where we got colour tones “right”. And for me, that’s any of either cinema, or great classic photo books with anyone shooting on film.

Calibrating our eyes to the skin tones of what we see on Instagram is a bad, bad idea.

Slim Aarons on the other hand? Holy basted badger-balls.

3. Keep RGB curve tweaks to a minimum, because the tool itself in Lightroom sucks

We want to have full, or nearly-full, black and white point in your image to give us the most room to play with in nailing a moody vibe in post-production.

This means that our image has a full range of information in it (as much detail in the darks and lights as possible), that translates to a detailed print. Any adjustments we make to the RGB “S” curve in Photoshop or Lightroom, immediately throws away information in the image: so tampering with it has to be a delicate exercise.

There was a bit of a movement towards really flat shadows some years ago, but my experience with Lightroom these days is that it turns an image to mud, really quick. If the aim is to get dusty shadows or muted highlights, generally that’s better achieved by instead selectively dodging and burning: this way you can raise or lower their brightness, while still keeping as much pure shadow and pure highlight in the image where it makes sense for them to be.

So using the RGB curve graph is not the best way to raise shadows or mute highlights, as it’s not a well developed tool inside Lightroom at all (maybe it will be better in later years to come – Capture One’s version works much better). A good way to think about why we don’t use RGB curves to mute our lights or darks is to imagine trying to cook a souffle in a crematorium.

By keeping the shadows rich, we can selectively dodge them out later while maintaining a solid black-point that will print out beautifully.

4. Spot clean the image

Dark and moody wedding images, if they’re shot in lower-light situations, inherently have a lot less highlights in them. That means the highlights that are there, stick out a little louder than they would otherwise, and can quickly dilute the power of an image.

This means that in order to have a beautifully powerful dark and moody image, we need to exercise a high level of care in spotting our image, and dodging and burning it: you can read about both of those in this post about photo editing.

Spotting is the gentle art of removing unnecessary bits of information in the image – this could be a rogue hi-light or a rogue fly sat perfectly in the middle of someones forehead.

The aim is to clear out unnecessary hi-lights. “If it isn’t lifting it up, it’s bringing it down”.

Here’s why this is also important:

Photography isn’t the art of freezing reality, it’s the art of telling a story through exclusion. Editing an image in photoshop (delicately) is no different than selectively framing things out in the moment. The unique thing about photography is that it “bakes in” things in the frame that our eyes wouldn’t process if it were, say, video. This means that in order to be MORE #authentic, we actually need to remove these things, as they’re causing an unnatural distraction to us and hold our attention more than they did in reality once they’ve been freezed into an image.

I know this sounds incredibly wanky, but spotting is the gentle art of bringing back the purity of how a moment actually felt, by fixing the things our cameras unnecessarily froze into the frame.

Here’s an extreme example first, and a not-so-extreme example second.

5. Take notes from painters

Gain a wide vocabulary in painterly tones, from the source. My two favourite painters are Jeffrey Smart and Zdiszlaw Beksinski – and in a roundabout way they inform my love of moody tones. Dig into some books and find some painters you align with.

Some more of my favourite dark and moody wedding photos.

Learn more about creating dark and moody wedding photos.

Follow my free wedding photography workshop series, or make an enquiry about joining my mentor program.

A set of black and white favourites over the years from here, there everywhere.

Shot on Kodak Tri-X (more over at film wedding photographer)

To see how I edit black and white images, head over to Melbourne wedding photography workshop.

How to spray a champagne bottle at your wedding: everyone’s seen it, everyone’s had a crack at it, and everyones experience ends with one of “nailed it”, “nearly took my head off”, or “fizzled out to a flaccid wisp like Creeds record contract” (we bought a few of their albums back in the day so this is all fair game, and I guess that makes us fair game).

Also file this under – things you can practice at home in a pandemic. Great for your serotonin levels, not so great for your lounge room walls, so maybe one to take to the streets.

How to do a champagne spray (condensed version):

1. Put on your champagne spray face
2. Pre-shake bottle, flick off the cork
3. Press your thumb firmly over the hole while shaking

There’s a gentle art to the champagne spray, and it’s both easier than you might think in the moment, while at the same time requiring of a bit of careful strategy and forward-thinking so that the proceeds don’t resemble the unfortunate scene of a garden hose with no pressure at a kids water-fight birthday-party in the middle of summer.

Why we do it

Because if we’re gonna have a day of beautiful debauchery and anarchy, contributing to the carbon(ated beverage) atmospheric trust-fund – and surrounding garments – is one of the cheaper thrills we can have on the day, with a mighty power-to-weight ratio as far as thrills gained, and dollars spent on cheap wine.

Fun for everyone – even me as my camera-gear gets gloriously soaked in the stuff (tips for photographers: if you want to get the best champagne shots, sorry – but you need to be right in front of it – and if you don’t come out needing a dry-clean, you haven’t shot it right).

The theory behind the perfect champagne spray

In order to get a wild spray going that lasts as long as the winners ones do on an F1 podium, we need to consult our dusty “armchair teenage physicist” manual, and brush up on the “why” before we get to the “how”.

If you want to know how to spray a champagne bottle at your wedding, the aim is to reduce the gap available to the champagne to flow through, once the cork is off, as soon as we can. The number one reason that a champagne spray does not work, is because that the champagne-spray Director of Operations at the time does not immediately apply pressure once the cork is removed and continue shaking.

This means we need to press our thumb against the hole, as soon as the cork is removed. This in turn keeps extra pressure inside the bottle, which means it’s going to try and force it’s way through the available gap. If the champagne has pressure that is mostly kept in by your thumb, that means that in order to release that pressure, it’s going to have to push it’s way through that gap – and fast.

And when you maintain that while continuing to shake it – that’s where it all starts going beautifully bananas. If I had a dollar for the amount of times i’ve seen folks not immediately apply pressure and then watch the contents dribble out like Sam Newmans Twitter musings, i’d have enough clams to lift his face even higher.

How to spray a champagne bottle in three steps:

Luckily for us, we have everyones favourite rainbow anarchist (well, the other favourite to this wonderful mob) Dee Brinsmead, wedding celebrant and co-owner of The Altar Electric, to help run us through how it’s done.

Step 1: Put on your champagne face

Bring yourself into a state of maniacal glee. This should be fun, you should have your crew around you (if they’re part of it), and you should be prepared to make a mess, take an eye out, blow a hole in the photographers expensive lens, all the good stuff.

Here, a friendly neighbourhood cat takes part.

Step 2: Pre-shake and dislodge

Acquire champagne, twist and remove the wire cap, so just the cork remains.

With your thumb over the cork, pre-shake it enthusiastically.

Begin to undo the cork until it’s nearly off. Brace your thumb against the base of the cork, and flick it into the heavens above, or at your photographers head.

Tip: if the cork is tough to remove, grip it with #intention very tightly, and carefully rotate it and “unscrew it” out with your hand.

Step 3: Immediately apply pressure, and shake.

At this point, you should immediately cover the hole with your thumb: in fact, trying to completely block it – and shake the bottle like a maniac. I promise you the champagne will begin to escape, no matter how robust you think your thumb-bottle sealant game is. This is where a champagne-spray often fails, and this is the step to nail correctly.

Every second of champagne-exit where the hole isn’t blocked, is precious pressure lost.

From here, just gently remove pressure very slightly, in the direction you want to spray, being conscious of where it’s coming out as you pivot your thumb. Continue to shake with maniacal glee.

Tip: As the contents and pressure in the bottle deplete, you can squeeze as much out if it as possible by increasing the pressure you’re creating, and pressing your thumb against it more firmly and closing the gap. The little pressure that’s left in the bottle will be amplified by having the gap made even tighter.

Voila! You’ve successfully emptied the contents of a bottle in the manner in
which was truly intended by the manufacturer, but can’t be claimed as such on fancy champagne labels.

Just know that you’re doing your winemaker countrymen proud.

Special thanks to Dee Brinsmead, one third of Collingwood wedding venue The Altar Electric, for being a most excellent Champagne Spray Scientist today. Hire this legend for your Melbourne elopement, and be sure to check out these unique small wedding venues, or out in ye olde non wedding world head here for a Melbourne music photographer.

The perfect wedding setting for thoughtful, contemporary couples who know how to appreciate a great piece of art, Heide Museum of Modern Art allows for both a stunning ceremony and an inspiring reception. The Museum boasts spectacular photography opportunities throughout the grounds and the Gallery. Let’s take a sneak peek at this amazing, artistic space and check out some photos from a recent Heide Museum of Modern Art wedding I was fortunate enough to capture.

Location

Heide Museum of Modern Art brings an air of sophisticated creativity to Banksia Park in Bulleen, a north-eastern suburb of Melbourne. It’s not too far at all from the CBD – only around a 20-minute drive. It practically oozes convenience.

The Yarra River flows, snake-like, through Banksia Park, just a short walk from Heide Gallery. Bulleen Art Gallery and Garden is also within the vicinty. Another interesting point, Bulleen Hungry Jacks is only a short way down the road. Post-wedding burgs? Count me the hell in.

You’ve got a golf club nearby if there’s time to fit in a quick game with the lads (or ladies) the day before the wedding. And, as mentioned, Melbourne CBD is a short Uber ride away. You can get up to all kinds of mischief, eat some amazing pre-wedding noms and pick up any last minute bits and pieces for the wedding that may have slipped your mind.

Heide Museum of Modern Art wedding venue

As a wedding venue, Heide Gallery is the gift that keeps on giving. From the picturesque, natural grounds to the vibing Gallery and sculptures, this place is a photographers dream. Seriously. There are almost too many spots that are perfectly suited to capturing stunning images.

The Heide grounds and gardens span majestically across the 15 acres this Gallery calls home. The heritage gardens contain sprawling lawns, gorgeous flower beds and huge trees with trailing limbs that form cosy hidey-holes.

A river glade with towering trees and shrubs provides a shady spot for an intimate ceremony, or a wonderful photography or videography location.

The views from various sites throughout the grounds sweep across the surrounding park and provide a truly awe-inspiring atmosphere.

Upon gazing around the venue, your view will be obstructed slightly – for good reason – by contemporary sculptures and architectural wonders that are dotted throughout the grounds.

Catering & Extras

All your wedding catering needs will be taken care of by the Heide Cafe, the exclusive catering service for Heide Gallery weddings. Both the wedding ceremony and the reception are able to be covered. The cafe has an amazing range of seasonal produce with a huge variety of menu options to choose from.

The Cafe is also a great place to swing by for a pre-wedding brunch with the bridal party or a post-wedding coffee if you’re feeling a little worse for wear (horrifically hungover) after the previous night’s celebrations.

The Museum itself is an awesome place to spend any spare time and fight off any pre-wedding jitters. A range of indoor exhibitions including the Main Gallery and the Modernist House are home to some amazing collections of contemporary art. Wander the grounds to experience Rick Amor’s Running Man, Neil Taylor’s Theoretical Matter, and the rest of the outdoor exhibitions and sculptures that add an artistic, modern flair to the sweeping, naturalistic elements of the grounds.

Heide Gallery Wedding Photos

It’s safe to say that this Melbourne wedding venue is the perfect place to celebrate love, serenity and an appreciation for delightful modern art.

Have you visited to the Heide Museum of Modern Art? What was your favourite installation? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Embrace your swirling inner teenage angst! Find out how to take the best dark and moody wedding photos in my complete guide.

For more images of a decadent art space, check out this piece by Firecraker Event on grazing tables.

I’m honestly at a loss for words trying to introduce this Blue Mountains wedding venue. The Hydro Majestic Hotel lives up to it’s name and is a turn-key wedding venue that really does offer everything you need to pull off the most extraordinary wedding. The hotel itself presents some phenomenal photo opportunities, with a refined art-deco style. The real magic though is in the view. It really does have to be seen to be believed. Luckily for you, I managed to snap a few wedding shots at this larger-than-life Blue Mountains wedding venue a little while ago and I’m more than happy to share. Enjoy!

The Hydro Majestic Blue Mountains Wedding Venue

Ok, this is the part where I blab on and on about how incredible this venue is. It is definitely for good reason though, there really isn’t a single downside. So, if you’re not thinking of booking The Hydro for your upcoming nuptials, maybe turn away if you don’t want to know what you’re missing out on.

This wedding venue is an absolute BEAST. It is a towering ode to the dreams of businessman Mark Foy and his drive to install Australia’s very first Health Retreat. That’s what The Hydro is, first and foremost – a retreat. And a mighty enormous one at that.

In 1903, Mark oversaw the construction of the Hydro, pulling out all the stops. A generator imported from Germany, artworks from all across the globe, a dome shaped roof that was built in Chicago and shipped all the way to Australia, and a Swiss health professional to run the joint. He even renamed the township The Hydro was situated in to “Medlow Bath” to make it suit the overall vibe of the hotel. If that isn’t a baller move, I don’t know what is.

The venue has hosted a plethora of famous guests over the years including: Dame Nellie Melba the magnificent Aussie Opera singer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Australia’s first Prime Minister Sir Edmund Barton who actually died in the hotel in 1920. Sure, it’s a morbid claim to fame, but it’s a claim to fame nonetheless.

If the grandiose of this venue isn’t apparent in its history, then allow the photos below to show you just how remarkable this place truly is.

The Ceremony

If you’ve been pining after a wedding ceremony with a view, there’s no better way to do it than right here in the Blue Mountains. The Hydro Majestic boasts a breathtaking lookout with a viewing platform that’s perfectly suited to hosting a wedding ceremony in the natural surrounds of the serene Australian bush.

Honestly, whilst capturing photos for this wedding I was constantly picking my jaw up off the floor. I couldn’t believe just how ridiculously gorgeous the entire place was.

The ceremony was backed by a tremendous valley that held an expanse of native bush lands. The Blue Mountains really is one of the most naturally beautiful places in Australia – it’s no wonder this spot was selected to host the grandeur of The Hydro Hotel.

The Services

When you book your wedding venue through The Hydro Majestic, you’re basically covered for everything. And I mean, everything.

• A dedicated Wedding Coordinator
• On-site accommodation (overnight complimentary for the happy couple)
• Design guidance
• Welcome dinners
• Spa sessions
• Delectable meals and canapes
• 5+ reception sites to choose from

The list goes on, my friends. I truly cannot recommend this venue enough, not only for weddings but for other events, photography shoots, high teas – anything that requires a spacious site that oozes class and style.

I’m going to leave you with a few more photos from this gorgeous Blue Mountains wedding venue. Once you’re done browsing through them why not check out this post on the awesome I Do Drive Through?

For more beautiful rural New South Wales weddings, check out this Kangaroo Valley wedding,