The Old Court House Elopement | Wollongong Wedding Photographer

Mar 12, 2024

Let me introduce you to this lovely: Old Court House Elopement, with the beautiful Arabel & Eric!

So I have to say, post-covid, weddings like these became SOOO much more popular.

Weekday intimate style elopements are such a beautiful way to get married with a small selected few family members and friends to witness you on your special day.
Often accompanied by a lovely lunch with your guests afterwards, it truly has been so much more popular since we came out of lock down and were more open to the more small, intimate style weddings and photographing them in an hour or two for our couples 🙂

Eric called me a few months prior to book in a lovely photography session for their special elopement — something simple, short, sweet and something that would capture the main ceremony formalities, some close intimate family shots after and then ended with a short trip around the corner to the iconic Wollongong lighthouse near Belmore Basin. It was so easy to make some suggestions to Eric after him telling me a bit about how things will run and the small intimate style event they were going for.

Sometimes with small elopements, I suggest 90 minutes is just perfect for everything, but seeing as though their ceremony was going to run for 10-15 minutes, we ended up going with a 1 hour photography session and that was perfect for what they needed before heading to lunch at The Harbour Front with their family who had traveled all the way from overseas to be there — that’s so special! The Old Courthouse in Wollongong really is a lovely spot in the heart of the coastal surrounds with South Beach, City Beach and Belmore Basin right at it’s door step.

After the shoot, I drove a whole 3 minutes back to my place (haha yes, I live down the road from the Old Court house in Wollongong, making me as local as you can get to this venue if you choose to get married here … lol) –Then I started putting together a few photo highlights for them.

I always love sending my clients a little sneak preview of their photos the same day if possible, if not the next day if we’re shooting two weddings in a row on the weekend. So I sent this little PDF to them in a short magazine format with some of the highlights from the day, and one of my favourite scriptures about love. Even if you don’t follow Jesus, His word is alive, living and active in our lives as the Holy Spirit so passionately pursues after us all!

I posted on my ministry instagram here a post of how the Lord so faithfully pursued me after a life of searching for love in all the wrong places & then was saved by His amazing grace — when I met Jesus, I came to know the only unconditional love that exists — a love that this world can not offer. A love and security we can’t find in material things, in our social media feed or even to an extent, a security we look for in a partner, husband or wife…. A love that is beyond any great love story ever told … it’s the love of God … the Gospel of Jesus Christ 🙂 and it’s only an honour I get to tell so many love stories while also being loved by the One who loves us the most.

Every time I head out to shoot a wedding I pray in the car on the way, that the Lord would bless each couple, that the Lord’s peace would be over the photoshoot and would lead me creatively — that He would give me a calm inspiration throughout the day directed by Him. And He shows up every time. It’s His sweet way He reveals His love to me in the midst of the timeline of wedding day — even a small ceremony in an hour where we are to create and capture memories for couples in a short window — it always turns out so beautifully x

What a lovely honour to create, to use these gifts He’s given me to bless others and to keep my heart out on the table xx

Let me know what you think about this little magazine design 🙂 x
I’m thinking of incorporating more graphic design into my album samples over the next 3-6 months. Would LOVE to know your thoughts! x

See ya in the. next post!
Ela x