Old Coach Stables Wedding Photographer – Charlotte & Mara’s Spring Wedding

Charlotte got about four steps down the walkway before she stopped breathing properly. Mara was already crying, sort of laughing about it at the same time, and for a second nobody at that ceremony was looking anywhere else. I’ve shot a few of these now, but working as the old coach stables wedding photographer for Charlotte and Mara on a sunny Saturday in late September was one of the good ones, the kind where you can feel fifty different people holding their breath in the same direction.

It was a proper wedding too, not a quiet one. Fifty-odd people, kids running around, two Airbnbs full of nervous energy that morning, a reception that went well past midnight. By the time the cake got cut there was a whole different party happening to the one that started at the ceremony, and that’s exactly how Charlotte and Mara wanted it.

Charlotte & Mara

You could tell a fair bit about Charlotte and Mara before either of them said a word, just from what they’d put on a hanger that morning. Mara was in a turquoise suit with dark aqua-green pants and a pair of customised Doc Martens dress shoes, and the jacket had hand-painted detailing on the inside lining that nobody but her and a few close people would ever actually see during the day. That’s the kind of detail that tells you everything. Charlotte went a different direction entirely, a lace white dress, traditional in shape but properly her, and she got ready a couple of properties over with both her parents in the room.

Fifty to a hundred guests, kids included, family front and centre, two separate getting-ready houses and a venue built for the long haul. This was never going to be a quiet affair, and Charlotte and Mara weren’t trying to make it one. The warmth of the day came from how much they let people in, not from how much they kept private.

What an Old Coach Stables Wedding Photographer Notices About This Venue

The Old Coach Stables sits just outside Gunning, in the Southern Tablelands, on what’s still a working sheep and cattle property. The building goes back to 1857, originally a stop on the Cobb & Co mail run, and it’s been restored into a restaurant and event space without losing the bones of what it actually was. That matters for photos. The walls inside have real texture, low old beams, and a kind of natural, moody light coming through small windows that you just don’t get in a marquee or a function centre with downlights everywhere.

Outside, there’s a grove along a walkway that works beautifully as a ceremony space, and behind the building the land opens straight into rolling hills. I’ve shot plenty of venues across rural NSW where you get one good backdrop and that’s it. Here you get four without moving the car: the grove for the ceremony, the stables interior for moody portraits and the cake table, the hills out back for wide landscape shots, and that same spot again at golden hour with a completely different sky. That’s the sort of versatility that matters when you’re booking an old coach stables wedding photographer rather than someone shooting the venue for the first time. It can scale from an intimate elopement up to the kind of medium-sized wedding Charlotte and Mara had, without losing the feel of the place either way.

Two Houses, One Morning

Mara got ready at a cute Airbnb close to the venue, surrounded by friends and family, and there was enough mess and laughing and half-finished coffee on the bench that I spent a good twenty minutes just photographing the room before anyone was dressed. The suit went on piece by piece, the Docs last, and somebody noticed the painted lining on the jacket properly for the first time and made everyone else come look.

Across town, in a second Airbnb that was cosier and moodier, all low light and good textures, Charlotte was getting ready with her family around her. Her parents helped her into the lace dress, properly hands-on, doing up buttons and adjusting the train, and there’s a stretch of about four minutes in there where nobody was talking much and it didn’t need any talking. That’s the kind of getting-ready room I always want to be in. Nobody performing. Everybody just doing the small jobs that come with helping someone get married.

The Ceremony in the Grove

By the time Mara and the guests were gathered in the grove, the walkway was full and everyone had gone quiet in that specific pre-ceremony way. When Charlotte appeared at the top of it, both of them lost it almost immediately, properly visibly emotional, not the performed kind. The celebrant kept it simple, the vows were heartfelt rather than scripted-sounding, and by the time they signed the paperwork half the grove was wiping their eyes too.

They walked back down the aisle together as a married couple, straight into family photos under that same spring light, golden and soft by then, before peeling off for portraits.

Cake and Moody Light Inside the Old Coach Stables

The stables themselves are known for that natural, low light, and it’s a completely different feel from the outdoor scenes. Their cake was already set up in there with all the little detail touches done properly, and we got a run of portraits using that interior light before the party properly kicked into gear. It’s the kind of light that does a lot of the work for you if you know how to use it. Soft, directional, nothing harsh.

Out to the Hills

From there we went out the back of the property to the rolling hills, soft white clouds drifting across a big spring sky, and got some proper landscape-scale portraits along with a few candid self-portraits where I just handed them a bit of space and let them be a married couple for a minute without a camera in their face. That’s usually when the best, least-posed shots happen.

Sunset Portraits Under a Wild Sky

We came back to the same spot at golden hour, after speeches had started inside, and the sky had turned properly dramatic by then. Wild cloud, deep colour, the kind of light an old coach stables wedding photographer ends up chasing every time they’re back on this property. Those sunset portraits ended up being some of the strongest images from the whole day.

Speeches, the First Dance and That Father-Daughter Moment

Back inside, the speeches ran long in the good way, the kind where everyone’s laughing and crying within the same two minutes. Once they wrapped up, Charlotte and Mara cut the cake and moved straight into their first dance, and then came the father-daughter dance for Charlotte. That one had the entire room in tears. No exaggeration needed, just a dad and his daughter on a dance floor doing the thing dads and daughters do at weddings, and everyone watching felt it at the same time.

After that the floor opened up properly and it stopped being a wedding reception and turned into a genuine, no-holds-barred party that ran well into the night.

My Favourite Moments from This Old Coach Stables Wedding

• The painted lining inside Mara’s jacket, the detail almost nobody saw
• Charlotte’s parents doing up the last button on her dress without saying much at all
• The exact second Charlotte appeared at the top of the walkway
• The grove going properly silent for a few seconds before the first vow
• The self-portraits out on the hill where I just stepped back and let them have it
• The sky doing something genuinely wild for the sunset portraits
• Charlotte’s father-daughter dance
• The reception turning into an actual full-tilt party once the speeches wrapped

Planning a Spring Wedding with an Old Coach Stables Wedding Photographer

The Old Coach Stables sits at 2006 Cullerin Road, Gunning, about thirty minutes from Yass, Goulburn and Crookwell, and a shade under an hour from the bigger centres if your guests are travelling. It’s run by Blunt Cat Catering, who handle the food and bar on site, so you’re not juggling an outside caterer on top of everything else.

Need to Know Before You Book the Stables

If you’re after something the size of Charlotte and Mara’s day, fifty to a hundred guests, exclusive use of the property gets you the grove, the stables interior and the surrounding paddocks for the whole day, which is what gives a gallery that mix of intimate portraits and proper wide landscape shots. If your numbers are smaller, there’s an elopement package too, three hours of access for two to twenty guests, worth knowing if part of your group can’t make the trip out.

Spring is a genuinely good call for this venue. The light through September and October is soft most of the day and turns properly dramatic at golden hour, which is exactly what gave Charlotte and Mara’s sunset portraits that wild sky.

If you’re planning a wedding anywhere across the Capital Region, or you just want an old coach stables wedding photographer who already knows the property inside and out, paddocks included, I’d love to hear about your day. Have a look through more real weddings I’ve shot and send me a message when you’re ready.