Meet the clergy

WHO WE ARE DOESN’T MATTER.

WHAT WE CAN DO FOR YOU DOES.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW IS WE HAVE DONE OVER 700 WEDDINGS BETWEEN US, CARE AND THINK DEEPLY ABOUT EXPERIENCE AND WHAT MAKES A GOOD WEDDING, AND WANT TO CRAFT AND PRESERVE A SLICE OF TIME FOR YOU AND YOUR CLOSEST PEOPLE THAT IS MEANINGFUL, JOYFUL, AND A LITTLE BIT SILLY

BUT IF YOU WANT TO READ ABOUT OUR LIVES BEFORE GETTING ORDAINED, READ MORE below.

  • Yeah, yeah you’re about to read about how Dane is one of the best photographers in the world blah blah but can he do this with his hands? Oh, this isn’t a visual medium? Damn.

    Let’s be real. I’m not very good with my hands. My hands were made for holding a microphone it turns out. It was in Year 4, Miss Sherman’s class, when this boy (now a man) was kindly suggested to by the aforementioned teacher that maybe drama classes would be a good outlet for this… shall we say… distracted child. Cue galaxies colliding and worlds connecting for a young Adam. And this is where this journey kind of began. Fine, I’ll skip through the rest like a great Rocky montage. 

    Cue uplifting music. We go through high school where I find a love and passion for performing. We are talking every school production, community musicals, you name it. As I leave school and continue working in my family business, catering weddings, I keep coming back to that desire to entertain. I begin teaching drama and improv classes, MCing council events and yes, still doing musicals (tragic, right?).

    Then one day, in 2016, on a warm summers day, sitting on my dad’s deck celebrating my brother and soon to be sister in law’s engagement something happens. They casually ask me if I would be the celebrant at their wedding. I, a 22 year old boy still on his “gap year” seem perplexed. They then say they will pay for me to do the course. I immediately accept.

    1 year and a bit of debt for brother later, I’m a marriage celebrant. At 23. I perform my first wedding. A laidback, barefoot soiree on the beach for my big bro. And I kill it.

    Galaxies collide, worlds connect once again. This was it. This was what I was meant to do. Learning people’s stories, retelling them on one of the biggest days of their lives. It’s huge. What an honour. I found my niche and started to roll, things exploded from there. Being able to make people feel things is an incredible feeling in itself. Seeing them laugh uncontrollably and cry euphorically is the greatest. Almost 400 couples married later and I’m still trying to change up the game. Still trying to better myself and make every wedding the best damn wedding I’ve ever been to.

    Oh, did I mention I have the most incred family supporting me along the way? My beautiful wife, Ange, my biggest supporter. And our two little humans, Iggy and Bowie, they’ve got no idea what I do but one day, they may think it’s pretty cool. I hope so. Because I do it all for them.

    marriedbyadam.com

  • In 2000 Dane was named Dux of his small suburban primary school. His mother was told ‘you look like you need a stiff drink’ she could so scarcely believe the news. 20 years passed without any achievement of note. These were dark years.

    Then, in late 2021 Dane had a spontaneous return to form and was named one of the 30 Top Emerging Wedding Photographers on the planet by one of the photography industry’s leading publications based out of NYC. He, in a few choice words, knows what the fuck he is doing with a camera.

    Dane also finds it odd writing about himself in the third person. I’m going to stop now.

    Two things that set my soul on fire.

    One. The complete presence and rush I get creating with a camera in my hand.

    Two. The beauty of being able to foster connection and vulnerability with a couple in love in front of said camera, and the power or being able to reflect their story back at them.

    Seriously, this may sound like an overwrought or false statement. Of course I’m going to say I love my job. But I really, really do. I had a successful career before this as an engineer, and gave it up because it didn’t inspire me. This does. In a multitude of ways. To be able to do this, for and with people, is a gift.

    Some other things that bring me obscene amounts of joy. Octopus handshakes. Cooking something delicious and vegetarian over the course of an afternoon, with records playing obnoxiously loud, an open bottle of tasty wine and the love of my life by my side. Bronte specifically, and the ocean in general. Growing natives to attract all the rainbow lorikeets. A good book. A good wine. A good book and a good wine. Running for an extended period of time.

    thesaltyshutter.com

  • Gemma the florist / stylist / vibe bringer

    Commonly referred to as the master of fabric draping, Gemma is the girl that jumps on board to make a room look “shit hot”. From florals, to candles and everything in between she looks after all things visual to set the backdrop for your fabulous day.

    Her style flirts the borders of a modern disco party meets romantic fairy garden. She’s a lover of colours, candles and her dog Cosmo. Her trademark energy level is overly loud and a bit too excited (especially when she’s on-site) but her all time passion is bringing a 10/10 visual vibe so her couples have the best damn day.

  • How much do you like gin? Do you love it? Do you love love it? So much so you’d make it? No it’s a bit much isn’t it but luckily some people do. And that’s why we all love gin. Cause of the 1% that love it so much that we can all love it too. With the creative flare of Jane, a gal who love loves gin. Our distillery was born...

    At Unexpected Guest Distillery we infuse every function of our operation with one mantra; every bottle of gin is an unforgettable party.