John Rice — Margaret River Wedding & Elopement Planner & Photographer
Serving Margaret River, Boranup Forest, Yallingup & South West WA | 0423 289 677
I'm the photographer and planner behind John Rice Photographer, and I've been based in Margaret River since 2010.
In that time I've photographed more than 600 weddings across the South West of Western Australia, and planned and photographed over 300 elopements.
Weddings and elopements are both a genuine privilege to photograph, and over the years I've built particular depth in planning and photographing intimate elopements, the small, unhurried celebrations that suit couples who want their day to feel personal above all else.
I love the idea of creating a wedding that 100% suits the couple. Not a template, not a set of expectations someone else set, a day that is genuinely theirs.
I love how elopements can happen anywhere. A karri forest at first light. A sheltered granite headland at golden hour. Two people, a celebrant, and one of the most extraordinary landscapes in Australia.
Most of all I love how elopement couples feel, relaxed, unhurried, and quietly excited, before the day, during the day, and afterwards. There's none of the wedding-industry pressure. None of the guest-management stress. Just the two of them, choosing something simple and doing it well.
The elopement couples I most enjoy working with are the ones who feel that pulling one together from a distance sounds like an enormous hurdle. It doesn't need to be. When it's handled by someone who has done it 300 times, the whole thing becomes seamless, stress-free, and genuinely enjoyable. That's the experience I built my all-inclusive planning service to deliver.
My vast experience in this region means I'm easy-going and relaxed on your day. That's contagious. Couples relax because I'm relaxed. Once that happens, everything changes. People who tell me beforehand that they hate having their photo taken consistently walk away saying they loved it.
The photography itself is candid and documentary in style. I don't direct static poses or ask you to look at each other meaningfully on cue. I use gentle prompts, I get out of the way, and I photograph what actually happens.
The message I get most, in some version, is this:
"Thank you for making the entire experience so easy, seamless, fun and stress-free."
That's the whole job. If you leave your wedding or elopement day feeling like it flowed effortlessly and you had space to be genuinely present, I've done what I set out to do.
Big on family, love to have fun, very chilled
Born in London, studied Fine Art in Bournemouth, exhibited work across London, Paris and Prague. That art-school background still shapes how I see light and landscape.
Most alive in the ocean or in nature, surfing, swimming, walking, or in the orchard. Being outside is how I recharge, and part of why I know these coastlines and forests as intimately as I do.
My landscape work started in the UK, waiting in the freezing cold for the perfect light. Fifteen years in the South West has given me access to locations and light most people never find.
I live in the South West with my family. Being present with the people I love is at the centre of everything, and it's why I understand what a genuinely relaxed wedding day looks like.
Living and working in Margaret River since 2010. Fifteen years of the same forests, the same beaches, the same community and a lot of the same faces at the local café.
I have been a photographer in Margaret River for over 15 years
As a Margaret River elopement photographer and planner, I work with couples getting married here from all over, wedding couples locally in Western Australia, elopement couples from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the east coast, and international couples from the UK, Ireland, Singapore and beyond.
My all-inclusive elopement planning packages cover photography, planning, permits, celebrant, florist, hair and makeup, and everything in between. One conversation. One payment. Your entire day handled.
I'm particularly experienced working with camera-shy couples, introverts, and anyone who has been dreading the "wedding photography" part of getting married. If that's you, it might be the best possible reason to get in touch.
John Rice — Margaret River Wedding & Elopement Planner & Photographer
Serving Margaret River, Boranup Forest, Yallingup & South West WA | 0423 289 677