The Lane Vineyard

The Lane Vineyard is a vineyard estate on Ravenswood Lane, just outside Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills, about 25 minutes from the city. The vines run down towards the Onkaparinga Valley, and the estate was established in 1993. For a wedding it has a lawn above the vineyard for ceremonies, a Boatshed at the edge of its dam for smaller ones, a clear-roofed pavilion on The Terrace and a restaurant with glass walls. Catering is in-house, and the larger packages give you the whole estate.

This guide follows the day in order, the way we photographed Kim and Ben's wedding here in February 2026: where to get ready, the two ceremony spots, the portrait spots around the pond and the vines, the reception rooms, an afternoon hour by hour and what to ask about rain.

Getting ready

We found no accommodation at The Lane, so couples get ready at home, in Hahndorf or somewhere else in the Hills, and arrive dressed. A directory mentions bridal changing facilities, but the venue doesn't say so on its own pages, so ask before you plan around it.

The Pavilion and Dining Room packages allow photographs before the ceremony from 3pm, in selected areas of the estate. With a 5pm ceremony, that is time for a first look and some portraits among the vines before the guests arrive. Kim and Ben's day had no getting ready coverage: our photographs begin with their guests already seated at the Boatshed.

Ceremony on the lawn or at the Boatshed

There are two ceremony spots, and which one you use depends on the size of the wedding:

• The estate lawn. The Pavilion and Dining Room packages hold the ceremony outside on the lawn overlooking the vineyard, with 32 white Americana chairs, a signing table or wine barrel and a chilled water station. The venue doesn't state a total capacity for the lawn (a directory says up to 150), so check your numbers with them.
• The Boatshed. A timber deck at the edge of the estate's dam, under a roof grown over with wisteria, with seating along a timber rail and the water right below. It is the elopement ceremony spot: 16 to 32 seated by the 2026 to 2027 package, up to 30 by the website. The elopement package sets the ceremony from 10.30am, then lunch. The venue lists the Boatshed as a function space from October to April.

Kim and Ben married at the Boatshed on a hot, clear afternoon. Kim walked down the gravel path along the pond with a boy on each side of her, and the ceremony took place at the front of the deck, with a wine barrel as the table, two tall vases of green stems and a microphone for both sets of vows. Under the iron roof the guests sat in shade while the sun lit the water outside. Seen from the far bank, the deck looks as if it floats on the pond.

Portraits around the pond and the vines

The packages open "select areas" of the estate for photographs, so walk the route with the coordinator first. These are the spots we used, and the ones worth asking about:

• The corner of the Boatshed deck. A wine barrel, willows and the pond behind. We did Kim and Ben's family photographs here, in the shade.
• The far bank of the pond. Looking back across the water at the Boatshed, with tall reeds in front. The best light comes late in the afternoon, when the sun drops low over the water.
• The track around the pond. A dirt track below a dry golden hillside, agapanthus along the edge, and the white umbrellas of the courtyard across the water.
• The boardwalk and the restaurant deck. Steel railings, a row of cypresses and the valley beyond, then the restaurant's deck and stairs, which are backlit as the sun goes down.
• The vineyard rows and the Panorama hilltop. The vines are green in spring and summer and golden in autumn. The venue uses the Panorama, a hilltop looking over the estate to the Mount Lofty Ranges, for proposals, so ask whether it is open on your day.

In summer the middle of the day is bright and hard in the Hills. Keep the shade of the deck for family photographs and save couple portraits for the last hour before dinner.

Reception in the Pavilion or the Dining Room

The Lane has three rooms for the meal after the ceremony:

• The Pavilion on The Terrace seats 120 under a clear roof, 10 by 21 metres, and its timeline includes dancing. For a cocktail reception the website says 180 and the package 150. The venue suggests a white roof for December and January, when the sun is strongest.
• The Dining Room seats 80, or 100 standing. It faces the vineyard, with floor-to-ceiling windows. The package doesn't mention a dance floor, so ask if dancing matters to you.
• The Valley Room hosts the elopement lunch for up to 32 guests, from 12pm to 4pm. Other visitors share the estate then, and the package has no entertainment or dancing.

Catering is in-house, with menus by the head chef and wines from the estate. Before the reception, drinks and canapés are served on The Terrace from 5.30pm to 6.45pm.

Kim and Ben's guests had drinks on the gravel courtyard beside the Boatshed, at timber picnic tables under white umbrellas by a dry-stone wall. For dinner everyone walked up the boardwalk to the restaurant and sat at one long table down the glass-walled room, with the evening sun across the floor, single red roses in bud vases along the table and a menu headed with the couple's first names.

A day at The Lane Vineyard, hour by hour

The cameras' clocks didn't match the booked times that day, so here is Kim and Ben's afternoon counted from the moment Kim walked in:

• Just before: guests seated under the vine-covered roof of the Boatshed, Ben waiting at the front.
• The start: Kim walks down the gravel path along the pond.
• After 10 minutes: the vows, then the roses, the rings and the kiss at about 15 minutes.
• After 18 minutes: signing at the wine barrel, then a few quiet portraits at the edge of the deck.
• After 30 minutes: everyone on the deck for one group photograph, taken from across the pond.
• From 35 minutes to about an hour: drinks on the courtyard and family photographs in the corner of the deck.
• After about 1 hour 15: golden hour portraits on the far bank and along the track around the pond.
• After about 1 hour 35: the walk up the boardwalk, and dinner at one long table in the restaurant.
• After about 2 hours: a last few portraits on the restaurant's deck, with the sun behind them.

For a Pavilion or Dining Room wedding the venue's own timeline runs from guests arriving at 4.30pm, through a 5pm ceremony and drinks on The Terrace from 5.30pm, to a reception from 7pm to 11.30pm.

If it rains

The venue doesn't publish a wet weather plan for either ceremony spot, so ask the wedding coordinator what yours would be before you book. The Pavilion has a clear roof and the Dining Room is fully indoors, so the reception is covered either way. At the Boatshed the roof shelters the seats along the rail, but the sides are open to the pond, and the walk down the gravel path is uncovered. Clear umbrellas at the top of the path are an easy safeguard.

Practical notes

• The address is 5 Ravenswood Lane, Hahndorf SA 5245. Parking is on site; reviewers mention that the car park is unlit at night, so plan transport home for the end of the evening.
• The Pavilion and Dining Room packages finish at 11.30pm, and include exclusive use of the estate. Elopements are not exclusive.
• Elopements can be booked up to 12 months ahead from Sunday to Friday, and up to 6 months ahead for a Saturday.
• The planning steps in the packages: a planning session four to six months out, a final meeting four to six weeks out, final numbers 14 days before and a rehearsal in the week of the wedding.
• Ceremony suppliers get access two hours before the start. Flowers for the Dining Room must arrive in vases.
• A directory lists disabled access, but the venue's own pages don't mention it, so ask about the paths to the Boatshed and the restaurant if anyone in your party uses a wheelchair.
• The estate is in the Adelaide Hills, so a summer date can fall on a total fire ban day. Ask the venue what happens then.