How to plan relaxed photos around a Melbourne registry wedding

Start with three things: your ceremony time, the people you want photographs with, and where you are going afterwards. Once those are fixed, the portraits fit in the space between. You do not need to visit every famous backdrop in the city.

Victorian Marriage Registry ceremonies are held at the Old Treasury Building, 20 Spring Street, East Melbourne. The Registry’s own instructions come first. The photography plan fits around them.

I have photographed Registry weddings there for Vicky and David, Megan and Nick and Caitlin and Jay. Each ceremony was in the same building, and each couple found their best portraits within a short walk of it.

Can we bring our own photographer?

Yes. The Registry allows a professional photographer at both the classic ceremony and the legal-only ceremony. The legal-only ceremony is limited to four people, the two of you and your two witnesses, and the photographer does not count toward that limit.

How much time you have at the Registry

The Registry lets you celebrate and take photographs with your guests during your allocated ceremony time, then move on. That is 30 minutes for a classic ceremony and 15 minutes for legal-only. Anything longer happens after you leave: on the steps, in the gardens, or further afield.

The Registry does not provide witnesses. Bring two, aged 18 or over, or the ceremony does not go ahead.

What to decide before choosing photo locations

Write down your ceremony time and your next fixed booking. That might be lunch, a hotel checkout, or a guest with a train to catch. The time between the two is what you have for photographs.

Then list the photographs that matter most. The ceremony. You with your witnesses. Your parents together. A few portraits of the two of you. That list gives the day a shape without turning every minute into a task.

Family photographs straight after the ceremony

If your guests are heading off to lunch, take the important group photographs before they go. Agree the list beforehand and tell the people on it.

Use names. “Us with Mum, Dad and Alex” is easier to organise than “family photos”, most of all when relatives have not met each other. Tell me if someone needs a seat or cannot walk far. There is a longer guide to family photographs at a registry wedding.

Where to take portraits nearby

Keep it close. The Registry names the steps outside the Old Treasury Building and the Treasury Gardens next door as places for photographs. It also asks that doorways stay clear at all times.

Treasury Gardens and Fitzroy Gardens are two different parks. If you want to walk further, or add somewhere like Parliament House, we talk through the route and the time before the day. One place you enjoy is worth more than three rushed stops.

How much coverage to book

Work backwards from what you want photographed. A ceremony and nearby portraits is a different day from getting ready at a hotel, family groups, two locations and the start of lunch.

For a simple day, the order runs like this: arrive in line with the Registry’s instructions, the ceremony, time for congratulations, the family groups, then portraits of the two of you nearby. Add the walk before you fix a lunch booking.

Two hours is $690. Four hours is $1,090, and each hour after is $200. Every booking includes 100 edited images an hour, a pre-session consultation, a 48-hour sneak peek, an online gallery for a year and a print release. The Registry ceremony is booked and paid for separately. The pricing page has the rest, and the guide to photography hours helps you choose.

If you feel awkward in front of a camera

Tell me what makes you uncomfortable. Some couples want a clear suggestion of where to stand. Others want room to walk and talk. I don’t pose, but I direct: I’ll tell you where the light is, then step back. There is more on this in elopement photos when you feel awkward.

If it rains

Agree an alternative before the day: where you would go, how you would get there, and whether it needs permission. Do not count on an indoor space being free because it is nearby. Keep the backup simple enough to decide on the spot.

What to send when you enquire

Your date, the ceremony time, roughly how many guests, and what you would like photographed. Add any fixed plans afterwards, such as lunch. If something worries you, say so. A rough outline is enough to start.

Send your date and your plans, and I’ll tell you what fits.

The photographs on this page are from Vicky and David’s Registry wedding at the Old Treasury Building.