▶Canberra Southern Cross Club Woden · 92-96 Corinna St, Phillip ACT 2606 · Canberra
▶A spring wedding in Canberra that moved from a church ceremony in Farrer to the hill of the National Arboretum and finished in a ballroom at Woden. The couple planned a twelve hour day: both bridal parties getting ready at home, an early afternoon service with family photos on the church grounds, ninety minutes of portraits among the young forests, then dinner for 160 guests with speeches between the courses and a first dance at eight.
Two big bridal parties at home · Crowns and candles in the church · Wind on the Arboretum hill · Grand entrance on shoulders · Fog, sparks and circle dancing
The groom's house was loud from ten: a friend at the keyboard in the lounge, groomsmen on the balcony with flags and open shirts, his mum pinning the buttonhole and his dad pulling him into a hug. Across town the bride stood at the window in her robe, then her bridesmaids in blush laced her into the gown and a round of small glasses went up before she came down the front stairs to a white stretch limousine. Her dad walked her into the church at half past one, crowns held above their heads and candles in hand under the chandelier, before family photos at the altar and one huge group outside the white doors.
Up on the Arboretum hill the wind took the veil and the whole bridal party laughed into it, the groomsmen hoisting the groom and the steel letters of the sculpture framing the view. At six the ballroom at Woden was ready: fairy light curtain, candles and white roses along the long bridal table. The groomsmen came in on each other's shoulders, the parents followed, and the couple passed through cold sparks straight into a circle dance. Five speeches ran between the courses, the bride wiping tears and the groom closing the set. Then the cake, a first dance in fog and sparks, more circle dancing, and a quiet moment on the staircase.
Ceremony spot · Moving between spaces · Light · How the day ran · Portrait spots · Our advice
This couple married in a church in Farrer, a short drive from the Canberra Southern Cross Club, not at the venue. The church was ornate and warm: icons on every wall, a brass chandelier, candles and crowns during the service, and a gallery above the nave that gave us a wide view of the whole congregation. Family photos happened right at the altar afterwards and the full guest group gathered on the steps outside. If you marry in a church first, allow a solid hour there after the service, because everyone wants a photo in front of those doors. Watch at 5:40 Watch at 6:28 Watch at 7:24
Three locations, all within short drives: homes for getting ready, the church in Farrer, the National Arboretum, then Woden. The stretch limousine made the moves easy for a bridal party of twelve and gave us arrival and departure shots at every stop. At the club, the ballroom's side doors became the stage for the entrance, with groomsmen bursting through first and the couple following into sparks, and the carpeted staircase under warm wall lights was a few steps from the dance floor for a last portrait when the party was at full tilt. Watch at 5:32 Watch at 7:32 Watch at 15:28
Spring in Canberra gave us soft overcast light for the morning and a bright, breezy afternoon on the hill. The church was dim and warm, lit by candles and the chandelier, so faces glowed and the white gown held its detail against the gold icons. Up at the Arboretum the clouds acted like a giant softbox, flattering for every face in a big group, while the wind lifted the veil for free. In the ballroom the fairy light curtain runs cool and the candles run warm, and we exposed for the candlelight so the bridal table read warm with the curtain glowing behind. Watch at 7:52 Watch at 8:48 Watch at 11:28
Groom from ten, bride from half past eleven, church at half past one, an hour of family photos, ninety minutes on the hill, ballroom doors at six. Spreading five speeches between the courses from a quarter to seven kept the room lively without a long block of talking, and the first dance landed straight after the last speech while every guest was still in their seat and cheering. Circle dancing broke out twice, once right after the entrance and again after the first dance, which is exactly what a room this size at Canberra Southern Cross Club is for. Watch at 10:12 Watch at 10:48 Watch at 14:52
The National Arboretum, a short drive from both the church and Woden, gave the bridal party ninety minutes among the young trees with the view across to the western hills. The steel script sculpture on the hill was the anchor shot for the full party, and the open slope beside it worked for the couple alone, the veil streaming in the wind. Mid afternoon in spring is cloudy bright up there, so there is no harsh sun to dodge and no rush for golden hour. Plan for wind, keep the groomsmen involved for energy, and leave ten minutes for the limo shots on the way out. Watch at 7:52 Watch at 8:28 Watch at 8:42
What our team noticed was how much energy two big bridal parties bring when you let them loose: the balcony flags in the morning, the groom on shoulders on the hill, the groomsmen's shoulder ride into the ballroom. Those moments only happen if the running order has room for them, so build in slack. At Canberra Southern Cross Club the long bridal table under the fairy light curtain photographs best with candles in front of every face, so go heavy on them. And keep the staircase in mind: a quiet two minutes there at the end gave this couple the calmest frames of a very loud day. Watch at 4:28 Watch at 9:44 Watch at 15:34
The Woden club sits right in the middle of the Woden town centre on Corinna Street, and the Canberra Southern Cross Club function package lists a family of Corinna rooms here, from the full Corinna Ballroom for up to 700 seated guests down to Corinna Room 1 at around 320 and smaller rooms for intimate dinners, plus The Top of the Cross and The Orion Room. For a ballroom wedding of about 160 guests, a single Corinna room gives you a generous dance floor and room for a long bridal table. Free undercover parking across the road is a real help for guests and suppliers arriving at dusk.
The look of this room comes from the backdrop: a curtain of fairy lights, cool coloured uplighting and dozens of candles among the roses. In photos that mix is beautiful but needs care, because the background runs blue and the faces run warm. Ask your stylist for plenty of candles on the table itself, since candlelight under the chin does more for faces in a dark ballroom than any amount of ceiling light. Keep the uplighting a little cooler than the table candles and the bridal table reads as warm and flattering in every speech photo, with the fairy light curtain glowing softly behind.
Five speeches between the courses can add up to an hour and a quarter of talking spread through the meal, and in a room this size sound is everything. Ask the DJ for a clean microphone feed to the photographer and videographer, and have a spare microphone ready, so nothing is lost if a speaker drifts off it or the room erupts. Seat the couple where their reactions are easy to see from the floor, because those are often the best part. If you have a lot of speakers, keep each to a few minutes and let your MC group them between courses, so the kitchen and the dance floor both stay on time.
The double doors at the side of the ballroom make a natural stage for a grand entrance, with a short run past the bar to the bridal table, and there is room inside the doors for the groomsmen to burst through before the couple pass between cold spark fountains. For the first dance, low fog and sparks look spectacular, but they change the light on the floor in seconds and can wash out a white gown, so tell your suppliers the order of effects in advance. Save the sparks for the last chorus so the room is already cheering, and leave the house lights low so the effects read on camera.
Couples who pair a Canberra church wedding with a Woden reception have an easy run: Farrer, the National Arboretum and Phillip are all short drives apart. A typical plan gives the ceremony and family photos the early afternoon, then about ninety minutes at the Arboretum before guests arrive in Woden at six. Up on that hill the wind is part of the deal in spring, so plan for flying veils rather than fight them, and the steel script of Wide Brown Land frames the view across to the western hills. If the weather turns, the club itself works for portraits: its staircase, under warm wall lights, makes a lovely indoor spot.