Destination weddings come with their own special buzz, and we felt it the second we walked into Alexa’s room at InterContinental Sydney. Her gown hung by a window full of harbour, the Opera House sails sat right over her shoulder, and the whole room had that jet-lag-meets-pure-excitement energy of a family who had crossed the Pacific for this day.
We turned the window into our studio and shot much of the morning in black and white: soft side light, lace, pearls scattered through the tulle and a veil that caught the light every time she moved. Hotel tip: book a room on a high floor facing the water if you can. You get beautiful natural light and a view that tells everyone exactly where you are.
Then the bridesmaids arrived in mismatched satin, sage, blush and emerald, and the morning turned into a party. We took everyone straight outside onto the sandstone steps by the hotel. InterContinental Sydney is built into the 1851 Treasury Building, and that honey-coloured stone gave us warm, textured backdrops only a few steps from the lobby. Cue squeals, a train-carrying relay across the paving, and a vintage Rolls-Royce pulling up to whisk Alexa across the harbour to Mosman.
Burnt Orange sits on Middle Head inside Sydney Harbour National Park, a 1920s sandstone clubhouse wrapped in bushland. Alexa and Chris said their vows on the tiered lawn by the sundial, under a cloud of white flowers, with nineteen guests close enough to hear every word. The sky stayed grey but the rain held off, and the moment they were married the two of them punched the air together as the petals flew. Small weddings are pure gold for photographers. With fewer than twenty guests there’s no crowd to wrestle, everyone ends up in the story, and we get far more time with the couple.
Overcast days are secretly our favourite for portraits. A grey sky works like a giant softbox, so skin looks luminous and a white gown keeps every bit of its detail. We wandered the lawns and sandstone steps around Burnt Orange, let the breeze play with Alexa’s veil and got Chris laughing so hard he forgot to pose. Our secret weapon for a Sydney winter wedding is a clear umbrella: if the drizzle arrives it keeps you dry, and unlike a black one it lets the light straight through, so the photos stay bright and dreamy.
Then it was down to the Signals Room for the reception, the speeches and a first dance with a live band in full swing. The room’s name is a nod to the building’s past. It opened as the Mosman Golf Club clubhouse and housed an army signals unit during the Second World War. In winter the Sydney sun sets around half past five, so just as the party peaked we slipped Alexa and Chris outside for ten minutes of blue hour. The clubhouse windows glowed, raindrops speckled the roof of the Rolls-Royce, and they stole one last kiss in the back seat. That’s the frame we’ll always remember this wedding by.
We filmed the day too, so if these Burnt Orange Mosman wedding photos made you smile, watch Alexa and Chris’s Burnt Orange wedding film.
