National Portrait Gallery wedding photos: Deisy and Aaron hold each other in a misty grove of tall trees, her long train trailing behind, Canberra
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Real wedding · Parkes, Canberra CBD

National Portrait Gallery Wedding Photos: Deisy & Aaron

National Portrait Gallery · King Edward Terrace, Parkes ACT · Canberra

Urban City Wedding · Region: ACT - Canberra CBD · City: Canberra · Venue: National Portrait Gallery

A clear umbrella in the drizzle, a veil streaming through the burnt shell of an old observatory and a twirl inside a drifting cloud of garden fog. Deisy and Aaron’s Canberra wedding turned a grey autumn day into pure magic, from a church in O’Connor up to Mount Stromlo and down to the lake, then a first dance between sparkler fountains at the National Portrait Gallery in Parkes. We loved every wet, happy minute.

The gallery
Deisy arrives on her dad's arm at St Joseph's Church, O'Connor, holding a big bouquet of dried flowers and cream roses.
Two bridesmaids in sage green walk up the red carpet aisle, one carrying a toddler in a white dress, beneath glowing stained glass.
Deisy and her dad start up the aisle of the timber-lined city church, coloured glass glowing on the wall behind them.
From behind, her dad walks Deisy up the red carpet at St Joseph's Church as her long lace-edged veil trails down the aisle.
Over her dad's shoulder, Aaron grins at Deisy from the front of the church, his groomsmen lined up beside him.
Two bridesmaids in sage green watch the ceremony from a timber pew, a little one in white tulle sitting on one lap.
Deisy and Aaron hold hands for their vows as the officiant reads, carved timber and a rough stone wall behind them.
Aaron breaks into a wide smile mid vows while the officiant reads from a small booklet beside the white altar.
Aaron beams at Deisy as he holds her hands, a dried flower buttonhole on his tuxedo and the city church's stained glass behind.
Guests in the front pew laugh and clap along, a woman in a blush beaded gown sitting between two smiling men.
After the vows, Deisy and Aaron stand hand in hand on the red carpeted steps at St Joseph's in O'Connor, her veil pooled beside her.
Deisy and Aaron sit at the white signing table of the urban church with their bridesmaids, groomsmen and a candle bearing their names.
The officiant hands Aaron the signed certificate as Deisy smiles, bridesmaids and groomsmen gathered on either side.
Her dad claps with a huge grin as guests rise in the pews of the city church to applaud the couple.
Deisy and Aaron walk back down the red carpet aisle of St Joseph's Church, O'Connor, beneath the high timber ceiling as guests stand.
Deisy and Aaron kiss at the church door, the bright doorway framed by tall stained glass panels and her veil spilling onto the carpet.
In black and white, the couple kiss against the bright doorway, her long veil running back across the entrance floor.
Every guest gathers in front of the tall pointed roof of St Joseph's Church, under a pale grey city sky.
Arms go up and umbrellas pop open as the whole crowd cheers outside the church beneath its steep metal roof.
Deisy and Aaron with her dad and three loved ones on the steps before the altar, her lace-trimmed veil spread wide.
Deisy and Aaron stand with her dad and a loved one in pink lace before the timber screen of this inner north urban church.
A loved one in a champagne beaded gown and a grey-haired man in a pale tie stand either side of the smiling couple.
The couple pose with family, a bridesmaid holding the toddler and a young man in a navy suit at the end of the row.
Aaron and Deisy smile with a young man in navy and a bridesmaid holding the little one, red carpet underfoot.
Aaron holds a clear umbrella over Deisy beside a teal sports car with white ribbons at Mount Stromlo Observatory.
Deisy and Aaron with her dad and a loved one in pink lace inside the burnt concrete shell, a tall window behind.
Both families line up with the couple on the rain-darkened concrete floor of the roofless observatory ruin.
The bridal party stands in a row against the curved scorched wall of Mount Stromlo Observatory, Weston Creek, a bridesmaid holding the toddler.
Aaron and Deisy stand between two groomsmen in pale sage bow ties on the wet concrete floor.
Deisy and Aaron share a laugh with two bridesmaids in sage green slip dresses against the weathered round wall.
Walking and laughing, the couple and two bridesmaids cross the ruin as greenery spills from an empty window frame.
Deisy and Aaron kiss in the middle of the circular ruin at Mount Stromlo, bridesmaids and groomsmen spread out on either side.
Deisy and her bridesmaids raise their dried bouquets high toward a tall empty window, her veil falling down her back.
Three bouquets of dried palm, cream roses, bunny tails and hydrangea held close by Deisy and two bridesmaids.
The couple stand with a man in a grey waistcoat and a loved one in a zigzag print dress and white wrap.
Aaron and two groomsmen stand with hands in pockets on the wet floor of Mount Stromlo Observatory in Canberra, a window frame behind.
Aaron throws an arm around a groomsman in a sage bow tie, both laughing hard against the stained concrete.
A bearded groomsman pulls a cheeky face and points at a grinning Aaron beside a rusted window frame.
Deisy throws her bouquet up in front of the tall rusted window at Mount Stromlo Observatory as Aaron hugs her close.
Hand in hand, Deisy swings her dried palm bouquet as Aaron lifts the lace train off the wet ground.
A gust lifts Deisy's long veil sideways as she and Aaron walk past a fallen piece of the old telescope dome at Mount Stromlo.
Deisy and a bridesmaid with a long braid smile side by side, their dried bouquets pressed together.
Deisy and a bridesmaid turn to each other and smile, a rusted window frame and green hills behind.
Deisy stands between her dad and a loved one in a pink lace dress, her bouquet hanging low at her side.
Aaron kisses Deisy's temple under a clear umbrella as she closes her eyes above her bouquet of dried flowers and cream roses.
In black and white, Aaron presses a kiss to Deisy's hair while she holds the umbrella handle and lowers her gaze.
Shot through the wet plastic of the umbrella, Deisy rests with her eyes closed as Aaron kisses her head.
In black and white, raindrops on the umbrella soften the couple's faces into a quiet, misty embrace.
Cream roses and bunny tails sit sharp in front as Deisy smiles down and Aaron leans in, all seen through clear plastic.
In black and white, the dried bouquet fills the foreground while Deisy smiles softly beneath the umbrella canopy.
Deisy and Aaron share a clear umbrella in front of a tall window inside Mount Stromlo Observatory, Weston Creek.
In black and white, the couple stand close under the clear umbrella, the tall empty window rising behind them.
Deisy laughs up toward the sky as Aaron kisses her forehead, raindrops scattered across the clear umbrella.
In black and white, Deisy's big laugh shines through the clear umbrella while Aaron kisses her brow.
Under a clear umbrella, Deisy glances back to show the open lace back of her gown by Lake Burley Griffin in central Canberra.
In black and white, Deisy smiles over her bare shoulder under the umbrella on a wet Canberra CBD afternoon.
Deisy pauses on the city lakeside path under her umbrella, bouquet tucked behind her, with Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra beyond.
In black and white on a Canberra city footpath, Deisy holds her umbrella high and her dried bouquet low behind her.
The bridal party and families pose on wide concrete steps under clear umbrellas among gum trees in the Canberra CBD.
Deisy and Aaron kiss under a clear umbrella as their bridesmaids and groomsmen grin beside them on a rainy urban afternoon in central Canberra.
Deisy and Aaron kiss both cheeks of a wide-eyed toddler in white beside Lake Burley Griffin in the Canberra CBD.
Deisy and Aaron hold hands with a flower girl in a floral crown on concrete steps, each under a clear umbrella, in Canberra city.
Aaron twirls Deisy through drifting fog in the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Australia, her skirt flaring out.
Aaron dips Deisy for a kiss as mist from the fog sculpture rolls around their feet in the Canberra CBD.
Deisy flicks out her full lace skirt while Aaron holds her bouquet, fog curling through a city garden in central Canberra.
Deisy looks up at Aaron in a close embrace as fog fills the trees of the National Gallery Sculpture Garden in the Canberra CBD.
Small in a wide frame, the couple kiss beneath tall trees as a cloud of fog swallows the path on a misty Canberra city afternoon.
Deisy and Aaron hold hands on the walkway into the James Turrell Skyspace, rosy walls rising beside a dark water channel.
The couple stroll beside a turquoise pool under a towering pink wall, a dark stone dome mirrored in the water in central Canberra.
Arms up, Deisy and Aaron make their entrance at the National Portrait Gallery in the Canberra CBD while cheering guests film on their phones.
Sparkler fountains shower light behind Deisy and Aaron during their first dance, low fog rolling across the floor of this urban gallery in central Canberra.
Late on a city night, Deisy and Aaron embrace under the warmly lit overhang beside the concrete wall of the National Portrait Gallery, Parkes.
Aaron kisses Deisy's forehead as warm light glows behind her long hair at the end of their Canberra city celebration.
The wedding story

Our National Portrait Gallery wedding photos: umbrellas at Mount Stromlo, a twirl in the fog and sparklers for the first dance

Church ceremony in O’Connor · Mount Stromlo Observatory ruins · Umbrellas by Lake Burley Griffin · Fog and the Skyspace · Reception at the National Portrait Gallery

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Dried flowers and a proud dad

We met Deisy at the church door in O’Connor, her arm through her dad’s and both of them beaming before they had even reached the step. Her bouquet was a big, soft bundle of dried flowers: cream roses, pampas, bunny tails and palm in shades of sand and blush. The bridesmaids went in first in sage green, one of them carrying a very small guest in white. Inside, coloured glass glowed down one side of the room and a red carpet ran to the front, so we stayed low and let the colour fill the edges of the frame.

Vows at the timber wall

Deisy’s dad walked her up the red carpet and handed her over to Aaron, who was waiting with his groomsmen. The front of the church is panelled in warm timber with a stone wall behind, so we framed the vows between the two of them with all that texture behind. In the pews a little one sat on a lap in a white dress, and the couple nearest the front laughed at something only they had heard. We work a ceremony from the side with a longer lens, so the moments stay unposed and nobody is blocked.

Silhouette at the door

After the signing, families and the bridal party came up in turn for groups against the timber, and the guests stood to clap as Deisy and Aaron came back down the aisle. At the door the light outside was bright and flat, and the stained glass glowed on either side of them, so when they stopped for a kiss we exposed for the doorway and let them fall into silhouette. Then everybody spilled outside and squeezed in front of the church’s tall, pointed roof for one huge group under a pale grey sky.

A teal car and a burnt observatory

A bright teal sports car with white ribbons carried them west to Mount Stromlo, and the first drops of rain arrived with them. Aaron opened a clear umbrella and Deisy laughed up at him beside the car. Then we walked into the ruins of the old observatory, a round shell of scorched concrete with tall empty windows, open to the sky. On a wet day it is a gift: the pale walls bounce soft light back at faces, and the damp floor shines. Families, bridesmaids and groomsmen took turns in the middle of the circle.

Bouquets up at Mount Stromlo

The bridesmaids threw their dried bouquets up in the air with Deisy, and the groomsmen hammed it up for a frame of their own. Deisy raised her bouquet high in front of the old window frame, then she and Aaron walked hand in hand past a fallen piece of the telescope dome while a gust lifted her long veil sideways. We asked for nothing there: wind does better work with a veil than any assistant. A loved one in pink and an older man in black tie stood with Deisy for a quiet family portrait against the weathered wall.

Through a wet umbrella

When the drizzle came back we leaned into it. Aaron held the clear umbrella over Deisy, and we shot through its wet plastic so the raindrops and the curve of the canopy became a soft veil of their own over her face and the cream roses. He kissed her temple and she closed her eyes. A few of these went into black and white, where the rain reads like texture. Clear umbrellas are the best rainy-day prop we know: they keep a bride dry without hiding her, and they photograph beautifully.

Umbrellas by the lake

Down by Lake Burley Griffin the grey water and trees made a calm, silvery background. Deisy turned her back to us under the umbrella to show the open back of her lace gown, the bouquet held loosely behind her. The bridal party gathered under a row of clear umbrellas and kissed and laughed their way through a group photo, and the couple snuck in a double kiss on the cheeks of their small guest by the water. A flower girl in a white dress and floral crown stood proudly between them on the stone steps.

Fog in the Sculpture Garden

Then the best surprise of the day: in the Sculpture Garden next door to the gallery, a fog sculpture was breathing mist through the trees. Aaron spun Deisy and her skirt flew out, then he dipped her for a kiss while the fog rolled around their ankles. We stepped back to keep them small in the frame, because mist needs space to look like mist. In the Skyspace close by, the pink walls glowed and the turquoise pool doubled them. Their National Portrait Gallery wedding photos were already full before the reception began.

Sparklers for the first dance

At the National Portrait Gallery about a hundred guests were waiting. Deisy and Aaron came in to sparklers, and later, for the first dance, two fountains of sparks rose behind them in front of tall timber-framed windows while a low cloud drifted across the floor. A guest at the top table watched with a huge smile. Late in the night we took them outside to the entrance, where warm lights glowed under the timber-lined overhang beside a sheer concrete wall, and finished with Aaron kissing Deisy’s forehead in the soft light by the door.

Photographer's venue notes

National Portrait Gallery, Parkes: sparkler fountains for the first dance after a rain soaked portrait loop

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The gallery as the final stop

Deisy and Aaron used the gallery as the last stop of a long portrait loop around the city. After their church ceremony in O’Connor they headed up to the ruins at Mount Stromlo, came down to the lake, then spent the last of the daylight in the Sculpture Garden and the Skyspace right beside the gallery. That made the move to the reception short and easy, and they walked in with their arms in the air to a cheering room. The first dance came later, in front of the tall timber framed windows, and the night finished out at the entrance.

Drizzle, fog and evening light

Light rain came and went all afternoon. The grey sky meant we could face the couple in any direction with no harsh shadows, and wet concrete and stone added a gentle shine underfoot. When we reached the Sculpture Garden, the fog sculpture was running, and the soft overcast light kept the mist white and glowing rather than flat. By the time guests sat down for dinner it was dark outside, so the first dance relied on the warm light of the room, a low haze across the floor and the sparkler fountains behind them.

The frames we chased at the gallery

For the first dance we placed ourselves so the two sparkler fountains rose directly behind Deisy and Aaron, using them as a backlight while the low cloud on the floor caught the sparks. Late in the night we took them out to the entrance, where warm lights glow under the timber lined overhang and the concrete wall stays pale and clean beside them. We kept them right up close to that light, so their faces and her long hair picked up the glow for one last tender kiss on the forehead.

Tips for a showery Canberra day

Plan the portrait loop so it ends close to the reception: finishing in the gardens beside the gallery meant nobody was rushing through the last frames. Keep a bundle of clear umbrellas in the car for the bridal party as well as the couple, because a row of them on the steps by the lake turned a group photo into a highlight. If you are planning sparkler fountains or a low cloud for the first dance, let us know before the night, so we can find a spot that puts them behind you rather than between us and you.

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