Velvet under the wall clock
Emmett’s afternoon at The Hamptons Apartments started with the small jobs: watch on, cuffs done, then a black velvet dinner jacket with satin lapels and a bow tie left hanging loose for later. We sat him on a white chair by the window and kept the frame simple, because a plain white wall lets dark velvet do all the talking. Two groomsmen arrived in black tie and the handshakes and back slaps started under a big wall clock, which kept ticking towards the ceremony in the background of every frame.
A little visitor by the window
Down the hall, Karmen’s room was all daylight. Her bouquet lay on the table beside white square-toed sandals and a pair of earrings in their box: peach roses, pink orchids, astilbe and silver eucalyptus, tied loosely so the stems trailed. We photograph those details first, while the light is clean and nobody needs them yet. Then a little one in a white shirt and black shorts came to visit, and Karmen, still in her robe with her veil already pinned, scooped them up and laughed while her gown hung in the window behind her.
Folded satin in soft light
The gown was smooth satin with a wide folded neckline sitting off the shoulders, a pleated waist and a long train. A bridesmaid did up the back while Karmen smoothed the front, and then we gave her the window. A bright white room with pale blinds behaves like one giant softbox, so we could move around her without changing a thing: a glance over the shoulder, the bouquet held low, a turn that sent the train sweeping across the floor. One favourite is a black and white frame of her seated by the window, looking straight at us.
Blush satin under the palms
Before leaving, the two bridesmaids in blush satin slip dresses threw their bouquets in the air with Karmen in the middle, the first big laugh of the day. Then we drove a few minutes to St Kilda Botanical Gardens and its palm avenue. In full summer sun those tall palms throw stripes of shade across the gravel, so we lined everyone up where the shade fell evenly across faces. The groomsmen did not stay lined up for long: Emmett and the boys swept Karmen up sideways, satin train and all, with bouquets waving overhead.
Inside the glasshouse
Emmett dipped Karmen for a kiss at the end of the avenue, then we walked them to the conservatory. Its tall, green-framed glass wall with an arched window is a ready-made frame for two people standing hand in hand, and inside, the ferns and palms filter hard summer light into something soft and green. They kissed among the fronds, the bridesmaids crowded in beside Karmen with their bouquets, and on the walk back across the lawn the pair held hands and laughed. On a bright afternoon, shaded spots like this are pure gold for skin tones.
A little one in Emmett’s arms
Back at Encore St Kilda Beach, the ceremony was set up indoors with white chairs, a cream runner and a tall floral piece of peach, pink and blush blooms beside the windows. While guests found their seats, Emmett carried the little one around and shared a laugh with a guest, the calmest groom in the building. A bridesmaid walked in past the bar, all smiles, and then Karmen came down the runner on her dad’s arm, the long row of covered buttons down her back catching the light from the bay.
Vows under peach and pink
Two loved ones stood up with microphones to read, and a groomsman listened with his head bowed while another grinned beside him. Then Karmen and Emmett joined hands under the flowers, the celebrant between them and the glass behind. Photographing a ceremony against floor-to-ceiling windows takes care, because the bright bay outside can turn faces into silhouettes. We stood off to the side so the window light fell across them instead of behind them, which meant every laugh stayed visible, and there were plenty, mostly from Karmen.
Cheers and family on the terrace
The kiss earned a room full of cheers, and the walk back down the aisle was all clapping hands, with a quick second kiss halfway along that we kept in black and white. Then everyone moved out to the terrace for family photos on the green turf, with the white roof deck above. The terrace faces the open sky over the bay, so even late in the afternoon the light on faces stays bright and even. We worked through the groups briskly, big ones first, while the little one was passed happily from arm to arm.
Wind, veil and the pier
Later in the reception, with the sun sliding towards the bay, we borrowed Emmett and Karmen for twenty minutes and walked out to the boardwalk. A January sunset in St Kilda comes late, close to a quarter to nine, and that evening the sky turned pale peach and lilac over the water with the pier on the horizon. The sea breeze was up, so we stopped fighting the veil and used it: Karmen twirled, the satin swung out, Emmett pulled her in for a kiss and the veil wrapped around them both. Then it was back inside to the party.
