A gown in the window
Our afternoon began out front by the venue sign, where a white fountain and columns sat among the hedges, then inside the ballroom, where red drapes and red paper lanterns hung above a gold-trimmed red chaise under a wall of red flowers. In the bridal suite, Penny’s strapless gown hung against a tall window between dark curtains, her ivory heels on the ledge below, and we framed it from across the room so the daylight traced the outline of the train. Penny sat in a floral robe for her makeup, eyes closed as the brush swept on, then smiled for us beside her gown.
Cufflinks and small mirrors
In the groom’s room, Asheek’s cufflinks went on with a little help, and we caught him and his mates reflected in a mosaic of small mirrors on the wall, a frame that turns a plain room into something playful. Then he sat for a quiet portrait in a charcoal suit with a red carnation on his lapel, framed by the curtains. Back in the bridal suite, Penny’s dad sat on the sofa beside a loved one, both beaming. A sofa by the window is our favourite spot for family portraits while getting ready, because the light is soft and nobody has to stand for long.
Ribbons, bracelet, veil
A bridesmaid in pale blush did up Penny’s gown by the curved window while the light from outside wrapped around them both. Hands tied the ribbon of her jewelled belt, fixed a stray curl and fastened a bracelet, and then the veil went on. She held her bouquet of red and white roses and gave us the biggest smile of the afternoon. We turned her away from the glass for one frame so the veil glowed at its edges, and kept another in black and white, her head bowed over the flowers.
Down the stairs to the stage
Penny and a bridesmaid waited with her dad by a doorway, then she came down the sweeping staircase on his arm, with a loved one at her other side, and they walked between the tables to the stage. Asheek wrapped an older guest in a hug at the front. The ceremony was held on the stage itself, framed by that wall of red flowers, with the celebrant in a striped scarf reading from a red folder. Guests stood around the dance floor to watch. A raised stage is a gift at a ballroom ceremony, because every guest can see, and so can our cameras.
The whole room from above
From the side of the stage we watched Asheek grin as Penny came to stand beside him, while an older guest raised his phone to catch the vows and the front rows laughed and leant in. Once they were married, the two of them walked back down the aisle together, and we ran up to the balcony for the photo every ballroom needs: the whole crowd on the dance floor looking up and waving, with the newlyweds in the middle. For The Grand on Princes wedding photos, it takes two minutes and becomes the frame everyone hunts for afterwards.
Clouds over the rooftop
Then we headed up to the rooftop, with its artificial lawn, glass balustrades and views across the south-eastern suburbs, and started with a family group. Big grey and white clouds were rolling over that afternoon, so we turned Penny and Asheek into silhouettes against the bright sky for one frame and exposed for their faces for the next. Penny’s veil lifted in the breeze at the glass edge, and we kept that one in black and white. The white external staircase gave us layers of curved rails and shadow, and they walked hand in hand around the curve of the terrace, laughing.
Fog on the dance floor
Back in the ballroom, Penny took her place on the red chaise and Asheek strode in through the tables. The MC kept the room busy with games, and lines of friends on the dance floor and the stage pulled faces and doubled over laughing, before a loved one in dark lace spoke from the lectern. Then the lights dropped and the first dance began in a thick white fog rolling across the parquetry. Low fog swallows feet and light fast, so we crouched with the stage lights behind them to make it glow. Later the two of them thanked everyone together at the lectern.
A change into red and gold
Penny and Asheek came back down the staircase in red: a fitted red and gold dress for her, and a deep red jacket embroidered with gold for him. A bridesmaid carried a tray of small cups, and the couple offered them to seated elders one by one, who sipped, smiled and handed back small gifts, while an older guest slipped a gold bracelet onto Penny’s wrist. Then we gathered both families on the stage for groups. We shoot these exchanges at eye level from a step or two back, which keeps both generations in the same frame.
Cupcakes and a tunnel of hands
Little ones crawled and slid across the parquetry as the night grew louder. Penny and Asheek cut a small white cake perched on a tower of red-topped cupcakes, both laughing at the knife. Penny threw her bouquet to a crowd of friends, then guests linked hands overhead into a tunnel and the two of them ducked through, shrieking. Before the end, they pressed their thumbprints onto a painted tree guest book by the stairs, and finished where the evening had started, side by side on the red chaise.
