The International wedding photos: the bride walks a Brighton Beach jetty, veil lifting, towards her groom waiting with open arms over the bay in Melbourne
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Real wedding · Brighton, Melbourne

The International Wedding Photos: A Brighton Beach Day

The International · 81 Bay St, Brighton VIC · Melbourne

City: Melbourne · Venue: The International

A cream vintage scooter on the foreshore, bridesmaids in olive green crowding the deck of a yellow bathing box at Dendy Street Beach, and a groom flinging his arms wide at the end of a jetty while the bride’s veil took off in the wind. This wedding at The International in Brighton ran from soft window light in the morning to a spotlit dance floor and fairy lights after dark. We were right beside the bride and groom for every laugh.

The gallery
White peep-toe heels with gold lining stand on timber floorboards while the barefoot bride waits in her veil by a bright window.
A make-up artist brushes colour onto the bride's lips, her blonde curls pinned up loosely and her blue eyes on the lens.
A gust throws the bride's veil sideways across the hedge as the groom kisses her temple beside a round garden pond.
The bride and groom sit on a timber bench under a vine-covered pergola with white columns, foreheads touching beneath red leaves.
Five groomsmen fold their arms on dark steps under striped drapes, beside the bride laughing among bridesmaids in olive green ruffles.
The groom grins from the seat of a cream vintage scooter on the foreshore path as the bride hugs him from behind.
Barefoot bridesmaids in olive green crowd around the bride on the deck of yellow bathing box 29 at Dendy Street Beach.
The groom flings his arms wide at the end of a jetty while the bride walks towards him, her veil flying over the water.
Wrapped in each other's arms, the bride and groom laugh nose to nose against the pale, misty water of the bay.
On the rocks at the water's edge, the groom kisses the bride under a flaring sun, her white bouquet resting on the stones.
The bride and groom share a kiss through the windscreen of their car at The International, guests watching from the windows behind.
In black and white, a spotlight glows behind the bride's veil as she laughs with the groom on the dance floor.
Beaming in black and white, the bride dances among the crowd beside a guest in pearls on the reception floor.
Fairy lights twinkle through dark trees as the bride leans up to kiss the groom outside The International in Brighton at night.
The wedding story

Our wedding photos at The International, Brighton: a yellow bathing box, a run along the jetty and a dance under the spotlight

Getting ready by the window · Vine pergola portraits · Vintage scooter on the foreshore · Dendy Street Beach bathing boxes · Jetty and bayside rocks · Reception at The International

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Shoes on the floorboards

Our morning started with a pair of white peep-toe heels standing on the timber floor, their gold lining catching the light from a big window. The bride sat behind them on a chair with her veil already on, relaxed and barefoot, waiting for the next step. We put the focus on the shoes and let her fall soft in the background, because one frame can then tell two stories at once: the details and the person who will wear them. Clear one patch of floor near the window and these frames almost make themselves.

A steady hand at the lips

Then we moved in close while the make-up artist finished the bride’s lips with a fine brush. Her curls were pinned up loosely, a few left free around her face, and her pale blue eyes looked straight down the lens. For a portrait like this we stand with the window beside us, so the light falls evenly across her face and puts a small bright point in each eye. It is the quietest few minutes of the whole day, and we love it for that. Nobody is performing yet, and it shows.

Wind under the pergola

Dressed and together, the bride and groom headed for a garden with a vine-covered pergola, white columns and a round pond. A gust caught the bride’s veil just as the groom leant down to kiss her temple, and it streamed out sideways across the hedge while she held her white lily bouquet in her lap. Under the pergola itself the vines turned red and green overhead, and the two of them sat on a timber bench with their foreheads together. A roof of leaves like that is perfect open shade on a bright day.

Stripes and olive green

The groomsmen lined up on dark steps beneath black and white striped drapes and a hanging lantern, arms folded, with the groom in front looking every inch the man in charge. Five dark suits against bold stripes needed nothing else from us except a straight, symmetrical frame. The bridesmaids were the opposite: olive green ruffled dresses, white calla lilies and a lot of laughing, crowded around the bride so closely that we shot right through their shoulders. Getting in among a bridal party like that puts the viewer in the middle of the fun.

A scooter on the foreshore

Then came the surprise of the day: a cream vintage motor scooter parked on the foreshore path. The groom took the handlebars, the bride stood close behind him with her arms around his chest and kissed his cheek, and both of them grinned at the sky. We crouched low so they sat against nothing but blue, with a green lamp post and a row of coastal shrubs at the edge of the frame. Shooting from low down makes a couple look tall and takes the cars, signs and passers-by out of the picture.

Box 29 at Dendy Street

At Dendy Street Beach the bridesmaids kicked off their shoes and piled onto the deck of a bright yellow bathing box, number 29, between a pale box and a deep blue one. The bride stood in the middle with her bouquet, and the laughter got louder every time someone wobbled. The Brighton bathing boxes are made for a bridal party: every box is a different colour, so we choose one that suits the dresses. Olive green against yellow and blue was a happy accident we could not have planned better.

Arms wide on the jetty

Down on a jetty the bride walked towards the groom with her train trailing behind her, while he flung his arms wide at the far end and the wind took her veil out over the water. We stood behind her and let the boards lead the eye straight to him. Then we brought them in close, wrapped around each other against a pale, misty bay, and finished on the rocks at the water’s edge with the sun flaring overhead, her bouquet resting on the stones beside them.

A kiss through the windscreen

Back at the reception, we caught a kiss through the windscreen of their car, guests watching from the windows behind. Inside, the dance floor took over. A single spotlight behind the couple turned the bride’s veil into a glowing halo as she threw her head back laughing with the groom. Then the guests closed in, and the bride beamed at the older guests dancing beside her. Of all The International wedding photos we made that night, these are the ones that feel most like being there. We kept them in black and white.

Fairy lights to finish

Late in the night we took the two of them outside for one last portrait. Strings of fairy lights wound through the dark trees behind them, and we lit the bride and groom from the side with a small light of our own, so their faces glowed while the background fell away to black. The bride leant up to kiss him, her veil soft against the night. A five minute escape like this is easy to fit between the dancing and the farewell, and it gives you a frame that feels nothing like the daylight portraits.

Photographer's venue notes

The International, Brighton: bayside portraits in the wind and a spotlit dance floor after dark

Read the venue notes

How the day came together

This couple spent the daylight hours around the Brighton foreshore and came back to The International for the celebration. Their portrait loop took in a garden with a vine-covered pergola and a round pond, a cream scooter parked on the foreshore path, the bathing boxes at Dendy Street Beach, and a jetty and rocks out on the bay. Back at the reception, the first frame was a kiss through their car windscreen with guests peering from the windows, and from there the night belonged to the dance floor and the people on it.

Wind, haze and a flaring sun

The bay was breezy all day, and we treated that as a gift. Under the pergola a gust threw the veil sideways across the hedge just as the groom leant in, and on the jetty it lifted out over the water behind the bride. The sky over the bay stayed pale and a little misty, which gave the close portraits a soft, quiet backdrop with no harsh colour to fight. Down on the rocks the sun broke through above them, so we let it flare into the top of the frame instead of hiding from it.

Where we stood and why

At the bathing boxes, we chose a bright yellow one between a pale box and a deep blue one, because it sat beautifully beside the bridesmaids’ olive green. On the jetty we stood behind the bride and let the line of boards carry the eye to the groom waiting at the far end. For the scooter, we crouched low so sky filled the frame and the foreshore traffic disappeared. Inside The International, a single spotlight behind the couple turned the veil into a glowing edge on the dance floor, so we kept them between us and that light.

Planning a similar bayside day

Choose your bathing box on the day: look at the colours your bridal party is wearing, then walk along the row until one suits them. Keep a few spare pins handy for the veil, because the foreshore wind will find it. And save a few minutes late in the night for a portrait outside under the fairy lights in the trees, where we light you from the side with a small light of our own. It feels completely different from the daylight frames and barely takes you away from the dancing.

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