Tuxedos on the swing set
Chris was first, and he was ready for us. We started by a tall window with sheer curtains, where he fastened his cuffs in a white dinner jacket and black bow tie while the daylight did all the work. A white jacket loves window light, as long as the brightest part of the room sits behind the camera. Then we headed into the backyard with the groomsmen in black for fist bumps under the trees and a lineup on the summer grass. Our favourite frame came from the kids’ swing set: four grown men in tuxedos, swinging and grinning.
A veil through the window
Across town, Trish was sitting in a room full of soft white light. A loved one in a silver sequinned dress lifted the long veil over her head and let it settle around her shoulders, and we shot through the tulle so it framed her face like a haze. One of those frames we kept in black and white for a quieter mood. Then Trish stepped into a doorway with her bouquet of white and blush blooms and pale dried leaves, and the lace flowers on her gown stood out against the plain wall. Doorways frame and shade at the same time.
A kiss on the hand
The family gathered in the lounge, and Trish’s dad, in a crisp white shirt and blue tie, bent down to kiss her hand while she laughed. Two loved ones in sequinned gowns stood either side of her, and then the bridesmaids lined up in deep plum with bouquets to match hers. We kept the red curtains in the background because the colour warmed every frame. Before she left, Trish gave us a twirl and the layered tulle swung out across the tiles. We always ask for one turn: it shows how a gown moves better than any still pose.
Down the aisle at St Mark’s
Trish’s dad rode with her to St Mark’s in Kaleen, and we caught her smiling through the car window with him beside her in his sunglasses. Inside, he walked her down a white runner laid over red carpet, phones raised along both sides and every face turned their way. We walked backwards ahead of them, low and wide, so the crowd stayed in the frame as well as the bride. The church is rich and warm inside, all timber panelling, red carpet and crystal chandeliers, so we let that colour stay rather than cooling it down.
Watching from the side
During the ceremony we kept to the edges and worked with longer lenses, which let us stay out of the way and still catch faces. Chris barely took his eyes off Trish, and we framed him over her shoulder so his smile carried the picture. The bridesmaids stood together at the front holding their bouquets, and in the pews a row of older guests sat beaming. Then we climbed up to the balcony for the wide view: chandeliers overhead, the full church below and Trish’s white skirt glowing in the middle of the red carpet.
A whole church waving
When the ceremony ended, the families came up to the front in turns: parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, little ones in their best outfits and then the bridal party. Three bridesmaids in plum and the groomsmen in black lined up either side of Trish and Chris, and then it was a group of friends pointing at the couple and laughing. For the big group we went back up to the balcony and asked everyone to wave. They did, and as Trish and Chris kissed in the middle of the crowd, a cheer went up. Shooting from above fits everyone in and nobody hides.
Under the giant orange loop
For portraits we drove to the National Museum of Australia on Acton Peninsula, where the crimson walls and the sweeping loop at the entrance make colour on a grand scale. The bridesmaids kicked up their heels under the loop, the groomsmen strode towards us in a line, and the girls raised their bouquets high. A bridesmaid and a groomsman planted kisses on both of Trish’s cheeks at once, and the whole party cracked up inside the red tunnel. Big red walls bounce warm light back onto faces, so even on a pale sky the skin tones stay rich.
A veil that would not stay down
Then it was just the two of them, and the breeze joined in. Chris spun Trish under the red walls, and her veil lifted and streamed out sideways across the paving while he wrapped his arms around her from behind. We let the veil run right across the frame rather than fixing it, because a moving veil says more about the afternoon than a perfect one. We stepped well back to make them tiny against a sheet of red, then went high for a view from above as Chris twirled Trish and kissed her.
First dance by the sash windows
If you are planning The Royal Hotel Queanbeyan wedding photos, know that the upstairs rooms do half the work: exposed brick walls, tall white sash windows and, for Trish and Chris, a tiered cake on a high stand with candles along the tables. They took the floor for their first dance in a pool of light, and a pair of drums waited at the edge for later. A little girl sat on the floor beside the dancing, watching every step. We kept one light behind the couple so it rimmed Trish’s hair and the tulle, then moved in close as Chris pulled her into a hug.
