Sandringham Yacht Club wedding photos: Arielle and Darran hold each other at a glass balcony rail above the bay at dusk, Melbourne
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Real waterside wedding · Sandringham, Melbourne

Sandringham Yacht Club Wedding Photos: Arielle & Darran

Sandringham Yacht Club · Jetty Road, Sandringham VIC · Melbourne

Waterside Wedding · City: Melbourne · Venues: Sandringham Beach · Sandringham Yacht Club

A fist pump down a red carpet aisle, a windswept dash along Sandringham Beach and speeches against a wall of glass as night fell over the bay. Arielle and Darran married at St Mary’s in St Kilda East, then carried the party down the coast to Sandringham Yacht Club in Melbourne’s bayside south. There were blush robes, white roses and a page boy guarding the rings, and we were there for every laugh, right up to a last kiss on a spiral staircase above the boats.

The gallery
Arielle smiles over her shoulder in a white robe beneath a framed sailing print at The Hamptons Apartments St Kilda.
Arielle smiles straight down the lens as her lips are lined in soft window light while she gets ready.
Arielle in a lace-trimmed white robe sits beside a bridesmaid in blush under a round wall clock.
Arielle and three bridesmaids in matching blush robes raise glasses of bubbles against a plain white wall.
Two women in blush fasten Arielle's lace gown and spread its long train across the floor by a bright window.
Arielle glances back in her lace gown and veil by the window as a bridesmaid holds the tulle, both reflected in the glass.
Arielle steps through a white doorway into the hallway in her plunging lace gown, smiling as she walks.
Her dad in a black tuxedo bursts out laughing in the hallway beside a loved one in a flowing coral dress.
Arielle stands in the hallway between her dad in a bow tie and a loved one in coral.
Her dad and a loved one in coral both lean in to kiss Arielle's cheeks in the hallway.
Arielle looks down and laughs, one hand on her hip, a bouquet of white roses swinging at her side.
Arielle and her three bridesmaids in blush one-shoulder dresses hold posies of white roses in front of the window.
Under her long veil, Arielle smiles down at her white rose bouquet in soft window light.
Arielle stands beneath a large wall clock with a hand on her hip, her white rose bouquet held low.
Arielle steps from a pale car onto the red carpet outside the church as the page boy waits with the ring pillow.
Arielle walks the red carpet aisle on her dad's arm beneath tall stained glass windows, her veil trailing behind.
Guests turn in the timber pews as Arielle and her dad walk the aisle of St Mary's Church, St Kilda East.
Darran waits at the front of the church in a charcoal suit and green tie, grinning towards the aisle.
Arielle and Darran sit side by side between grey stone columns, swapping grins above checkerboard tiles.
Her dad and a loved one in coral smile from a timber pew with guests seated behind them.
A man in a green tie and a woman in a silver floral jacket sit smiling together in a timber pew.
The page boy in a black waistcoat stands at a pew while a flower girl in a floral crown leans on him.
Three groomsmen in grey waistcoats stand at the front of the church, one holding the white ring pillow.
Three bridesmaids in blush one-shoulder dresses hold white rose posies beside a carved timber lectern.
Arielle and Darran beam as they hold up their signed certificate at the table after the ceremony.
Darran punches the air as he and Arielle walk back down the aisle under a painted timber ceiling.
Arielle and Darran stop halfway down the aisle for a kiss as guests clap from the pews.
Wedding guests crowd around Arielle and Darran in front of the bluestone St Mary's in St Kilda East under a blue sky.
Guests wave and cheer around the couple in a big group shot before the arched church doorway.
Arielle and Darran stand with a man in a green tie and a woman in grey florals beside clipped hedges.
The couple pose with three loved ones, including a young woman in a navy floral dress, on a leafy lawn.
Arielle and Darran stand with four loved ones in dark suits, grey florals and coral under big old trees.
Arielle and Darran stand with a man in a bow tie and a woman in a coral dress against dark hedges.
Family gather around the couple on the lawn, with the page boy and two flower girls holding baskets in front.
A long line of extended family stretches across the lawn beside Arielle and Darran under spreading old trees.
Late sun flares through a big old tree behind a large family group with the page boy and flower girls.
The bridal party lines up on the bayside foreshore lawn, bridesmaids in blush beside groomsmen in grey waistcoats.
The bridal party walks and laughs along a grassy path under a tall palm on the Sandringham foreshore by the bay.
Arielle and Darran lead their bridesmaids and groomsmen along a palm-lined waterside path, everyone smiling.
Darran leads Arielle by the hand along the waterline at Sandringham Beach, both turning back with big grins.
Hand in hand, Arielle and Darran walk across the sand as the wind off the bay lifts her hair.
Darran kisses Arielle's cheek as her hair whips across them in the wind on the bayside beach.
Arielle and Darran kiss on Sandringham Beach in Melbourne's Bayside, white water rolling in behind them.
Arielle and Darran stand close on the club's glass-railed terrace above the bay under a pale pink dusk sky.
Foreheads together, Arielle and Darran pause at the glass balustrade of a waterside terrace as dusk settles.
A guest in a bow tie opens the speeches at the lectern, the bay turning deep blue through the glass at Sandringham Yacht Club.
A loved one in coral beams from her table during the bayside reception, a glass of red wine beside her.
Two groomsmen in grey waistcoats listen to the speeches against the glass wall of Sandringham Yacht Club on Port Phillip Bay.
A bridesmaid in a blush one-shoulder dress laughs at her table, the bayside view soft and blue through the window.
A bridesmaid in blush holds the page boy on her lap at the table during the waterfront reception.
Two bridesmaids share a laugh and a sip of bubbles beneath fairy lights inside Sandringham Yacht Club in Melbourne's bayside south.
A guest in a green tie folds his arms on the lectern and laughs his way through a speech.
A flower girl on her lap, Arielle laughs as Darran hides his face, dusk over the bay at the Sandringham Yacht Club clubhouse.
A bridesmaid smiles at the lectern during her speech, a flower girl at her side and fairy lights reflected in the glass.
Arielle raises a glass of bubbles at her table at Sandringham Yacht Club, the bayside water blue behind her.
A guest with a white rose buttonhole gestures mid speech at the microphone under strings of fairy lights.
Darran grins at the lectern bearing the red and white burgee of Sandringham Yacht Club on Port Phillip Bay.
Arielle and Darran share a waterside wedding kiss on a spiral staircase above the marina, boats and pendant lights below.
Arielle and Darran stand close at night by a glass wall at Sandringham Yacht Club in Melbourne's bayside south, reflections repeating.
The wedding story

Our Sandringham Yacht Club wedding photos: a fist pump down the aisle, a windswept beach walk and speeches by the glass

Blush robes and white roses · St Mary’s, St Kilda East · Family groups under old trees · Foreshore and Sandringham Beach portraits · Speeches at Sandringham Yacht Club · A kiss on the spiral staircase

Read the full story

Blush robes and a sailing print

Our day with Arielle began in a bright white room, a framed sailing yacht print on the wall behind her as she sat in a white robe, already smiling. Her make-up went on in soft window light, then the bridesmaids gathered round in matching blush robes for a hug and a laugh. White walls are a gift for getting ready: they bounce light back into faces, so we turned her chair towards the window and kept the clutter out of frame. Then two loved ones fussed over her lace gown by a big window, one kneeling to smooth the train while she looked out.

Laughter in the hallway

When Arielle stepped out of the room and walked down the hallway in her lace gown, her dad burst out laughing with pure delight, and a loved one in a flowing coral dress laughed right along with him. We were already waiting at the far end of the corridor with a longer lens, so nobody had to pose for that reaction. A minute later the three of them lined up together, and then both leaned in to kiss her cheeks at once. Hallway first looks are underrated: narrow walls, soft light and nowhere for the feelings to hide.

White roses by the window

Back in the room, Arielle held a bouquet of white roses tied with green ribbon and let it swing at her side, one hand on her hip, completely at ease. Her plunging lace gown and long veil looked best against the plain white walls, so we kept the backgrounds simple and let the lace do the talking. A clock on the wall ticked towards ceremony time. The bridesmaids lined up in front of the windows in blush one-shoulder dresses, each with her own posy of white roses, and the soft daylight made the whole palette glow.

A page boy and a red carpet

Outside St Mary’s in St Kilda East, Arielle stepped from a white car onto a red carpet, beaming, while a page boy in a waistcoat stood guard with the ring pillow. Inside, she walked the aisle on her dad’s arm beneath tall stained glass windows, her veil trailing over the carpet. Up the front, Darran waited with a grin he could not hold back. A church aisle is long and fairly dim, so we work from the front with a fast lens wide open, then slip to the side for a wide frame of every guest turning to watch her.

Side glances at the front

Arielle and Darran sat side by side at the front between grey stone columns, on black and white checkerboard tiles, and kept sneaking glances at each other that turned into grins. Guests watched from the timber pews, and a flower girl in a crown of flowers peeked out beside the page boy. The groomsmen in grey waistcoats stood on one side and the bridesmaids with their white roses on the other. Then came the signing, the two of them holding up their certificate and smiling as if they had just won something. In a church we move quietly along the side aisles.

A fist in the air

The moment they were married, Darran threw a fist in the air on the way back down the aisle, with Arielle laughing on his arm under the painted timber ceiling. Halfway along they stopped for a kiss while the pews clapped around them. Outside, everyone squeezed onto the forecourt in front of the bluestone church for one big group photo under a blue sky. For a crowd that size we go wide, step well back and ask everyone to tuck in close, so every face is clear and the arched doorway still shows behind the couple.

Families under the old trees

Next came the family groups on a lawn beneath big old trees, from close family to a long line of cousins and grandparents, with the flower girls and page boy front and centre. Soft cloud on an early autumn evening is perfect for groups: no squinting and no hard shadows. Then the bridal party headed for the Sandringham foreshore, where a grassy path ran under tall palms. The bridesmaids in blush and the groomsmen in grey waistcoats walked towards us laughing, and we walked backwards with them so the moment never felt staged.

Wind on Sandringham Beach

On Sandringham Beach the wind came straight off the bay, and it was brilliant. Darran led Arielle by the hand along the waterline, both turning back to us grinning, then pulled her in for a kiss on the cheek as her hair whipped across them. We kept the horizon low and level so the white water filled the background behind them. As the light softened towards dusk, we moved up to a tiled terrace with a glass balustrade above the water, where they stood close and looked out over the bay under a pale pink sky.

Speeches by the glass

Up at the yacht club, guests sat down in a room walled with glass, fairy lights strung overhead and the bay turning deep blue outside. The speeches began with an older guest at the lectern, while a loved one in coral beamed from her table. Darran covered his face laughing at one story as a flower girl sat on Arielle’s lap. A bridesmaid spoke with a little helper beside her, then Darran took the lectern himself. Later we found the spiral staircase above the marina, and our Sandringham Yacht Club wedding photos ended with a kiss among the boats and pendant lights.

Photographer's venue notes

Sandringham Yacht Club, Sandringham: a windswept beach walk, a dusk terrace and speeches against the glass

Read the venue notes

Church first, then the bay

Arielle and Darran said their vows at St Mary’s in St Kilda East and did their family groups on a leafy lawn under big old trees, so the bayside part of the day began with the bridal party. We walked everyone along the grassy foreshore path under the palms, then took the two of them down onto Sandringham Beach on their own. As dusk came on we moved up to the club’s terrace above the water, and from there it was only a few steps inside for dinner and speeches.

Wind off the water

The breeze on the sand was strong, and we leaned right into it. Arielle’s hair kept whipping across the two of them, so we chased movement rather than stillness: Darran leading her by the hand, both glancing back at us, a quick kiss on the cheek mid stride. Rolling white water behind them added to the energy. Up on the terrace the mood changed completely, and the pale pink sky over the bay gave us calm, close portraits at the glass rail to balance those wild beach frames.

Inside the glass room

After dark, the clubhouse windows did a lot of our work. The bay outside went deep blue, the fairy lights overhead repeated in the glass, and every speech had that view behind it. Facing the windows, we framed each speaker against the darkening water, then turned around to catch the reactions at the tables, like the flower girl curled up on Arielle’s lap. The spiral staircase above the marina was our last stop, giving us a high angle down through the pendant lights with the boats waiting below.

Planning a bayside evening

If your ceremony is away from the coast, plan the drive so the beach still gets the soft end of the day; Arielle and Darran reached the sand with light to spare and the terrace right at dusk. Expect hair and veils to move on the beach, and enjoy it, because the wind gave their frames real life. Then save a few minutes after the speeches for a wander around the club itself, since the night reflections on the glass gave us a final portrait without stepping outside.

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