- Ceremony
- Victorian Marriage Registry, Old Treasury Building
- City
- Melbourne
- Coverage
- Photography, Videography
- Edit
- Warm, golden colour in the city and at the beach, with black and white through both days
- Team
- Jay and Sofia
Martina and Diego married at the Victorian Marriage Registry, inside the Old Treasury Building, on the last day of November 2025. It was an overcast Sunday morning, a white sky and soft light over the city, and we spent it with them around the building, in the registry's warm timber ceremony room and up Spring Street at Parliament House.
A week later we met them again at Brighton Beach for an evening by the water, Martina back in an ivory gown and carrying white tulips again, and we stayed until the sun had gone down over the bay. We photographed and filmed both days.
On the balcony
We started on the sandstone balcony of the Old Treasury Building, above the gardens, with a tall palm tree behind the balustrade. Martina wore an ivory satin gown with draped off-the-shoulder sleeves and a high slit, a pearl necklace and a pearl bracelet, her hair half up in loose waves, and she carried a bouquet of white tulips. Diego wore a navy suit and a white shirt open at the collar, no tie. Martina laughed on her own with a hand in her hair, then the two of them stood at the balustrade, smiled at each other over the tulips and walked hand in hand along the balcony. Diego couldn't stop smiling at her, and she laughed over his shoulder.
The steps and the red door
From the balcony we went down to the stone steps by the old lamp standards, where the city's towers rise up behind the palms. Martina laughed up at Diego with one hand on the railing, Diego smiled as she leaned in, and she looked up at him with a hand on his arm. The overcast sky helped here, keeping the light soft on their faces against all that pale stone. The last stop before the ceremony was the building's tall red timber door, and a kiss on its steps.
Vows in the registry room
Inside, the first guests were already waiting on their chairs. The registry room is all warm timber and tall windows: a timber desk with a green leather top, timber blinds, a chandelier, framed botanical prints, flowers in vases and a piano against the wall. Martina and Diego stood side by side at the desk while the celebrant, dressed in black, read from a black folder. They held hands under the chandelier for their vows, and afterwards held each other close in the warm light of the room. We kept much of this in black and white, which suits a quiet room and a small group of guests.
Signing, and a kiss by the window
Martina signed first, then Diego, with Martina beside him and her tulips on the desk. Afterwards Diego burst out laughing, Martina smiling beside him, and then he kissed her cheek by the window. A witness in a three piece suit and tie smiled as he signed. Martina leaned back against the desk while Diego stood behind her by the window. The two tall windows with their timber blinds meet in the corner behind the desk, and the light through them is soft and even, so these frames needed nothing more than a little patience.
Family, then out the door
Then everyone came together for the family photos in the ceremony room, about ten people, two boys among them, one in a tan duffle coat and the younger one in a white shirt and a little black tie. When it was time to leave, Martina and Diego walked out through their clapping guests. One guest held up a phone on a video call as they passed, so two more people could watch the moment on the screen.
Up Spring Street to Parliament House
From the registry we walked up Spring Street, past the Gordon Reserve sign, and stopped beside a white vintage car parked outside the Hotel Windsor. Then they climbed the steps of Parliament House hand in hand and stood beneath the columns, where Diego kissed her cheek. At the huge carved doors they kissed, threw their arms in the air and cheered, and walked back out from the doors hand in hand. The last frame of the morning is the two of them hurrying across the street together, in black and white.
Brighton, a week later
A week later, on a clear, warm Sunday evening, we met Martina and Diego again at Brighton Beach. Martina had her pearls and her white tulips with her again. She led Diego down to the water and looked back over her shoulder as she went. They pressed their foreheads together, kissed on the sand with the bay glittering behind them, and Diego twirled her at the water's edge before holding her close with the water at their backs.
The bathing boxes
Then we walked along to the bathing boxes, the row of brightly painted boxes that Brighton is known for. Martina raised her bouquet beside them, and the two of them sat on the sand for a while just watching the water. In front of the striped boxes they sat again with sunglasses on, the tulips and Martina's pearl bracelet resting on the sand. Diego kissed her cheek as she laughed, and as the sun dropped lower, she threw her head back laughing in his arms with the light behind her.
Into the water
When the light turned golden they ran into the shallows, Martina gathering up her skirt and Diego with his trousers rolled to the knee, and danced in the water. As the sun sank, the two of them became a silhouette at the water's edge. Back up the beach, they cheered in the doorway of a green and lilac bathing box, Martina holding a red balloon and the tulips high. Then came a few last frames in the low sun: Diego dipping her as they both laughed, a kiss, her hand on his cheek with the sea shining behind them, and Martina close up in her sunglasses and pearls.
Sunset above the beach
To finish, we climbed up to the grassy foreshore above the beach. They stood under a twisted coastal tree, and Martina had a portrait of her own in the golden light, tulips in hand. They kissed among the tall grasses as the sun went down over the bay, and the final frame of the evening is the two of them walking down a path towards the setting sun.
The film
We filmed the Brighton evening as well, and the short film from it, Wedding at Brighton Beach, is below. The edit across both days is warm and golden, with black and white running through both: the quiet moments at the registry desk, the dash across Spring Street, and the dancing in the water and the dip on the sand at Brighton.
