Your wedding day is your big day, and it should be perfect – just as you’ve always wanted it. The wind should be just right, the sun at just the right angle, the flowers showing the perfect hue… everything should be flawless.
But one component of a perfect wedding that most do not fully understand is Melbourne wedding photography.
Great Melbourne wedding photography not only captures all the beautiful emotional moments of your big day, it lets you create those moments in the first place. This is because a professional wedding photographer in Melbourne understands all you need for flawless scenes and candid photos that will always bring a smile to your face.
Most times, couples fret about how their wedding photos will turn out. But with the mega guide to Melbourne wedding photography that I’ll provide here, you’ll see exactly what you need for glorious wedding photos.
My name is William, and I love telling stories through imagery. In this article, I will reveal the essence of Melbourne wedding photography from a professional wedding photographer’s point of view. You’ll learn all the basics and tactics for capturing elegant photographs at the:
Table of contents
Groom Preparation
Groom Preparation Podcast
My itinerary on most wedding days begins with taking groom getting ready photos. It always makes more sense to give the girls a bit more time to get prepared. Besides, this is a perfect period to catch the boys at their most natural and relaxed selves. Here’s what I do at this stage:
- Groom accessories
- Groom and groomsmen getting dressed
- Groom wedding portrait shots
- Outdoor shots for groom and groomsmen
It is advisable for the groom and groomsmen to be at least half ready and have their room cleaned up before the Melbourne wedding photographer arrives. They can finish their showers, wear casual t-shirts and maybe have a couple beers, so they’ll be good and loose for some natural, candid photos.
In my experience, pre-wedding nerves usually set in for the groom right about this period, while the best man may be hiding in the corner practicing his speech. Of course, having these two tensed up like this will be bad for the photos.
That’s why I like to arrive a bit earlier so I can make some small talk and maybe get the guys started on those beers (not too many though, we don’t want a live replay of The Hangover now do we). This makes for a relaxed atmosphere and plenty laughter, which are essential elements for creating excellent photographs.
How I take photos for groom’s accessories
When I arrive at the groom’s place, I like to immediately take some scenery photos around the house, as well as some shots of the boys chilling out. After this, I usually move to take detailed photos of the groom’s accessories. These would usually include:
- Groom and groomsmen’s suits
- Shoes
- Cuff link
- Wedding band
- Pocket flower
- Wedding tie
- Watch
- Invitation card
Some grooms will even spoil their boys with groomsmen gifts, usually whiskey, a spirit flask or cigars. These will make very nice photos.
The surface used for accessories photos are extremely important to how the image turns out. I like to use a clean surface; such as marble or a wooden table or floor. These usually provide an elegant background. For little items such as the wedding band, as well as the watch, I use a 100 mm Marco lens to take some nice, close-up shots.
For most of the Aussie weddings, about 45 to 60 minutes should be sufficient for the groom’s getting ready photography. I typically spend 5 to 10 minutes for groom’s accessories photos and all the rest of the time with the groom and his groomsmen to produce genuine Melbourne wedding photography.
Groom getting dressed
The groom’s getting ready routine will usually look something like this:
- Groom to put on his shirts, pants and suit
- Groom to put on his shoes
- Pin the pocket flowers
- Wear Tie or bow tie and pocket square
- Groom portrait photo
- Family photos
Video: How to Tie a Tie
A spacious room with French windows is usually ideal for these shots as it creates an amazing natural side light for the portraits. I would ask the groom and his best man to stand beside the windows, where the best man can then help the groom put on his suit while they have some small talk.
After the boys are all dressed up, they can then help each other with their pocket flowers, ties and pocket squares. If anybody is uncomfortable with a tie, they can get tips from YouTube on how to deal with this before the wedding day.
While all this is going on, I try to keep a low profile. Sometimes, they will make funny jokes or poke fun at each other, giving me the perfect opportunity to capture a golden moment of candid Melbourne wedding photography.
Groom portrait wedding photos
Once the groom is fully dressed, it will be time for his portrait wedding photos. After all, the groom should always have a memento to remember how much of a hunk he was on his wedding day.
We can create two types of wedding moods here – high key or low key wedding photography. This is achieved simply by adjusting the window curtains to vary the amount of light that comes into the room.
Fully drawn curtains help create romantic high key photos with plenty of light while partially or entirely closed curtains help create low key portrait Melbourne wedding photography. Either way, having natural light here will be key to creating charming images.
My personal favorites for groom preparation Melbourne wedding photography are usually the 35 and 50 mm prime lens. These focal lenses are great for wedding portraitures and can soften the backdrop, creating a jaw dropping bokeh effect.
Outdoor shots
The garden serves as a great backdrop for these photographs, while the men take some natural walking shots, Godfather style, with glasses of whiskey in hand.
I normally reserve about 10 minutes for family photos just before the boys are ready to go for the ceremony. The groom can start with helping his parents pin their pocket flowers and his mum can fold the pocket square for her son. I love shooting this part because of the natural emotions that well out of everybody here. We can end this part with the groom taking family photos with his parents, siblings and close friends.
Heading to the bride’s house
For the majority of Melbourne wedding photography, I would usually head on to the bride’s house immediately after the groom’s photo session. But this can vary depending on the type of Melbourne wedding photography.
For some traditional weddings in Melbourne, such as Lebanese and Turkish weddings, the groom and his guests will continue dancing in front of his house with loud drums for another 20 to 30 minutes.
In a grand wedding, the groom and his groomsmen may jump into their exotic cars such as Ferraris and Lamborghinis in bold colors and then drive down to the wedding venue. In fact, one of the grooms I have shot even hired a full blown biker gang while he rode along on his Shelby GT500. Now that was a luxury wedding in Melbourne to remember.
