- Ceremony
- St Joseph's Catholic Church, Northcote
- City
- Melbourne
- Coverage
- Photography
- Edit
- Warm, golden colour inside the church and soft autumn colour in the garden, with plenty of black and white
Ashley and Bryan married at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Northcote on Saturday 9 May 2026, in the early afternoon of a soft, grey autumn day. St Joseph's is a big red brick church on Westbourne Grove, and inside it is all warm light: cream plaster walls opened up in patches to the old brick underneath, a round stained glass window above the altar and a timber choir gallery at the back. We had an hour and a half with them, from one o'clock, and we spent every minute of it at the church: the ceremony, their family and friends on the forecourt, then portraits in the garden beside the church and up in the gallery.
It was a Catholic ceremony with a lot of family in it, from the family filling the front pews to the two family members who looped a cord of rosary beads over the couple at the altar. Afterwards Ashley and Bryan were off to Italy, for a second wedding and their honeymoon.
Before the doors opened
The order of service sat on the pews with their names on it, and the church filled slowly with family. Four of them, in pink, red and lilac, stood arm in arm in the aisle and laughed for the camera before the ceremony. A guest in a peach dress cradled a sleeping baby in one of the rows.
Bryan at the front
Bryan waited near the altar in a black tuxedo and bow tie, looking up at the church and grinning, then smiling at the guests as they came in under the round window. Two of his groomsmen were laughing about something off to the side. Just before Ashley arrived he stood very still with his hands folded in front of him, then had a last few words with the priest and his best man on the sanctuary steps.
Down the aisle
Ashley waited at the back of the church in a lace gown with a long, lace-edged veil, holding a bouquet of white flowers. Her dad walked her down the aisle while everyone stood, and at the front he brought her to Bryan.
The readings
They sat side by side in the sanctuary, under tall arrangements of red and white flowers, for the readings. A guest in a zebra print dress read at the lectern, then another guest after her, beneath the stained glass. In the front pews the family listened closely. When it came time to stand, Ashley and Bryan stood together behind the timber kneelers.
Vows, rings and the cord
They faced each other for the vows, Ashley glancing up at Bryan over his shoulder and Bryan smiling straight back at her. The priest read from the booklet as Bryan put the ring on Ashley's finger, and then she slid his onto his. Then two family members came forward and looped a long cord of rosary beads over the couple's shoulders as they stood at the kneelers. They kept it on through the rest of the ceremony, kneeling at the altar with Ashley's veil and train spread out across the sanctuary floor behind them.
Signing the register
The signing happened at the altar table, behind a row of lit candles and a small brass cross. Bryan signed first, with Ashley at his shoulder watching, and then Ashley signed with a smile. One of the witnesses, in a red dress, signed while Bryan laughed with Ashley beside her. To finish, the priest handed them their marriage certificate, and Bryan grinned as he looked down at it.
The kiss and the walk out
Standing at the altar beneath the crucifix, they kissed with the rosary cord still around them, then held each other for a long hug. They walked back up the aisle hand in hand while everyone clapped, and halfway along Bryan stopped, dipped Ashley and kissed her in the middle of the aisle.
Family and friends on the forecourt
Outside, the forecourt in front of the church is paved, with white roses growing along the brick wall, and that is where the family photos happened. Bryan laughed his way through the photos with his family, the groomsmen lined up in their suits, and Ashley's friends crowded round her, one of them gasping as Ashley put a hand to her face.
The church garden
The garden beside the church gave us brick paths, trees and a carpet of autumn leaves. We started with Ashley on her own by a green hedge, her bouquet close up against the lace, then the two of them at the church's tall timber doors. Under the brick arches they kissed beneath her veil. They walked arm in arm along the path, he dipped her among the trees, and Ashley raised her bouquet high while Bryan laughed beside her. Bryan had a few portraits of his own in the shade, and Ashley's train spread out over the fallen leaves.
Up in the choir gallery
The last stop was inside again, up the timber staircase to the choir gallery, where the round windows look down over the whole nave. It is a quiet, light-filled space, and the two of them relaxed into it: a close moment under the arches, an embrace against the gallery rail, a few minutes sitting together on a pew beneath three tall windows, and a kiss in front of them. Coming back down the stairs, Bryan held Ashley's hand all the way.
The edit
Inside the church the gallery is warm and golden, the colour of the tungsten light on cream plaster and brick. Outside it is the soft colour of an overcast autumn day. A good share of the frames, from Bryan waiting at the altar to the whole of the choir gallery, are in black and white, where the bright windows and the dark timber of the staircase look their best.
