Cecile & Stefan: A Valentine's Day Registry Wedding

Cecile and Stefan married on Valentine's Day at the Victorian Marriage Registry, inside the Old Treasury Building at the top of Collins Street. It was a bright, hot February day with hardly a cloud in the sky, and they spent as much of it outdoors as they could.

They did their portraits first, in the garden beside the building and on its sandstone steps, with about thirty family and friends joining them on the lawn. Then came a short ceremony in the registry's big timber room, a long lunch at Studley Park Boathouse and, to finish, a rowing boat on the river.

Cecile smiling in the sun with her pale yellow roses, a flower crown and a short veil

Cecile, before anything else

The first frame of the day is Cecile on her own on Treasury Place, smiling in the sun beside the pale stone of the old government buildings. She wore a short white one-shoulder dress with a big draped bow over the shoulder, a crown of small white flowers and a short veil scattered with tiny pearls, with white heels and a bouquet of pale yellow roses. The sun was already high and hot, and the roses glowed in it.

The garden beside the Old Treasury

Stefan joined her in the garden next to the building, in a white linen shirt embroidered in grey down the front and on the cuffs, dark brown trousers and round tinted sunglasses. A long hedge of white flowers ran along the back of the lawn, and it was our backdrop for the next half hour. They reached for each other across the grass, Stefan leaned in to kiss her by the hedge, and Cecile laughed in his arms with the roses still in her hands. A few of these we kept in black and white, where the white flowers and the white dress almost glow.

Black and white photo of Cecile and Stefan reaching for each other across a lawn

Black and white photo of Stefan leaning in to kiss Cecile beside a flowering hedge

Cecile laughing in Stefan's arms among flowering bushes, yellow roses in her hands

Cecile and Stefan kissing in front of the white flowers of the hedge

Family and friends on the lawn

The guests came over for the family and group photos on the same lawn, all before anyone went inside. Two friends in long pink and mauve dresses stood either side of Cecile. Then everyone, about thirty people, threw their arms in the air and cheered for the camera. Cecile walked arm in arm across the grass with an older guest in sunglasses who walks with a stick, and before they left the garden, she and Stefan stole one more kiss against the white flowers.

Cecile with two friends in long pink and mauve dresses in front of a flowering hedge

Cecile, Stefan and all their guests cheering with their arms in the air on the lawn in front of the flowering hedge

Cecile arm in arm with an older guest in sunglasses on the lawn in front of the flowering hedge

Cecile and Stefan on the sandstone steps beside the Old Treasury Building

Treasury Place and the sandstone steps

From the garden they walked hand in hand down a sunny strip of lawn on Treasury Place, the flags flying on the building beside them, and stopped in the middle of it for a kiss. The last stop before the ceremony was the Old Treasury Building itself. On its long sandstone steps Cecile leaned back against Stefan by the railing, and up against the columns and the balustrade they stood side by side and smiled. With all of that done first, the only thing left was to walk inside.

Cecile and Stefan walking away hand in hand down a sunny strip of lawn, flags flying on the building beside them

Cecile and Stefan kissing on a strip of lawn among the old government buildings, flags flying behind them

Cecile leaning back against Stefan on the stone steps

Cecile and Stefan smiling side by side against the sandstone columns and balustrade of the Old Treasury Building

Walking in

The guests took their seats in the Margaret Craig Room, the registry's larger ceremony room, on rows of timber balloon back chairs either side of an aisle. It is a warm room: timber, tall windows with timber blinds, framed botanical prints, a piano and chandeliers. Stefan waited at the registry desk, leaning on it and grinning, as the guests stood and Cecile walked in past the chairs towards him.

Black and white photo of Stefan leaning on the registry desk and smiling as the ceremony begins

Cecile smiling as she reads her vows from her phone

Vows from a card and a phone

They each read vows of their own. Stefan read his from a card, and Cecile laughed her way through it beside the desk. Cecile read hers from her phone, smiling, while Stefan stood by the tall window and watched her, the edge of her veil soft in the foreground. For a few minutes the two of them simply faced each other in the middle of that warm timber room, with everyone they had invited sitting close behind them.

Stefan reading his vows from a card as Cecile laughs beside the registry desk

Stefan smiling at Cecile beside the tall shuttered window, the edge of her veil in the foreground

Cecile and Stefan facing each other in the warm timber room of the marriage registry

Cecile beaming as she slides the ring onto Stefan’s finger

Rings and a kiss

They held hands at the desk for the rings. Stefan slid Cecile's onto her finger beside her yellow roses, and Cecile was beaming as she put Stefan's ring on in return. Then came the kiss, right there at the registry desk under the chandelier, with the framed botanical prints on the walls around them. It is a short ceremony at the registry, and this part goes by quickly, so we stay close for it.

Cecile and Stefan holding hands at the desk during their ceremony

Close up of Stefan sliding the ring onto Cecile's finger beside her yellow roses

Cecile and Stefan kissing at the registry desk under the chandelier, framed botanical prints on the walls

Black and white photo of Cecile signing the register

Signing, and the hugs that followed

Cecile signed first, then Stefan, with Cecile beside him holding her roses. An older guest in a lace trimmed blouse signed as a witness, then hugged Cecile at the desk while Stefan smiled beside them, and kissed her cheek by the window, her walking stick in her other hand. Cecile and Stefan stood side by side and laughed. A small white lace heart now hung from Cecile's hand. Then the whole room came forward. Stefan hugged a friend while Cecile greeted another guest under the chandelier, and a baby in a guest's arms chewed happily on a hand.

Stefan signing at the registry desk while Cecile stands beside him with her roses

An older guest in a lace trimmed blouse signing at the registry desk while Cecile and Stefan stand by

Black and white photo of Cecile and Stefan laughing side by side in the registry room

The older guest hugging Cecile at the desk while Stefan smiles beside them

An older guest with a walking stick kissing Cecile on the cheek by the tall window

Black and white close up of a small white lace heart hanging from Cecile’s hand beside her dress

Stefan hugging a friend while Cecile, in her veil, greets another guest under the chandelier

Black and white photo of a baby chewing a hand in a guest’s arms in the ceremony room

Cecile and Stefan stepping out through the timber doors of the Margaret Craig Room hand in hand

A tunnel of arms and out the door

The guests made a tunnel with their arms, and Cecile ran through it laughing. Then the two of them walked out as husband and wife, through the timber doors with "Margaret Craig Room" lettered on the glass, and out onto the footpath in front of the Old Treasury Building. They stood there laughing in the sun, Stefan with an envelope in his hand, and Cecile posed for one more with her roses and the lace heart on her wrist, the street behind her.

Black and white photo of Cecile and Stefan walking out of the ceremony room as husband and wife

Black and white photo of Cecile and Stefan laughing outside the Old Treasury Building

Cecile smiling outside the Old Treasury Building with her roses and the lace heart on her wrist

Champagne being poured into a tower of coupe glasses at the boathouse

Lunch at the boathouse

Lunch was at Studley Park Boathouse, on the river. It began with a champagne tower, the champagne poured into a stack of coupes, then hugs and drinks on the verandah. Cecile hugged a friend in an embroidered jacket in front of the platters of food, and friends clinked glasses around a verandah table. Inside, under the oars hung on the wall, Cecile showed off her ring while Stefan struck a pose. Her yellow roses rested on a white tablecloth beside a photo album of the two of them.

Cecile hugging a friend in an embroidered jacket inside the boathouse

Friends raising their glasses around a table on the boathouse verandah

Cecile showing off her ring as Stefan strikes a pose inside the boathouse

Cecile’s yellow roses resting beside a photo album on a white tablecloth

Speeches on the verandah

The speeches came with handheld microphones and a lot of laughter. Cecile raised her glass, Stefan pointed into the room mid speech, and the two of them laughed together at whatever had just been said, while a table of guests inside laughed along. The two friends in pink gave a speech together, giggling into their microphones, and the guests listened from the tables along the verandah. In between, Cecile and Stefan stood side by side on the verandah for a portrait, and Cecile, a friend and the older guest held out their hands to show off their rings.

Stefan pointing into the room as he gives his speech on the verandah

Black and white photo of Cecile and Stefan laughing together during the speeches

Guests laughing at a table inside the boathouse

Cecile and Stefan smiling side by side on the boathouse verandah

Two friends in pink dresses laughing as they give a speech with microphones on the verandah

Guests at the tables on the boathouse verandah listening to a speech

An older guest, Cecile and a friend holding out their hands to show their rings

A rowing boat on the river

Later we went down to the water. Cecile rested on Stefan's chest in the long grass on the bank, Stefan still in his round sunglasses, then the two of them walked out onto the jetty among the moored rowing boats and climbed into one. They took it out into the middle of the river, the bush thick on both banks, laughing most of the way, and Stefan kissed her as they sat together in the boat. Back on dry land they laughed beside the boathouse's welcome sign, and the last frame of the day is the two of them with friends on the deck.

Cecile resting against Stefan’s chest among the long grass by the river

Cecile and Stefan on the jetty among the moored rowing boats

Cecile and Stefan in a rowing boat on the river, the bush thick on the banks

Cecile and Stefan laughing with the boathouse welcome sign that carries their first names

Cecile and Stefan laughing with friends on a timber deck by the river

The edit

We edited the gallery warm and golden, true to a hot February day, so the sandstone, the timber of the registry room and the river all keep their summer colour. The quieter moments went to black and white: Stefan waiting at the desk, Cecile signing, the tunnel of arms and the walk out of the room, where the faces matter more than the colour.