Brighton Beach

Brighton Beach is the stretch of sand at Dendy Street in Brighton, on Port Phillip Bay south-east of the city, with a line of 96 brightly painted bathing boxes along the back of the beach. The boxes have been on the Victorian Heritage Register since 2018, and every one of them belongs to a Bayside resident. Couples come here for a small ceremony on the sand, for portraits after a wedding in the city, or for a session on another evening altogether. The colour of the boxes, the open sand, the grassy foreshore above and the sun going down over the bay give a lot of variety in one place.

This guide follows the day in order, the way we photographed Martina and Diego's evening here in December 2025, a week after their registry wedding at the Old Treasury Building. It covers getting ready, the ceremony permit, the portrait spots, where to celebrate afterwards and what to do if the weather turns.

Getting ready nearby

There is nowhere to get ready at the beach itself. There are no facilities on the sand, and the bathing boxes are private and not open to the public, so none of them can be borrowed or hired to change in. The nearest public toilets are next to the Brighton Life Saving Club. Plan to get ready at home or in accommodation nearby and arrive dressed. One option couples used to have is gone: the Brighton Savoy on The Esplanade was demolished in October 2025 to make way for apartments.

Martina and Diego arrived ready for the evening, Martina in an ivory gown with pearls and a bouquet of white tulips, and we met them on the sand by the water.

Ceremony on the sand

Bayside City Council lists the bathing boxes as a setting for intimate ceremonies, and the Brighton Beach Gardens at Green Point, at the southern end, for intimate to medium-sized ones, with a small pavilion and views of the city skyline. Either way, a legal ceremony needs an Open Space Permit from the council, as do 50 or more people, a reception, any structure and outside services. Processing takes 10 working days, the minimum booking is two hours, and weddings are exempt from the rule that permits end an hour before sunset.

A permit doesn't give you the beach to yourselves. The area can't be fenced, and on a fine evening there will be other people walking, swimming and photographing the boxes, so choose a spot with some room around it. The council's terms also count confetti and petals as litter, keep amplified sound under 72 decibels and supply no power, so bring a battery speaker and a different idea for the exit.

We haven't photographed a ceremony on this beach. The frames on this page come from Martina and Diego's evening, and they show the two places a small ceremony would stand: the open sand in front of the boxes and the water's edge, with the bay behind.

Portraits on the beach and the foreshore

Martina and Diego's evening took us through most of the beach. These are the spots we used:

• The open sand by the water. Room to walk, twirl and dance, with long shadows across the sand in the late light and the bay glittering behind.
• The bathing boxes. The row of colour Brighton is known for, from a yellow box to striped ones and a white box with a timber rail. The boxes are private, so ask before you touch one.
• Between and behind the boxes. The narrow gaps between two boxes frame the beach and the water, and behind them there is green coastal scrub and a set of timber steps.
• The water's edge and the shallows. The wooded headland and the houses across the water make the background, and later the sun turns everything to silhouettes, with seagulls overhead. Martina and Diego waded in, so bring a towel.
• The grassy foreshore. Up above the beach there are tall grasses, backlit at sunset, a twisted coastal tree and a wide view over the bay. It is where we finished.

The council also points to Middle Brighton Pier and the sea baths, and to the city skyline behind the boxes. Plan on two hours or more if you want all of it. Start with the boxes while the light is still high, save the water for the golden light, and finish on the foreshore as the sun goes down.

Celebrating afterwards

There is no reception on the sand, and a reception anywhere on council land needs its own function permit. Close by, the council's Brighton Town Hall seats 200 or holds 250 standing and is available from 6am to midnight. A directory lists The Baths Middle Brighton, on the Esplanade, for 40 to 200 guests with in-house catering and music until midnight; confirm the details with the venue.

Brighton also works the other way round. Martina and Diego married at the registry in the city a week earlier and came back for this evening on its own, just the two of them. If you love the beach but not the idea of betting your wedding day on the weather, a separate evening here is a good way to have both.

A day at Brighton Beach, hour by hour

The cameras weren't set to summer time that evening, so here is Martina and Diego's session counted from our first frame on the sand, finishing as the sun went down over the bay:

• The start: on the sand by the water, then walking down to the water hand in hand.
• After 15 minutes: a kiss, a twirl and an embrace at the water's edge.
• After 25 minutes: among the bathing boxes.
• From 30 to 45 minutes: the coastal scrub, the timber steps and the white box behind the beach.
• From 45 minutes to about an hour: sitting on the sand looking at the bay, then in front of the striped boxes.
• From about 1 hour 15: walking, dancing and laughing at the water's edge in the low sun.
• From about 1 hour 30: running into the shallows and dancing in the water, then a silhouette.
• From about 1 hour 50: black and white silhouettes and close portraits as the sun drops.
• From about 2 hours 10 to 2 hours 30: up on the grassy foreshore, then a path towards the setting sun.

If it rains

There is no shelter on the sand, and the council gives no refunds for bad weather on open space bookings. Apart from the Sandringham Band Rotunda further down the coast in Sandringham, which shelters 65 to 70 people, there is no structure you can book. For a ceremony, have an indoor plan ready, such as Brighton Town Hall or your reception venue. For portraits or a session, the simplest answer is to keep the date flexible. Martina and Diego's evening was clear and warm, with a few clouds over the bay.

Practical notes

• The bathing boxes are at Dendy Street Beach, The Esplanade, Brighton, managed by Bayside City Council.
• Brighton Beach and Middle Brighton stations are on the Sandringham line, and buses 600, 922 and 923 stop nearby.
• Paid parking is at the Life Saving Club at the northern end and Green Point at the southern end, with some paid parking on Beach Road outside peak times.
• Public toilets are next to the Brighton Life Saving Club.
• Ceremony permits come from Bayside City Council's open space team, on (03) 9599 4687 or [email protected]. Apply at least 10 working days ahead; the minimum booking is two hours.
• Private wedding photos and filming need no council permit; commercial shoots do. Drones need a council permit to take off or land on council land, photos on the piers or out on the water need Parks Victoria's, and large-scale shoots aren't allowed on the beaches from 1 November to 31 March.
• At the southern end, events keep a one metre clear zone around the Cenotaph at Green Point.
• No confetti or petals, amplified sound under 72 decibels, no power supplied, and no open alcohol on council reserves between sunset and sunrise.