St Peter's Eastern Hill

St Peter's Eastern Hill stands on the corner of Gisborne and Albert Streets in East Melbourne, opposite St Patrick's Cathedral, at the top end of the city. The parish was founded in 1846, and it is Melbourne's oldest Anglican parish church still on its original site. It is an Anglo-Catholic parish, and it looks the part inside: a tiled aisle between dark timber pews, a tall pointed arch to a sanctuary laid with red carpet, carved choir stalls, a gold reredos behind the high altar, tall stained glass windows and a side shrine with a statue of the Virgin and Child.

Couples choose it for that interior, for its history, and for where it sits. Parliament House, Parliament Gardens, Treasury Gardens and Fitzroy Gardens are all a short walk away, so a whole afternoon of portraits can happen on foot. This guide follows the day in order, the way we photographed Bianca and Aidan's wedding here in October 2026: getting ready, the ceremony, portraits around Eastern Hill and the celebration afterwards.

Getting ready nearby

We found no getting ready room for couples in the parish's own information, and an older directory review said the hall next door has no bridal suite, so plan to arrive at the church dressed. Most couples get ready at home or in a hotel close by. Park Hyatt Melbourne is at 1 Parliament Square, opposite St Patrick's Cathedral, and the Hotel Windsor is at 111 Spring Street, a few minutes away. Both put the getting ready, the drive and the ceremony close together.

Guests come in through the gates on Albert Street, where there is a little parking inside. If you would like a photograph of your arrival, tell us which way the car will come in.

Ceremony in the church

Weddings at St Peter's are Anglican services. The parish sets out three steps: check your date with the Parish Administrator, meet the priest who will marry you, then plan the ceremony and meet the organist. The priest must be an Anglican priest licensed by the Diocese of Melbourne, normally one of the parish clergy, and the Anglican form of marriage and vows is used. Your music and readings are your own choice, and the parish organist always directs the music. The organ is a 1974 George Fincham & Sons instrument with two manuals and 27 stops, and the parish choir dates back to 1847; ask whether it can sing for your wedding.

Sundays are limited and may only suit a very small, simple ceremony. Mass is said on weekdays at 8am, on Wednesdays at 1.15pm and on Saturdays at noon, so a Saturday wedding fits around the midday Mass. If your date falls in Lent or near Easter or Christmas, ask about it early. The parish doesn't publish a seating number or rules on photography and confetti, so take those questions to your priest. If you would rather have a civil ceremony nearby, the Victorian Marriage Registry is a few minutes away at the Old Treasury Building.

Bianca and Aidan's ceremony began a little after three. Aidan waited with the priest in front of the dark timber choir stalls, Bianca joined him with her long veil spread over the tiled floor, and they sat together in the front pew beside a tall stained glass window for the readings. They said their vows on the red carpeted sanctuary steps, kissed before the altar and knelt together at the rail of the high altar before walking back down the aisle. The priest wore cream and gold, and a server in white assisted. The light inside is warm and low, from the lamps and the windows, and the gallery at the back gives a view of the whole church at once.

Portraits around Eastern Hill

The church and the streets around it give you a full portrait session without a car. Our route with Bianca and Aidan:

• The west door. An arched red timber door with stone steps and iron railings in front. It is the place for family photographs straight after the ceremony, with room on the steps for the family and the children at the front.
• The church grounds. A red brick building beside the church makes a backdrop for guests and small groups while the family photos happen.
• Parliament Gardens. Flower beds between the church and Parliament House, which in early October were full of pink and red. A good spot for photographs with friends.
• The colonnade of Parliament House. Tall sandstone columns, a vaulted ceiling, patterned tiles and carved timber doors. Parliament's conditions of entry allow personal photography only in certain public areas, so check its current rules before you plan on it.
• The front steps of Parliament House. Wide steps on Spring Street with old lamps on either side.
• Treasury Gardens. A long avenue of old trees and a stand of tree ferns, a few minutes' walk further on.
• Fitzroy Gardens. Diagonally across Albert Street from the church. Photography in its Conservatory needs a permit and is only possible outside 9am to 5.30pm.

In the City of Melbourne's parks, photographs usually need no permit unless you want a reserved space, but drones need a filming permit, wedding cars may not drive into the parks, and confetti and rice are banned (real petals are fine if you clear them up). Bianca and Aidan's portraits ran from about four o'clock to a quarter to six: the family on the church steps, friends in Parliament Gardens, Parliament House, then Treasury Gardens. On an overcast day the light stayed soft all the way through.

Reception in the hall or the city

The church is for the ceremony, so the celebration happens somewhere else. The parish hall next door is listed on a venue site for up to 200 guests, in about 500 square metres with ceilings over 4 metres, a commercial kitchen and wheelchair access, and an older directory listing gave it 110 seated with a dance floor. Those figures don't come from the parish, so ask the Parish Administrator whether the hall takes wedding receptions and for how many.

Most couples head into the city. Bianca and Aidan held their reception in the Cabinet Room at The Imperial Hotel. Their guests cheered them in just after six, there was a photo carousel where everyone lined up for a picture with the two of them, and the night ended with the cake, a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses and their first dance to Elton John's "Your Song". The Plaza Ballroom beneath the Regent Theatre on Collins Street is another of our reception rooms close by, and a directory lists receptions at the Hotel Windsor on Spring Street too.

A day at St Peter's, hour by hour

Every wedding is different, but this is how Bianca and Aidan's Saturday ran, and the camera was on Melbourne time:

• 2.30pm Our coverage begins.
• 3.15pm Aidan waits at the front with the priest, and Bianca joins him a few minutes later.
• 3.20pm Readings, the two of them seated in the front pew.
• 3.30pm Vows on the sanctuary steps, and the kiss at 3.35pm.
• 3.40pm Kneeling at the altar rail, then back down the aisle at 3.45pm.
• 3.50pm Greetings in the porch and a few frames at the west door.
• 4.10pm Family photographs on the church steps.
• 4.40pm Friends in Parliament Gardens.
• 5.05pm The colonnade and the front steps of Parliament House.
• 5.30pm Treasury Gardens.
• 6.10pm The entrance at The Imperial Hotel.
• 9.25pm The cake, then the first dance at 9.30pm, and the end of our coverage.

The ceremony itself took a little over half an hour, from Aidan waiting at the front to the walk out.

If it rains

The ceremony is indoors, so rain only touches the arrival, the greetings and the portraits. The porch gives you shelter at the door, and the colonnade of Parliament House is covered, subject to Parliament's rules on photography. The gardens are the part you would lose, or you can take a couple of clear umbrellas and a few minutes between showers. Bianca and Aidan's day was grey but dry, and that flat, soft light was kind to everything from the church steps to Treasury Gardens.

Practical notes

• The church is at 15 Gisborne Street, East Melbourne, on the corner of Albert Street. Guests come in through the gates on Albert Street.
• There is limited parking inside the gates and paid parking in the surrounding streets. The hall is listed with one to three spaces of its own.
• Parliament Station is a short walk away, and trams 11, 12 and 109 stop at Albert Street (stop 11).
• Open House Melbourne lists the church as fully wheelchair accessible, with an accessible bathroom.
• The parish office is open 10am to 2pm on weekdays; email [email protected] to start.
• Ask your priest about photography during the service, confetti or petals outside the church, and whether a marriage preparation course is recommended.
• For portraits in the parks, the City of Melbourne's rules apply: no confetti or rice, no wedding cars in the parks and a permit for drones.