Sunshine Mosque

The Sunshine Mosque stands at 618 Ballarat Road in Ardeer, about 15 kilometres west of the Melbourne CBD. It belongs to the Cyprus Turkish Islamic Community of Victoria, which worked out of Richmond and Clifton Hill before moving to Ballarat Road in 1985. Construction began in 1992, managed by the late Hasan Dellal, and the community calls the mosque its gift to the wider Australian community and the largest mosque in Victoria. It is built in the Ottoman style, modelled on the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, in local cream brick: a great central dome ringed with windows, smaller grey domes around it, one minaret and a long arcade of pointed arches across the front.

For couples marrying in the Islamic tradition, the nikah and the celebration can happen at one address, and the domes make a beautiful backdrop for portraits as the light softens. This guide follows the day in order, the way we photographed Elektra and Yasir's wedding here in January 2026: getting ready, the ceremony, portraits by the domes and the reception, with the mosque's own booking rules along the way.

Getting ready nearby

The mosque's own pages don't mention a getting ready room, so plan to get ready at home or somewhere close by and arrive dressed. Elektra and Yasir didn't get ready at the mosque. We joined them in the afternoon for portraits in a garden of palms, pines and grass trees beside a lake, first the two of them and then with their family and friends, and they came on to Ardeer afterwards.

If you do the same, leave plenty of time for the move. Their portraits took about an hour and a quarter, and an hour and a half passed between the last frame in the garden and the first in the hall. On a hot January afternoon, shade and cold water for the bridal party help too.

Ceremony and nikah

The mosque's official booking form lists Nikah as an event type and states that the nikah is permitted inside the prayer hall. Bookings go through that form, linked from the mosque's website, or the bookings email, and the mosque asks you to allow 24 to 48 hours for confirmation. Avoid booking over Friday Jummah prayer, which the mosque lists at 12.30pm in the cooler months and 1.30pm in the warmer months. The mosque doesn't publish rules for photographers or guests in the prayer hall, so ask before the day where the photographer may stand. The usual guidance in any mosque is modest dress, shoes off in the prayer hall and a scarf for women.

Elektra and Yasir's ceremony took place in the hall where their reception was held, before dinner. Guests were welcomed by a sign with Bismillah in Arabic calligraphy and a verse in Arabic and English, "and we created you in pairs". An older man in a grey suit spoke to the couple with a microphone in front of the head table, and he had them both laughing and then quietly listening. Then came the signing at the head table, with him and a woman in brown showing them where to sign, and the guests at the long tables clapped. We photographed it from the back of the hall and from behind the guests' tables, which kept us out of the way and still showed the whole room.

Portraits by the domes

The front of the mosque is where we take portraits here:

• The domes and the minaret. The great central dome with its ring of windows, the smaller grey domes and the minaret, seen from back across the car park, where the whole front fits in one frame.
• The arcade. A long run of pointed arches in cream brick along the front, which repeats beautifully behind a couple.
• Close by the building. A few steps in front of the arches is enough for close portraits, with the cream brick glowing behind you in the late sun.

Elektra and Yasir stepped outside straight after the signing, for a few portraits in front of the domes beside a white sports car, and the sun was warm and low enough to flare across the lens. Others describe the courtyard and the domed interior as places to photograph too, but the mosque doesn't publish photography rules, so ask before photographing anywhere beyond the front, and never during prayer. For a longer portrait session, a garden nearby in the afternoon works well, as it did for Elektra and Yasir.

Reception in the hall

The booking form says functions are held in the courtyard, and it is clear about how they run. The kitchen can be used to prepare and serve food but not to cook. Tables, chairs and an urn are available on request. You bring your own crockery, cups and tablecloths, and you leave the space swept and clean. Ask the mosque which space your function will use and how many guests it suits.

Elektra and Yasir's reception filled a long hall with cream brick walls, arched openings and a timber ceiling with long skylights and festoon lights. It was dressed in white from wall to wall, with a curtain of fairy lights and two gold arches of white and peach roses behind the head table. The long guest tables had white cloths, blue napkins tied with gold ribbon, iced biscuits with the couple's names, succulents in hessian pots and tall gold vases of white and blue roses. Guests posed at a wall of pink, peach and white roses, left messages on a blue rotary telephone and visited the lolly table, and dinner was a buffet of hot food along one side of the hall, with iced coffees carrying the couple's names. After dinner came the rings and then the gold, as family came up one by one with bangles, a necklace and blessings.

A day at the Sunshine Mosque, hour by hour

Our camera's clock may have been an hour off that day, so here is Elektra and Yasir's evening counted from our arrival in the hall:

• Before: about an hour and a quarter of portraits in a garden, with family and friends, then the move to Ardeer.
• The start: the hall is set, guests arrive and pose at the flower wall, and Elektra greets family at the wishing well.
• After 10 minutes: Elektra and Yasir take their seats at the head table.
• From 10 to 50 minutes: greetings, table by table, with family and friends.
• After about an hour: words from the man in the grey suit in front of the head table.
• After about 1 hour 5: the signing, and the hall applauds.
• After about 1 hour 15: outside for portraits in front of the domes in the late sun.
• After about 1 hour 20: dinner from the buffet.
• After about 2 hours 15: the rings, then the gold, bangles and blessings.
• About 2 hours 25 in: family photographs with the couple, and the end of our coverage.

The whole evening in the hall ran a little under two and a half hours, and the speech, the signing and the portraits outside all came before dinner, so allow for that when you plan the light.

If it rains

Everything from the welcome to the gold happened inside the hall, under its roof and skylights, so rain would only have touched the portraits by the domes. The arcade along the front offers some cover for a few frames between showers, if the mosque is happy for you to use it. On Elektra and Yasir's day the weather went the other way: a hot, clear January afternoon, with hard sun and long shadows in the garden and warm, low light at the mosque in the evening.

Practical notes

• The mosque is at 618 Ballarat Road, Ardeer, about 15 km west of the CBD, and it can be seen from the Ring Road.
• There is a car park in front of the building. The mosque doesn't publish parking or accessibility details, so ask about both for your guests.
• A journey planner lists Ardeer station on the V/Line Ballarat line and bus 426 along Ballarat Road; check the timetable for your date.
• Book through the official form or the bookings email, and allow 24 to 48 hours for confirmation.
• Keep Friday Jummah prayer clear: 12.30pm in the cooler months and 1.30pm in the warmer months.
• Caterers can prepare and serve in the kitchen but not cook. Bring your own crockery, cups and tablecloths, and leave the space swept and clean.
• Visitors are welcome by arrangement, so arrange a visit before you book to see the spaces for yourself.