The vast sweeping steps and solid colonnades of the western façade of Parliament House makes it one of the finest Melbourne wedding photography locations.
Parliament House is located on the corner of Spring and Bourke Street in the central business district of Melbourne. It is open to the public on weekends and public holidays for wedding photography purposes, and is one of Clarte Photography’s top recommended locations for couples who are having inner city Weddings or have time to drive into the central business district.
The directional and architectural profile of the western façade means that Parliament House is exposed to incredibly stunningly soft light particularly in the morning and early afternoon. Late afternoon photography sessions can result in harsh frontal sunlight depending on cloud coverage.
We love to use the grand and intricately designed doors of Parliament House as a beautiful backdrop for a range of photographs, right from beautiful individual Bridal portraiture:
through to expansive environmental portraiture:
and to fun and engaging photos of the bridal party:
The elevation of the steps also allows photography from higher elevations to give a very unique look to your Wedding photographs.
Or from a lower angle:
The wide expanse at the top of steps of Parliament provide a very elegant, almost catwalk like platform where couples can take romantic strolls, flanked by the solid, sturdy dual row colonnades and bathed in the soft, directional light filtering through from the west:
Very limited on street parking (with time restrictions) is available in front of Parliament House, with most cars needing to park in nearby multi-level car parks. Due to the nature of multi-level car parks, it can take as long as 15 minutes between entering your car entering the car park and you finally stepping onto the first step of Parliament House. Therefore, we strongly recommend your driver drops you off near Parliament House using the limited on street parking available before they more permanently park your vehicle (to allow you to start photographing immediately).
Nearby on street parking is metered on Saturdays. Sunday parking is free but time restricted between 1 -2 hours depending on the proximity to Parliament House. Free all day street parking is available a few blocks away on both Saturday and Sunday however these are difficult to find, and can also result in 5-10 minute walks for a Bride and Groom between the car and Parliament House.
Clarte Photography is available to photograph both Weddings and Engagement photographs at Parliament House – contact us to book in a photography session!