Beach & Coastal Weddings

If you are considering having a beach wedding or along the Australian coastline, the featured weddings below will provide inspiration for beach wedding photos.

Choosing the best location for your wedding photography? Beach wedding photos!

One of the questions I ask couples regarding their wedding photos is – “do you have any locations in mind of where you would like to have your wedding photos?”

I find the best way to narrow down your options is to think about – “would you like to be near the waters edge?” or “do you prefer the texture of the rocks?” or “imagine themselves on a clifftop with views over the ocean?”.

Often if your ceremony is on the beach or in a garden in close proximity to the beach, couples choose to have their bridal photos also on the beach after the ceremony. If your ceremony isn’t at the beach, there is no reason we can’t travel to the closest or favourite beach that you frequent together or even your choice can be based on the simple notion that the beach is a beautiful location for sunset photos. From the beaches of the Northern Beaches like Palm Beach, Whale Beach and Manly to Wollongong on the NSW South Coast or any of the beaches stretching from the NSW Central Coast to Newcastle, certainly make a stunning backdrop for wedding pictures.

Planning the perfect beach wedding

Here are a few things to consider when deciding on the perfect beach location :

Is it busy around the time that you will be having your photos taken? When it is busy, this can affect your wedding photos with having the public in the background of your photos. While sometimes we can edit those people out if it’s really busy it can be difficult as well as there could be additional costs due to the extra time it takes your photographer to remove the people. Something worth discussing beforehand with your photographer.

What times will low & high tide be on the wedding day? If you have your heart set on walking along the beach and the tide is in, this might mean that a particular beach location is not ideal.

Is the beach clean of rubbish and debris? Any rubbish or debris can create unsightly distractions in your images and mean that there is additional editing involved and possible costs associated with the editing.

Is there a variety of looks at your beach location?  So you don’t have the same background in all your wedding pictures, it’s recommended that the location has a variety of backgrounds to utilise. This is a great question to keep in mind when discussing locations with your photographer – “is there the potential to create different images from the one location?“. One look could be using the light colours of the ocean and sky, there may be rocks or the wall of a cliff to provide a darker, textured background. Consider a nearby area with trees or any structures.

How should guests dress for a beach wedding?  For a daytime beach wedding, recommend your guests try to avoid wearing black. Less formal dress where guests will be comfortable being outdoors, standing around in warm, sunny weather and even windy, and be ready to take to the sand, for example, they might want to wear shoes that are more comfortable and easily removed before stepping onto the beach. Gentlemen can also usually wear a more casual suit in a light colour.