Getting married at the registry
Most civil weddings in Melbourne happen in one building. The Victorian Marriage Registry is inside the Old Treasury Building, 20 Spring Street, at the top of Collins Street.
I am an editorial wedding photographer and videographer in Melbourne, and I photograph registry weddings there through the year. This is what couples ask me before they book, from the paperwork to the photos on the steps after.
Fees and room sizes are from Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria, checked November 2026. Check their site before you book, prices change.
The paperwork
Book the ceremony online with Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria. Your Notice of Intended Marriage has to be in at least one month before the date. The registry suggests three months. The notice is signed in front of an authorised witness, a police officer, justice of the peace, lawyer or doctor.
Two rooms
A classic ceremony is held in one of two rooms. The Margaret Craig room fits 55 guests. The Thomas Hyde room fits 8. Your photographer does not count toward either number. A legal-only ceremony is the two of you and two witnesses, in an office or private room.
What it costs
A classic ceremony is $500 Monday to Friday and $600 on Saturday and Sunday. A legal-only ceremony is $400, Monday to Thursday only. Each fee includes a non-refundable $195.10 administration fee. The registered marriage certificate is included.
What to bring
A passport, or a birth certificate with photo ID. If you have been married before, the divorce or death certificate. Two witnesses over 18, the registry does not supply them. A classic ceremony runs ten to twenty minutes. No confetti, petals, rice or bubbles. You sign a certificate on the day, and the registered one comes by express post.
Where to go after
You can bring your own photographer, and guests can film and photograph the ceremony. Outside there are the Treasury steps, then Treasury Gardens and Fitzroy Gardens across Spring Street. Parliament House is a short walk up the hill, and Chinatown is a few minutes away along Little Bourke Street.
Further out, there are Carlton Gardens and the Royal Exhibition Building, the NGV on St Kilda Road, and the river at Southbank. Pick one or two. A short walk between them is part of the day.
How long you need
Two hours covers arriving, the ceremony, the signing, family on the steps and portraits in the gardens. Add an hour or two for Parliament, the river or lunch after. Here is what a registry wedding photographer costs, and a real civil wedding at the Old Treasury.
Tell me about your day
Dates for 2027 are open.
Intimate wedding and registry photography from $880 for two hours.
Explore the registry wedding collection.