Momento UnoMelbourne / Naarm Check your date

Micro weddings · Elopements · Engagements

Two people.
One promise.
Nothing missed.

Momento Uno photographs the weddings most photographers overlook. Registry days, elopements and intimate celebrations across Melbourne and regional Victoria. Every moment of your day, told in full.

Check your date See a full day
A bride twirls her lace dress beside her partner in the stone colonnade of Parliament House, Melbourne
Parliament House, Spring St11:58 am

One real wedding, start to finish

A registry day at the Old Treasury

A promise between two people, witnessed by the ones who matter most, and yum cha after. This is what an intimate Melbourne wedding actually looks like, and how much of it there is to keep.

Ch. 01

The walk up Spring Street

No first look and no schedule. Just the two of them, the city, and a grey winter morning that Melbourne would call romantic.

The wide stone steps and colonnade of Parliament House, Melbourne under a grey sky
Bride and groom walk away arm in arm towards a carved timber door
Groom gently touches the bride's cheek on the Parliament steps
The bride walks the tiled colonnade with her dress fanned out, the groom watching from the columns behind
The bride stands small before a towering arched timber door, bouquet in hand
The couple dance between the columns of the colonnade
Black and white photo of the bride raising her bouquet in celebration on the steps, laughing
The couple run down the Parliament steps together, bouquet held high
Holding hands at arm's length on a Melbourne street lined with palms
Ch. 02

Twelve chairs, two vows

A registry ceremony lasts about fifteen minutes and none of it repeats. Every vow, every glance and every laugh is caught before it can slip away.

Family and friends wait on antique chairs beside a fireplace before the ceremony
The bride greets family with a hug in the registry waiting room, flower girl in tow
The celebrant reads over his folder by the shuttered window before the ceremony
The couple walk in together, arm in arm, bouquet in hand
Bride and groom face each other during their vows in the registry room
The bride laughs with delight during the ring exchange while a guest cheers behind her
Black and white detail of hands and rings against the lace sleeve of the wedding dress
The couple sign the marriage register at a leather topped desk, flowers either side
Newlyweds hold their marriage certificate and bouquet, beaming
The bride seated in an antique armchair with her bouquet, the groom at her shoulder
The bride kicks up a heel and swings her bouquet in front of the shuttered window
Ch. 03

Out the doors

A close crowd can make more noise than a ballroom. The exit onto the street is the loudest minute of a quiet wedding.

Guests applaud as the newlyweds come down the steps of the Old Treasury Building
The couple kiss on the footpath surrounded by their guests
Black and white photograph of the bride spinning her dress outside the Old Treasury Building
The bride stands on a wide Melbourne street holding her bouquet, city behind her
The bride spins her lace dress on the footpath outside the Old Treasury as the groom looks on
Ch. 04

Dinner, not a reception

They chose yum cha with the people they love most. No speeches ran overtime. The lazy Susan did the table rounds instead of a bridal party.

Detail of the white rose bouquet wrapped in tulle against a trench coat
Framed by an arched window, the bride carries her bouquet along the stone balustrade on the way to dinner
Family sharing yum cha around a round table after the ceremony
The couple's hands with new wedding rings, photographed at the dinner table

Every image above comes from one booking of just four hours.
Your day could look like this

“The first moment, momento uno, is not the kiss. It is the deep breath just before you walk in. Big weddings bury those seconds under logistics. Small ones are made of them.”

  1. Small is the point, not the compromise

    I photograph intimate weddings by choice, so nothing about your day gets treated as a lesser version of a “real” wedding. A registry room full of your favourite people deserves the same care as a cathedral.

  2. Documentary first, directed when it helps

    Most of the day I stay out of the way and let it happen. Then I steal you for twenty minutes of relaxed portraits. A walk, a twirl, a laugh, and you are back with your people.

  3. The whole story, not just highlights

    The nervous wait, the signature, the exit applause, the dumplings after. You get a complete, sequenced gallery that reads like the day felt, not fifty variations of one pose.

After dark

Small weddings still know how to party

The ceremony is only the beginning. Dinner runs long, someone starts the dancing, the bouquet goes up. This is where the party truly starts, and I keep shooting long after most cameras give up.

A bride walks through a garden strung with lights on her father's arm, guests standing either side
The couple beam as petals fly at the end of a garden ceremony
Two women dancing on a dark dance floor, one in a slip dress laughing
The groom carried horizontally by laughing guests across the dance floor
The groom lifts the bride off her feet in the middle of the dance floor
Silhouette of the bride launching her bouquet high into the air at night

What I shoot

Made for days with fewer hours in them

Planning a registry day in the city? An elopement for two? Lunch at your favourite restaurant with the people you love most? That is exactly the work I love. Small weddings are not a compromise anymore, they are the trend.

01

Elopements & registry days

The Victorian Marriage Registry at the Old Treasury Building, the Parliament steps, a celebrant in the Fitzroy Gardens. Short ceremonies photographed completely, from the walk up to the celebration after, with coverage shaped around your timeline rather than a package grid.

2 to 4 hrs typical
02

Micro weddings

Backyard ceremonies, restaurant takeovers, winery lunches, garden vows. Intimate enough that I learn every face in the room, which is exactly why the candids land.

Half day typical
03

Engagements & proposals

A relaxed hour around the city or your favourite corner of Melbourne. Also the best possible rehearsal for being photographed on the day. Most couples book this first.

1 hr typical

Not sure where to begin? I help with locations, timelines and the shape of the day, from the Old Treasury and the Parliament steps to the Dandenong Ranges, the Mornington Peninsula, Daylesford and the Yarra Valley. Every enquiry gets a considered reply with availability and a tailored quote, usually within a day. Start here

A bride twirling in front of her smiling partner at Parliament House, Melbourne
Between the columns12:20 pm

Behind the camera

Hi, I’m Nicolas.

I started Momento Uno because the weddings that moved me most were never the big ones. They were the Tuesday morning registry days where everyone in the room genuinely wanted to be there. Melbourne is full of couples marrying this way, and they deserve more than a mate with a phone.

I keep my calendar deliberately small. A limited number of weddings a year, one wedding a weekend, never double booked. On your day I am unhurried and quietly useful. I will hold the bouquet, wrangle the group photo and know where the light is, then disappear before you notice you are tired.

If your plans are small and your feelings aren’t, we’ll get along.

Follow along on Instagram

Good to know

Questions couples ask

Is a registry wedding a real wedding?

Completely. Intimate and registry weddings are one of the fastest growing ways to marry in Australia, and after photographing them I understand why. All of the meaning, none of the production. Your photographs should rise to that, not apologise for it.

We are only having a fifteen minute ceremony. Is it worth photographing?

It is the most worth photographing. Short ceremonies are dense. Every one of those fifteen minutes matters and none of them repeat. The gallery above is a registry day, and the ceremony was only a fraction of what came home with them.

How much coverage do we actually need?

Most elopements sit between two and four hours: getting ready or the walk in, the ceremony, portraits, and the start of your celebration. Tell me your rough plan and I will suggest a shape. I would rather you book fewer hours than the wrong ones.

We’re awkward in front of cameras.

Nearly everyone says this, including the couple on this page. My job is mostly to catch you being yourselves. The directed part is twenty relaxed minutes of walking, spinning and laughing. No prom poses, and nobody asking you to gaze wistfully.

Can you help us plan the day, not just photograph it?

Yes, and please let me. Locations with good light, a timeline that never feels rushed, where to stand, when to schedule portraits, even which direction the afternoon sun comes from at the Old Treasury steps. It is all part of the booking.

Do you travel outside Melbourne?

Happily. The Dandenong Ranges, the Mornington Peninsula, Daylesford, the Yarra Valley, the Great Ocean Road and beyond. Travel within greater Melbourne is always included, and anything further is sorted simply and transparently in your quote.

When will we see our photos?

A short preview within 48 hours, perfect for the family group chat, then the complete edited gallery within three weeks in an online gallery you can download and share.

No obligation, no spam, just a real reply

Tell me about
your day.

A date and a rough idea is plenty. I’ll come back within one business day with availability and a tailored quote.

Call or text 0418 507 947 See more work & DM @momento_uno_melbourne

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