THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO GETTING MARRIED AT OLD TOWER HOUSE

The observations throughout this guide are based on my own experience photographing weddings at this venue.

If you've landed here, chances are you've already found my Old Tower House wedding photography packages, or read my round-up of Perth's best registry wedding venues. Both give you the essentials. This guide goes further.

I've now photographed around 150 weddings inside this building, across every room, every season, and every time slot on offer. So rather than repeating what the venue's own website tells you, I want to answer the questions couples actually ask me once they've booked: which room should we choose, what does the day genuinely feel like once you're standing in front of your guests, and how do you get the most out of a very short, very tightly scheduled ceremony.

A Building With More History Than People Realise

Old Tower House sits on a quiet street in Northbridge, a real beauty with vintage brick exterior and a sunny courtyard, just a little out of place between the modern buildings and restaurants surrounding it.

As beautiful as it is from the outside, it's the heritage listed interior that really takes your breath away. Stunning high ceilings, long corridors and a beautiful staircase make wedding photos seem timeless and elegant. Bay windows that let the light flood in and land somewhere different every hour. The first time I stood in the Drawing Room at Old Tower House, I remember thinking the light through that bay window was everything!! I still do. I didn't know it then that I'd end up back in that building well over a hundred times. But here we are, somewhere around 150 weddings later, and I still notice something new almost every visit; a different pocket of light in winter, a bridal party who found a way to make thirty minutes feel unhurried, a guest list of four that felt just as big as one of forty. Vows that make me cry, and dad's who look so proud.

It's also worth clearing up a common point of confusion. This is a privately run business, not Western Australia's official government registry office (that's a separate venue in the CBD). Old Tower House operates independently, offering a registry-style ceremony experience inside a building with genuine character, and that distinction shapes everything from pricing to how flexible your booking can be.

Choosing Your Room: What The Website Won't Tell You

There are effectively three spaces on offer, and I've stood in all of them enough times to know the brochure won't tell you which one actually suits your day.

The Sitting Room: This is such an intimate room and is perfect for when it's just the two of you or if you have under 10 guests. With a pretty bay window. for capturing your couple portraits. I've watched brides who arrived visibly nervous walk out of that room laughing within minutes, simply because there was nobody to perform for but it still feels full, even with a few people.

The Drawing Room: Hands down, this is my favourite room to shoot in. Its perfect for up to 20 guests and the light through that bay window is the best in the building, soft and directional, and it holds steady for most of the day. I've never had to work hard to make a couple look romantic in that room. The room does it for me.

The Gallery: The biggest of the three, technically holding up to fifty, and it's the one I'd ask you to slow down and think about before booking. I've watched wedding parties run out of time in that room simply because thirty guests take longer to seat than anyone budgets for, and a thirty-minute slot doesn't forgive a slow start. If you do choose it with a bigger guest list, brief your bridal party ahead of time on moving people quickly, and know going in that it's also the darkest of the three ceremony rooms. My biggest recommendation for this room, is to book it for an hour.

The Legal Side: Timing It Right

This part trips more couples up than the room choice ever does, and I've seen it happen more than once. Before any ceremony can take place, you need to lodge a Notice of Intended Marriage, and Australian law requires a minimum one month's notice between lodging that document and your wedding date. Not a suggestion. Federal law. I once had a couple call me in a panic three weeks out because they'd only just found this out, and there was nothing anyone could do to move their date closer.

You'll need either a passport (preferred) or a birth certificate plus photo ID, and if either of you has been married before, evidence that the previous marriage has legally ended. If one partner is overseas, only one signature is technically required to lodge the notice, which has saved more than one couple I've worked with who were juggling visas across two continents.

My advice, after watching plenty of couples work through this: lodge your paperwork as early as your one-month window allows, and don't book vendors around a date until the venue has actually confirmed it. Preferred times are requested, not guaranteed, particularly in peak wedding months.

What Your Wedding Day Actually Looks Like

Because slots run in strict 30 or 60-minute windows, the day moves faster than almost every couple expects. I've seen the surprise on faces more than once, that realisation, halfway through, that it's already nearly over.

Timing here is a finer balance than most couples expect, and it cuts both ways. Arrive too early and your guests end up stuck in the courtyard with nowhere to go, which is no fun standing in blazing sun or huddled under one small umbrella in the rain. I've watched it happen more times than I can count. But arrive late and there's no wiggle room either. Slots run back to back, and running into someone else's time has a knock-on effect for every couple booked in after you, so the venue holds that line firmly, and honestly, fair enough. My advice to every wedding party: aim to land right on time, not half an hour early, and build in enough buffer earlier in the day that "late" is never on the table.The only exception is if you have the gallery booked - especially for a 30 minute time slot, it take a while to wrangle such a big crown in and out, so be prepared to not have as much time for your vows and photos.

There's no undercover waiting area either, which matters more than it sounds. I've stood outside with a bridal party under one small umbrella waiting for their slot to open up, and it's not the memory anyone wants of their morning. If it's raining, guests aren't permitted to wait inside ahead of your slot, so a wet-weather plan for your guest list, not just your outfit, is worth having.

I's such a good idea to hire a lovely car to drop you off, though I have seen couples Uber to the venue. As long as you're on time!

Once the ceremony begins, it 's super quick. After your legal vows, there's usually room for short personal vows and a ring exchange, but this was never built to hold a long, unhurried ceremony with readings and multiple speeches. Better to know that walking in than to feel it catch you by surprise on the day.

Once the ceremony is over and the documents are signed, we usually have around 10 minutes left for couple photos in the building.

Why This Venue Works So Well For Photography

This is the part I care about most, and it's the part the venue's own marketing understandably never dwells on.

The bay windows in the Drawing Room and Sitting Room are the best natural light source in the building, soft and even for most of the day. I still choose an early morning or late afternoon slot over any other time, if I have any say in it.But I have worked every time slot and I can shoot in any light.

The real advantage of this venue, though, is what's around it. Old Tower House sits within easy walking distance of some of Perth's most iconic photo locations ; the laneways and street art of Northbridge, the Perth Cultural Centre precinct, Russell Square, and the city skyline itself. A short ceremony inside doesn't mean a short photography session. Some of my favourite galleries from this venue barely feature the room at all. They're built almost entirely from the twenty minutes after the "I do", walking these couples through the surrounding streets and parks while the light, and the adrenaline, are both still doing their best work.

If you've booked one of my affordable Old Tower House packages, this is exactly the ground we cover; the ceremony itself, then straight out into the city and park backdrops surrounding the venue.

Top Tips for your wedding day at old tower house

Just a little tip to help you get the most beautiful photos:

Sometimes celebrants can unintentionally stand in the middle or move around quite a bit during the ceremony, which can make it tricky to capture those lovely, clean shots of the two of you. It’s worth giving OTH a quick call to kindly request that your celebrant stands slightly to the side so you can really make the most of the setting in your photos.

Keep your gaze locked on each other! Hold hands, soak in the love, and let the magic happen! Try and only listen to the celebrant’s voice in the background without looking at him/her.

NB If the groom is wearing a new jacket, there’s often a small cross stitch holding the back panels together - it’s just there for transport and display. Be sure to snip it before the day so the jacket fits and moves as it should!

📵 Unplug to plug in. Ask your guests to ditch the phones during the ceremony. Trust me, you’ll get amazing photos, and everyone can be truly present for your big moment.

💍 Ring swap prep! Move your engagement ring to your right hand before the ceremony. After your “I do’s,” slide it back to its VIP spot on the left, just behind the wedding band for that traditional touch.

💌 Ring exchange tips! When it’s time, hold your partners left hand in your left palm. Gently place the wedding ring on the tip of your partner’s finger as you say your vows, once you're finished saying your vows then slide it on all the way. Play a silly game to choose who goes first :)

💋 Kiss like you mean it! Make your first smooch as a married couple one to remember. At least 3 Mississippi's! If you're planning a dip, please tell your photographer and practice it a few times at home. Brides, you need to bend your knee and point your toes down.

🎉 Soak it all in! This is your moment. Stay present, breathe, and most importantly, enjoy every single second!

Final Thoughts

After around 150 weddings inside this building, here's what I keep coming back to: Old Tower House works because it doesn't try to be something it isn't. It's not a reception venue, and it was never built for a three-hour ceremony with a string quartet. What it offers is genuine heritage character, beautiful natural light, and a location that opens the door to some of Perth's best urban wedding photography, all inside a format that suits couples who want their wedding to feel meaningful without the weight of a traditional event.

If you're considering it, my honest advice is this: choose your room based on your actual guest list rather than the maximum capacity, lodge your paperwork early, and plan your photography time around the venue rather than squeezing it inside the thirty minutes you're given. That's where the real story of your day gets told, and after this many weddings, I promise you it always does.

View my Old Tower House Wedding Photography Packages