Where I'd get married in Melbourne if I wanted the city itself to be the venue

If you want your wedding photos to actually look like Melbourne, the venue needs to do some of the work. Not a marquee in a paddock two hours out, an actual skyline, laneway or river doing the talking behind you.

Start small and Spanish at Bomba, five floors above Lonsdale Street in the middle of Chinatown. The rooftop looks straight over the CBD grid, books out for weddings of 30 up to 110, and comes with a retractable roof so a grey Melbourne day doesn't wreck the plan.

For something quieter, Siglo sits above the Melbourne Supper Club on Spring Street, looking across to Parliament House and St Patrick's Cathedral. It only takes exclusive weddings up to 80 seated or 150 standing, and the whole space has the feel of a European rooftop bar that happens to be five minutes from Flinders Street.

The Hellenic Museum is the one nobody thinks to check. A heritage CBD building with an eastern courtyard and pavilion that holds up to 500 for a cocktail wedding, it swaps ballroom carpet for marble columns and an actual museum collection as the backdrop.

Head to the Yarra for Cargo Hall in South Wharf, a purpose built venue with the river and the city skyline sitting right outside the windows. It scales from an intimate sit down dinner to a 600 person cocktail party without ever losing that industrial waterfront edge.

And back in Docklands, All Smiles sits on the upper level of a New Quay building with wraparound views over Victoria Harbour and the CBD skyline, holding up to 200 standing for a proper party rather than a quiet affair.

None of these venues need a marquee, fairy lights or a paddock to make a wedding look good. The city does that on its own.

Sugar Honey is the social media and advertising agency behind What's The Buzz, and wedding advertising across Melbourne, Sydney and the Hunter Valley is one of the things we do best. Get in touch at info@sugarhoney.com.au.