Pressed against the chest of her husband, Natalie Imbruglia looks blissful. Daniel Johns, sporting his trademark eyeliner and a "creative" hairstyle, looks pretty damn chuffed as well.
Welcome to the tropical rock'n'roll wedding of two of Australia's biggest music stars, held at a secluded beach resort near Port Douglas on New Year's Eve.
The two stars have determinedly maintained their privacy throughout their romance, and their wedding was no exception. While everyday couples spend months before their weddings deciding on everything from the cake and invitations to the guest list and menu, celebrity couples tend to add one more important item to their list: a PR spin doctor to control media interest in their ceremony.
Perhaps ironically for a rich and famous couple who spend much of their professional life in the public eye, privacy was the one luxury Imbruglia and Johns craved on their wedding day. The one album they didn't want to promote was their wedding album.
"They wanted to enjoy this occasion like any married couple," the couple's PR manager, John Scott, said. "It was an incredibly important step in their life, they wanted to share it with close friends and family.
"While they acknowledge their responsibility to fans and media because of who they are, they certainly didn't want it to be a big, full-on media event. That's why we came up with the strategy of releasing an image," he said.
After exchanging their vows on a strip of beach near the five-star Thala Beach Lodge, close to Port Douglas, in front of guests such as Kylie Minogue, actor Guy Pearce and Johns's Silverchair bandmates Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou, the couple posed for photographs.
But Imbruglia, 28, and Johns, 24, lingered a little bit longer before their reception to make an important choice.
Photographer Adrienne Overall downloaded her digital photographs into a laptop, and asked the couple to choose one that would be distributed to media outlets throughout the world. For Johns and Imbruglia, it was the only image they wanted shown from their special day and it would cost up to $5000 per use, with proceeds going to charity. (The couple has not revealed the name of the charity.)
It's nothing new for celebrities to control access to their weddings - and the images available - in the hope that it will keep paparazzi at bay. Russell Crowe was remarkably co-operative with media during his wedding to Danielle Spencer last April, when he released images of his three-day celebration including a cricket match before his wedding, and the ceremony itself. But the Oscar-winning star was also savvy enough to employ a helicopter pilot to deter other helicopters hovering over his wedding ceremony at Nana Glen in northern NSW.
Because, like Johns and Imbruglia, he knows the paparazzi are never too far away.
"Regular couples don't have to go through the media stuff; it's incredible pressure," Scott said. "The thought of helicopters coming in. It's pretty scary as well as inconvenient. The vows are happening and no one can hear what's going on. They take huge risks, those paparazzi guys."
So why the game of cat and mouse between well-known celebrities and freelance photographers? It basically comes down to business. Unauthorised celebrity wedding shots are worth a fortune in the world of gossip mags and celebrity coverage. Freelance photographers can make tens of thousands of dollars from photographs of a high-profile wedding, and there are millions of readers keen to take a sneak peak into the world of A-list weddings.
For Scott, who works full-time at 20th Century Fox in Sydney, managing Imbruglia and Johns's wedding was a project he took on during his Christmas holidays because he is friendly with the couple.
Scott's media management was based on a military-style, month-long operation, which included set tactics and strategies to minimise the media presence on the day.
Johns and Imbruglia had already chosen a secluded, tropical location where access was minimal. They sent out invitations to 100 people, with no indication of where the ceremony would be held, apart from advising guests to bring warm-weather clothing. Guests were flown in, then transported in buses to the secret location.
With rumours swirling that the wedding was to take place on an island off the coast near Cairns, Scott carefully avoided denying any information - so (incorrect) stories about the wedding's location continued to circulate throughout the media.
On the day of the wedding, that meant a number of photographers were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although Scott's tactics were largely successful, at least one leading photographer guessed the actual location. One uninvited helicopter was swooping above the ceremony after Johns and Imbruglia exchanged their vows, but security guards and local police prevented any other photographers entering the beach strip where the ceremony was held.
Scott acknowledged the interest in Imbruglia and Johns's wedding was global, with media outlets in the US, UK, Europe and Australia hoping to run photographs of the event.
"That stems from a lot of things," he said. "Everyone loves a wedding; everyone loves seeing images of the happy couple. The world is celebrity obsessed and just can't seem to get enough of it . . . that little peek into someone else's world.
"There's also a perception that these people are incredibly extravagant and do things above and beyond the normal being, which in [Imbruglia and Johns's] case was not the truth."
Imbruglia is well-loved in Britain and the US after being nominated for a Grammy award for her debut album Left Of The Middle, which sold millions of copies. (Despite getting a lukewarm reception for her second album, White Lilies Island, Imbruglia is now working on her third CD, which is due out later this year.)
Johns has a strong following in the US and South America because of his work with Silverchair, and a legion of local fans who worship the Newcastle band. He has announced a new band with Paul Mac (who entertained guests at the reception) called the Dissociatives, with an album also due out this year.
The girl from the Central Coast and the boy from Newcastle may be extraordinarily successful, but they just wanted an everyday wedding.
"They were so blissfully happy, it was just amazing to see such great energy coming out of a really happy couple," Scott said.
"The ceremony was really well thought-out, really beautiful and moving. It was amazing actually. It was an event which was memorable to them . . . and incredibly personal."