Sarah and Simon

Are you in the mood for a touch of whimsy this afternoon? It’s a little vintage, a little glam, very relaxed and very Melbourne! Our bride today Sarah looks stunning in her retro inspired gown and the guests? Oh their faces are full of love and glowing smiles. It’s a beautiful Tuesday!

Sarah explains how she and Simon met. “Simon and I met in 1997 at TAFE. We were both studying gold and silver smithing and Simon was a year ahead of me. Soon into my first year we discovered that we bizarrely grew up one street away from each other our whole lives and we had never crossed paths. Simon used this as a courting technique to persistently offer me a lift home from TAFE everyday seeing we live practically in the same street! It wasn’t until the last day of Simon’s course that I gave into his persistence and accepted a lift and we went on our first date! And the rest is wonderful history!”

Today’s photographers, making their Polka Dot Bride debut are Love, Katie & Sarah. Brand new and squeaky clean, Katie & Sarah captured today’s wedding so beautifully and so in essence of the couple while still retaining their own style. Sarah and Simon’s biggest request was real moments and their photographers delivered!

Sarah wore a short retro inspired black and white gown which she designed and had it made by NICKOM (Nicole Komalarajun) in French cotton lace and silk with fabrics from Tessuti. Sarah’s retro glamorous makeup and hair was styled by Hayley Mac and she carried a colourful bouquet of blooms from Flowers By Entwine. Sarah says ” I love Bianca’s work. I was going for a vintage aesthetic and her flowers were perfect and so colourful against my cream and black frock.”

Sarah and Simon were married in The Darling Gardens in Clifton Hill. Sarah recalls “We stumbled across a cute little local park called the Darling Gardens and immediately knew that we wanted to get married in the rotunda. The wedding was held on a Sunday afternoon with the ceremony at 4pm. It was threatening rain all afternoon and I was sure we would have to relocate but to our delight the sun came out briefly for our ceremony and only a few drops of rain fell all afternoon! ” Sarah walked down the aisle to the Louis Armstrong version of “La Vie En Rose”.

Sarah and Simon were married by Gerard Van Dyke ([email protected]).

Sarah and Simon didn’t have an official bridal party, Sarah explains, “We had sort of had an unofficial wedding party of 5 girlfriends and 5 mates. They just wore what they liked. I did however get flower pins made up for all 10 of our “wedding party” so it would be known that they were a special part of our day. They all had a role each to perform during the course of the day. For example one girlfriend sang and played her guitar at the end of the ceremony (‘I Can Hear Music’ and a tongue in cheek, surprisingly sweet rendition of ‘Sweet child O’ Mine’). My sister and my darling little nephew were the ring bearers, others in the “wedding party” read Nick Cave’s song “Breathless” as a reading during the ceremony, and the last few did our speeches and all 10 were an amazing support for our wonderful day.”

With a love of jewelery, it played an important part in the wedding day, Sarah recalls, “I wore a pair of vintage marcasite Art Deco stud earrings that I found on eBay. I made my own hair piece/comb using black feathers and black silk (left over’s from the bow belt on my dress) and another marcasite vintage Art Deco clip I found on eBay. My clutch was handmade by Mermaids Dream in black silk to match my dress with a cream silk lining. Our wedding bands were handmade by an incredible jeweler at Ken Gray Alistor Reid Gallery.  My engagement ring was bought for me by my beautiful husband shortly after he proposed to me on the Almalfi coast whilst holidaying in Europe.”

Sarah and Simon’s footwear also rated a special mention. “We both wore John Fluevog shoes. LOVE LOVE them!! There were many photos taken of our shoes”

Sarah and Simon held their reception in a classic hotel. Sarah recalls “Our reception followed in the evening at 6pm at The Grace Darling Hotel (I promise the Darling thing wasn’t planned) where our guests were greeted with Bellini cocktails and bruscetta.

We didn’t have a wedding dance but we did make a grand entrance up the stairs of the Grace Darling being introduced for the first time as Mr and Mrs and entering into a room filled with our cheering and smiling friends and relatives to the tune of ‘Wagon Wheel’ by Old Crow Medicine Show. One of my favourite and proudest moments of the day. “

Sarah and Simon wanted a relaxed, Melbourne feel for their wedding day to reflect their lifestyle. “We both grew up in the North Eastern suburbs of Melbourne and when we were in our early 20’s we moved closer in to the city where the live music and action was. We have been here ever since and still love to immerse ourselves in Melbourne pub, café, food and music culture. So it was important that we choose a venue in Melbourne that represented what we were about as a couple. It was important to us that we had a simple no fuss wedding with a relaxed atmosphere.

The Grace Darling hotel is one of the oldest pubs in Melbourne and is made of bluestone and has lead light windows. We loved the look and feel of this venue with its vintage style wallpaper and furniture and it definitely had that relaxed pub feel we were after. The food was incredible and the wine served was all local to Melbourne.  We had the whole of upstairs to ourselves with our own bar and stage for our band and a great little space for dancing. We had 70 guests and the venue holds just that. It wasn’t a huge space but we loved that intimate feel to the room. The room was low lit with candles everywhere. We had a local band called Monouche a Trois play 1940’s gypsy jazz in the background while we all sat down to a 3-course meal. The venue really suited Simon and I and we were chuffed with how the day turned out.”

Not only did Sarah and Simon make their stationery –  “Simon and I are both creative and it wasn’t even an option to outsource invites/thank you cards. We had so much fun designing and making these and they were activities that we did together which made it special.” But they also made wedding favors for their guests. “We made our own wedding favours which doubled as our place cards on the tables. They were cute little honey pot jars with cork lids, all with our favourite old fashioned style lollies. Red liquorice bullets, jaffas, musk lollies, chocolate freckles… They were a hit and looked amazing with their individual name tags tied on with black ribbon. They worked perfectly with the vintage décor of the room and against the crisp white table linen and the black vintage style wallpaper and Simon and I both wore black and white so it all tied in well with an unintentional theme for the room.”

Adding to the non traditional elements of the day was a delicious wedding cake. Sarah explains, “We went for a non traditional wedding cake from  Brunetti. A luscious melt in your mouth chocolate mud with big striped white/dark chocolate curls on top. The cake tied in nicely with our black and white feel to the day.”

Congratulations Sarah and Simon! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us on Polka Dot Bride! Thank you also to Katie & Sarah of Love, Katie and Sarah for sharing today’s photographs with us!Photos by Love, Katie & Sarah