St Kilda Mexican Fiesta Wedding

JP & Sarah

It seems that Australia is loving anything Mexican as much as I do and quite frankly, I am happy to get on board with that! What could be more festive than such a celebration? Especially when it involves my favourite food truck ever! In between the streamers, the golden sparkling chandeliers and the awesome wedding cake is JP and Sarah’s love story.

Sarah starts, “We worked three shops apart from each other on Acland St, St Kilda. He was a hairdresser there and would sometimes come in on his breaks and pretend to shop for clothes in the vintage clothing store I was working in. I thought he was very cool and wore beautiful shoes and he made me laugh. One night after work I was chatting to a friend of his and his friend asked if I would like to join them for dinner. Once I’d said yes the friend announced he had “something else to do” and left us alone to finally get our act together.”

Jonas Peterson is back today on Polka Dot Bride as the photographer of the wedding. Unfussed captures that each tell a story in a frame.

Sarah chose a J. Crew bridal, purchased online at Net-A-Porter and sparkly Miu Miu shoes.

Sarah was inspired by a US brand when it came to the wedding decor, she explains. “I had stumbled across the Confetti Systems pinatas online and thought that they would be perfect decorations. The real deal are very expensive so I went DIY and made 15 pinatas in three different sizes in a mix of crepe paper, tissue paper and foiled cellophane. They took hours, but were fun to make and added to the Mexican theme without being too literal. I also made the ‘tassel trees’ on the cake table which were also inspired by Confetti Systems.”

St Kilda Lawn Bowls Club hosted the wedding. Sarah remembering “We decided to get married in the same place we had our reception, St Kilda Lawn Bowls Club. It seemed fitting that we got married in St Kilda seeing as it was the suburb that brought us together. We wanted the wedding to feel like a celebration and a party and we felt the relaxed atmosphere at the club was perfect for that. We were also allowed to decorate it any way we liked, it had a stage for the band, and we wanted food trucks to do the catering and the trucks were able to park on site – tick tick tick. We also loved the heritage of the place and that it had a lot of character and wasn’t too “weddingy”.

“We are the custodians of my brother-in-law’s 1971 Valiant VG while he lives in Brunei. We have made a lot of special trips in that car and it was great to adorn it with the white ribbon and flowers and have him chauffeur me and my bridesmaids to the venue on the day.”

For her walk down the aisle, Sarah chose ‘Breathless’ Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. She explains “Jean-Paul is a big Nick Cave fan and this track has a lot of meaning for us. We also liked that it’s a very joyous song and would really set the tone for the day.”

Jon Von Goes performed the ceremony. Sarah remembering, “Our wedding celebrant: entertaining and personal, he got the balance between the two just right and set the mood for the rest of the day.”

Sarah’s bridesmaids wore dresses and accessories from Gorman.

Sarah and JP hired The Taco Truck & Beatbox Kitchen to cater the wedding, explaining, “Tasty, affordable food with good looking wheels, what more could you want?”

Of their photographer, Sarah says, “Jonas Peterson was a client and friend of Jean-Paul’s when he lived in Melbourne. We always knew that he would be the one to capture our day as he has such an amazing eye and aesthetic. His availabilities actually dictated our wedding date! His photos tell a story and importantly, aren’t set-up and posey as both of us get self conscious in front of a camera.”

Sarah’s mum made the cake and her bridesmaid Kate iced it. Sarah made the cake toppers, explaining “I hand decorated the wedding toppers which were bride and groom Mexican Day of the Dead skull inspired- I even made a miniature top hat for the groom skull! I also decorated the knife we used to cut the cake with crepe paper and a foiled tassel streamer. There were times that I wondered it I had bitten off more than I could chew, but we were so happy with the final result and it was very satisfying to have that kind of involvement in the look of the venue.”

For their first dance, Sarah remembers, “We chose ‘Ring of Fire’ Johnny Cash. One of our all time favourite songs, we both grew up on Johnny Cash. I tried to get Jean-Paul to practice with me a couple of days before the wedding and it was a disaster! I kept trying to lead and we had two left feet. We had our first dance directly after we cut the cake and when the music started Jean-Paul held my hand and led me to the dance floor and started doing a flamenco-type foot stomp. I followed his lead and we ended up pulling off the most spectacular first dance moves that seemed so practiced and choreographed that no one could believe we made it up on the spot. It is one of my favourite memories and some of the best photos were taken of that dance!”

Johnny Wonderpants entertained guests before a bevvy of DJ firends took to the decks including Christian McQueen, Malisha Rama, Daniel Rosette and the groom, Jean-Paul Rosette. Sarah notes, “A band really adds a great vibe and Johnny Wonderpants had that in spades.”