Modern Town Hall Wedding - Polka Dot Wedding

Simone & Dan

There is such a fun vibe to Simone and Dan’s Modern Town hall wedding. The duo mixed old and new elements into their day and made sure they included sentimental items – Simone wore an altered version of her mother’s own wedding veil, the newlyweds signed the marriage certificate with Simone’s late grandfather’s pen. Each element was considered to make sure the couple had a day that they loved and was reflective of them. Elleni Toumpas was there to photograph each memory.

On how they met, Simone tells, “One of Dan’s good mates was dating one of my good girlfriends. One night I was invited to Dan’s friend’s place for some pre drinks before they went to a fancy dress party. This was the first time we met. Dan always remembered me as the girl with the yellow shoes and I always remembered him as the cute guy with short hair dressed in fancy dress clothes. It wasn’t until a few years later that we finally got together. Our shared friendship group got smaller and smaller because their visa’s ran out and we were the two local Aussies left in the group and look what happened, we got married.”

Dan created the wedding stationery himself (see more of his work here) Simone explaining, “Dan designed our invitations which was a nice touch and we had our own little logo for the wedding day which was on the invites, serviettes, as well as the photo booth print out.”

Simone chose a strapless gown by Maggie Sottero. “I had no idea what I wanted when I started looking for a dress and what I ended up getting was totally different. I’m a very practical person so wanted something that was practical, elegant and simple. I’m not a tizzy person so wanted something simple. I never thought I would go for a strapless dress although when I put it on I felt so safe and secure I’d changed my mind. I chose the dress because I’ve got curves and why hide them when you can show them off. It was a fun easy dress to move in and I think the dress is very me. I didn’t get the balloons and sparklers come out or get that “wow this is the one moment.” It was a dress that looked good and made sense.

In picking the dress I had asked my mum if I could use a piece of her veil and turn it into a head piece. She agreed so the style of the dress centered around the hair piece. I think in the end the two went really well together.”

Events by Kate planned and executed the day for the couple, Simone remarking “We enjoyed working with Kate Adkins at Events By Kate. She and I clicked when we first met and whatever we wanted she delivered, nothing was to difficult. She was so easy going and lovely to work with.”

The Reading Room Fitzroy Town Hall was chosen as the scene for the wedding ceremony, Simone noting, “We chose the Fitzroy Town Hall and the Reading Room at the Town Hall because we met in Fitzroy. Dan was living in the area when we first got together in 2010 and from there we spent most of the early years of our relationship frequenting lots of places. It was a venue we knew may not continue to have weddings in the future and thought how good it would be to visit when we are older with children and say to them that we got married there. It is a building that will stand the test of time, just like our marriage.”

For her walk down the aisle, Simone chose an instrumental version of Here Comes The Sun by George Harrison.

Chris Steele, the groom’s father, officiated the ceremony, Simone remembers, “We wanted our ceremony to be short and sweet yet also relaxed. Dan had super sweaty hands on the day which was quite funny, I think he was a little nervous plus it was a really hot day. It was a relaxed affair and lots of fun. There were a few laughs during the ceremony which made it a good time.”

“Dan and I were engaged in Perth just before we were having Christmas with his Granddad and his wife Margaret. We shared the early and exciting days of our engagement with Dan’s family. After we left their place his Granddad wrote a poem about our visit and our engagement. It was really beautiful so three of Dan’s four sisters read it at our wedding to surprise their Granddad.”

“Elleni was a truly fantastic photographer. We enjoyed her relaxed and flexible approach, her friendliness and most importantly the quality of the results. We were hoping to get some good shots, and we knew that Elleni would deliver to a high standard based on her portfolio, but we were definitely blown away with the results. Basically she was like a photo ninja. She managed to get photos from a unique perspective that captured the mood of the day/night by exploring the venue and different groups of guests. We also ended up with some of the classic and timeless images we were hoping for.”

North St Botanical created the softly toned bouquets for the day.

Celebrations continued back at Fitzroy Town Hall. The couple created the signage and sweet details themselves, Simone noting, “It was actually lots of fun searching for gold frames and searching the internet for a sequined table cloth but I think at the end of the day everything came together really well. We designed and made all of the gold framed signs which were placed around the venue and I sourced the gold sequined table cloth from somewhere overseas. We had a friend do the artwork on the frames and they looked fantastic. ”

Of their first dance, Simone tells, “Our first dance was pretty funny. I was dead set on having Phil Collins “Two Hearts” as our first dance song. I remember trying to convince Dan and my parents one day a couple of weeks before that it would be a good idea and even though it was really fast we were fit, coordinated and could definitely keep up. I look back on it now and know that I did not convince any of them whatsoever that it was a good idea. Dan and I finally narrowed down a few options and the last night we were together we finally decided on ‘You’re my best friend’.

We knew we had to have a practice although didn’t realise the next day we would be parting ways and the next time we would see each other was at the aisle. I finally clicked the night before the wedding that we hadn’t even danced to that song before let alone to any song so it was literally our ‘first dance.’

In true Steele style we bluffed our way through it and had everyone believing we had been practicing for ages, however, low and behold, we had no idea what we were doing.”

Catering team Hudson’s Famous created a bespoke feast for Simone and Dan’s guests, Simone remembers, “Hudson’s Famous were fantastic to work with. They offer an amazing product and the customer service is incredible. They were flexible and made us feel as though the day was ours, we weren’t fitting into one of their packages it was our very own package.”