We love when a couple takes their celebration into their own hands at Polka Dot Bride, and Rachel and Simon’s elegant Perth Restaurant wedding was both beautiful and unique to them- the most wonderful kind of celebration. Choosing photographer Stefanie Muller Photography, Rachel and Simon also made sure to include a very special guest in their day – their daughter Mika!

The newlyweds Rachel tells the story of how they came to be. “We met at my sister’s birthday party. It sounds so very corny but I was helping at the bar and we caught each other’s eyes across the room and that was that. Simon spent the night drinking light beer so he could keep coming back to chat.”

Owning her own design firm, Rachel Maree Design, led Rachel to create a lot of the wedding details herself. She tells “It made sense to create the little details our selves for our wedding as we own a design and styling business. I did the flowers with my Mumma. We had such fun doing putting them together the day before. I love how they turned out. The programs we did too – last minute. They had our thumbprints on the front to create a love heart and were tied together with a red thread.

Simon, Mika – our daughter and I each wear a red thread around out wrist because of the Chinese proverb. ‘An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but never break’. We also made all the table settings. Simon and I spent bits of time here and there leading up to the wedding creating vintage looking candle jars with pages from one of my favourite books wrapped around them. Mika hand wrote and decorated each name place setting.”

By Kinsman  created the bride’s stunning long sleeve gown. Rachel remembering “My dress was a bespoke gown made by Simon’s Best Woman Steph. She has her own design studio in Melbourne called ‘By Kinsman’. I didn’t really know how the dress was going to look as we trusted Steph’s beautiful work and had made a trip to Melbourne to see some fabric houses. It was quite exciting receiving little snapshots along the way and then having the first fitting three weeks out from the wedding.”

“We made sure there was nothing fussy with our wedding day but there were some things that were important to us to have included. Mika, of course, was an important part of the day. Leading up to the day we would talk about it as our wedding. We wanted to be sure she felt very included and special and so she walked me down the aisle. I loved feeling her little hand sneeze mine and her asking if I was ready just before we headed down towards Simon.”

Of the processional Rachel remembers “We had Gary Pinto and Rachel Claudio perform Aerial Love by Daniel Johns.”

Rachel and Simon held their ceremony at St John’s Lutheran Church Perth.

Amanda Viviers officiated the ceremony, the newlyweds remarking “We aren’t entirely religious but value the unique connections formed between people. We wanted to celebrate the connection between us and also with the people present at the ceremony. We were married by a close friend of ours and an amazing writer and communicator – Amanda Viviers. It meant our ceremony was really personal. We used two readings. Union by Robert Fulghum and Blessing of the Hands by Rev. Daniel L. Harris.

One of Simon’s favourite moments was a stolen one. He remembers “In amongst the madness of the reception, Rachel and I stole away and enjoyed a beautiful bottle of wine (not the whole thing), for the first time as husband and wife, away from the larrikins.”

Reception celebrations kicked off at Little Way. Rachel and Simon explaining “We knew we wanted an intimate wedding and that we needed an indoor venue because of the time of year. We had looked at many different places but then fell in love with Little Way one day when we went for coffee. The style and size were perfect and they were so accommodating – putting together an incredible menu and vibe. Mike and Amelia, the owners, were so helpful and generous. The lead-up and the day was stress-free because of them and their staff.”

“It was a small intimate wedding. Lots of flowers, small details, personal touches and lovely live music. ”

Of the first dance the groom remembers “We chose Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” Leading up to the day we practised a bit to ensure we were in time etc. But in the moment, that didn’t matter, we didn’t notice other people, we were in our own world. It was a moment of bliss between Rachel & I.”

Congratulations on your marriage Rachel and Simon! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Stefanie Muller Photography for sharing today’s celebration with us.