When today’s bride Michelle tied the knot, she thought she’d adore it. Turns out, she didn’t! “It was one of the most stressful things we’ve had to do. This surprised me given that Simon has heaps of event planning experience and I have a decade-plus of experience photographing the ocassional wedding myself!”

But luckily for us, with the help of family and friends, Michelle and her beloved Simon pulled off a heartfelt day packed to the absolute brim with colour. Documented by Rachel Van Keulen – Handcrafted Imagery the pair invited their guests to put on their brightest and best, and join them for a day in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD. “I think the main thing we focused on was that it would be as fun and as true to who we are within a budget” explains Michelle. “Our goal was to throw a party that didn’t blow our budget out the water. We were trying to buy a house within the next year too! It ended up being less than about $22k. We think that’s pretty awesome, given that we had unique outfits, a central location and great food and booze!”

Michelle and Simon’s story begins on Hinge. “A modern romance story” laughs Michelle. “Our first date was bar hopping and dumpling eating through Chinatown, Melbourne. Simon impressed me with his cool rooftop bar Union Electric that I’d never been to. There was a kiss in front of a carpark entrance and we ended up at Heartbreaker bar to make out some more! ”

Michelle had joked about proposing since the couple’s second date. “Very presumptuous of me!” she admits, but she did it! “I took Simon away for a weekend in the city. We stayed at the Park Hyatt the staff were awesome helping me put together a very cheesy proposal plan. After going back to Union Electric (where we had our first date) and out to a fancy dinner, we returned to our room for a surprise. Our bed was covered in rose petals in the shape of a heart, there was also sparkling wine and strawberries. We had a bit of a laugh and then I chickened out proposing until later in the evening. What a dork I am!”

Michelle found her divine hot pink wedding dress (by designer Marchesa Notte) at The Outnet. “I didn’t want a traditional wedding dress but I did want something grand that wasn’t wildly expensive. It was a little loose around the bust so I did need to get the dress altered. It wasn’t what I’d ever imagined myself wearing but I love it turned out in the end. It was also fairly comfortable too which was a big plus!” And the finishing touch? “The chain I wore around my neck that I had my baroque pearl on was something I’d been given as a baby by my parents.”

The couple chose just one venue for their day, explains Michelle. “We had one venue – Mission To Seafarers which is a charming, heritage-listed building normally in use as a non-profit organisation that services seafarers. We were mostly taken back by its gorgeous garden with a massive weeping willow and lattice arch. We wanted a backyard wedding that would be super easy for everyone to get to and this space checked the box. In the end, it bucketed down on our wedding day after our ceremony so we planned to have the reception inside. It’s a little kooky in there with the ship models and historical plaques but it’s also art deco with a dance floor and bar so it worked perfectly!

People had a lot of fun exploring the venue, there’s a chapel, a garden, a pool room, a courtyard, a ballroom and a dome room that echoes. I thought this was fun and whimsical that people went on adventures!”

The amazing blooms for the day were styled by a friend of Michelle’s, florist Bobby of Beehaus Flowers. “I pretty much showed her my elaborate wedding brief I’d been putting together and told her to go nuts within our budget. I cried when I saw our floral arbour for the first time, I was blown away. I’d been to a lot of weddings and I felt like our flowers were the most beautiful I’d ever seen. She also made me a stunning sculptural headpiece which polished off my outfit. She also helped pivot when we realised it was going to be raining and was able to set up a bunch of tiny vases to have on tables inside. Absolute legend – completely lifted our indoor space!!”

The divine mint green suit Simon wore was a last-minute save by InStitchu. “Simon went to a made-to-order suit chain, picked everything out and then whilst we were waiting for it to be completed found out that this chain had gone under!!” remembers Michelle. “It was super stressful and awful to have this happen whilst we were so stressed with everything else. The store had been closed down and no one contacted us. Luckily we acted quickly and went to another tailor – InStitchu. InStitchu was an absolute dream to work with, there were drinks whilst we picked fabrics and overall it was a way better experience. Simon picked a mint green suit with a cream silk lining and had a self-tie floral bowtie from OTAA to match.”

“I went for a fairly extra entrance” admits Michelle. “I walked down the stairwell behind Simon and waved to our guests before meeting my Dad and walking down our little aisle.”

The ceremony was of course as unique and as personal as the rest of the day, explains Michelle. “I didn’t want anything cliche *at all* and Simon was fairly particular about us doing most of the talking to make our ceremony as personal as possible. Jess Stanley (Stan by Me Ceremonies) our celebrant, was great at helping put this together. We wanted our ceremony to be equally heartfelt as it was entertaining. Jess nailed helping us get that balance right. Simon and I put a lot of effort into our vows, we knew that this would be the most important part of the day. We also had a witness raffle that was opt-out via our e-vites.”

“Rachael Van Keulen was our photographer and was a photography student of mine from several years ago” explains the bride. “She did a wonderful job keeping us relaxed and capturing the day.”

Michelle made sure she put her DIY skills to good use (and those of her family & friends!) telling,  “I recruited my family and friends to help make a bunch of ribbon tassels that decorated the venue. We also attached long ribbon tassels to the 100 lanterns that I bought and hung up with fairy lights. I spent a bit of time spray painting candle holders and collecting candles for our guest book signing station only to find out the night before that I couldn’t have any open flames in the space haha – oops should have asked! My grandma also made a tablecloth for the DJ set up too. Our friend hand-painted our signage. My mum hand-drew chalkboard signage to show guests where to go. I loved my family bringing their A-game and helping set up the venue the night before. Including my sister-in-law Jade playing wedding planner and helping me relax!”

Dinner was a delicious feast catered by Asylum Seekers Resource Centre. “All the food was next level – ASRC did the catering, and it was all vegan and gluten-free for the most part. It was insanely delicious.”

“We loved the words we heard each other and our family speak. It was a huge affirmation of our love. It didn’t tangibly change anything between us but saying those words out loud brought us and our families closer.”

Again, nothing was going to be traditional about this first dance – it was a group effort! “We didn’t want a serious, overly romantic first dance so we invited all our guests to join us on the d-floor for a fun first group dance” explains Michelle. “The song was “Word Up” by Cameo. It was a ridiculous, funky 80s jam to start our marriage to. Very on brand for us.”

With so many DIY and handmade details, make sure you take Michelle’s wedding planning advice for yourself. “If your venue isn’t particularly hands-on and you can afford to have a wedding planner or event person on the day – DO IT. It’s a full-time job planning a wedding!
– Think of a theme and then let everything else evolve from there. Pinterest and reverse Google image search is amazing.
– Don’t let the idea of having to look the most attractive ever affect your choices or the lead-up to your day.
– Don’t let other people’s ideas of what a wedding is, impact your choices and deter you from doing what the two of you want.
– Being comfortable is key, it’s an 8+ hour day”

And for dessert? Hot jam doughnuts from Jamm’d Dessert Bar. An instant hit!

 

Congratulations to you both Michelle and Simon! Thank you for taking the time to share your beautiful stories with us today and thank you to Rachel Van Keulen – Handcrafted Imagery for today’s images.