Summer Perth City Wedding - Polka Dot Wedding

Tanysha and Jarrod were adamant they wanted a day that was all about having fun with friends. They wanted to ditch the traditions that they didn’t love, and instead, have a celebration that was relaxed and fun. And really, does it get any more relaxed than wandering the streets of your favourite city post-nuptials? Winner so say us!

Inviting Kat of Red Eclectic to join the merry party, the crew initiated a “Wedding Walk”, the wedding party hitting up a video game arcade, before toasting at their favourite bars along the way. And it is that simplicity and joy that forms Tanysha’s “been there, done that” wedding day advice. “Keep it simple. It’s so easy to get caught up in it all. Remember what is important to you both. We loved removing all the “little things” and just having it how we wanted”.

After meeting as teachers working at the same school, “We were friends for a little while before we realised there was something more there.” The couple became engaged in front of friends on a Good Friday holiday weekend away in Dunsborough. “Only some people knew it was going to happen, so made for a great surprise and a memorable Easter” notes Tanysha.

The couple chose the historic venue Old Tower House for their ceremony. “We heard about a little venue in the city that facilitates micro weddings all day. We loved the idea of a Vegas-style wedding so this fits the brief perfectly.”

For his wedding day attire, Jarrod, along with his groomsmen chose a white shirt (no ties) and beige chinos and chestnut boots. “We wanted a relaxed but neat and tidy look as it was summer time there was no need for a jacket.”

Tanysha wore a lace gown from Grace Loves Lace. She tells “I always loved Grace Loves Lace gowns but didn’t want a traditional wedding dress. I wanted something that was going to be comfy and cool as we were getting married in the middle of summer. A friend found this gown online and I knew as soon as I saw the picture it was the one! I wore my mother-in-law’s engagement ring as something borrowed and something blue. That was very special.”

After greeting all the guests together before the ceremony, “We loved the casual atmosphere before the ceremony with family and friend guests arriving in the sunshine and all mingling with one another,”
Tanysha chose The Beatle’s “Here Comes the Sun” to play as she walked down the aisle with her parents.

The ceremony? As casual as the rest of the day. “We had an extremely low-key ceremony, only meeting our celebrant as we walked down the aisle. We didn’t do an exchange of rings and wrote our vows. Having quite a few people crammed into a tiny room was quite chaotic, especially when we threw in two toddlers to be in the wedding party, but it was fun and light-hearted and perfect.”

“We had a rather large wedding party. Our photographer accurately named them our Mates of Honour. We had five bridesmaids with friends from high school and a few new friends. We then had six groomsmen. It was quite a crowd.”

“Something special was our Wedding Walk that our photographer organised” explains the bride. “After booking our ceremony and reception we realised we had a large gap in time. As we wanted it to be fun and lighthearted and we had a large wedding party, our photographer suggested a small pub crawl.

The Wedding Walk was incredible way for the wedding party to get to know each other quickly. We went to an arcade Game Center and a few bars. One of Perth’s Mexican bars, Caballitos had a pole so naturally we had every member of the wedding party perform a salacious routine. Our photos are so special, having them in some iconic Perth pubs and bars, as well as amongst some of the incredible street art in Perth.”

The flowers on the day were styled by Hakea Bloom and featured plenty of natives – just as Tanysha & Jarrod wanted. “I love that I have my bouquet dried and on display in our home” remarked Tanysha. “We spend a lot of time in the country, so having flowers from around the area was important to us.”

Tanysha & Jarrod note photographer Kat as one of their favourite vendors. “We found Kat on Instagram and we’re immediately in love with her work. She personified everything we wanted on the day – fun, relaxed and energetic. Kat came up with the idea for the Wedding Walk and loved that we had a huge wedding party. At every stage she went above and beyond; she scoped out all the venues and informed all the bars we were coming to reserve the best places, she sent us incredible prints after the wedding and was incredible on our engagement shoot. She was a wedding planner and photographer all in one and was the highlight of the experience.”

Although there was no formal first dance, these two still got dancing. “One of the stops was a rooftop, where our photographer played Elton John’s “Your Song” and we had a private first dance on a rooftop.”