Love-Filled Wedding at Rebel Rebel Chapel

On a bright Spring day, perfect for a love-filled wedding, Helen & Andrew gathered with 15 of their closest people at Rebel Rebel Wedding Chapel and vowed to spend the rest of their lives together. They wanted their wedding to have plenty of colour (and boy, did it ever!), and an abundance of party vibes, but one that was no fuss, no stress, and just casual enough for Andrew to sport Nike Air Jordans.

Captured perfectly by Kitty Loves Love, this stunning wedding has all the makings of a day that will inspire you to go casual or go home, and if there is one thing we are sure of here at Polka Dot Wedding Headquarters, it is to make it your mission in life to find someone who looks at you, the way Andrew looks at Helen.

Like so many couples these days, Helen and Andrew met on a dating app and despite Helen violently kicking Andrew out of bed (literally!), their love blossomed.

“We met in our mid-30s on a dating app which is so stunningly dull I struggled to write it. But sometimes I guess some of life’s magic can come even when you feel like you’re just putting one foot in front of the other. We were both coming in a little hurt and disillusioned after recently exiting the kind of relationship that happens when you’re 30-odd and putting pressure on yourself to figure out what it is you want from that part of your life. I’d had a lot of the same interactions dating, but when I met Andy, it was very different. I think I spent the first part of our relationship in wonder that this kind, generous in spirit and impossibly handsome man existed. To the point where several times I woke up in the night and pushed him violently out of bed with all four of my limbs because I forgot he was real. He reminds me about it frequently and I’m lucky he’s gracious and physically robust enough to laugh about it. But after the initial shock of Andy (and my subconscious resistance) wore off, the overwhelming hallmark of our story has been an unexpected sense of peace. Like I’d been holding my breath my whole life and now I can lean into one long, satisfying exhale.”

And as if this love story couldn’t get even more perfect, not even stories about illegal whaling could stop Andrew from proposing to his stunning bride. “A few months into Covid we went on a road trip through the southwest. Despite many hints, I had no idea. We pulled up to a beautiful outlook over Bremer Bay and knowing me well he easily distracted me with an informative sign. Unfortunately, he hadn’t read it first and when I spun around to tell him about all the horrific whaling and sealing activities he was down on one knee. It definitely added to the shock of it all and I was instantly concerned about his long-suffering knees. I said yes as soon as I helped him up but he was still a little upset I didn’t cry.”

Helen’s flowers aren’t just stunning, they are the product of her blood sweat and tears! “I had a lot of trouble getting just a singular bouquet in a style that I liked, so trotted down to Chatsworth Flowers the day before the wedding to ensure I had an emotional meltdown about not knowing how to arrange a bouquet,” Helen laughs. “But the flowers turned out amazing, I’m quite proud of myself. I also completely oversupplied myself so we had lots of flowers in the end for the venue. I was stoked to be able to get peonies which you don’t see often in Perth. They’re pretty appropriate for weddings symbolizing love, honour and happiness. Everything else I picked for colour and structure.”

A no-fuss wedding, Helen tells us, “We had no wedding party! And it was great! We had a small ceremony with 15 guests of our nearest and dearest and it was a dream.”

Helen chose Ohh Brooklyn Hair to help complete her wedding day look.

Helen tells us she walked herself down the aisle. “I walked myself down the aisle to an instrumental piece ‘Everything Must Go – Part 2’ from the movie Hearts Beat Loud,” Helen said. “Which from memory is not at all a romance but the song just gives me those same little flutters in my stomach that Andy does.”

Helen and Andrew chose Artemer Studio for their wedding and engagement rings. “I love our wedding and engagement rings so much. Artemer were super accommodating, and helpful and I get asked about them all the time.”

Helen and Andrew chose Kiss Me You Fool Marriage Celebrant to help seal their love. “Our celebrant was the wonderful Dilhari Mahiepala from Kiss Me You Fool. We chose to keep our vows from each other until the ceremony. Dilhari gave us some great guidance and really helped us both express what we really wanted to promise each other,” Helen remembers. “Andy’s vows made me feel so deeply loved and truly seen. If he was slightly miffed I didn’t cry when he proposed I definitely made up for it during his vows.”

Choosing a sophisticated blue suit, Helen tells us what her dashing groom wore on the day. “Andy re-wore a suit he’d had for a while. Initially, I was a bit against it, I thought he should have something special too, but again once we pivoted to a more casual vibe it just made sense and he looked so good in it. The special part for him was giving a nod to his basketball days and getting to wear a pair of Air Jordans (Air Jordan 1 Retro Alpha to be exact). I would say lucky they matched the suit but he has about 100 to choose from!”

A vision in white, Helen chose to wear a dress that was both dramatic and comfortable. “I wore a dress from Aje. When we swapped to a more casual format I wanted something more fun and comfortable. I’m still pretty in love with the dramatic sleeves and the faux train formed by the bow at the back. My mum made the veil which was so special and we paired it with a halo crown from an Etsy shop Honey and Ember.
I also changed my shoes for comfort after our photos to Nike Sky-Hi’s in a pink metallic python print. It was an excellent move and my new husband appreciated the basketball nod.”

One of Perth’s most colourful wedding venues, Helen tells us that Rebel Rebel Wedding Chapel was the perfect fit for them. “I feel so lucky to have found Rebel Rebel Wedding Chapel,” Helen said. “It was really the perfect fit for us, it also ran so smoothly and with instant party vibes. And by extension having Kitty do our photos was a true gift. The best decision we made was to have our ceremony there.

“We have a lot of family and friends overseas and even at that late stage of Covid it was proving logistically very stressful. Added to that I finally admitted to myself that having even a moderately sized structured wedding was just not what I wanted. Both of us just wanted to have a nice dinner and a night out with our friends and that’s just what we got. It also let us just really concentrate on each other and the big life step we were taking together. Both Kitty and Charlotte were so great at facilitating that. Once I got them involved all my stress about it melted away.”

Helen and Andrew’s gorgeous wedding cake was made by Perth Cake Collective.

When deciding on a theme for their special day, Helen and Andrew decided that relaxed was for them. “The theme of our wedding evolved kind of naturally. We made a lot of vague plans before we committed to a small relaxed city wedding and that really informed all our other choices. I even bought another dress to be a more fun and casual fit. We both really leant into the colourful party vibes that Rebel Rebel gave us.”

No wedding is complete without special touches from loved ones. “My mum made wedding dresses for her whole career. She has now been retired for some time and I didn’t want to burden her with my dress,” Helen tells us. “But she did gift me on the day, a little teddy bear she made out of the fabric of the dress she won best dress for in the Perth fashion festival. And it’s just a very sweet gesture that I’ll really treasure.”

Helen and Andrew chose Kitty Loves Love to capture their special day. “I cannot gush about Kitty enough. Andy, of course, has done some modelling in his youth which I tease him about endlessly. I however can feel a little self-conscious in photos and tend to fall back on the one face I know looks ok. But Kitty managed to so quickly and easily get us to almost forget she was there even though she was giving us directions. The time we took for our photos really was an extension of our ceremony thanks to Kitty, and she really captured genuine feelings. My heart still flutters a little when I look back on them. And also she’s just a general delight to be around so it really was a lot of fun.”

Helen’s favourite details of the day? “I’m still floored when I think about our vows. And I think that’s so special, we really wanted to focus on this thing we were doing together and we were really allowed the space to do that. I think that continued on when we snuck away quite quickly afterwards for our photos with Kitty,” Helen said. “I think you can really see how we feel about each other in the photos because we were still basking in that emotional pool after our vows.

“The little detail I’m so in love with was the cake topper we had made by ‘Melabo Wed’. It’s a porcelain figurine with custom heads, Andy is a wookie and I’m a dinosaur. We had it made when we were planning on a bigger cake. Instead, I made it into a floral centrepiece and put it on the side on its own cakestand.”

Sharing five favourite things from their wedding, Helen and Andrew tell us, “Getting to carve out some time for just us during our photos was huge and really bonding. Writing our own vows, I think we both really conveyed how we felt to each other and what we hoped to give each other going forward. Being comfortable! And still managing to feel like I looked good. A comfy change of shoes is a must. We had a small sit-down meal with our closest people and it was a really nice time out. Our wedding bands match and both Andy and I put a lot of effort into choosing them. You’re gonna wear it every day forever so it’s really nice to have that extra layer of connectedness.”

Helen’s favourite part of wedding planning? “Realising that what was going to make other people happy and trying to achieve that was a unicorn. And if I couldn’t make everyone else happy I could make Andy and I happy. This was closely followed up by me giving Kitty and Charlotte money and them doing pretty much all the work. Fantastic life choice.”

Passing on advice for future couples, Helen said. “I think a lot of people feel that weddings are equally about your guests and them wanting to celebrate you. And while that is true sometimes trying to achieve that comes at the expense of you as a couple. So I guess just do what makes you feel happy and the people who love you will find a place to celebrate you within that framework.”

Deciding on having an intimate wedding, meant Andrew and Helen could splash on the important things “We had drinks at Frisk Small Bar and the manager John and all the staff were so accommodating. They put on some downright amazing grazing boards. And because we were able to scale the whole day down it meant we had the budget to have an open bar. The bar staff there are true artists and I still have people commenting how nice it was that they could get a special cocktail that they liked.”

While everything was a whirlwind, Helen said they managed lots of special moments throughout the day. “I’m sure this is a common problem but the whole day was such a whirlwind, you really feel you get to say hi to people once and then the day is over! But we did get a few karaoke moments and spontaneous dance bursts in there. Lots of little highlights to make up a great day.”

Helen’s favourite photo? Well, it’s almost impossible to say. “Gosh so many, I love the one where we’re in the car park, Andy is looking at me and I’m looking straight at the camera with my sunglasses on and the sun is behind us. Vainly it’s because I think I look cooler than I ever thought I could look in my life. But Kitty did a great job with the light and there are several photos where the sun is shining through us and I can still feel so much love when I see them.

“I also love the one where I’m finding our sweetheart on the wall because that is genuine joy on my face and it really captures how happy I was. There is another where I’m looking back at the camera in the purple stairway. It was right before walking into the venue and down the aisle and Kitty asked me to look back at the camera and I suddenly felt all my nerves at once.”

Andy said his favourite photo is simple “The one with the bougainvillaea in the background, where we are swinging our hands and again because it just captures our joy so well.”

While they didn’t have a first dance, music was a big part of their day. “We didn’t have a first dance but music is hugely important to us. Both venues let us use our own playlist and I timed the song ‘A Little Honey’ by Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats. It’s kind of become our song but it’s also just a very rad song.”

Reflecting on the best moments of their day, Andrew tells us “I remember the ease of the entire experience, the way everyone including myself was treated was amazing and felt as if we were looked after by family. To be able to marry my best friend and my love in such an amazing atmosphere is a memory I shall always treasure and remember.”