Paul and Steve: A Love Story That Started 24 Years Ago
On board a flight between Melbourne and Perth, these two grooms met. It was the day that Steve was moving from Melbourne to Perth, while Paul was already living in Perth and had offered to show Steve around his new home city. That was 24 years ago, and after a little Covid postponement hiccup, Steve and Paul finally married in a wedding celebration that was wholly and truly THEM.
Photographer Jacqueline Van Grootel | Location Perth, WA
Paul said, “Let’s have a drink on the balcony before we go,” and I walked out to 300 candles lit up on the beach spelling out the words “MARRY ME STEVE.”
How and when did you meet?
Steve: Paul was a cabin manager with Ansett 24 years ago and we met on a flight on the day I was moving to Perth for a new job at a radio station. We got chatting on the flight and swapped numbers after Paul offered to show the "newbie" around his new city once he had settled.
What does marriage mean to you?
Paul: It's a permanent sleepover with your favourite weirdo! We are best friends essentially. Love spending our time together, but we are both okay spending time apart - we don't live in each other's pockets. It's all about sharing our experiences. We love travelling the world together and living life across the road from the beach with Ruff.
Who proposed and how?
Paul: Both of us have proposed! Steve proposed to me a few days before his 40th birthday and we turned the birthday bash on the decks at Fremantle Maritime Museum into a surprise commitment ceremony.
Steve: Then, we were on holiday in Bali when Australia's history making vote on same-sex marriage was announced in November 2017. Watching it all unfold on social media was exciting and it meant that we could finally get married legally if we wanted to, so within 24 hours Paul organised a special secret proposal. Ready to head out to dinner at around 8pm, Paul said, "Let's have a drink on the balcony before we go," and I walked out to 300 candles lit up on the beach spelling out the words "MARRY ME STEVE". Awwrrrrrrr.
When did you get married?
Saturday, Mary 22, 2021.
Paul and Steve’s story continues below ↓
What was the main influence behind your wedding day?
We just wanted a party to celebrate a love that had lasted 23 years. It was also one of the first times our friends and loved ones had been to "a big night out" since Covid had taken hold of the world, so the love in the room on the night was spectacular. It was a stand-up cocktail party so that people could keep moving around catching up with everyone.
What was the most important thing to you surrounding your wedding?
It had already been postponed 12 months due to Covid (it was supposed to be May 21st 2020), so it was important for our loved ones from interstate to be there - which they were. If the date had been one week later, they wouldn't have been able to come because of border closures.
Where did you find the bulk of your inspiration?
We didn't want just another plain old wedding. We wanted a night to remember forever - not only for us, but for our guests as well. So there were kids with bubble blowing machines to lead us in, there were planned) impromptu songs sung during the ceremony, and there were drag queen performances later in the night. Gorgeous food and wines, a spectacular cake that reflected the red ochre dirt, the light blue ocean and crisp clean white sands of WA. Plus the revelation video of the present that a lot of guests had chipped in for - Ruff, our puppy Labradoodle that had just come to his forever dads.
How did you choose your suppliers?
We both work in the wedding industry - Steve as a Celebrant and Paul as an event planner and stylist so we knew who the A-Team were to bring our night together.
Any standout suppliers?
Jacqueline Van Grootel took some amazing images and Duane at Orriss Films captured the evening superbly.
Talk to us about how you personalised your wedding to you…
We just did what we wanted. We had our godson and his sister walk down before us with bubble blowing guns and made the entrance together to great cheering and applause. It had been a long time coming. We played "rock, paper, scissors" in front of everyone to see who did their vows first. We had a reading of lyrics from the song "I Wanna Grow Old With You" from the movie that we saw on our first date "The Wedding Singer" that became too hard for the celebrant to read, so Dan, one of our guests yelled from the back of the room that he had a guitar and commenced singing it as he walked down the aisle. He also sang "Never Tear Us Apart" while we signed the marriage certificates, where the crowd joined in with the classic 4 note riff from the song "Da da da dummmm" and 14-year-old Tom appeared from nowhere to do the saxophone solo. We chose Noah Reid's (Patrick in Schitts Creek) version of Tina Turner's classic "The Best" as our first dance. Perth's best DJ Bronia spun the tunes all night, and there were appearances from Perth drag queens Alexas Armstrong and Fayrocious to entertain the crowd during the evening.
Where did you spend your honeymoon?
We're still waiting! When this whole pandemic thing started and travel stopped, we both felt that one of the first places we would like to head back to was Santorini though.
Any advice for other couples planning their day and finding it difficult to navigate the journey?
Just be true and authentic to yourselves and do what you want - don't let anyone spoil the journey. I know photos are really important but try not to spend a lot of time away from the guests once you are married. We did the shoot before the wedding. I wanted 1 "money shot" the one that you will actually put up at home, which was under The Narrows Bridge in Perth, so we met the photographer and videographer there a couple of hours before the wedding, did a quick shoot and then headed back to the hotel for photos around the building before people started arriving, then photos in the room and on the balcony as people were arriving so we were out of sight. The main photos I wanted was paparazzi-style during the evening of all our friends and family having the time of their lives. This way we didn't leave the reception once we were married.
Paul and Steve’s Team
Photographer Jacqueline Van Grootel
Videographer Orriss Films
DJ DJ Bronia
Venue Melbourne Hotel, Perth
Suits Arthur Galan, Melbourne
Planner Paul McAllister (Perth Wedding PA)
Flowers The Flower Hound, Fremantle
Cake Queen Of Cakes
Stationery Starfish Lane
Celebrant Brooke Allan and Chrissie Maus
Wedding & Wrist Bands Ecali, Subiaco
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