W H I T N E Y & S A M
F R O M T H E B R I D E . . .
The meeting...
We met at work, when I was moved into our new office after my company was sold to his company. His best friend worked with him and Sam said to him one day ‘I’ve found my wife’. They did a walk around the office to come and have peek at me, and I had no idea what they were doing!
When did you know that it was love...
When he flew me to Newcastle to meet his family before we were even dating!
The engagement...
Sam waited until we moved back to Queensland so he could propose at home. Two days before we went on an overseas family holiday, he took me to Tambourine Mountain, organised a cute little cabin for us, and we went on a picnic dinner overlooking Brisbane and my family home growing up. He proposed at sunset, with the ring in a book, on a chapter called ‘The Match’ and was on page 23, my favourite number! It took him and his groomsmen quite some time to find the right book and cut the heart out to put the ring in
The Wedding...
I always wanted fairly neutral colours, so I stuck with silvers, greys and whites. I wanted to incorporate the things that our friends and family know us for. I’m an avid reader and Sam loves being in the garden, as well as being a bit of an IT nerd, so we incorporated books and plants into the theme, alongside some subtle gaming console references.
Ceremony Venue...
Riverlife at Kangaroo Point Cliffs.
Reception Venue...
Cloudland, Fortitude Valley.
Pre-wedding celebrations...
We organised a casual engagement party also at Kangaroo Point 6 months before the wedding. Sam was given three bucks parties, up the East Coast (Melbourne, Newcastle and Brisbane) and I had a Hens Day in Melbourne and then Brisbane.
The bridal party...
We had two on either side. Sam had his two best friends who have been friends with him for quite some time, and I had my best friend and Sam’s only sister as my matron of honour and bridesmaid.
They wore...
The girls wore Silver grey ‘Danica’ Pia Gladys Perey dresses and the groom and groomsmen all wore Charcoal ‘Zach’ slim fit suits hired through Myer. They looked very dapper!
The dress...
I wanted something a little different, so I went on a hunt to find something that wasn’t like most wedding dresses I had seen. My inspiration came from my cousin’s engagement party dress actually! She had this stunning one shoulder dress with a fun frill on the shoulder. I found my dress on Still White, a second hand wedding dress website. Once I found it I went searching to find someone who stocked it and had no luck, so I bought the dress off the website and was happy that it was uncommon enough to only find a couple in Australia. It was a Gemy Maalouf ‘Adrienne’ dress.
Photography...
We went to a showcase at Cloudland and Pelizzari was there. Sam wanted someone who would know the venue well, and Melissa works closely with Cloudland and the stylist/florist. It was so easy to just have the three of them liaise with one another and know they work so well together. We loved that we were spoilt for choices to have our photos taken. Cloudland has so many unique backdrops, and Melissa knows the place so well so we were very lucky
Flowers...
I had always wanted natives, for my dad who has always grown them. I’ve always loved them myself and I thought it would be a nice touch to have for my dad, as I’m his only and baby girl. Charlie at Stylised organised all our decorations and flowers. She was absolutely wonderful!
Decor...
Our theme was ‘Woodland Glamour’. Decorated with silvers and natural colours, our table settings were alternated between twigs with tealight candles, and succulents in books, with books as the table names
Cake...
Our cake was made by Amanda at Deliberately Delicious. We had used her once before and would highly recommend her- our cake was three tiers of ‘books’, which had details from our invitation and my dress decorated onto it.
On the menu...
The guests were offered canapé’s and drinks on arrival to the reception. We then had a sit down meal:
Entrées
- Crispy Southern Fried Chicken with Sweetcorn & Green Olive
- Crispy Skinned Pork Belly with Apple & Celeriac Remouloade
Mains
- Snapper with Leeks, Charred Endive & Fondant Potato
- Lamb Backstrap with Peas, Ricotta Gnudi & Red Vein Sorrel
Dessert
Three flavoured wedding cake – Salted Caramel mudcake, White Chocolate Baileys mudcake and Lemon, Lime and Coconut sponge cake
Bonbonniere...
Our guests were given mini sauces with fun names for bonbonniere, which the bridal party had made. Their place cards were also made out of seed paper, so they could take them home and grow different herbs and flowers!
Memorable moments...
There were so many! Though I have to say that I was told later our matron of honour and best man- who are both very calm people normally- were getting rather worried when our celebrant (who they met the day before at the rehearsal) hadn’t turned up and I was arriving. What we hadn’t told anyone, was that one of our very close friends became a celebrant over the course of the year and we surprised everyone with having her perform her first ceremony for us, and that the ‘celebrant’ the day before was just a fill in.
Where did you stay on your wedding night?
We stayed at The New Inchcolm Hotel in Spring Hill, a beautiful boutique hotel and extremely helpful!
Wedding music...
Processional: Inevitable by Anberlin
Signing of the Register: Take Me by Rufus
Recessional: Riptide by Vance Joy
First Dance: Video Games by Lana Del Ray
Honeymoon...
We stayed in Bali for a week.
Newlywed nest...
We live in Brisbane, in the house we’ve been in for about a year now.
The future...
Lots of love, laughter and happily ever after sounds good!
MW x
Photography Pelizzari Photography Ceremony Venue Riverlife at Kangaroo Point Cliffs Reception Venue Cloudland, Fortitude Valley Bridesmaid dresses Pia Gladys Perey Suits Myer Gown Still White Flowers and Styling Charlie at Stylised Cake Amanda at Deliberately Delicious Bonbonniere DIY