Sarah and Roger

As wonderful as it is exploring the great outdoors and showcasing amazing outdoor weddings, I do love a beautiful classic church and ballroom wedding like today’s Brisbane wedding of Sarah and Roger. A wedding with personality never goes out of style in my eyes, but a wedding with classic ballgowns? Black and white? Well it’s pure elegance!

Samantha, the couple’s wedding photographer explains how they met. “Working in the UK is a rite of passage for many young Australians. It’s a chance to explore the world, experience new cultures, meet new people and have a bit of fun. For Sarah & Roger, it’s also where they met.

Sarah had just started working at a pub in the UK during her summer uni break, when one of the staff members caught her eye. Roger was also from Sarah’s hometown of Brisbane and had been traveling in the UK for the past 18 months. They two hit off…but the timing was wrong. A week later, Roger’s working holiday ended and he returned home to Brisbane. The two, linked by their Brisbane connection, stayed in touch.

Once her holidays were over, Sarah returned to Brisbane and caught up with Roger. Again, the two instantly connected and after six months of friendship, they started going out.  The timing seemed to be in their favour, but again, fate intervened. Roger was offered a  job in Canberra and the couple lived in separate states for 18 months while Sarah finished uni. Once her degree was complete, Sarah moved to Canberra and the couple were finally together. After six years together, they got married! As Sarah says: “We are both so glad we went traveling to the UK in 2003!!”

Today’s photographer is Shuttersnap Photography. I love the clean, classic captures that Samantha took of Sarah and Roger’s wedding. They’ve captured the moments and atmosphere so beautifully. While the wedding day set the tone, the photographs capture it.

Sarah’s wedding day hair was styled by Hair By Christopher, Stones Corner and her makeup by  Grace and Style.

Sarah wore the Rembo Styling “Hilde” purchased from Hilde Heim. Sarah recalls “Hilde helped me in Melbourne and Claire worked with me  at their Brisbane store. I loved my dress!!” Sarah accessorized with a fascinator, hand made crystal earrings and bracelet by Clair at Hilde Heim. Sarah had pearl bracelets made by a Melbourne jeweller as the girls’ thank you gifts. Sarah’s wedding and engagement rings with Janai Jewellers Melbourne.

Sarah adores buttons and so in lieu of a floral bouquet, commissioned a button bouquet from Lilly Buds. Sarah says “Liza was amazing. She emailed us daily while working on our bouquets to make sure everything was just as we hoped. ” Sarah’s bridesmaids wore black gowns from Events.

The ceremony was held at All Hallows’ School Chapel – where Sarah went to school.

Sarah says “I walked down the aisle to an arrangement by our pianist Leanne Warne combining Pachelbel’s Canon and Mendelssohn’s Wedding March.”

Sarah says “There are so many lovely stories to share from the day it’s hard to know where to start….we just feel so lucky to have spent such a wonderful day with so many special people. We are especially grateful to have been able to spend it with our best man who nearly didn’t arrive (unbeknown to us!!) because his tyre blew out driving down from the Sunshine Coast on the morning of the wedding!!”

The London taxi cab used to transport the bride and groom was a nod to the couple’s meeting in London.

The wedding was ‘full’ of Sarah and Roger. “We tried to have lots of special details, our London taxi to reflect where we met, our bouquets to reflect my love of buttons, our table names to share places we had travelled together, our cupcakes to share my love of baking and cupcakes, our photos in Small Street because Roger’s surname is Small. Rog loves the BMX jump photos which happened very spontaneously, our groomsmen organised these photos with the guys while Rog and I were having photos taken in Small Street.”

Sarah and Roger celebrated with guests at The Pavilion in Albion. Sarah and Roger designed the stationery themselves. “We designed our invites ourselves using Vistaprint’s online service, our table names/numbers – all the tables were named rather than numbered. Each table was named after a place we had traveled to together e.g. Thailand, India etc.“

Sarah and Roger’s first dance was to “Better Together” by Jack Johnson.

The wedding cake was made by Sarah and her cousin Jennifer with help from both the mother of the bride and groom and Sarah’s cousin Liz. Sarah says “200 white choc mud cupcakes were made in total with a fruit cake for the top tier. Jen used a cake tin Roger made when he was at school for the top tier of the cake.” The cupcakes were placed in filigree style paper cases from Amazing Laser.

Congratulations Sarah and Roger! Thank you for sharing your wedding day on Polka Dot Bride! Thank you also to Samantha of Shuttersnap Photography for sharing today’s photographs!

Photos by Shutternsap Photography