Sam and Will's Garden Twilight Wedding

Sam & Will

One of our most requested venue searches is a garden to celebrate in under the star light, and I think Sam and Will found the most magical of them all. They married under beautiful trees, filled them with candlelight and fairy lights and danced the night away under them too.

Sam tells their story. “We met in a drama class in college. We were both acting in Cloudstreet by Tim Winton. We played a brother and sister!”

Photographs today are by Thorson Photography who always captures weddings in such a dreamy, romantic beautiful way!

Redbrow Garden was chosen as the one location for the ceremony and reception. Sam notes, “When we first visited Redbrow we instantly knew we wanted to be married there. I think both of our mouths were open in awe at the beauty of the garden. We wanted to be married in a place that showed the beauty of nature and somewhere our guests could relax and enjoy the natural atmosphere.”

For her walk down the aisle music choice, Sam says, “This was a little controversial! I organised the song and it was a surprise for Will. I actually had one of my bridesmaids walk down the aisle, take a guitar from the band and sing our favourite song “Rose Pickles” by Custom Kings. Everyone was obviously very surprised in the moment, but it was so incredibly special!”

Sam remembers, “Another really special aspect of the day was that Will’s brother Joel married us. We were married as Mr and Mrs Small (Will’s last name), but when Joel announced us for the first time he said, “Would you join me in congratulating Mr and Mrs William and Samantha Butterfield!” Ever since, people have been calling Will Mr. Butterfield. When we were exchanging rings Will picked up his own ring first to give me. We loved these quirky moments – we’re both clumsy clowns really, and putting on wedding clothes doesn’t change that!”

Guests enjoyed games and tea in the garden after the ceremony. Sam tells, “When thinking about what we wanted our wedding to be, we had a strong sense that we wanted a wedding that was ours. We wanted to have a purpose for everything we did, not just simply because it is ‘what you do’. We wanted to bless all of our guests by creating unique things for them to do, by creating a beautiful place to be and by blessing them with hand made gifts that had love and effort poured into them (quite literally!). One of these special things was an afternoon tea between the ceremony and reception. There were sweets, outdoor games and live acoustic music, as well as a canvas and paint for guests to create a piece of art for us.”

Of their photographer, Sam says, “Amanda was amazing. She was so relaxed and made everyone feel so comfortable; she became an instant friend to all. She seemed genuinely interested in what we wanted and our story. She was funny, honest, encouraging, efficient and kind. We felt so blessed to have her as our wedding photographer.”

Meanwhile, friends and family set up the reception. “As it was a DIY wedding, the whole reception- including tables, centre pieces, drinks and dessert had to be set up by guests in between the ceremony and reception. We felt so blessed on the day, as we saw many friends and family members setting up our reception and contributing to our day. It felt like we were a part of such a loving community.”

The handmade touches were everywhere. “We both wanted to have a wedding that really expressed the two of us, and I am very crafty! I made all of the stationery- the programs, invites, name tags, I hand made the favours – which were scented soy candles, we collected all of the jars which made up the centre pieces and I created the hanging jars with wire. My bridal party and a friend who is studying floristry made the bouquets and hanging flower streamers (behind the ceremony) the night before the wedding, and I re-purposed an old window to hold all of the name cards.”

Sam remarks “We wanted to create a relaxed and happy atmosphere, so guests got their own drinks from the bar and sat where they wanted at their tables. We had different ways for guests to be creative and contribute to our day- we had a scrabble table where guests could scrabble us a message and then take a picture with a disposable camera, as well as the canvas and a guest book.”

The first dance was lit by candles. Sam remembers “We reserved a patch of grass between some trees and designated it as our ‘dance floor’. Our close friend/DJ played our song off a vinyl record we have listened to many times, we were surrounded by jars filled with candles and fairy lights in the trees. We danced to Elvis’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” while surrounded by family and friends and their camera flashes. A pretty memorable moment!”