Ian and Sam

Ian and I met at work about 7 years ago in Sydney, moved to Queensland in 2009 and got engaged in 2010. Our wedding was 17th November 2012.

We found our venue, Branell Homestead when we were actually looking for a rental property so we have that real estate agent to thank for putting us on to the most spectacular venue. Once the venue was decided on we then had in pretty easy in picking a theme. DIY, rustic, country wedding it was!

Ian and I were on a mission to make this the wedding that we had always wanted and also keep it within budget (didn’t happen!) After securing our venue the very next thing on my mind was finding a photographer. I had a short list of about 40 (not short!) photographers that I had found through google but there was one that stood out for me and luckily he still had our date free. We had the pleasure of booking the incredibly talented Julian Beattie for our engagement and wedding photos and it was one of the best decisions we made for the wedding.

Next was the dress. I had my mum fly from the Bahamas and my Nana and Mother in Law fly up from Sydney to come dress shopping with me so I was really hoping I would find one. I had tried on a dozen or so dresses before and I was pretty certain I knew what I wanted. I was wrong. I ended up with a dress that had everything in it I thought I didn’t want but it fit my body beautifully and I felt amazing in it, I didn’t want to take it off! My gown was by Essence Of Australia and was purchased at The Bridal Centre in Brisbane.

We had the big ticket items checked off – we had a BBQ smorgasbord for dinner, we supplied all our own alcohol (fantastically cheap way to do it), flowers were ordered through the Brisbane flower markets to be picked up the day before the wedding, Bridesmaids had found and fallen in love with their Carla Zampatti dresses (80% off in the end of year sales!), invitations designed by someone on Etsy and in the post, music was on an iPod playlist. My mum is very crafty so she decided she would make a lot of the decorations. From her yacht in the Carribean she managed to make over 60 metres of bunting for us! When she arrived in Australia the crafting continued and we had table runners and pom poms and decorated glass jars all made for us while we were still at work – what a godsend! I had managed to collect over 200 glass jars in the lead up which we used as vases and tea light holders and aisle decorations.

We had pretty foul weather on the day of the wedding and had set up our ceremony indoors. About 2 hours before the ceremony our photographer and my bridesmaids decided that the weather would hold out to have the ceremony outdoors. There was then a mad rush to move the seating and decorations outside and make sure we were all ready before the guests arrived.

I walked down the aisle with my mum and escorted by my sister and our dog as our ring bearer (I think he stole the show!).

We only had about 30 minutes for photos before one of the biggest storms SE Qld had seen all year hit. I found out a few days later that we had 110,000 lightning strikes that night.

 

Our cake was made by the very talented Kate McCarthy of Vanilla Lily Cake Design.

Hubby made our table numbers using materials from old Queenslander houses that had been demolished or restored and which will be used as photo props on our anniversaries (1 for first anniversary etc etc).

We didn’t do the garter or bouquet toss. We didn’t even really want to do a first dance as neither of us are dancers but on the day we ended up doing a little shuffle on the dance floor which ended up being hijacked by the bridal party and Gangnam Style and the party really got started.

The party didn’t stop until 4am!

Photography by Julian Beattie

Ms Gingham says: Oh that beautiful doggie!!! The absolutely perfect choice for ringbearer. A beautiful wedding captured with such style by Julian Beattie. Congratulations to Sam and Ian!

Sam describes herself as: “Recently married. Wedding obssessed. Lover of all things vintage, shabby chic and country.”