Once upon a time, Samantha, on a night out on the town, locked eyes with David across a crowded room. Working up all the courage, she called out to him and the pair talked all night long. “Ended up having a cheeky kiss on the dance floor before getting each other’s numbers” admits Samantha.

The fairytale continued for many moons, until David, in true fairytale style, popped the question while on holiday in Japan. “David had always known I was a huge fan of fairytales, the prince and princess etc. We were on holiday in Japan for the second time and we were heading to the deer park in Nara where wild deer are roaming around beautiful gardens. He knew it was my favourite place because of how magical it looked. He got down on one knee and asked me if “I wanted to live happily ever after?” So cute.”

And Samantha and David’s happily ever after? It begins now. Their magical story takes place in the little town of Robertson in the Southern Highlands. A fairytale day, full of magic was the brief, Akaness Sharks Photo joining the merry party as they decked out the country setting in tones of blush pink and ice blue, weaving and adding fairytale-inspired details for a day fit for a story told time and time again. Let this one completely capture your imagination.

 

The groom and groomsmen wore beige pants, pink bow ties and pale blue jackets. Says Sam “We choose light blue jackets; we wanted to do something a bit different to the standard black and wanted light colours throughout the wedding.”

Sam and her bridesmaids had their looks styled by Hayley Holmes Hair and Makeup by Kiera.  “All the credit to my beautiful hairdresser Hayley Holmes Hair I couldn’t recommend anyone more for your hair; she creates all her styles and makes the morning so much fun! My beautiful makeup artist Makeup by Kiera who is so so talented and works absolute magic!”

The fairytale magic began with Sam’s glorious gown. She tells  “It was the second dress I tried on at Penrith Bridal Centre for the first fitting and I didn’t need to try any more on after that – we knew it was it. Very fairytale princess. It was also special because we realised my mum had said that the dress would look good on me at my sister’s fitting the year before. Unfortunately, she had passed away in between and so that the dress is perfect on me meant so much.”

The floral details on the day kept with the theme of ice blue and soft pink says Sam. “My bouquets were a mix of dry and artificial flowers from Cheree’s Flowers I gave her a rough idea of what I wanted and she came up with them – they are so unique. I LOVE that they are artificial because I still have them in a vase at home as do all my bridesmaids.”

The big day was held at the historic venue The Robertson Hotel “We chose to look at the Robertson Hotel as a bit of a laugh as Robertson was my husband’s last name now mine” explains Sam. “We ended up thinking the venue was perfect so timeless with the heritage building and gardens, old staircase and chandeliers. The town is called Robertson also so it was so much fun for a lot of the family to see their name everywhere!”

“I loved that I had thought of having the flower girls carry parasols with rose petals inside and getting them to lift them at the end of the aisle so the petals fell around them; it was so cute everyone loved it.”

Sam walked down the aisle hand in hand with her dad to Bon Jovi’s “Always”. “My husband has always loved Bon Jovi so it had to be one of his songs!”. In memory of her mother, who has now passed, Sam placed her mother’s photo on a chair in the front row.

David’s favourite wedding day memories? “How beautiful my wife looked walking down the aisle, also not remembering anything past 9 pm but dancing shirtless to Post Malone.”

The couple chose Justine Milne to perform their ceremony. Sam telling “My best friend Jarrod, my male bridesmaid who spoke a lot through my ceremony and so technically shared the celebrant role.

Both of our vows were personalised, I made sure my vows included my husband’s son Austin as he has been such a huge part of my life for six years. I told him how much I loved him and how proud I was to be officially become his mother in law that day and he started crying which set everyone off to cry too! It was beautiful.

We aren’t religious so it was very relaxed, however to fill in the time we decided to have my male bridesmaid read a “fairytale” about our life so far which was super fun and fit the theme.”

“We had a big wedding party, six bridesmaids, seven groomsmen! We have a lot of close friends and family. The groomsmen all matched except for their bow ties and the bridesmaids were wearing dresses from Two Sisters The Label. I loved the boho look to them! My male bridesmaid wore a pink suit to match us.”

Sam offers up this advice to you. “Things will go wrong, a lot did – but guess what, no one notices but you so just have another glass of wine and enjoy it, it goes so fast.”

Sam and David adore their wedding photographs. “Akaness is just wonderful, so unique her photos are mostly captured at the moment so they are so natural. She captures the vibe of your wedding, I have had nothing but compliments because of her work. She also makes it so easy and you feel so comfortable having her there directing you.”

Sam made sure to put her personal touch on the day. “I loved getting to be so creative, just making your visuals come to life and getting to see it all on the day is so much fun.

I made a lot myself, the white floral tree feature we stood in front of, the table pieces, flower girls’ flower crowns and bridesmaid hairpieces. I also made all of my favours which were little “love potions” glass love heart cork top jars with strawberry liquor inside.”

For their first dance, the newlyweds chose “Wild Love” by James Bay. “We always slow dance to it after a couple of wines!”

The biggest of congratulations to you both Sam and David! May your fairytale continue throughout the rest of your days. Thank you for sharing your stories, and to Akaness Sharks Photo for today’s beautiful images.