On the picturesque beach of Dunsborough in Western Australia, Adi and Sam hosted their stunning, intimate wedding. Filled with vintage charm, DIY elements (so many!) and European inspiration, this was an event nobody could forget.

Luke from Photogerson was behind the camera, perfectly capturing the bohemian party vibes. Films by Alix was also there every step of the way as the cinematographer of the day, with the newlyweds stating, “Luke and Alix were like ninjas; they just so easily moved around and got all the great shots.”

Adi and Sam met on MySpace while they were in high school. “One of the boys in Sam’s year was chatting up Adi on MySpace when he mentioned a Fossati’s interest in Adi (in a not-so-appropriate way) as a means to get the conversation going. Being a vain teenager with the choice of not one but two Fossati’s to choose from she went with Sam based on his ‘cuter’ looks. It is worth mentioning Sam had no idea who Adi was at this time. Adi knew all about Sam’ Fossati’, but the other guy’s message totally backfired and prompted Adi to hit Sam up now that she had an opening. Sam was a perfect gentleman and apologised profusely for the message he didn’t send and from then on out we were talking non-stop online, before swapping numbers and finally having a very awkward first hug and face-to-face meeting. After an incredibly lengthy two months (in teenage time) Sam invited Adi to his Mum’s for dinner. We had a super hilarious first kiss on a ‘hill’ in Dunsborough Lakes. Bless his romantic heart Sam planned it for a starry night that was decidedly very foggy.”

Fast forward a few years, and Sam and Adi were on a trip to the Dolomites in Northern Italy. “We have spent a lot of time there over the past 14 years as my Dad (Massimo) grew up there. We took my dad’s racing toboggans from the 1970s and slid down to the most perfect snowy plateau, where the mountains loomed behind us. Dad hid a bottle of champagne under a bag that was sitting on his toboggan and before I was about to propose, the bottle of champagne slid off the toboggan and down the hill. Luckily Adi didn’t see it and Dad was able to retrieve the champagne just in time,” Sam recalled. “We set up the Toboggans as the backdrop for some photos we wanted to take with the Dolomites as the background. Tom (my twin) had the Drone flying, and Ambra (my sister) took her camera out and was ready to capture the moment. I then got on one knee and asked Adi to marry me. Tom took out his speakers and started playing an Italian song from our childhood called Caruso by Lucio Dalla, and then Harvest Moon by Neil Young. Surrounded by my family and my new fiance was truly one of the most special moments of my life.”

They held their wedding at Sam’s mum’s (Kellie) house in Quindalup, with the ceremony on the beach out the front and the reception in the front garden. “We wanted it to be really intimate and relaxed. We wanted people to feel comfortable and for it to just be a boujee house party!”

Kellie and Adi went to Perth a few days before the wedding to handpick all the flowers for the day. Leaving with a range of gorgeous flowers in nudes, creams, pinks and touches of greenery. “I asked my alterations lady for the dress trimmings, which we wrapped around our homemade bouquets.”

Sam wore a custom-tailored suit and shirt from Carl Nave. He finished off his outfit with chestnut shoes and belt from RM Williams and a dark green floral velvet bowtie. “The jacket lining matched Adi’s champagne-coloured dress with a Burberry fabric piping. The inside of my jacket also had custom lettering in the same colour as the dress that said ‘A & S Fossati’. The flowers pinned to my suit were from Adi’s Bridal Bouquet. My bow tie was handmade by a friend of mine, Sina Ghiassi, which suited the bohemian/Italian aesthetic we were going for. I wore silver cufflinks that were also flowers.”

Tommaso, Sam’s twin brother, was his best man, with Adam, Codie, Dean and Jake filling up the rest of his wedding party. “We wanted to keep it relaxed, they all wore sand-coloured suits from MJ Bale, un-buttoned white shirts, Brown RM Williams Belts, and brown shoes.”

The intentional details didn’t end with his jacket but also added special meaning to his ring. “My ring was totally bespoke too, from Gray Reid Gallery in Melbourne. The ring is 9Ct gold that looks like it’s been ‘roped’ over itself. Inserted into the gold are 4 of Adi’s late grandmother’s diamonds, and I chose three completely different sapphires: green pear, dark blue and uncut, which were also sporadically laid into the gold.”

Adi wore a stunning 50s-style champagne-coloured wedding gown from Madilane, far from what she initially envisioned. “I wanted a dress that was very ethereal and embellished. This turned out to be a very heavy and uncomfortable option! I was trying on some more simple gown styles and my shop assistant recommended trying a different dress that was similar to one of my top picks. They only had it in the champagne colour not white, which turned out to be much more flattering for my skin tone, white completely washed me out and with pink hair I wasn’t aiming for traditional! So ultimately my stylist picked the dress for me and it was so far from what I had initially envisioned. However, I knew I had to be able to dance all night in it (which I did!) and feel comfortable in the intimate space. I loved how classic the silhouette felt, it reminded me of Elizabeth Taylor in the 50’s. It also gave me the freedom to have a fun veil, I chose something with sparkle and pearls which looked beautiful in the sun on the beach.”

The other stunning part of her outfit was this sparkly, pearl-adorned veil from RazanZoer that hung from her bun and flowed beautifully down her gown.

Within her wedding party, Adi had her oldest friend, Athaley as her Maid of Honor, her older sister Gabby, another best friend Krista, her cousin Tash and Sam’s older sister Ambra. “The girls wore a mix of dresses that we found online, I gave them a palette/mood board and gave them the freedom to pick something they felt beautiful in and could wear again. I chose the shoes from Be Mine; they had a funky heel and a more vintage broach detail. They wore a sage colour and I wore the same shoes in my dress colour.”

Many of the details you can see throughout these amazing photos have been handmade by Adi, Sam or their families. From the arbour that Adi’s dad built all the way down to the rugs and furniture from Sam’s mum’s shop My Divine Home. “The girls made the bouquets the night before with some champagne and good music and filled the arbour with florals. Mum and Adi did a lot of little details, such as grazing board signs, floral arrangements for the tables, and the welcome mirror in the week leading up. The boys did all the bigger setups, including fairy lights, some arbour building (even digging in the sand for it!), and furniture moving. It was basically a fun lead-up of arts and crafts. We are a big family of creatives, which helped a lot!”

For the ceremony, Sam and his party rolled (literally) into the beach ceremony on the back of his dad’s 1980s Army Landrover, to the sounds of “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Adi soon followed, walking down the aisle to “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young with her dad on her arm. “He cracked jokes the whole way which helped with the stage fright.”

The ceremony was short and sweet, led by their celebrant, Sinead. They had no readings or speeches, just their custom vows. “It’s funny because, in the week leading up, we both couldn’t read our vows without crying our eyes out. It felt so emotional in the lead-up that we were sure it would be like that during the ceremony, but we managed to stay pretty collected! So the ceremony ended up being a lot clearer and calmer than we both envisioned. I think because we have been together for so long it just felt really natural to be at the end of the aisle, we express our love on a daily anyway it wasn’t anything we hadn’t said to each other a thousand times before.”

There were also special mentions for those who didn’t make it to the wedding. “We included a few special touches for Sam’s Nonno who was present for the engagement in Italy but sadly passed away shortly afterwards. His Nonna brought some of his personal items along so he was with us at the ceremony.”

Sam’s favourite additions to the night included their guestbook and “the disposable film cameras. Our guests took some pretty modest photos and over the course of the night, it was hilarious to see the progression of how rowdy everyone got. Lots of blurred photos and images where they could have used the flash, but that made it even more special.”

After the ceremony, the wedding party took some time for their portraits and to revel in the post-ceremony bliss.

Sam chimed in to say “Hilariously, I think my favourite photo is one of me and my brother holding hands and my Sister Ambra is positioned in the foreground in a blur [you can find it just below!]. She is holding flowers, an Aperol spritz and taking a photo on her phone. Everything in that image makes me so happy haha!”

Their photographer, Luke, perfectly distilled the essence of the intimate bohemian vibes of the day. “Luke was absolutely amazing to work with. His relaxed nature very much suited Adi and me which made it so easy to get some very special shots. Our brief was very simple, we wanted a lot of candid shots with only a couple of ‘posed’ images. Adi wanted ‘Drama’, there is an amazing image of Adi on the staircase surrounded by chandeliers and hand-made clay crosses from Morocco. During the party, I didn’t even notice Luke running around taking some of the best photos I’ve ever seen. He absolutely nailed the brief to a tee, we could not be happier with the final images Luke handed over to us. Composition, lighting, editing, angles – everything was literally perfection! Could not recommend Luke higher.”

Some of their favourite photos came from this part of the day, with Sam describing his favourite photo’s details, “The calmness of the ocean with the slight wave rolling on the shore, the purple sky matching to Adi’s hair. Amazing.” Adi adding, “It’s hard to pick one but I love how the colours all tie in so beautifully. The green wall gave it a feeling of grandeur and the sunsets on the bay are just unbeatable. We were hoping for the lilac sunset and were lucky to get one!”

As party favours for their guests, Adi had ordered some custom embroidered handkerchiefs with guests’ names on them. “Honestly, every detail felt special because we handmade most of it as a family, we just feel super lucky to have amazing people around us who brought the magic.”

Their highlights of the night? “The speeches were the absolute highlight, I laughed so hard in my brother’s speech that I spat champagne all over the plants in front of everyone. And dancing til 3 am and all going down for a swim at the end of the night (Engage at your own risk!)”

Adi’s favourite additions to the night included, “The speeches then the DJ and dancing. I also loved the bouquets and having our favourite cocktails on the menu, Sam chose an Aperol Spritz for Italy and I chose an Espresso Martini from The Little Bar Cart.”

With the reception now in full swing, Adi and Sam prepared for their first dance. They chose to go with “Rock With You” by Michael Jackson as their song. “I feel that the song was a fun dance floor starter but also was something Adi and I could just dance to, throw in a few spins and then start grabbing people to come and join. We didn’t want a traditional waltz or anything! (Also because Sam needs a few drinks before we get a boogie out of him haha)”

During the reception, the newlyweds tried to take a moment alone, but ultimately couldn’t stay away from the party atmosphere. “Everyone recommended taking a moment together away from the wedding, but as soon as we were looking down from the balcony we both looked at each other and immediately agreed the dance floor was where we needed to be. It was really special to take a moment there in the thick of it and see everyone we love and cherish all together having the best time dancing. It is definitely a memory that will stick with us as some friends and family are no longer with us, to remember this moment of pure enjoyment from everyone is very special.”

While they may have handcrafted a lot of the day, Adi and Sam still had a few vendors that they fell in love with. “The Little Bar Cart, Married by Sinead, Dan (100000% the best DJ), catered by Jacqueline, Donna at Tomorrow’s Tribe and of course Luke and Alix. Everyone was so amazing they went above and beyond in service and just generally felt like good friends. Dan really kept the party going.”

They ended their night exactly how they envisioned: “The party felt like a nightclub in Ibiza, everyone had their clothes off haha.” A huge congratulations to Adi and Sam on your stunning party celebrations! And thanks to Luke Gerson from Photogerson for submitting.