Surrounded by the unreal views of Lake Como, Samson and Mariah celebrated their elegant wedding with a charm only found in Italy. From the ceremony backdropped by the sparkling blue waters to the private boat tour around the lake, Mariah and Samson planned every detail with guest enjoyment front and centre. With a dress-to-impress style, Adelaide-based photographer and videographer, Little Paper Plane team, that flew out to help capture their day and personal notes to every guest, we’re so excited to walk you through everything.

Even though Mariah and Samson went to the same high school, they didn’t actually know who the other person was until years later when they connected on social media. “Although I was living in Brisbane at the time, I flew to Adelaide to take Mariah on our first date. It went so well that we immediately planned a second date for the very next day, and that was the beginning of our love story,” Samson shared.

Samson handpicked every single detail of their destination proposal, without raising Mariah’s suspicion even a little bit. “Leading up to the proposal, I had discreetly got her ring size, custom-designed her engagement ring, and organised the proposal location, flights and accommodation without her knowing and contacted her work and requested time off on her behalf. My best friend Steven and his partner joined us on the trip to Bali (which further distracted Mariah’s suspicion). The day of the proposal, I had told Mariah a white lie to take Steven’s partner out of the Villa,” he explained.

“While they explored the city, the florist, photographer, Stevens, and I set up everything. When they returned, my friend told Mariah to meet me outside. As she opened the blinds, she saw the surprise proposal: a huge “Will you marry me” sign, me standing in the middle of a love-heart shape made of rose petals and bouquets, and a pool behind us covered with roses, surrounded by photographers and videographers. As she stepped outside Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Haley Reinhart began playing, and I got down on one knee, gave a brief speech to her, and asked her to be my wife. She said yes!”

With help from The Bride Lab team, Mariah found her dream dress for their destination wedding. Off-the-shoulder lace long sleeves, a fitted corset-style bodice and a satin fitted skirt made for the most perfect lake wedding look. “They were extremely helpful throughout the process. The first time I saw the dress on the rack, I knew it was something special and unique, and when I tried it on for the first time, I knew it was the one. The dress has a structured semi-sheer corset bodice with floral lace, a draped satin neckline and off-the-shoulder lace sleeves. The satin skirt was fitted through the waist and hips, with asymmetric draping before falling into a soft train,” she explained.

LaMilago helped Samson bring his custom white tuxedo to life, from the initial consultation to the final fitting. “Milap and his team took the time to understand exactly what I had envisioned and guided me through the fabrics, lapel, buttons, lining and bow tie to bring the entire look together. They made the experience incredibly enjoyable, and on the wedding day the suit felt completely personal to me. I wore a custom three-piece white tuxedo with a shawl lapel, paired with a bespoke black tuxedo vest, a tailored white dress shirt with ceramic shell buttons, a black butterfly bow tie, black trousers, and whole-cut black leather dress shoes.”

Of all the elegant details from their destination wedding, Samson and Mariah would have to say these are their favourites:

“1. Our first look, having that private, intimate moment together before the celebrations began, was incredibly special to us.

2. Taking our guests on the boat tour around Lake Como and creating memories together, seeing the beautiful setting and scenery.

3. Our family’s traditional dances, seeing the Congolese dance and Greek dances and everyone joining in.

4. Our personalised notes to each of our guests with a Polaroid photo

5. Being able to not just celebrate our wedding together but also travel to a new country with our guests!”

With just 20 guests flying out to celebrate Samson and Mariah, everyone got to play a special part in their wedding. “We wanted the day to feel intimate and relaxed, with everyone celebrating alongside us. The wedding attire was dress-to-impress, with vibrant, colourful suits and dresses to match the scenery of Lake Como.”

Little Paper Plane Weddings photographed and filmed Samson and Mariah, capturing every sparkling lake moment throughout the day. “Lily and her husband captured our love story; they took our wedding at relatively short notice and made the entire process feel seamless. In the lead-up to the wedding, Lily was incredibly communicative, regularly checking in with us and helping develop the timeline for the day. On the wedding day, Lily arrived early to capture our getting-ready moments and brought an extremely positive and enthusiastic energy. She made everyone feel comfortable, captured all the important moments naturally and completely embraced the cultural elements of our celebration. We absolutely love the photos and videos!”

If there was wise advice Samson would share with other couples, it would be this: Don’t rush just to get to the wedding. “Enjoy the fiancée period. Take your time planning the wedding, and remember that the day is ultimately about you and your partner; make choices that reflect the two of you rather than what you feel the wedding should look like. Have an intimate destination wedding with your closest friends and family; you will not regret it.”

To complement the Villa’s blooming wisteria and climbing vines, Samson and Mariah kept their Lake Como wedding styling pretty simple. Opting for a minimalist look, they chose elegant white roses and soft candlelight to enhance the space.

Samson walked down the aisle first to a custom instrumental of “Flashing Lights” by Kanye West. He was delighted with the sight of Mariah soon walking down the aisle with her father on her arm, as “First Time” by TEEKS floated through the space. “I also added a custom voiceover at the start of the song telling Samson how much I love him and that it’s our wedding day,” she explained.

Wanting to keep it intimate and personal, Samson and Mariah had an unplugged ceremony with no phones allowed. “It was important to us that everyone could simply enjoy and experience the moment with us. We both wrote our own personal vows, which made the ceremony especially meaningful and emotional. We also wanted to involve our families in a special way, so we asked our mothers to be our ring bearers,” Samson shared.

“One of my favourite memories was sharing my vows with Mariah. I told her; I’ve lived 9,764 days on this earth, and today is without a doubt my favourite one. Choosing you is the easiest decision of my life; loving you is the most beautiful journey I will ever take. I love you infinity x infinity.”

After the ceremony, Mariah and Samson organised a private boat tour around Lake Como for their families. A beautiful way to end the ceremony and get the party started! “It was a special experience to share together; one of the memorable moments was when Mariah’s Papou (grandfather) sang a traditional Greek song. Seeing both of our families embracing each other’s cultures through music and dance was incredibly special and exactly what we wanted our wedding to be,” Samson shared.

“Our favourite photographs are also the ones on our boat ride, being out on the water together as newlyweds, surrounded by the incredible mountains in Lake Como. It was such a beautiful setting and the amazing feeling of being newly married.”

With such an intimate wedding, Mariah and Samson had the opportunity to personalise a message for every guest, to show their appreciation for travelling so far to help celebrate their union. “We wrote each person a personalised message in a card and paired it with a Polaroid photo of us together. We wanted everyone to feel that they weren’t simply guests at our wedding, but an important part of our story,” Samson shared.

The best part of planning their elegant destination wedding was just that: planning! “Our favourite part was simply creating the wedding of both of our dreams; we loved brainstorming ideas, choosing the little details that would make the day feel like us and watching everything come together. One of the most enjoyable parts was choreographing our first dance together.”

Their first dance was a choreographed number to Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You”. “It already held a lot of meaning for us, so choosing it for our wedding felt like a beautiful full-circle moment,” they explained.

“We created our own choreography and practised together in Lake Garda in the days leading up to the wedding. It made the first dance feel even more personal and gave us another special memory from our time in Italy.”

One of the best parts of their wedding was watching their families embrace each other’s cultures. Greek and Congolese traditions were scattered throughout the day, but were never separate. Instead, they were woven into the very meaning of their wedding. “Dancing with our families, my family performed a traditional Congolese celebration dance and taught Mariah’s family the steps, getting everyone involved. Mariah’s family also led a traditional Greek dance, Zorba, and had everyone join in.”

Thanks to Little Paper Plane for capturing all of these beautiful moments. And huge congratulations to Samson and Mariah on this incredible celebration of your love!