Royal, Fairytale, Forest…..those were the words that inspired Sam & Zak when they were planning their stunning Taranaki Weddings – and WOW – did they pull it off and then some!
We’re stoked that Sam & Zak wanted to share their beautiful wedding with us and we’re so excited to showcase it on our blog!
Tell us about your love story, how did you meet etc?
We met in 2017 at university, the whole hall was going to a toga party in town for o week. Zak and I were running a little late and ended up the only two in our hall getting left behind by the bus! We got talking while waiting for the next one to show up and stuck together the rest of the night, but we were both too nervous to talk to each other when we were sober lol so every weekend for the next month we would hang out and drink until I finally plucked up the courage to ask him if he wanted to be something more, and the rest is history <3
Why did you say ‘YES’? How did you know/why are they the one?
We had been together for 6 years when he proposed, we both knew from early on that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives at each others side so there was no doubt I would say yes. We complete each other, we have the same sense of humour, the same interests, and we are each other’s safe place. We were just waiting for the right time to get married so we could share that love with all our friends and family!
What was your inspiration or theme for the day?
The inspiration was like a forest fairytale, I wanted everything to look beautifully natural with lots of greenery, florals and wooden aspects, while also adding in old candelabras and vases to make it look like a royal fairy wedding. I knew what my dress looked like of course but he didn’t, so adding hints of pink into the decor without telling him why was hard! I wanted everything to mesh together perfectly and look like it was straight out of a storybook.
Amongst the many special moments, what are the “stand out” memories for you?
Seeing each other for the first time as I walked down the aisle, seeing the tears in his eyes brought tears to my own. Looking deep into his eyes the entire time we were getting married and not being able to stop smiling. The joy and love we received from our families and friends after the ceremony as they all came up for big hugs and congratulations. Walking around the gardens together for photos in our first moments as husband and wife, I will always remember the way he looked at me with so much love in his eyes. Also, my older sister wasn’t able to attend as she just had a baby a couple of weeks before the wedding so she wrote a speech for my mum to say on her behalf, which included her singing (and absolutely nailing) a parody of Billy Idol’s “White Wedding” that she had written about me that I don’t think ANYONE will ever forget hahaha.
There are so many aspects to make a wedding uniquely you. What were important to you to make your wedding day just perfect for you?
I am quite the perfectionist, so I knew I needed to do a lot of planning to get everything looking exactly as I had imagined it. Getting all the decorations and signage exactly right was incredibly important to me, and I am so grateful for all the help we had setting up and how amazing everything turned out. The photos/videos were also one of the most important things for us, we wanted to be sure we could remember every minute of the day as our memories fade. It was also important to us that the loved ones that couldn’t be there in person were able to share the biggest day of our lives with us, so alongside the professional photos and video we also set up phones hidden within our flower pots to video call Zak’s grandparents, uncles & aunts and cousins in the UK and my sister in Wellington.
In hindsight, is there anything that you would have done differently?
We definitely could have saved more money in places, but everything was exactly perfect on the day so we have no regrets there. One thing I would have done differently however is remembering to bring my back-up dress for later in the evening, my dress was beautiful but before the wedding day I’d never worn it for longer than 20 minutes, I’d never even sat down in it! It started to get pretty uncomfortable after a while and in the rush to get to the venue I’d totally forgotten about my spare dress. It did look gorgeous though so I’m glad I got the full wear out of it!
What advice would you give to future couples planning their wedding?
Start early! We booked the venue in Feb 2024 and gave ourselves plenty of time to get everything sorted, especially if you’re planning it for a busy time you need to get all your vendors booked asap! The Taranaki Weddings Show was great for getting ideas of what you might want to have at your wedding, we didn’t even think of getting a DJ/photo booth before finding one there and that was one of our guests favourite parts! Also, put as much information on the invite as you can, we made a wedding website which was awesome because you could put so much on there, however not a lot of guests actually read through it all and we were constantly getting asked questions that we had already answered on the website.
What do you love most about being married?
I love the sense of security I feel, like nothing in the world can get between us. We’ll always be a team, win or lose. I also love that I get to have his name, it’s a lot easier to spell than my maiden name haha
Anything else you would like to add?
Always be kind to your vendors! All they want is to make your day perfect for you <3
Photographer: Ilse De Klerk – Ilumography, accompanied by Bonnie Kahui Creative
Hair: Courtney at Vivo New Plymouth
Makeup: Bonnie Kahui Creative
Nails: Goldworthy Nails
Flowers: Temu
Cake: Kirsty Jones – The Cake Diary
Dresses/Attire/Accessories: Bride – Dylin’s Bridal and Le-Stitch-It, Groom/Groomsmen – Laidlaw+Leeds (Farmers), Bridesmaids – Model Chic Infinity Dresses
Venue: Oak Valley Gardens
Catering : BRH Catering
Bar staff: Seismic Events
Celebrant: Courtney Goldsworthy
Entertainment: Sounzgood DJs
Rings: Dalgleish Diamonds
Marquee & Furniture: Dobsons Marquee & Party Hire