Chris and Samantha

Chris and I have been a couple since we were 15 years old. We have shared some of the most important years of our lives together so far. The first years of our relationship were spent enjoying each other’s company, talking, joking around, getting to know each other and making grand plans for the future. After graduating high school we only got closer, sharing the same ideas of what we wanted out of life and how to go about achieving it, these plans included buying our home which we managed to do last year at just 21 and 22 years old. From the very beginning we have shared an amazing passion and love for each other, with great communication, affection and fun in our relationship every single day.

Chris’s proposal was absolutely amazing. We were on our dream holiday in Europe, and it was our first day in Paris. When we got there, I had two dozen red roses waiting for me when we arrived at the hotel. I was told to dress up and we were picked up by a chauffeur driven Mercedes then taken on a short highlights tour before being dropped off at  ‘Le Ciel De Paris’. This 56 storey high restaurant served up 7 delicious courses and a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower. I must admit I took a few hopeful glances at the bottom of my champagne glass during the meal, but when no ring appeared I accepted he was just being romantic and I was pretty lucky! We were then picked up again and went for a stroll underneath the Eiffel Tower. Shivering, I cried like a baby as he dropped to one knee and asked me to be his wife. Of course I said “Oui!’ to him, and to the beautiful opal engagement ring.

The day before our wedding I had my lovely Mum, Mother-in-law to-be and bridesmaids up at 3.30am to go to the flower markets. We spent half the day putting together our bouquets of gerberas, and our centrepieces. Our centrepieces consisted of painstakingly collected jars of all shapes and sizes with a mixture of fresh flowers and lots of candles. There was absolutely no structure to them and we just picked the flowers that looked the nicest on the day. They turned out so beautifully and we got lots of compliments on their beauty and originality.

I adored the whole process of planning our wedding. Chris was helpful, especially when it came to the big decisions, but he was happy to basically give me free reign and I was happy to have it! I am a very organised person and (as my Mum will take credit for) an avid list-maker. My vision for the wedding was not overly feminine, ‘matchy’, traditional or cliche. I wanted it to represent both Chris and I, and our unique tastes and personalities and I wanted it to be lots of fun! I did a lot of DIY for the day, and was so proud to see it all come together even more beautifully than I imagined.

We had our ceremony at Lilian Fraser Gardens in Pennant Hills, a tiny secret garden maintained by volunteers. It was raining, but the moment I stepped onto the ‘aisle’ of flower petals to the tune of haunting bagpipes the sun came out bright as can be. We wrote every word of our ceremony and vows ourselves. For my speech I read a teenage diary entry of mine about how amazing a person Chris is which had everybody in tears, even the best man!

Our reception was held at the Bavarian Bier Cafe in Parramatta, which has a great beer hall feeling and reminded us of our time at Oktoberfest in Germany. The amazing food included giant pretzels, pork belly, chicken schnitzel and we served our wedding ice-cream cake as dessert! I also made a delicious candy buffet with all of our favourite chocolates and lollies which was a total hit, obviously!

Other personal touches we included on the day were our ‘guestbook’ which consisted of a chalkboard and a camera on a tripod, colouring books for the kids (which were completely ignored once the chalkboard was discovered!), the much raved about bathroom essentials kit I put together for the ladies, and photos of our sausage dog puppy Jefrey with signs for the table names.

For our first dance we did the famous scene from Pulp Fiction which was so much fun – even for Chris who was nervous as he is not much of a dancer and practised for weeks in the lead up. In the end we had the whole room up with us doing the twist, a great start to what turned out to be a big night on the dancefloor. At one point in the night our (fabulous, amazing, spectacular) MC and good friend Jed told me that a wedding was a huge success if there was a sing-along at some point. Hey Jude, Bohemian Rhapsody and American Pie later and I would say THREE sing-alongs is a clear record!

The night was filled with love, celebrations, laughs and dancing and I could feel the happiness making the whole room glow. You could not wipe the smile off my face, and my new husband and I kept looking at each other in disbelief at how good life was in that moment. It was fantastic! And then, as our bar tab was not getting close enough to our minimum spend, the shots of schnapps came out. It became an even wilder party very quickly … I even saw my new mother in law do 2 shots!

Photography by Robert Wen from Pepper Image

Ms Gingham says: I just love the mismatched shoes and bouquets. Not to mention those giant pretzels!! Chris and Sam just look like they’re so happy and in love … thanks for sharing your joy with us!!

Samantha says: I am very in love with my husband, our puppy, our new home and my life. I love to travel and see live music. I love to drink tea. I collect teapots.