A winter wedding has something special about it – and Samantha and Cameron’s elegant, black tie day is no exception! With stunning lace details, dapper suits and classic styling, Zonzo Estate provided the perfect backdrop for the pair to tie the knot. With Jerome Cole there to capture the love filled moments, there’s no denying it was a perfect winters day! The exquisite bride, Samantha details their incredible day last August.

Just prior to our wedding, I found out that my parents had my stars read when I was a child. My stars said I was going to marry someone from overseas. This is so special to us because Cameron is South African, he has only been in Australia for 6 years. So, not only are we in love as husband and wife, we feel we were destined to be together and are blessed to have found each other.

It was our 3 year anniversary and little did I know, Cameron had grand plans to propose that night, which he had been planning for months. I had absolutely no idea, but was secretly hoping he was going to propose that day.

We had a romantic dinner in the city, followed by a beautiful stroll along the Yarra River. By the time we started to head home, my hopes of a proposal that night had faded – but how wrong I was (and I’ve never been so happy to be wrong). Once we arrived home, walking inside was like stepping in to the most romantic, lavish movie scene.

There were hundreds of candles, flowers and flower petals everywhere, with flower petals spelling out “will you marry me?”. It was the most beautiful romantic thing I had ever seen. I turned around (with tears of joy gushing down my face) to see Cameron on one knee, asking me to marry him. It was a perfect proposal, which we will both cherish forever.

I wore a custom made, white, long sleeved dress, that had beautiful chantilly lace sleeves and bodice. After trying on countless dresses that didn’t feel right, and speaking with designers that quoted me in excess of $20,000, I began to feel like I would not be able to have my dream dress within my budget.

A friend recommended I try D’Italia, so I did. I was pleasantly surprised with my experience. The staff in store were incredibly helpful and took me through all the amazing fabric options and instantly understood my vision. I was so impressed with my experience, I knew I had found my dress designer.

My Couture designer Dragana was so incredibly talented and divine to deal with. She understood exactly what I was after, and worked with me to achieve my dream. Dragana included me in the process the entire way, which made it even more exciting because I was able to see my dream come to life.
Dragana created a dress that was better than I ever could have dreamed. I was beyond happy with the end result and was able to be married in my dream dress!

Wanting to bring the feel of modern black tie elegance, Cameron wore a custom made tux that had a beautiful white textured jacket with black trimmings. Maureen from Zac Mens was a dream to work with, she designed Cameron’s tux to suit his shape and ensured the fit was perfect.

I had my sister Nikki as my Maid of Honour, my childhood friend Amy and Cameron’s sister Ashleigh as my bridesmaids.
Cameron had his three great friends, Sam as Best Man and Jason and Alex as groomsmen. We felt very blessed to have such great people standing by our sides on our special day.

We chose Zonzo Estate in the Yarra Valley for our special day. We fell in love with the venue from the minute we drove in their long and serene driveway.

Youki from Sugar Bee Flowers was who we chose to do our flowers and styling. She was absolutely incredible, one of the most talented florists we came across.
We had a mix of seasonal white and blush blooms, with our key and favourite flower being the white orchids, mixed with lush greenery. We also incorporated white king proteas as a sentimental touch to Cameron’s home country of South Africa.

My beautiful Mum walked me down the aisle to ‘Perfect Duet’ by Ed Sheeran and Beyonce.

Our photographer Jerome Cole is definitely the best in the business in our opinion. From the minute we saw Jerome’s work, we fell in love with his style and ability. He was an absolute dream on the day and made us feel so comfortable. I am still having guests ask me for his details because he was so fantastic.

I loved planning our wedding. Seeing everything come together on the day gave me such a sense of accomplishment and happiness, because it’s like the past 12 months of planning has come to life.
I also loved working with our vendors to create our dream!

We chose to do our first dance to Tennessee Whisky by Chris Stapleton, not your typical first dance song, but one that has a beautiful underlying meaning that you can relate to many aspects of life.

My advice for future couples would be, just be true to yourselves. At the end of the day, you are there to marry the person of your dreams, so don’t let anyones negativity or conflicting opinions dampen your day. Enjoy every moment and make sure you and your spouse take 5 minutes together to take in your day, it really does go so fast!!

Ms Zebra Says: Wishing Samantha and Cameron the biggest congratulations on their divine winter wedding! What an incredible day and we wish you both all the best for your future together.