Welcome to another Real Life Wedding !
Today the spotlight is on Sam & Tom’s beautiful Toowoomba Wedding !
Theme: Country Garden.
Tell us how you met
We are high school sweethearts and met at school.
The proposal
Tom took me to my favourite restaurant on our usual “date night” which we do every Thursday night. He asked if we could go for a walk along the river after dinner and I told him I felt sick and wanted to go home.
He looked so upset and I thought it was because it meant he didn’t get any dessert. I told him we could still quickly pop into Cold Rock to grab some ice cream on the way home.
At home Tom helped me onto the couch and gave me a blanket.
He asked if we could watch the movie we saw on our first date in 2005 and I chose another one.
Poor Tom! I kept ruining his plans. Halfway through the movie he hit pause and went to get the ice cream from the freezer.
He came back into the lounge room with our song playing from his mobile in his pocket, ice cream in one hand and a ring box in the other. He got on one knee and popped the question!
The Details !
Ceremony location: St Patrick’s Cathedral, Toowoomba. – Reception location: Gabbinbar Homestead, Toowoomba.
Gown: I found it when I was looking for bridesmaids’ dresses at Hills in Hollywood. I wasn’t even looking for bridal gowns but I knew it was the one. I made a few adjustments and love it!
Wedding bands and engagement rings: Diamonds International.
Priest: Fr Paul McCormack from Downlands College. Tom and I went to school there and Fr Paul was a teacher there. He made the day so special and helped tailor our ceremony so nicely.
Wedding Coordinator: Sam (and sometimes Tom) for most things and Deanne Davey from Gabbinbar Homestead. She was AMAZING!
Decorator: All our little decorations were lovingly made by lovely ladies in our lives: mums, friends, grandmas, my sister… all hands on deck!
Hair: The beautiful, amazing Hayley Ballingall for the bride and Mel Macdonald who did a lovely job for the bridesmaids and Mum.
Hair piece/fascinator or hat: Anna Campbell from The Babushka Ballerina. It was a belt that I thought would make a lovely headpiece.
Bridal party attire: Fiorenza. A big thank you to Pina Fiorenza who let us go to her own home to select the gowns (and an even bigger thank you to my Italian Fairy Godmother Maria Giufre who introduced me to her!)
Make-up: SSGlamour Toowoomba. Sheree did a lovely job!
Flowers: Toowoomba Flower Market. Thank you, Maree!
Stationery: Design Me Pretty. Kara did a beautiful job!
Cake: A Piece of Elegance. Thank you so much, Aliesha for taking a photo we gave to you and making an exact replica!
Entertainment: Treva Scobie. Our musician, Owie was sick and had to cancel 2 weeks out from the wedding. As the agent for Owie, Treva stepped up to the plate and was absolutely incredible on such short notice. Thank you for everything, Treva!
Transport: Hope’s Classic Cars. Thank you for making our traveling throughout the day such a joy! – Videographer: Luke Bickly Studios. Thank you to Luke who was so lovely.
Honeymoon
Hawaii !!
Funniest Moment
Sam- In my dad’s speech he said, “Sam is the princess, Tom you may be her prince but I will always be the King!”
Tom- Jono and Brendan sandwiching Sam on the dance floor.
Favourite Wedding Day moment
Sam- Walking down the aisle to meet Tom. Dad whispered in my ear “I’m so proud of you; this aisle isn’t long enough”. I loved when Dad gave me to Tom. It was a beautiful moment that I’ll never forget.
Tom- Seeing Sam and her dad at the end of the aisle. I was so nervous waiting for her. Seeing my nephew bring down a “Here comes the bride” sign and a note from Sam in his pocket calmed me down but nothing could prepare me for what I felt when I saw her for the first time.
Special thanks to
Our beautiful families who were so helpful with everything wedding related but it goes above and beyond that. They have loved and supported our relationship for the past 8 years and make us feel so blessed and happy every day.
Thank you to our bridal party. Casey, Emily, Zoe, Dan, Kieran and Steve, one of our favourite moments from the day was spending time with you getting our photos taken. Thank you for making our day so special and for being such wonderful friends.
We love you !
In your experience what did you value most about using Ben Clark Photography?
Ben and Michael were so perfect because they were the perfect balance of being organised and directive but also unobtrusive and they captured everything as it happened naturally.
We didn’t want photos that looked posed or staged. We are both so happy that we chose Ben Clark Photography and cannot wait to see some photos!
Advice for other brides-to-be
Sam– Brace yourself for the most beautiful, lovely, overwhelming, amazing day of your life!! I could feel the love in the room and I couldn’t stop looking at Tom, my beautiful husband.
Also, select an excellent venue and vendors. We had such peace of mind knowing that our wedding was in safe hands.
The exceptional team at Gabbinbar was just fabulous and so, so organised. They listened to every little detail that we wanted and executed our ideas so beautifully.
Our cake, flowers, dresses, hair, make-up, cars, music, photographer, videographer… everyone was amazing! Ben and Michael = amazing, amazing, amazing!
Tom– pick awesome photographers and videographers as so much effort is put in to the wedding so it’s worth hiring people who will capture the day perfectly!
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Wow guys what a Wedding !! Just beautiful from start to finish !
It was so lovely to be able to share your day with you, your images are just gorgeous !
So thank you again Sam & Tom for an awesome day !
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Please feel free to leave a comment for our gorgeous couple below
Love it! What a great day, what an awesome couple, let’s do it again!
Wow! These photos capture perfectly one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been to.