Sam + Isabel by Flames in Frame

This wedding is to celebrate the love between you

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love… 

We are both in our late twenties and returned home in late 2024 after spending time living overseas together. We love design, the sunshine, and natural wine. Sam is a runner, and on the weekends you can find him doing ultra marathons or sailing with his mates at the yacht club. You can find Isabel at pilates and getting coffee afterwards with the girls; on a Saturday evening, we often make dinner together or try a new restaurant. In the summer, we love being close to the water and making the most of living close to our favourite beach. Sam loves cooking, which is perfect because Isabel loves to eat whatever Sam is cooking. Together, we are in partnership; we have full lives outside of our relationship, which has always been important to us since we got together so early in our lives.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions? 

We met on the steps at the front of our school in year 9, and finished high school together as best friends. We continued our friendship through university and finally shared our first kiss in our early twenties. We have been joined at the hip ever since; one of the most beautiful things about being with each other for so long is that we have grown together. Sometimes at different paces, but we have always been working towards the same goals. To be ourselves, and happy within our relationship. I love the version that exists between us, and that we have lived so many lives along the way. 

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

We planned to elope almost 18 months in advance, which gave us a lot of time to think about what we felt was best to reflect us in a wedding celebration. 6 months out, we held meetings each month at our favourite cafe, AP Bakery, just around the corner from our house. We drank coffee and shared pastries while choosing our vendors, sharing creative invitations and inspiration from florists around the world. Our advice would be to do what feels right for you, and don’t feel the pressure of tradition. This wedding is to celebrate the love between you, and it should be specific to you as a fair.

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

We chose to have a lunch with our mums, and our grandmas (sorry, brothers + dads!) after the ceremony at one of our favourite eateries, Cams Kiosk in Abbotsford, which has sadly just closed its doors. We loved their pared-back menu, with fresh produce and a beautiful selection of natural wine. Service is always great, and we appreciated it so much on our wedding day. Tirion was our photographer, and we were so thrilled to have met her. From our initial consultation, we felt like she understood us and we were comfortable and aligned.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?

Sam chose Belancé as his tailor to bring his vision and style to life in his suit. A classic black tuxedo, with an oversized bowtie. He loved the unique double breast and integrated waistband. He chose to make fish cufflinks with the help of his mum, to represent his love for the sea. Sam paired his classic suit with loafers, which have blue detailing as our something blue. Isabel worked with Hol from Perple for almost two years; we first met over Zoom while we were living overseas. We called to review swatches and shapes with Pinterest inspiration. The vision of the dress changed when we met for the first time; she is an incredible atelier, and this dress was bespoke. We wanted to keep it oversized, so I could be comfortable on my wedding day and also feel confident. Hol stitched our initials on the inside, and selected a pearl as my signature button on the back. I paired my very short dress with Chanel heels I bought from Vinted while we were living overseas. My veil was very special, an heirloom passed from my grandmother to my mum, and then to me. There were so many layers of tulle that had been crushed over the years; we tried to salvage it for a longer veil, but it was difficult to sew the pieces together. Instead, we chose to pleat the heirloom veil on the edges of a long piece of organza silk, pairing the old with the new. This was incredibly special to me, and Hol made every small detail come to life.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

Sam’s mum is a talented jeweller (Jeni Danks Jewellery), and she created all of our rings, which was very special. Our rings are all one-of-one, wax moulds created by us, with our fingerprints all over. We chose to both have matte rings which will eventually shine with time. She was a dream to work with, and we are both so grateful to have shared the process with her.

What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

We invested in our wedding rings, knowing we will be keeping them forever and hope they will be an heirloom to our family in the future! Although we didn’t invest a lot, our flowers were really important to us. We chose to venture to the closest fancy supermarket, and chose flowers that we had seen pop up in a few retail stores that week. We loved the process of making the bouquet in the morning, and as a Virgo, Isabel got the exact flowers she had envisioned!

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

Surprising our Grandmothers was beautiful, and we are so lucky to have had them join us. We invited them to lunch at high tea, knowing they would both dress up and while both of our mums arranged to get there a little early, they stalled at the front of the town hall. To their surprise, Sam and I walked around the corner dressed ready for our wedding. It had been raining for the past 3 days, and it completely cleared for our reunion. Having our grandmothers as our witnesses is such a privilege and a special moment they share, and we now share together.

What does being married mean to you, and are there any special rituals you have that you would like to share?

Marriage to us is a partnership between two people who are choosing to move through life together with love. It means loving each other in the moment, and in all of the future decisions to come. One of the rituals we have included in our routine since being married is curling up in our front room and sharing a jug of coffee in the morning sun. We are both on different schedules during the week, and it has been important to create time to be present with each other while everything else is moving.