My dress was custom-made for me by Luci di Bella. It was such an incredibly special process having it made, with each little detail in the tailoring designed to enhance and perfectly fit my body. Every time I went in for a fitting it was even better on than in my imagination and then wearing it on the day was a dream.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Sascha: I’m 34, originally from Perth and work as a corporate lawyer here in Melbourne. I love food and wine and the Melbourne dining scene, hanging out with friends, pilates and coffee on Saturdays, Taylor Swift.
Sam: I’m 34, originally from Canberra and work in public policy here in Melbourne. Like Sasch I love throwing myself into everything Melbourne has to offer. I’m sports mad, and play in coach in local team for Richmond Central, love my Collingwood Magpies and all the cricket and tennis Melbourne has to offer. I have a significant soft spot for cheezy 80/90s action movies and music.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
Sascha: We met on Tinder in September 2014 in Melbourne. After matching we had a few messages back and forth but it didn’t go anywhere. Then 2 weeks later (I had forgotten about him) Sam messaged me, boosted by his recent football premiership win. I had just started my first law job and suddenly had time in the evenings after working in hospitality until that point, so agreed to meet him for a drink. My first impressions were of course how tall he was, his gorgeous big smile and that there was definitely a spark.
Sam: As Sascha mentioned, high off my recent football premiership win I messaged Sasch to rekindle our chats. We met for a drink after work, and embarrassingly the bar I selected was closed for a private function. I was impressed immediately by Sasch’s confidence in whisking us off to a speakeasy bar just like that. For Sasch, my impression was just how gorgeous, funny and and gosh darn interesting she was. The first date went so well that embarrassingly I had to go to the well to share inane fun facts about Melbourne because I just didn’t want to stop chatting with her.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
Sascha: Maybe a few months in I remember looking over at Sam one morning and just thinking wow, this is really really special, I’ve never felt like this before. Moving to London together years later, we had to depend on each other much more than we ever had and it proved how great a team we are. Particularly being in lockdown together (in London and then back in Melbourne) I think that time proved how we could live through long periods of uncertainty and tedium and come out stronger, as better friends and still enjoying each other’s company!
Sam: There was a couple of markers along the way. The first one was immediately walking home after our first date and feel so overwhelmingly joyous. I may have even broken into a dance listening to Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen as I walked past the MCG heading home. The second was a couple of months later in Sydney sprinting with a friend to get in the bar Sascha was in before being locked out to be able to dance the night away. And the feeling of waking up the next morning waking up in a friends attic together and knowing it was just right.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
Sascha: As soon as the WA borders opened up we booked flights back to Perth to see my family (March 2022). Sam had never been to Rottnest Island before so I booked us a night’s accommodation there. Rottnest is one of my favourite places in the world, I grew up going there for holidays as a kid so it was quite special to show Sam. We went on a big bike ride around the island, and I had an inkling perhaps a proposal was on the cards as he kept asking where ‘the nicest place to watch the sunset was’. After a huge ride we wanted to go for a swim to cool off, but Sam wouldn’t let us stop at any of the beaches with people on it! Eventually, we found Little Armstrong Bay which was small and secluded and we went for a swim. I got out to sit on the towel and take some photos while Sam stayed in the water. He then emerged from the beach (like James Bond) and got down on one knee on the towel, and after saying some lovely words, popped the question! It was perfect.
Sam: Well I had earmarked to propose to Sasch over in WA once the borders opened up. I had this plan to propose at sunset at Cottesloe beach. However, Sascha was very clear she would not be proposed by “ambush” in a public setting. And when I checked out the beach the night before, it turned out Sculpture to the Sea was on with thousands of people so I pivoted to the Rottnest plan.
When we were on the bike ride, I tactically dropped 20 metres behind Sascha on the bikes to scout locations. After finding the right beach we went for a swim at sunset. While I was still in the water, Sasch started taking pictures of the bay and I knew the moment was now. So I emerged from the water, and rustled around in the bag to grab something strategically using the slope of the sand to seamlessly get on one knee. I said a few words, or if you ask Sascha a few hundred words, before asking the question and being overjoyed with the answer.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
Sascha: When we started planning the wedding, the first thing we agreed on was that the guiding principle for planning the wedding would be the word “FUN”, and this translated into every element of the wedding. We wanted it to be colourful, bold and bright. As well as the general styling of the wedding we also wanted to be surrounded by our colourful guests, so on the invitations we had the dress code written as ‘Best and Brightest’, which really set the celebratory tone. It all came together even better than I could have imagined! I was blown away by the flowers – when I finally picked the 3 bridesmaids dresses I sent a photo of the colours to Tamasin from Salt Flower and she used those colours as the base palate for the bouquets (each bridesmaid’s bouquet matched her dress colour), and then the statement flowers on the plinths and the table flowers. We didn’t want to go overboard with the flowers, and the high impact colours went a long way to create the style I had wanted.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
Sascha: Even though we planned the wedding for the height of summer, Melbourne’s unpredictable weather still made an appearance! We had planned an outdoors ceremony in the park, with no Plan B (the deadline for changing it to indoors at our reception venue was a week out, and at that stage the forecast was still nice). It was pouring with rain the day before, and then morning of the wedding it was very rainy and cold. I started to panic at around 1pm when it started hailing! Thankfully by some miracle, not only did the rain clear but the sun came out shining by the time of our ceremony, with a small sprinkle of rain during our vows which we said under clear umbrellas – made for very cute photos!
Sam: Definitely the weather on the day was the one that kept us on our toes, I don’t think I’ve consulted so many weather websites and apps. We were really lucky that we stayed the course, and no one blinked and asked about a plan B. We were super lucky and it only rained for 2 mins while I said my vows. But even that was a bonus as we were under our clear umbrella which gave us our own little bubble.
CEREMONY LOCATION: Fitzroy Gardens, East Melbourne / RECEPTION: Two Ton Max, @two_ton_max / PHOTOGRAPHER: It’s Beautiful Here, @itsbeautifulhere / VIDEOGRAPHER: Lives on Love Street, @livesonlovestreet.duo / CELEBRANT: Megan Jordan, @meganjordancelebrant / ENTERTAINMENT: DJ, Saxophone and Trumpet -DJ Youngnunnzz, @djyoungbunnzz / CEREMONY CHAIRS, TABLES & UMBRELLAS; Wedding Hire Melbourne, @weddinghiremelbourne / FLORA: Salt Flower, @_saltflower / CATERING & BEVERAGES: Refresh Hospitality / REGISTRY: Give with Gravy, @givewithgravy / WEDDING DRESS: Luci Di Bella, @lucidibelladesign / SUIT: YSG Tailors, @ysgtailors / BRIDE’S RING: Misko Jewellery, @miskojewellery / GROOM’S RING: Uniform Black, @uniformblackstore / SHOES: Edward Meller / EARRINGS: The Callie Corp, @thecalliecorp / HAIR & MAKEUP: LoveCo Hair & Beauty, @loveco_beauty / BRIDESMAID DRESSES: Yellow Dress from SWF Boutique, @swfboutique; Orange Dress from Morrison; Fuchsia Dress from Roserry
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