Sam and Benson's Eclectic Bohemian Vintage Love Fest!

Sam and Benson's Eclectic Bohemian Vintage Love Fest!

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Afternoon Gorgeous Peeps,

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

I have been so looking forward to sharing today's beautiful wedding with you. Not only is Sam and Benson's wedding full of gorgeous bohemian style decor that I just know you are all going to love, it is also full of so much love and not just from the bride and groom!

It is clear from reading all about their wedding plans that Sam and Benson are made for each other but what really strikes me about their wedding is the amount of help they received from family and friends to make their dreams a reality. Their gorgeous ceremony arch was handmade with stone by Sam's older brother whilst her youngest did all the venue signs. Their very cool floating cake table was made by their fathers and their mothers helped make the sangria, bake the cakes, plant succulents in hand painted pots for the favours and organised the ceremony feasting table. It doesn't stop there either! The night before the wedding, all of Sam's bridesmaids helped to make the gorgeous flower crowns that they all wore on the wedding day as well. This was a wedding where the nearest and dearest all mucked in making it all the more personal for everyone involved.

With gorgeous photography by Carly Brown and a beautiful video by Roost Film, this wedding is definitely one for the inspiration bin.

Get ready to get your pin on!

Sam and Benson tell us all about it:

Benson: It was a dark and stormy Friday afternoon and before Sam had gotten home from work I ran down to the timber deck on the beach outside our unit and set up some candles in brown paper bags all around. Before we went out to dinner I told Sam I wanted to have a cider on the deck before we went. It was raining so she didn't want a bar of it but I coaxed her into it with my usual charm! As we got to the deck Sam saw the candles partly lit in the soggy brown bags and I'm sure she knew what was going to happen but she didn't and just thought it was the cutest gesture. I told Sam she was my everything and got down on one knee and I remember seeing the biggest smile combined with tears of utter happiness. We then did our best impersonation of The Notebook with a kiss in the rain! After it all I pointed out to Sam I had organised my best mate Zac to photograph the whole event while he was hidden in a van across the road, so we received some pretty special moments on camera.

Sam: My dress was custom made by Pallas Couture, Sydney and it was just ME. As soon as I stepped into Pallas Couture, I knew that there would be something in there for me.

I was able to custom make my perfect dress and it was everything I wanted. I describe it as a whimsical, romantic, bohemian womanly gown. I felt like a true woman, it hugged me in all the right places and never before had I embraced my curves so much.

It was an off the shoulder ¾ sleeved fish tail gown with a lot of lace features on the bodice, back and throughout the skirt. The lace detailing was amazing and I didn't need to wear much else with it as it was mind blowing. It featured sheer lace panels through the dress.

My mum and I made my veil, I was obsessed with Juliet caps so after hours of practice we made the perfect one with lace trimming all of the way around. It was a special piece as we made it together.

I later changed into a flower headpiece that my beautiful bridesmaids and I made the night before the wedding. It wasn't your standard crown instead it almost looked like my hair was dripping in flowers- I felts like a goddess- can we do it all again?

My look was complete with soft boho curls pinned to one side, minimal natural glowey makeup and deep blush lipstick.

I wore Samantha Willis vintage inspired earrings and my Grandmothers blue sapphire ring which she gave me before the wedding.

My girls got to choose their own dresses and accessories. They all chose dresses in blush and ivory tones from Free People and ASOS. We also stayed up the night before with wine in hand making flower crowns for each other to wear on the day. It was magic.

Benson: I'm so blessed to have a wife who has a gift of knowing what I want when I don't. I knew I wanted to wear something different but also something that represented me and when Sam suggested a Dark Burgundy velvet jacket I knew straight away that that's what I had always dreamt of but I just didn't know it.

We found The Black Label suits in Paddington Sydney. They tailored the jacket to perfection and matched it with navy pants and a slim fit white shirt. Jumble Culture was the creative gem behind my bow tie. She sent through some patterns she thought would go well and again Sam helped me match a gold/navy/red pattern that complimented my jacket. I wore a pair of brown shoes I got off of ASOS and a brown belt I got from MYER. My mum bought me an amazing Daniel Bennington watch and to top it all off my wedding ring featured antler bone and meteorite.

The jacket of course was what I loved most about my look, which I would say was a kind of luxe/vintage/edgy mix and I couldn't have been more stoked with how it all came together on the big day.

We were married on my parent's farm. The scenery is just so beautiful out there with rolling mountain ranges, fields and lush green forests and farmland, and we tried not to over complicate it with over styling.

My brother handmade a stone arch for us to get married under, matched with eclectic Moroccan and Indian rugs as our aisle, old church pews from the local hall and the rolling mountains of the farm, it was perfect. Our guests enjoyed nibbles of big antipasto platters and homemade sangria made by our mums giving our guests a homely feel which was really important to us.

We had a local acoustic two-piece band called ' The Altais ' playing as guests arrived. They played a mix of songs that we selected and with Benson and I being massive music fans opted for different songs that we loved.

I walked down the aisle to The XX - Angels, we signed our wedding certificate to The Paper Kites - Bloom and were pronounced Husband and wife to Crystal Fighters - You & I and our first dance was an acoustic version of "my Guardian angel" by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Music was one the parts to the day we both wanted to make sure represented us as it plays such a big part in our lives.

Everything just fell into place; it really did become an eclectic bohemian vintage love fest.

We had our reception at the Tyalgum local town hall (across the road from Sam's primary school). The hall was built in the early 1900's and it has so much history and character, we were able to transform it into our vision and it just exploded with warmth and love. The wooden timber floors, high ceilings and balcony made the perfect blank canvas for us to make our own.

Outside on the grass we set up an array of vintage/bohemian styled furniture and rugs, 2 timber doors with the seating charts attached, an old timber bar from the farm that Benson refurbished and hanging Moroccan lanterns. Canapé's were served outside as our band " The Altais " played tunes and it was magic.

Inside we had long tables filled with vintage vases of copper, cut glass and silver goblets. Flowers galore and festoon lighting sprawled across the roofs.

We looked for months for a wedding venue that we both got that 'oh this is the one feeling', as soon as we walked in and that's exactly what we both felt at the Tyalgum hall. Sam grew up in Tyalgum so it was literally under our noses the whole time. The hall was pretty much a blank canvas that we were were lucky enough to be able to do anything we wanted to so with the breathe taking high exposed timber rafters combined with the polished timber floors we knew with a little TLC and Sam's magic touch it would be everything we had dreamt of. It was also across the road from the cricket field where we set up our guest's tepee accommodation which meant at the end of the night any stummblers didn't have far to go so it just worked out perfectly.

We had an amazing Tepee Forrest for our guests to stay in. It was across the road from the reception (where guests stayed) on the school oval (my primary school). The guests came and dropped their stuff as everything was 'glamped' up for them ready to sleep in style under the stars.

Sam: When we started to plan our day, all I knew is that it had to reflect us. We wanted an eclectic bohemian, vintage love fest. I grew up on a hippie farm and we both had done a lot of travelling and were lovers of collecting pieces from around the globe aso we wanted our day to be a celebration of everything we love with all of our loved ones.

I was pretty obsessed with collecting brass, copper and silver vases and had way too many crystal cut glasses for a normal persons home! Teamed with my love for bohemian furniture and Shibori, I actually didn't know where to start. With so many ideas running through my head I decided to strip it all back and select the items I just had to have. We went with Shibori, mood lighting, brass, crystal cut glass and deep wild florals with lots of greenery.

As a budding florist I was drawn to the deep coloured burgundy floral's so this was my starting point. I knew I wanted loads of whimsical 'wild' flowers and greenery in my day so I made this a major focus. We had a lot of deep garden roses, mottled green hydrangeas, delphiniums, dahlias in rich burgundy, amaranths and textural features of brunia, snow berry and sholtzia. We were able to cut all of the greenery from the farm so we created an amazing canopy installation over the bridal table with festoon bulbs and a massive fence panel installation on the stage.

Our hand dyed Shibori napkins, raw crystal table numbers, candle lights, mood lighting and our bridal tepee and guest Tepee accommodation topped it off.

Benson: The style was a mix of stylish bohemian & rustic fun country. To be honest, Samantha was the entire brains and visionary behind it all! It honestly amazed me how she put her vision into reality. I just helped construct and build what I could. I still remember the day she suggested to me that I'd look awesome in a burgundy velvet jacket and I thought to myself "nup she's lost it, the wedding crazies have taken over" but low and behold when I went into the Black Label Suits and trusted in her idea it turned out to be perfect and everything I had dreamed and just proved to me how well Sam knew me. So then when Sam told me she wanted a hanging cake wrapped in vines at our wedding I didn't argue once because I knew her dream and vision was going to be everything I had always dreamt of, I just didn't know what that was yet!!

We both absolutely love the feasting style menu and love how it brings everyone together so we designed our menu with that in mind. Our menu consisted of roaming canapés on the lawn under the stars with the likes of arrinchi balls and stuffed zucchini's followed by a feasting menu of: Porcini & wild mushroom baked risotto with frizzled basil and herb crust, a salad of pear walnut & shaved fennel, prosciutto wrapped chicken with gorgonzola & sage stuffing, traditional panzanella salad and slow roast Greek lamb served with a warm chickpea mint salad. We had a selection of home made nibbly deserts as well as a cake that was hanging from the ceiling on a slab of timber.

Benson: The whole day itself was the best day or my life and every moment was just perfect. But if I had to pick one specific moment it would have to seeing Sam in her dress for the first time as she walked down the aisle with her Dad. I know that's probably the most common answer but it simply is the most powerful moment seeing the girl you love look so beautiful and be so happy in the moment surrounded by all our family and friends.

Sam: This is a hard one. Other than the moment we said 'We Do' and I got to pash my husband. It was probably our first dance. We had just had the most amazing dinner and meal and it topped it off. I looked into his eyes and just knew that our lives together were going to be our perfect. Everyone else joined us on the dance floor and we partied the night away with Espresso Martini's in hand.

Benson: What made our wedding that much more special was how much both our families helped bring our vision to life.

One Saturday out at the farm both our parents helped Sam tie-dye 150 napkins in a day.

Our mums were amazing, from making Sam's veil, baking all the desert treats, growing and potting all the succulents into pots that Sam and I made and painted, organising the ceremony feasting table and homemade sangria and just helping out wherever we needed it was simply magical seeing our family come together for us.

Our Dads did their fair share also, they made the hanging cake setup, mowed and manicured the farm grounds and did enough lifting and moving to last a lifetime.

Sam's brother Michael made all the direction signs for our guests and her older brother James is the mastermind stonemason who constructed the stone arch.

One of my favourite ideas Sam had for our wedding day was to round up photos of all our families on their wedding day and set them up on an old piano in the hall, it was simply awesome and such a beautiful way to show our family how much they mean to us.

Sam:- Our day wouldn't have been anything without the help of our loved ones. Mum and Dad were so generous with allowing us to have it on the farm. They kept the flat where we got married and where our guests stayed in our tepee village mowed and green.

My oldest brother James made us a stone arch to get married out of, with stones from the farm. We got married under this arch and it will now permanently stand on our family farm for the rest of our lives.

My other brother Michael handmade all of our direction signs to the farm and tepee village. Our dads whipped up the hanging cake device.

Mum made my veil and garter as well as the nibbles and sangria post the ceremony. Bensons mum Sue made our entire dessert table of petit fors with all our favourite desserts- YUM.

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