Sam + Ryan Proof 5

Sam + Ryan

TEN ACRES, INGLEWOOD, TARANAKI Sam + Ryan

JANUARY 27, 2024

“a love like that makes a man have second thoughts, maybe some things last forever after all”

SAM’S VOWS

I am so grateful to be here with you today, standing in front of everyone we love. You are my sunshine on a rainy day, my inspiration, my safe place and my home.

I love who I get to be around you and for the special moments we have shared and will continue to share. It hasn’t always been rainbows and butterflies but together we make eachother better and we continue to grow and learn each day.

Even when I’m bossy and stressed and way too dramatic you choose to stay, even when you took over my title of favourite child from my dad I chose to stay.

I feel so lucky to have found love with you not only as my soon to be husband but also as my best friend. Each day of my life has meaning because it starts and ends with you.

I love watching you with Lou and that makes me so excited to think about that love and bond with our children one day. We’ve dreamt about where we are right now, I am so excited to see what our future holds from here.

I love you as much as Lou loves peanut butter and as much as you love beer and golf. I promise to love you with everything I am, as best that I can, for as long as I can. With you I feel complete, you are the other half of my heart.

I can’t wait for forever with you by my side.

RYAN’S VOWS

You have made me the happiest man in the world today by agreeing to share your life with me.

I love that you are caring, beautiful, kind, smart and sometimes bossy. I promise to respect, admire and appreciate you for who you are, as well as for the person you wish to become.

I promise to unclog the sink, even though you are the only one with hair.

You’re the person that keeps me smiling and laughing every day.

I have never been more certain of a decision than wanting to spend the rest of my life with you and cannot wait to see what happens for us in the future.

I love you so much Sam

“ they say nothing lasts forever, but they ain’t seen us together”

“so I’ll love ya ‘til my lungs give out, I ain’t lying, I’m all yours and you’re all mine”

SAM’S SPEECH

Thank you all for being here tonight, I thought it was only fitting to start with a story about my lovely Husband before I pass the mic on to him! We all know Ryan loves his beer, his golf and of course hanging with the boys which was pretty clear from the get go. However since we started dating I found out another love that Ryan shares.

As you may have heard it’s no secret that Ryan has taken over my spot of Dads favourite child. Dad always wanted a son, I was a bit of a tom boy and his shadow growing up so I guess that kind of counts but he finally got his wish after 22 years when Ryan came on the scene.

Fast forward to the thick of wedding planning, and Ryan and I are watching Tik Toks of Brides walking down the aisle. You know those lovey dovey ones where the groom is so taken aback by how beautiful his bride is that he sheds a tear. So moving. I was giving old mate the ‘nudge, nudge’ and trying to send some hints his way, as I do with 100% of things in our relationship. But he wasn’t picking up what I was putting down. So I said to him “Hey Ryan when I walk down the aisle do you think you’ll shed a tear when you see me?”. He thinks about it for a moment and he replies with “Yeah I’ll definitely shed a tear but it will be because I see Murf walking down with ya”. That was the defining moment for me. Anyway we will move on from that one, still stings but we’re all good.

After we got back from Raro freshly engaged, Ryan and I got cracking into the wedding planning. Within two weeks of being back we had sorted the date, venue, caterer, photographer and our theme. Fast forward 483 days we have pulled together our dream wedding surrounded by those we love.

However from this experience I do want to offer some advice for anyone who may be planning a wedding:

Number 1 - Make sure you and your partner are on the same page throughout the planning process, or in Ryans case just says yes when I ask him a question I already know the answer to (he isn’t actually paying attention unless we are talking about the alcohol)

Number 2 - Make sure you set a budget with the aim of sticking to it (note: 72 bottles of red wine and 72 bottles of white wine might make you go over said budget, ever so slightly, aye Chris?)

Number 3 - At the end of the day it’s about you and your partner so make sure you create your wedding how you want it. A day full of love, laughter, no stress (which is very difficult for me) and a whole lot of fun was what we had planned and so far today has turned out pretty bloody good. I’m so proud of how far we have come and I’m so grateful for you Ryan.

Thank you all for sharing this special day with us!

RYAN’S SPEECH

Well where do I start about my new wife Sam. We originally matched on a dating app but it didn’t go well as Sam never messaged me back. It wasn’t until our mates happened to get together and we worked out the connection that Sam decided to start talking to me so we could go on double dates.

For our first date of course I had to be the one to drive to Palmy to go see her which happened to be on a week night while my parents were overseas, so I took dads Ute for the free fuel and to show off. I learnt very quickly that if you want to make Sam happy you just give her food. Cheeseburgers and a milkshake must have been the winning combo.

Fast forward a few months it was time to meet the parents and yes I was a little bit nervous but after finding out that Carl likes golf and rugby, I knew that I was gonna be the favourite son in law (sorry Matt).

In that time I had also brought Sam home to meet my parents, she fitted into the family straight away. The best thing was that Mum did all my washing and cleaning up after me and now Sam does. She also doesn’t mind having a cheeky drink with my Dad chatting about fishing, golf and his dream boat.

May 2021 comes along and we got our little princess Lou. Sam seems to love her more than me sometimes, which I don’t know why because she doesn’t have to pick up my poo. Unfortunately we couldn’t have Lou here today as Sam’s dress probably wouldn’t be white anymore.

When I went to ask Carl and Lisa to marry Sam I bought a nice bottle of whiskey. I must have been pretty nervous as just before I gave it to them it slipped out of my hands and dropped on the ground. Luckily it was still in one piece so I reckon that means it was meant to be.

A month later we were planning a holiday to go to Rarotonga with her family so I thought what better place to propose than there. In true Ryan style I left it to the last minute but as they say good things take time. I had the ring with me so that was a good first step then with the help of Ashlee we looked into ideas on where I could take Sam and we finally found the place. A fancy meal then to the beach with her favourite animals around us.

I am so happy that she said yes and look where we are today. Even though we had a few arguments and didn’t agree on some ideas for our wedding I did learn to keep my mouth shut and just nod. I can’t wait to see what the future brings us and I love you so much.

OUR THANKYOU’S

To our parents for helping us make today possible, we appreciate your support, for allowing us to be ourselves, have crazy ideas and create the wedding of our dreams

To our families we are so blessed to have been raised and grown up with you all, we can’t wait to start our own family one day and create precious memories like the ones we have shared

To the bridesmaids thank you for getting Sam here today, you girls look amazing and have done such an awesome job over the past few days helping us out

To the groomsmen thank you for getting Ryan here today and for all your help over the past few days, you all scrub up well

To our loved ones who we have lost, we love and miss you but know you’re watching down on us

To all of our friends we are so blessed to have each and every one of you in our lives, every one of you has played a part in who we are today

To our Aussie family we are so thankful you could make it here today, we know its a busy time of year and are so grateful

To Phoebe and Ian for flying half way across the world, words cannot say thank you enough

To our amazing vendors and helpers who have made today possible your support and hard work has not gone unnoticed. We chose the best people for the job and it truly shows

Let’s all raise a glass for each and every one of you. Thank you and cheers everyone!