Zak & Sam - Oak Valley Gardens, Taranaki
Zak & Sam – Oak Valley Gardens, Taranaki
From the moment I met Zak and Sam, I knew their wedding day would be one that I won’t easily forget. They are full of life, so comfortable with each other and people around them, and so beautifully in love that you could feel it in the air. I was real excited for their wedding and I’m equally excited to show you now!
Their wedding at Oak Valley Gardens had all the ingredients of the perfect day — stunning location, incredible people, and the kind of emotional moments movies are made of. Find yourself a husband that looks at Sam the way Zak does. It's the kind of love that’s deep, real, and full of fire.
The most heartwarming vows you’ve heard to the most passionate kiss following a magical couple shoot. I always tell my couples the timeline is a guide on the day and it’s my job to follow it and stay on time. But if we need to change it on the day we can. And this was the perfect example of that. The weather prediction wasn’t favourable for the time where we planned to have the couple photos done so we made the call and shifted a few things around to fit it in earlier. And boy am I glad we did! Not only was the light magical, as we were done going into the reception area the drops started falling! Magical I’m telling you!
By the way - THOSE SLEEVES! Can all brides have optional sleeves please?
And then came the speeches — raw, heartfelt, hilarious — followed by one of the most powerful speeches/songs of the day. Sam’s mum stood up and sang White Wedding from Billy Idol on behalf of Sam’s sister, who had just had a baby and couldn’t be there. Not a dry eye in the room. It was magic. Loud, teary, love-filled magic.
Oh, and just to add to the colour of the day, their wedding day happened to fall on the same day as the Taranaki Multi Ethnic Extravaganza, which meant we had front-row entertainment streaming past the salon while the girls got ready! At one point, I even hopped outside to cheer for South Africa as they paraded by—couldn’t help myself!
This whole day was Bridgerton elegance meets rock & roll - truly and unapologetically them.
Zak & Sam, thank you for letting me in on such a special day - what a privilege it was to capture your love story!
One of the best parts of being a New Zealand wedding photographer is getting to work alongside creative legends like these — the dream team behind Zak & Sam’s wedding:
Dress - Dylins Bridal
Venue - Oak Valley Gardens
Celebrant - Courtney Goldsworthy Celebrant
Highlight Video - Ilumography
Cake - The Cake Diary
Marquee & Furniture - Dobsons Marquee Party Hire
Hair stylist - Vivo Hair New Plymouth
MUA and second shooter - Bonnie Kahui
Catering - BRH Catering
Bar services - Seismic Events
DJ - Sounzgood DJs
