Our dog filmed our wedding
Sam’s four-legged friends played a special part in her big day
When I first set eyes on Reece, my heart skipped a beat. His golden blond hair and deep brown eyes left me breathless.
It was definitely love at first swipe!
Trying out a dating app last year, it was just meant to be a bit of fun. But I could tell Reece, 26, was something special.
‘You look even better in person,’ he flirted when we met for a drink.
‘You’re not too bad yourself,’ I grinned back.
After that, we fell in love hard and fast.
It turned out we were both vegan and adored animals.
‘I’ve always dreamed of opening my own animal shelter,’ Reece confessed one evening.
‘That’s been my dream since I was a little girl!’
I said, excited.
Then, just three months after we met, Reece asked me to marry him.
‘Of course I will!’ I beamed.
Our house soon became a home when we began adopting animals.
Every time we visited the pound, we came back with a rescue pet.
‘We can’t just leave him here!’ I’d plead, after another gorgeous pooch sucked me in with their sad eyes.
Eventually, we ended up with four dogs and eight cats!
Happier than ever, we were so excited about getting married.
We didn’t want an extravagant wedding. We wanted it to match our style – simple, down-to-earth and fun. And what was the point of shelling out thousands of dollars for one day?
We wanted to save our money and use it for our big dream of opening an animal shelter. So, we budgeted everywhere we could.
By the time we married in February this year, we’d organised the whole special day for just $3000. My $100 wedding dress was simple but elegant, and our 50 guests were delighted with the $300 worth of booze and pizzas.
But the best way we kept our costs down was by enlisting the help of our four gorgeous dogs!
Our nine-year-old Great Dane cross Kiara joined my stepdad, Paul, in walking me down the aisle. Rema, a husky, was our bridesmaid and Rocket, a border collie, made a proud groomsman.
Rema the husky was my bridesmaid
The really exciting part was our 11-year-old border collie George, who acted as our chief videographer!
‘Are you ready, baby?’ I asked, strapping a GoPro to a harness on his back and hitting record.
His dog-eye view of our wedding melted our hearts.
Even though he’s deaf, George did a wonderful job capturing the essence of our special day. There were shots of us all laughing and our guests cooing over him.
‘This will be something to treasure for the rest of our lives,’ I grinned to Reece.
Instead of gifts, guests donated to our shelter.
It meant everything to us that our dogs were a part of our day. They also joined us on our honeymoon, travelling along Australia’s east coast. We wouldn’t have it any other way!