Sam Wood & Snezana Markoski
Ahead of their intimate wedding, The Bachelor’s Sam and Snez explain why tying the knot will be the ‘final piece in the puzzle’
It’s the moment they’ve been waiting for, and as the countdown to Sam Wood and Snezana Markoski’s wedding continues, preparations have hit fever pitch. The excited couple are busy finalising the finishing touches for their special day, which is expected to take place in Byron Bay in the coming weeks – with the Fig Tree Restaurant in the region’s iconic hinterland set to make the perfect backdrop. With its breathtaking ocean views, the lovebirds will finally say their “I dos” in front of their closest family and friends.
Reflecting on their love story, it’s clear that Wood and Markoski are firm believers in the importance of taking a chance on love – and with very good reason. Back in 2015, their lives changed forever when they met on the juggernaut that is reality romance TV. For Bachelor Wood, the Melbourne personal trainer behind online fitness program 28 By Sam Wood, there was something about Perth single mum Markoski that stopped him in his tracks. And life, it seems, has been a wonderful whirlwind ever since.
After Wood declared his love to her in the show’s finale, Markoski moved to Melbourne with Eve, her 13-year-old daughter from a previous marriage. In October last year, Wood and Markoski, both 38, welcomed Australia’s first Bachelor baby into the world – daughter Willow. As besotted dad Wood has said of his now 9-month-old girl: “She’s pretty damn perfect.” Markoski couldn’t agree more, reflecting: “I think Willow’s brought us all even closer together and made us feel even more like a family.”
On an icy Melbourne morning, WHO sat down with the delightfully down-to-earth couple to learn the truth about the wedding rumours, their future baby plans and why they feel truly blessed with the “surprising” turn their lives have taken.
Speculation went into overdrive earlier this year that the couple had secretly married, when Markoski changed her Instagram handle to @snezanawood, but the mum-of-two confirmed “it definitely hasn’t happened.”
“Snez got hacked on her Instagram, which meant she had to come back under a new handle so she is Snezana Wood on Instagram, but not quite formally.”
The couple also spilled on their plans to have a small, intimate wedding. “It’s funny, but when you go through the roller-coaster that we’ve been through, you become even closer with your closest friends and family,” Wood says. “To them, nothing has changed and I think you crave the normality – or we do, anyway. We don’t chase the limelight.”
But that hasn’t stopped the pair from having the one struggle many couples face when planning a wedding – cutting the guest list. “Once you start writing that wedding list … that’s one of the hardest jobs,” says Wood, revealing their nuptials “will be in Byron Bay. It’s in December.”
Like all brides to be, Markoski also has her heart set on the perfect wedding gown. “Pallas Couture are making the dress,” she tells WHO. “We’ve been putting our heads together trying to figure it out and making sure it’s ‘me’.”
Before the duo found out they were expecting baby Willow they had planned to tie the knot in a ceremony in Italy. “It was funny, we were literally about to pay our deposit on a place in Italy, on the Amalfi coast, and said, ‘ We bet when we do this, you’ll fall pregnant’ and we paid the deposit,” Wood recalls, laughing. “We lost the deposit and it’s now a very good story – an expensive good story!”
Recalling the birth of daughter Willow made the loss worth it, welcoming a fourth member to their blended family. “I went for a walk that morning and I got a message from Snez saying, ‘I feel a bit different. I think I should call the doctor,’ ” Wood explains. “So I ran home like a paranoid maniac and Snez was like, ‘Calm down! It’s probably nothing.’ ”
That afternoon their little girl was born. “It was very quick. Right into it,” Markoski says. Revealing he “bawled” during the birth, Wood adds, “Yes, it was au naturel with my hand being crushed into a million pieces!”
The couple were also quick to spill about plans for baby No. 2, saying they’d love another child after the wedding. “Three is a good number,” Wood says, saying the household is already chaotic. “We wouldn’t change it for the world,” Markoski adds.
“We lost the deposit and now it’s a good story!” —Sam Wood