OUR DREAM DAY
Inside James Stewart and Sarah Roberts’ fairytale wedding
James Stewart & Sarah Roberts 23.07.19
‘I’m in a daze, still. I’m on cloud nine.” James Stewart exhales. It’s a few days since the Home and Away star married his long-term partner and co-star Sarah Roberts on July 23 in Ireland. Choosing Luttrellstown Castle as their special spot, the couple lived out their fairytale dream.
The now husband and wife are waking up together bright and early in Ireland to share all the details exclusively with WHO, and even though they’re exhausted from a life-altering week, their joint excitement is palpable down the phone line.
“I wanted it to be a celebration of love and the important thing for us is for our families to come together and for us all to be together and everyone to just have an enjoyable time,” Sarah, 34, shares, before James, 43, adds: “We could have easily gotten married under a tree by some water or on a property up in the hills; anywhere! But this has been magic.”
Living in Sydney but hailing from different parts of Australia, (James is from the Gold Coast and Sarah is from Melbourne), choosing Ireland for their wedding may seem like an unusual choice. But as the couple reveal, Ireland is sentimental to them for several reasons. James has Irish ancestry but for Sarah, the connection is even closer to home. Her brother Karl De Abrew lives in Dublin, but due to health issues, was unable to fly anywhere, so they brought the wedding to him. “My brother lives over here. He’s not able to fly at the moment because of health reasons. And my mum’s over here at the moment as well,” Sarah explains.
“Jimmy and I wanted to get married within a year after he proposed. And when we decided to get married in Ireland, [we knew] we’ve got two production breaks at work. Either July or December. December is going to be really cold in Ireland, so we thought July would be perfect and actually it was! It was 25 degrees the day we got married, which is really unusual for Ireland at this time. They were all running around saying it was a heatwave!”
From how they organised the wedding of their dreams in two months, to James’ daughter Scout’s important role on the big day and their plans to expand their family, the newlyweds share every little detail.
So take us back. When did you start planning the wedding?
SARAH: To be honest, we only started planning two months before the wedding. It was a very quick turnaround. But in retrospect, I think it was good because we just got everything done. I still got nervous and things like that but it didn’t really give us time to think about being nervous. We just got into action mode and made everything happen.
How did you find the castle?
JAMES: There were a few options. The castle is called Luttrellstown Castle. It’s not too far out of Dublin. There are castles and history all the way through Ireland and the United Kingdom but this one was really beautiful. The grounds are amazing, so it was quite a fairytale on the day. It was almost Shakespearean. We had the castle to ourselves, all 20 bedrooms, and we had kids running up and down hallways and mothers playing 100-year-old Steinway pianos, and things like that. So, it was breathtaking.
SARAH: Seeing pictures and then actually turning up at the castle and seeing the flowers and the dresses and the suits – everything kind of turned out exactly the way we planned it. Another fun little fact – the Beckhams got married at the castle 20 years ago!
JAMES: We were up against the clock on this one and we’re both quite secular and spiritual and churches just weren’t kind of on the page for us. So when the castle came up it was a no-brainer. I think every boy wants to marry a princess in a castle. I got to do that!
How did you feel on the morning of the wedding?
SARAH: I just got so nervous when you asked me that question. I went back to the morning of it and I was so nervous. You wouldn’t think that you would feel like that but it kind of snuck up on me. But, the morning of it for me … I was staying in a hotel really close to the castle with my girlfriends. One of the makeup artists from Home and Away is actually living in the UK now and she flew to Ireland to do my hair and makeup and my sister’s hair and makeup. My sister [Lauren] was my only bridesmaid. We had breakfast and I went for a walk in
the morning to get my thoughts. I came across two swans. Jimmy and I, we often talked about how swans … What did we say about them?
JAMES: Black ones particularly only choose one partner for life.
SARAH: Then we made our way to the castle, had some prosecco and listened to music and then I guess the nerve-racking part was going downstairs and waiting to walk down the aisle. And putting my veil on and waiting in the wings with my brother, and the flower girls and my sister. And then the string quartet started and my brother walked me down the aisle. We had a really great spiritual celebrant and she told us that Jimmy and I should lock eyes with each other and only each other because we’re walking towards a new life together. And all of the people in the room are people that have supported us through our life to get to this moment. But now we are creating a fresh life, just the two of us together. And I really felt that on that day. Then I walked towards my new life with Jimmy.
Were you crying by this point? JAMES: I was! There is no other moment like it in your life. I can’t compare it to any moment I’ve ever had. She was the most stunning thing I had ever seen in my life. Who else was there on the big day? SARAH: It was really intimate. There were only 25 guests. It was our closest, immediate family and a sprinkling of our closest friends. There were people that couldn’t make it because of the quick turnaround and how expensive it is to get over there. We’re going to have a celebration back home.
JAMES: We’ll probably have it in early spring. Because we’ve just done the big marriage here in Europe. But back in Australia we’ll have a big celebration over in the Eastern Suburbs [of Sydney]. Get one of those big bowls clubs or something and turn it into a big disco. Something fun!
Jimmy, your daughter Scout was a flower girl. How did she feel on the big day? JAMES: Scout was a really special flower girl. Honestly, she’s been so supportive of us since the beginning, longer than anyone. She and Sarah have been best friends for at least a year and a half. Often times Scout will be the one to say something before we actually kind of approach the idea. Scout will bring up, “When are you getting married? When can she put on a veil, Dad?”. Or, “Sarah, when are you going to give me a brother or sister?”.
So your wedding must have meant everything to her then?
JAMES: Yes. She was so, so delighted to be a flower girl and to put on her outfit and help Sarah. I do know that she was so helpful that she offered to brush Sarah’s teeth in case Dad wanted to kiss her on the day [Laughs]. So yes, she’s extremely happy. And extremely happy to have this new beginning and to start our new little family. Her wishes came true!
So if Scout is already asking for sibling – is this on the cards?
SARAH: Well, we’ve been practising! [Laughs] Sorry! No, but 100 per cent, we’d love to add to our family. But I don’t think you can rush or plan for that. There’s so many factors that go along ... And we’ll just go, it will happen when it will happen and it will be very special.
And Scout will be so excited!
JAMES: Oh my lord, she’ll be over the moon! And she’ll be a great helper. She’s going to be the best big sister.
And Sarah, how did you choose your dress? SARAH: I wanted to feel like a real bride because it’s the only time in my life I’ll get to do this, hopefully! Alin Le’ Kal designed my dress. I had two dresses. I had one for our ceremony and then another one for our reception. My first dress was an extremely fitted, white, pearly, beaded gown with some Swarovski crystals sprinkled through. It was sheer in some parts. It was very feminine, I thought. I decided to wear the veil over my face to the ceremony and then my brother took it off when we got to Jimmy. And then for the reception, I wore my grandmother’s silk wedding dress, which I had altered to make it a little bit more modern. I made Jimmy a matching pocket square out of the same silk.
And Jimmy, how did you feel in your suit? JAMES: It was very special, that suit. My suit was from Wil Valor. Mark Ferguson tailored it for me perfectly. He made me so comfortable. You know how comfortable he made me? He added two little buttons for me in case I may have eaten a bit too much! It was such a sharp looking suit. I felt dashing.
SARAH: He looked like a prince. He looked so handsome!
How do you feel now?
JAMES: The last three months, I’ve heard all the clichés. But it’s not until you’re right there that the clichés make sense. I said in my speech at our reception, “She makes me a better man.’’ When you find the person, it’s not the person that you want to be with, it’s the person that you can’t be without. And it’s the culmination of all the great things that they do, like making you laugh, making you cry, making you understand something bigger than yourself, the way they kiss you. But all of that adds up to me just becoming a better man, a better father, a better son, a better friend. It’s because of Sarah. Everything elevates because of her.
SARAH: We’re a unit now, not that we weren’t before, but our wedding solidifies everything. I can picture Jimmy and me together forever now.
SHE MAKES ME A BETTER MAN, A BETTER FATHER, A BETTER SON, A BETTER FRIEND.” - James