Sara & David by Luke Liable

The beautiful wedding of Sara & David as featured in Issue 15 …

Sara — We’re two small-town kids living in the city. I work in fashion marketing and have a passion for promoting conscious brands, and David’s a filmmaker focused on capturing the most beautiful corners of the world while filming the athletes who explore them.

He was born in British Columbia’s mountains and I was born in its valleys. We met more than 10 years ago in our first class at university. David sat next to me, got us in trouble for making me laugh throughout the lecture, then patiently waited for three years – until I was single – to make his move. When he did, it was magic. I was blindsided, but I never looked at my friend the same way again. I still pinch myself from time to time because I can’t believe I’m with him and it’s this good. David used to travel a ton for work when he was making a name for himself in film, and a couple of years into our relationship, he took a two-year contract based in Austria.

We basically made an agreement at that time to put our relationship second to our careers while we built them separately, and it was the hardest and best thing we ever did. We almost fell apart several times, but in the end, we came out with a more mature love that I’m so grateful for. We got married in my family’s orchard in Okanagan Valley. We had loads of helping hands, which gave the wedding lots of personal touches and made for some amazing memories leading up to the day, as we all prepped together.

My biggest focus with the décor was sustainability, so we did things like foraging for and drying flowers, and choosing decorative pieces that we’d keep for our home. We tried to choose local and conscious brands wherever we could. Not only is that our lifestyle already, but it added a sense of pride and community to our wedding. Funny story: we forgot our marriage licence! Thankfully, we only realised when a handful of us were gathered around my oma’s kitchen table just after the ceremony, so it wasn’t broadcast to our 150-plus guests. It was pretty cute though, because even though we were told it wasn’t a big deal and we could just sign it once we were back in the city, David insisted that we find a piece of paper and have everyone in the room sign it.

We now have this ‘marriage document’ framed in our living room. Our advice to couples intending to spend the rest of their lives together? For every minute you spend planning for the wedding, spend twice as long preparing your relationship for marriage. It’s so much more than a day.

Photography: Luke Liable Bride’s gown: Rime Arodaky Groom’s suit: Indochino Bride’s earrings: Mishky Bride and Groom’s shoes: ASOS Fragrance: Reassembly Veil: Truvelle Ceremony venue: The bride’s family orchard Reception venue: Oliver Parks & Recreation Hair: Sara Burke Makeup: Emma Kate Abrahamson   Bridesmaids’ jumpsuits: Before Anyone Else Bridesmaids’ earrings: Bauble Bar Stacker rings: Low.co Jewellery Rings: Cavalier Gastown  Groomsmen’s shirts: Topman Ringbearer and flower babies’ handkerchiefs: Edith & Rose Flora: Flower Fantasy & Gifts Hire: Okanagan Event Rentals Entertainment: Provided by Friends Cake: Laura Davis Celebrant: Pastor Katrina Vigen