Destination Villa Wedding at Samujana, Thailand

Want some romantic and tropical wedding inspiration? Look no further! This beautiful couple waited a whole three years to tie the knot… who knew COVID weddings were still happening?! It’s been a long road and an epic planning journey for Iris and Tim but they got there in the end and they created a stunning destination villa wedding day that was full of personal details, cultural touches, and lots of fun and laughter. We find out more about their love story and find out just what their wedding photography journey was like with our ECO Wedding Collectives members Liam and Stam of Liam Collard Photography…

The Love Story and Pre-Wedding

After meeting at law school it was a holiday and a brand new activity that secured the start of Iris and Tim’s wedding journey. Whilst on holiday in Okinawa, Japan the proposal was an adventurous one that took place whilst scuba diving for the first time together. For the start of their planning journey they chose to take full advantage of the photograph opportunities with an engagement shoot in Hong Kong. “It was great to meet Liam & Stam before the wedding and to see what a professional shoot would feel like as a newly engaged couple. It allowed us to figure out our chemistry and preferences. Liam & Stam have a great eye for interesting spots that make our photos look dramatic. We had a great time and were able to plan better for the wedding, including our outfits and looks.”

Planning The Wedding

With an original date in 2020 they had a long wait between engagement to marriage “22nd February 2020 was an auspicious date in Chinese culture with many 2s, however, due to COVID, our wedding party was postponed to 25 March 2023. They chose the beautiful country of Thailand to tie the knot “We would highly recommend Samujana, to those who would enjoy a luxury villa experience, we chose a garden chic theme to match the ambiance for the welcome and recovery events, then for the wedding, we wanted a more traditional and elegant vibe with a formal wedding dinner. Our colour scheme matched perfectly and created the look we envisaged”

The Details

For the details of the day the couple worked hard to complement the backdrop and keep their guests comfortable including adding fans to seats to keep them cool “Dreamcatchers Events recommended the flowers and we tried to use more local Thai flowers to suit the tropical vibes but we skipped cake because the weather was too hot! “Our wedding planner worked with GoCatering who were very professional and high-quality and we visited Koh Samui for a menu tasting before the wedding date” Serving mini burgers and local cocktails is always going to go down well in our opinion! . For the entertainment they had a wide range of live artists “BabyFunk was our band, the female vocalist caught our attention and could play a wide range of songs. Jules played the saxophone during the ceremony and dinner. He was great as he walked around the dinner party and made eye contact with the guests.” And, for the special details there was a “champagne tower, fireworks, banana pancake cart for late night snacks.”

Words of Wisdom

“Don’t wait and just do it! If you choose to do a destination wedding at a tropical location, do plan more attentively to make sure your guests are accustomed to the food, weather, insects and transportation. Thailand was quite hot during March and many of our events were held outdoors. Be sure to ask your planner to prepare more fans/portable aircon, cold drinks and towels to beat the heat!

In our experience, weddings are expensive in general. But it’s good to work out a budget you are comfortable with early on. Keep the guest list at a manageable number so that you can have enough time to talk to everyone. We had around 80 people and as Liam advised, it was just the right amount to create a fun atmosphere. Finally, if you have any specific requests or cultural traditions to carry out, it’s best to let your planner know as early as possible!”

The Suppliers – Destination Villa Wedding at Samujana, Thailand

Photography Liam Collard Photography @liamcollardphotography

Videography Videola / Dress Kitty Chen at Mariee Bridal Couture @marieebridal / Groom Suit Browns Tailor @brownstailor / Hair and Makeup Mam Victory @mamvictory / Planner Aey at Dreamcatchers Events @dreamcatchers_events