Tag Archives: ireland

Curiosity & Steampunk Wedding: Amy & Adam

May 9, 2013 in Wedding | Written by Photos by Big Glass Eye Photography

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With steampunk and a contemporary twist on Victorian fashion as their influences, Amy & Adam planned their Glenarm Castle wedding to totally reflect them. They homemade as much as possible and hired tipis that were put up in the walled gardens of their venue for the reception. They had a humanist ceremony which included personal readings by friends, one of which was inspired by quotes from Einstein, Darwin and other scientists and philosophers. Amy designed her own wedding dress and had it made by dressmaker Lynne Gregg. Her shoes were Irregular Choice and her accessories were all DIY.

“We always knew we wanted to have a party that was all about style and fun, and encouraging our friends and family to embrace the idea of the day”, explained the bride. “The laid back atmosphere was the main goal; we felt it was so important to not have an uptight, stuffy, traditional day.”

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“A lot of our wedding was DIY That’s what made it so true to us and although stressful at times (at 1am the morning of the wedding making buttonholes!) it was always our aim to do as much ourselves to make sure our stamp was clearly upon it all. We loved every moment. I particularly remember the afternoon before the wedding organising my dad and his friend assisting me with flower arranging and decorating the tables with strawberries whilst Adam was up a ladder stringing bunting and fairy lights! We decorated the tipis with a customised gramophone, which was a gift from the groom’s cousin who is an art director for films. We also bought duelling pistols, hot air balloon models, birdcages, an antique typewriter and decorated tables with old family photos. We got extra props and help with décor from Grace and Saviour.”

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Budget Bohemian Wedding in Ireland: Rebeka & Gerard

February 27, 2013 in Wedding | Written by Photos by Pawel Bebenca

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Rebeka & Gerard were married in October at The Station House hotel in Ireland. The ceremony was held in the gardens where the couple had set up hay bales covered in blankets for their guests to sit on. They basically homemade everything and spent just €1500 (!) but it was perfect. The bride bought her wedding dress from a charity shop and customised it herself to create a real one of a kind gown. She wore it with a stunning homemade veil and Dorothy Perkins shoes. The bridesmaids wore high street dresses and carried flowers that the bride had arranged herself.

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“Our vintage bohemian wedding was personal and DIY”, Rebeka writes. “We love everything vintage and unusual and we bought that into our day. My advice to other brides would be to collect as much as you can, because everything has a purpose. We made all the bunting and collected the table linen throughout our planning from second hand shops.”

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DIY Irish Wedding with an Outdoor Woodland Ceremony: Noel & Dee

January 30, 2013 in Wedding | Written by Photos by Rubistyle

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Noel & Dee’s Cork wedding had a laid back, bohemian vibe and was held at Ballyvolane House. The ceremony was held outside in the woods. “The owners of Ballyvolane House, Justin & Jenny Green and their wedding coordinator Breffne McKenna organised our ceremony and reception flawlessly”, began the bride. “We didn’t have to worry or think about anything on the day as everything went so smoothly. Even when our celebrant didn’t show up, there was no issue as Justin stood in to conduct our ceremony in the woods. This made it even more special. Our guests didn’t know any different, and just assumed Justin was the celebrant until he came around during the reception with a tray of champagne. Some of the guests commented that we were really getting our money’s worth out of him! We can’t thank them enough for going above and beyond in every way.”

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The ceremony was made even more personal by the musicians who performed, “Music for the ceremony was by my husband’s extremely talented musician friends, Craig O’Neill, Grainne Gormley, Sandra O’Halloran and Karen Jordan”, Dee explained. “They chose the music and I walked up the aisle to ‘Scarborough Fair’. During the hand tying they sang a very old Irish love song called ‘Eileen Aroon’ and we walked back down the aisle to Bob Dylan’s ‘Forever Young’. All of these songs were so beautiful and haunting, it was so special to have them sing for us and we are eternally grateful. As Karen lives in Buenos Aires many a Skype practice session getting their harmonies right happened in preparation.”

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A Dirty Fabulous Circus Wedding: Caroline & Peter

November 5, 2012 in Wedding | Written by

Running her own vintage boutique, Dirty Fabulous, in Dublin, Caroline was in the perfect position to plan her DIY circus themed wedding. She and fiancé Peter knew from the outset that they wanted something fun and unusual, and they had the perfect place in mind to host it. “We go to flea markets at the Dublin Food Co-op building and we always loved it”, the bride began. “It’s not particularly pretty by any stretch of the imagination but it always has a lovely vibe. We were at the market one Sunday and we both said that if we were ever to get married that it would make an awesome venue. It just went from there really, it took me about 6 months to convince the co-op to let us do it and we didn’t have a back up plan if they said no.”

“We did everything ourselves and for about €5000 (with 120 guests!) using props from Dirty Fabulous” she continued. “We started the day with a 1940s girl band, The Bugle Babes, followed by a pre-wedding first dance to Cathy Davey & Neil Hannon singing a duet. Then we got married on stage, my brother dressed as a ring master reading Oscar Wilde, and as soon as we were pronounced husband and wife The Dublin City All Stars, a big brass band, marched in playing Louie Louie. They had never played at a wedding before and they are mostly kids and their parents but they learnt the song for us and it was AMAZING! Everyone went bananas! They then played for about thirty minutes while everyone went crazy. Oh and my husband sang a Fred Astaire song to me during our vows which was awesome.”

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A Simple & Beautiful Irish Wedding: Anna & Mirko

November 3, 2012 in Wedding | Written by

Anna & Mirko wanted a simple wedding with tons of personality. The day was held at Fallon & Byrne, a restaurant in the heart of Dublin.

“We met 12 years ago and we never talked much about marriage until two years ago”, wrote the bride. “I was getting dressed one Sunday morning and we were chatting away when he just came and out and said ‘Do you want to marry me?’ I didn’t realise it was a genuine question and replied ‘Ah yeah why not’. He grabbed me and we start jumping around in a circle laughing. Mirko was shouting ‘We are getting married!’ and I was like ‘Oh Really? Yay!!’ It was so funny and this situation sums us up really.”

“We were so relaxed about the whole situation and just wanted to keep it small with close family and friends”, she continued. “We managed to arrange everything and enjoy the organising stress-free. I think this helped us to get the most out of the day and enjoy every second.”

The ceremony was particularly important to this romantic pair. “The ceremony was held in Fallon & Byrne at 3.30, so everybody was in the room waiting for me at 3pm. I was a little late so didn’t really have to much time to think or get nervous. When I entered the room and looked at Mirko and all our family and friends my heart skipped a beat. It was so surreal and very emotional. It’s a memory I know I’ll never forget. The day went so fast like a dream, we really felt so over whelmed with happiness.”

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A Low Key Belfast Wedding & A Bride with Lilac Hair: Terri & Garreth

October 16, 2012 in British Brides, Wedding | Written by

Ever since working on the Ice Cream Dream shoot, where Elbie wore a lilac wig, I’ve been a little obsessed with this colour hair. If I was ever in the market for a deviation from pink, it might have to be my next move. Anyway so, as you can imagine, I loved Terri, and her wedding to Garreth, just as soon as I saw it.

The day was split into three parts. The first, a ceremony at Belfast City Hall, was followed by lunch at Made In Belfast (who I’ve featured before – remember?) Then for the afternoon celebration and evening party, the wedding moved to The Secret Garden at Filthy McNasty’s.

“Our wedding was about one thing”, began the bride, “and that was Garrath and I having as much fun as possible with our friends and family. I laughed from the very start to the very end. We didn’t have flowers or hire cars. We used Star Wars music for the ceremony. There were no seating plans or formal photos, no cheesy DJ or decorations. We had our reception in a bar, the food was a buffet and there was no top table. We hired a greaser band that played all their own music and everyone had a ball! We did what we wanted to do regardless of tradition – we even went home to visit our dog. I broke my foot during the band, but barely noticed and still danced on tables and moshed all night long! If that’s not Rock n Roll then I don’t know what is!”

Jeez, I hope your foot is OK Terri!

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