| As its January and there have been lots of New Year engagements I thought it would be a nice time to post a wedding blog to give you a little bit of wedding inspiration to all those couples in the midst of their wedding planning! Last week I caught up with Ciaran and Lisa who got married last year. They were a delight to capture...... relaxed, fun and a pleasure to be around! So Lisa.. How did yourself and Ciaran meet? We met at the Med ball in the Rochestown Hotel in Cork when Ciaran and I were both studying medicine in University College Cork. Ciaran was in fourth year medicine and I was in third year. A mutual friend introduced us and the rest is history. That was 8 years ago and we’ve been together ever since. How did you choose your wedding dress? I brought my style guru sister Aislinn all the way up to Kilkenny to the www.folkster.com/bridal-home Bridal Store having previously trawled through many other shops in Munster. The dress was comfortable, relaxed and just felt like me. I loved the cut and how the dress fit perfectly. My dress was designed by Don O’Neill a New York based but Kerry born designer. Tell us about the bridal party wear The grooms suit was tailor made by Magee suits in Donegal. The grooms party suits were hired from Tom Murphy’s on Patrick Street, Cork. I got the bridesmaid dresses online at diydress.co.uk website. I then got them tailored locally in Cork so they fit the girls perfectly. Hair/Beauty suppliers and theme/inspiration I wanted the hairstyles of the bridal party to be bold and unique so I booked Dominika Laureckis from www.hairpassion.ie/ in Cork as the hair stylilst. She is a young kind and talented professional who has a degree in fine art and now owns her own salon in Cork. Caroline Bourke was the make-up artist for the bridal party. Caroline really listens to what you want. I met Caroline many years ago when I attended one of her make up classes that she runs in Cork so I knew I could rely on her to do a fantastic job. She recently won a prize with RSVP magazine as a make-up artist in 2017. carolinebourke.ie Tell us about your ceremony The ceremony took place in Castlegregrory church where I had spent my holidays as a child. The priest Canon Michael Leamy was a close family friend of Ciaran’s family and Cobh and had known Ciaran since he was a boy. As he knew both of us he gave us a really personal ceremony that really spoke to us and the congregation. He was also really calming and settled our nerves!! The wedding venue www.ballygarryhouse.com/ Hotel in Tralee because of the exceptional service and attention to detail that the staff at the hotel provide. Not only is Ballygarry a beautiful venue with stunning wedding reception rooms and gardens it is also a place where people can relax and kick back and really let loose and enjoy themselves, which our guest definitely did until 6am in the morning!!! Are there any other tips/wedding suppliers that you would like to recommend to other couples? Stationary: I got the wedding invitations customised through a seller on etsy who sent me on the pdf of the completed design and used snap printing to print the design. Flowers were from tietheknotweddings.ie/in Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick. Wedding Cake was made by Miss Aisling McDonald Ciaran’s talented sister who works as an ICU nurse but is a talented artist and baker. The Entertainment Tell us about how you entertained your guests through out your wedding reception… The music at the church ceremony was arranged by Beth Ann Lee the best man Eamon Lee’s sister who is a renound pianist and the singing was by Ms Sarah Keane both of Cork School of music. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros “Home” was played by instrumental by Miss Rose Crowley Lisa and Ciaran’s college friend. This really lifted the crowd before we headed out of the church. Noelle Glynn Lisa’s 15 year old sister played “Planxty Irwin” on the flute for the psalm at the mass. There was a trio playing at the wedding reception and the full ocean’s 7 band under the management of Conor O’Brien who is also the lead singer. Our first dance song was Florence and the Machine song “You’ve Got the Love” which was epic if we don’t say so ourselves. Romantic and a floor filler. The Honeymoon We spent 2 and a half adventurous weeks in Japan and sampled the madness and energy of Tokyo, the serene calm of onsen living in Hakone, the mountainous rural culture of Takayama, the Temples and Gyon festival in Kyoto and the dazzling lights of Osaka. Did you stick to your wedding budget? Not really but Ballygarry was very reasonably priced for what they offer compared with some competitor hotels in Munster. We booked them for a BBQ in the Pavilion on the day after our wedding and the food was outstanding this day too and we sung away the night again in the room until about 3am. Not shabby considering that we had stayed up until 6am the night before! Do you have any tips to give other wedding planning couples? Enjoy all the buzz and build up and most of all enjoy the day no matter what hiccups occur. The bride Lisa had a flat tire on the way to the wedding which meant she was nearly an hour late for the church ceremony but it all worked out fine in the end regardless and we had a ball and laughed about it. |
Would you recommend Elaine Kennedy Photography and why?
We chose Elaine because we had seen the beautiful photos of a friend’s wedding where she had captured the Kerry Landscape with some beach pictures. Our friend also recommended Elaine because she was discrete and kind and took natural shots. She did all this and more for us. She even did some background research on our venue and called down to Castlegregory and picked out spots that she thought would be nice to take the photos at. She was really relaxed yet efficient on the day which meant we didn’t waste time taking too many photos and we were still able to enjoy the end of the wedding reception with our guests.
We are absolutely delighted with our wedding photos. We couldn’t have asked for any more. The pictures in the meadow by the beach in Sandy Bay and the pictures at Lough Gill in Castlegregory are our favourite.
I would recommend Elaine Kennedy photography 110%.
We are absolutely delighted with our wedding photos. We couldn’t have asked for any more. The pictures in the meadow by the beach in Sandy Bay and the pictures at Lough Gill in Castlegregory are our favourite.
I would recommend Elaine Kennedy photography 110%.