“I remember walking down the aisle and just thinking wow how amazing is this?!”
The Couple: Katie O’ Toole and Sean Kinsella
Length of engagement: 14 months | Wedding date: 1st November 2013
Wedding venue: Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort Blessington Co. Wicklow
Photographer: Art Wedding Photography – www.artweddingphotography.eu
We met… I had been away in Galway for the May bank holiday weekend to celebrate my friend’s birthday and to finish off the weekend in style we all decided to go to the local nightclub – little did I know I would meet my future husband that night ha ha.
Our proposal… Sean asked me to go for a walk in the park, I wasn’t pushed about the idea but eventually gave in and Sean, myself and our little boy Mason and the dog went off for a walk in the park. I was walking ahead pushing the pram and Sean called me, I didn’t even look but just said Sean “come on”, he called me again and I turned around to see him down on one knee in the park asking me to marry him and of course I said YES.
His suit… Sean’s suit was bought in Moss Bros in Liffey Valley. He chose to go with a slim fitted grey suit and wore it with a dusty pink shirt with a grey dickey bow and brown Ted Baker shoes.
My hair and make-up… Choosing people to do the hair and make-up was actually a really easy decision for me. My make-up artist was a girl I used to work with Charlotte Goodwin, she used to do my make-up all the time for nights out, parties, any event I would be going to and I was always so happy with how my make-up looked I knew she was the only girl I would be happy with doing my make-up on my wedding day. Charlotte was also assisted by the lovely Amy Finlay. The hair was done by the amazing Kathleen Riordan who happened to be one of my bridesmaid’s sister-in-law. Kathleen worked miracles on the day of the wedding making people with no hair look like they had huge full heads of hair and did everything exactly how we wanted it “BIG BIG BIG”. I was so happy with how my vintage bridal hairstyle looked on the day. Thanks girls!
My dress… I bought my dress in a shop in town, it actually happened to be the same dress shop my mum had bought my communion dress in over 16 years ago – Alexanders Bridal. I originally had a different dress in mind for my wedding but when I tried it on, it just didn’t look finished so the lady in the shop suggested I try on the “Maggie Sottero Adalee”. I fell in love straight away the fishtail shape, the lace material and the sweetheart neckline and the dipped back was just “PERFECT” exactly what I had always wanted. I had to have it.
Our wedding theme/colours… Our idea was to go for a very vintage look. The colour scheme was grey and pink for the clothes and then the decorations were a mix of vintage colours and patterns.
Our ceremony… We chose to have a civil ceremony because we thought it would be far more intimate for ourselves and our family and friends. The room was already such a beautiful room with a huge American style window overlooking the lakes. We chose to dress the room using vintage flower balls and giant candle stands to line the aisle and also had a cream carpet going up the aisle with white petals sprinkled all over it. The lady from the company I rented them from dressed the room and she did an amazing job. I remember walking down the aisle and just thinking wow how amazing is this?!
What our bridal party wore… The guys wore suits similar to the groom. Their suits were also bought in Moss Bros but they wore crisp white shirts and skinny grey ties and also wore brown shoes. The little boys wore grey trousers, white shirts, braces and dusty pink converse. The bridesmaid’s dresses were Ronald Joyce and were bought in the shop I bought my dress. We decided after trying on a few dresses that it would be best for the girls to go with different styles as they all like different styles. The flower girls dresses were ivory, fitted at the top and kicked out at the end with petals in the netted material and their shoes, cardigans and tights were all dusty pink to tie them in with the bridesmaids.
We chose our photographer because… I knew Sebastain (Art Wedding Photography) because I worked with his wife. I chose him to photograph our wedding as we had already gone to him to have family portraits done and his work was amazing and we were so happy with the result. Sebastian’s work is always done to such a high standard, he is very professional and confident in his work which I think is really important. He captured our wedding perfectly – every little detail was captured to treasure as precious memories forever. I would highly recommend him to other couples for their wedding day.
We chose our venue because… We chose Tulfarris in Blessington because of its amazing setting looking out over the lakes and the beautiful views of the Wicklow Mountains. The hotel had everything we were looking for, a beautiful setting within short commuting distance from Dublin for our guests and a nicely decorated reception space for our wedding that would fit in with our vintage theme. Tulfarris was perfect from the ceremony area to the pretty courtyard, the large reception room and the amazing views, we knew this was the perfect location for our big day.
We chose our wedding coordinator because… Throughout the year leading up to the wedding we dealt with a lovely lady Lillian who was brilliant, she really helped us with all aspects of the wedding planning and answered all our questions about the wedding very efficiently. On the day of the wedding Derek was the man who looked after everything, he was amazing. He sorted out absolutely everything that needed to be done and was so professional in his manner and his handling of all details during the day.
Our menu… We had a chicken and mushroom vol-au-vont to start followed by spiced tomato soup and our main was a choice between salmon or beef. The desert was profiteroles covered with warm chocolate sauce. The food was delicious, I don’t think there was an empty plate left in the room.
My favourite part of the wedding day… It is so hard to pick a favourite part of the whole day, everything was so perfect and really just so amazing. If I really had to pick one part of the day I think it would be from the moment we were declared husband and wife and then walking back up the aisle towards all of our guests. It was just so exciting to finally be Mrs. Kinsella….
Our honeymoon… We decided to go to New York for our honeymoon because we have always wanted to visit the city. We wanted our honeymoon to be somewhere really magical and a holiday we would never forget. When we were there we went to see The Lion King on Broadway – it was absolutely out of this world, a must see for anyone who is visiting NYC. We spent a lot of time shopping, got some great bargains and most importantly we bought my wedding band there, I love it.
My piece of advice for other brides… I would definitely advise them to do their research. 1. Have a contingency budget – things will always cost more than you originally budgeted on. 2. I would highly recommend Pinterest as a way of collecting pictures and ideas of the things you like. 3. Get a great photographer. Ours captured elements and emotions of our day we hardly noticed and once it is all over those photographs are the only real lasting memory. 4. Work out what is most important to you and get that right and the rest will fall into place. You really do get back what you put in. The week leading up to the day, myself and some family members spent hours making wedding menus, bow napkins, making our signing board and table plan all in individual frames – but seeing it all come together was the best feeling ever. It was completely worth it. 5. Have a time table and list of things to do for the morning of the wedding, this will help you to be organised and prepared. 6. Finally try to relax and just enjoy your day, it goes by so fast so enjoy every last minute of it.
