A Sweet, Chic Wedding at The Millhouse Slane by The Fennells

Real Weddings

“…finally the wait is over as you walk up that aisle and it’s reality; YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED!!!”

The couple: Kathleen & Gary Craig
Length of engagement: 16 months | Wedding date: 4th June 2015
Wedding location: The Millhouse, Slane, Co. Meath

Photographer: The Fennells

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We met… Myself and Gary met when I began working in a sports shop in the city centre when we were back in college. We started as best of friends and hit it off straight away although over a couple of months, romance blossomed!

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Our proposal… After nine years together, a seven year old child and a mortgage, I thought I had my lot. Marriage started to seem off the radar. Until one day arriving home from work distracted, I bypassed all the rose petals and candles up the stairs to the bedroom. I walked straight into the kitchen sorting out something to eat and doing some cleaning. About 20 minutes later thinking it’s weird I can smell candles burning I was ready to go and get ready for our Valentine’s date where I thought I was meeting Gary in town that night. As I walked back into the hallway I noticed and finally followed the path made for me. As I walked into the bedroom, there he was waiting patiently. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. To say I was surprised was an understatement!

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The suits… All the suits were from Diffneys on Mary Street. The lads were really well looked after and all looked great on the day.

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The hair and make-up… My hair was done by Joanne Merrilees. She is just so unique in her bridal hair. I’m not a big fan of the traditional bridal look and after looking through her work she was just right for what I was looking for, not forgetting she is lovely to have around too! Michelle Montgomery was my make-up artist. I have been friends with Michelle for a long time and I was so lucky to have her to do my make-up. I have seen her work over the years and how she can transform people, I wouldn’t have anyone else do my make-up. It’s not only her time and effort that makes her so good but her natural artistic flair. She was born to do what she does!

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The dress… I got my dress from Little White Dress. I had been to about four dress shops before coming here and not being a very dressy girl was finding it difficult to find a dress that I felt comfortable in. But the dresses in this shop fitted me just right and were completely my style. The girls were so nice as well, the nicest I had come across in all the bridal shops – I could of stayed there all day!

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My favourite part of the wedding day… The ceremony was our favourite part, the whole experience – it is surreal. All the build up and months of planning, finally the wait is over as you walk up that aisle and it’s reality; YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED!!!

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Our ceremony… We had our ceremony in The Old Mill at The Millhouse. I absolutely loved this space, from the second I walked in here it felt so right. We had a humanist ceremony done by Eithne Dempsey who was just a really outgoing and lovable person from our first meeting. We knew she would make our ceremony right for us with true meaning and feeling. Not a dry eye in the house.

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Our bridal party wore… After weeks of looking for a bridesmaid dress I actually came across the bridesmaid dresses on ASOS. They were light and floaty and suited the style I was going for. My daughter’s bridesmaid dress was from Marks and Spencers, I just thought it was different to what I had seen before. My mother-in-law made an underskirt for it with the lace trim to make it that little bit more special.

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We chose our venue because… As we drove up to The Millhouse my heart was pounding, and as I walked in, the first thought that came into my head was why would you not get married here?! We had looked at other venues before but this just felt amazing, my mind was made up… was just a good thing that Gary felt the same!

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We chose our photographer because… I was finding it very hard to find a photographer that we were 100 percent happy with, there are so many different styles of photography and a lot out there just didn’t feel right for us. We met Mark and Fiona (The Fennells) at a wedding show and straight away loved the photographs that we saw and the style was what we were looking for. After speaking to Mark and Fiona, we knew that they were who we would go with. It felt like we got along well, I was nervous about taking photographs so these guys helped put me at ease. They not only have the skills and talent but they are a great couple to work with. Both were charming and relaxed and really made the photography experience a fun part of our wedding day. Overall we would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for a photographer.

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Our menu… We had Chicken and Chorizo Summer salad to start, followed by a choice of Roast Wicklow Lamb or Salmon with Prawns and Butter Sauce. Dessert was Strawberry Eton Mess. It was all gorgeous. We are both foodies so the food was important and we couldn’t have expected any more from the chefs at The Millhouse.

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Our honeymoon… We wanted two weeks in the sun, no responsibilities, lots of food and relaxing so we went with Secrets Maroma Mexico. The all inclusive style is amazing. It took a couple of days to get used to being spoiled, but didn’t take long!

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My piece of advice for other brides… So much but you’ve heard it all before… Enjoy the planning process, don’t worry about the little details – no one notices if something isn’t 100 percent what you wanted, make lists and breathe! Remember the true meaning of what you are doing.

Suppliers

Photographer: The Fennells | Venue: The Millhouse | Bride’s dress: Little White Dress | Groom’s suit: Diffneys | Bridesmaid dresses: ASOS | Make-up: Michelle Montgomery | Hair: Joanne Merrilees