Purple Rain – Nessa & Daragh’s Real Wedding at Glasson by Couple Photography

Real Weddings
real wedding glasson counry house hotel

“Summer 2013 in Ireland saw temperatures soar for longer than even I can remember, but June 14th 2013 was probably officially the wettest day of the whole summer!”

Bride and groom: Nessa Reid & Daragh O’Brien
Length of engagement: 5 months
Wedding Date: 14 June 2013
Wedding location: Glasson Lakehouse

Photographer: Couple Photography (Ros Byrne)

couple photography (3)

We met… We knew each for a couple years before we got together, as Daragh was friends with my brother. Then in 2003, a group of 10 of us rented a sail boat and went island hopping around the Caribbean. There is no place more romantic… and the rest is history.

couple photography (1)

couple photography (4)

Our proposal… We got engaged on January 4th, it was a beautiful crisp morning strolling around the Powerscourt Gardens. It was completely unexpected and after I’d gotten over the shock I asked why now and not over Christmas. He said he didn’t want to overshadow the excitement of Christmas with the proposal. Very sweet.

couple photography dublin (3)

My hair and make up… I went with Chica in Athlone for make-up, nails and tan. It is a small salon run by Michelle Lynch. I never had a fake tan done before so was fairly nervous but it turned out perfect and was so natural looking. The nails were excellent too and although it was just a normal french polish it last for 4 weeks (6 weeks on my toes – but I was really pushing it!) My hair was by Koka in Athlone. I was a little apprehensive, as I had a trial previously with a different salon that didn’t go so well. But I had nothing to worry about, the girls in Koka knew exactly what would suit me and what would compliment my dress. The morning of the wedding both Koka and Chica came to my parents house. They were all so relaxed and the hair and makeup turned out fantastic. Everyone keeps commenting on how relaxed we all looked in the photos of the morning of the wedding and a large amount of credit has to go to Koka and Chica for this.

couple photography (7)

My dress… My wedding dress was from the Canadian designer Mikaella. I got it in The White Room in Mullingar. As it turned out it was the very first dress I tried on and I fell in love with it immediately. I tried one other wedding dress shop, but my heart wasn’t in it, I knew this dress was the one for me. I dealt with Clare from The White Room. She was a gem – so relaxed and in no way pushy.

My headpiece… I scouted the internet to find something I liked. I wanted something with white feathers as there were small subtle feathers on the belt of my dress. I came across a bridal headpiece on an English website but I couldn’t be paying €80 for something I might only wear once. So instead I decided I would try to copy it myself.  The hairpiece that I wore is actually two separate pieces. The comb part is from Coast (€23) and the feathers are from Hickeys Fabrics in Carrickmines. (€3.95)

couple photography dublin (5)

couple photography (9)

couple photography dublin (21)

Our ceremony… We chose Ballymore Church for our ceremony as it is my parents’ parish. Our priest, Fr. Philip Smith, was so helpful on the lead-up to the wedding and on the day of the wedding he quickly dispelled all our nerves. His cermony was relaxed and humorous. Our church music was by Daragh’s uncle’s girlfriend Sara Linger on the violin and Ailbhe Kelly on piano. We got to pick all the music ourselves and they sourced it. It was simply beautiful.

couple photography (10)

couple photography dublin (9)

What our bridal party wore… The bridesmaids’ dresses were by Alvina Valenta. They required some minor alterations, as did my dress and my mom’s outfit. I used Brigit’s Sewing Service in Mullingar. Brigit was excellent. She had a very keen eye and made improvements that I didn’t even expect were needed. Her prices are extremely reasonable also.

couple photography (12)

couple photography (13)

Our wedding theme/colours… We didn’t set a theme as such, it just kind of happened. The bridesmaid dresses were ordered in a dark purple colour and then we incorporated purple into the stationery so I suppose it’s safe to say our colour was purple. We then got our stationary suppliers DRDesign to name the hand cut table name placards after the places in the Caribbean that we visited.

couple photography (23)

The suits… We got all our suits and top hats at the Black Tie closing down sale on Westmoreland street. Some of our top hats even got a second day out at Ascot this year.

couple photography (15)

couple photography dublin (20)

“We got our stationary suppliers DRDesign to name the hand cut table name placards after the places in the Caribbean that we visited.”

My stationery… My wedding stationery was produced by DRDesign ([email protected]) a new start-up in the wedding stationery arena. We ordered our wedding invites, favour boxes, menu cards, seating plan, place names, mass booklet covers and thank you cards from them. They are so easy to deal with. We got a free consultation and all our ideas were incorporated. The stationery is all hand finished and you can either have your own unique design created or select from a range. The prices vary depending on how intricate you want your design but even the simpler designs are beautiful and the prices are crazy reasonable. The photos speak for themselves.

couple photography (16)

couple photography (18)

couple photography (19)

We chose our venue because… We chose Glasson Lakehouse as our venue for a variety of reasons. The views of Lough Ree from the hotel are out of this world, the hotel itself is modern and extremely well kept, the food is cooked fresh on the day and the overall winner for Daragh was that it is surrounded by a golf course. The package at Glasson is extremely well priced and with a bit of haggling you will get a few little nice extras. We also opted for a BBQ the day after the wedding. Unlike our wedding day the sun decided to come out and Glasson provided tables and seating on the lawns overlooking the lake.

couple photography (17)

The cake… I spent a lot of time sourcing ideas for my cake as I wanted something a little different to the average wedding cake. My cake was designed, baked and iced by Louise Brickley. The top tier was carrot cake, the middle was lemon cake and the bottom was chocolate. We got a huge amount of praise for our cake, everyone was ranting and raving about it, especially about the chocolate tier!

couple photography (21)

couple photography (22)

couple photography dublin (15)

couple photography dublin (16)

We chose our photographer because… We met Ros from Couple Photography at the RDS Bride of the Year show. There were numerous photographers at the show so our heads were spinning with all the sales pitches. However when we met Ros, I think it was her personality that won us over first. She showed us some of her sample albums and we were just drawn in immediately. Her photos are so natural. A few days later I called her to pay a deposit and we later met with her to discuss our ideas.

couple photography dublin (18)

couple photography dublin (22)

My favourite part of the wedding day… Every moment was just amazing – thanks to all our fantastic guests.

couple photography dublin (14)

“While there were some wet feet and it was disappointing not to be able to get photos down at the lakeshore in Glasson, in hindsight it kept all our guests closer together.”

couple photography dublin (13)

My piece of advice for other brides… Summer 2013 in Ireland saw temperatures soar for longer than even I can remember, but June 14th 2013 was probably officially the wettest day of the whole summer. While there were some wet feet and it was disappointing not to be able to get photos down at the lakeshore in Glasson, in hindsight it kept all our guests closer together. It’s important on your wedding day not to let any little hiccups stress you out. After all you want it to be a day to remember for all the right reasons.