A Vintage Wedding With Burgundy Touches

“I’ve always loved the vintage look and burgundy slotted in well as well as it being my Hogwarts house colour.”

Names: Sarah Prendergast and John Barrett

Length of engagement: 2 years and 2 months

Wedding Date: 22nd February 2019

Wedding location: Clonmel Park Hotel, Co. Tipperary

Photographer: Aspect Photography

We met… In 2008, one night out in Waterford, we text for a few weeks before getting together.

Our proposal… Was a surprise! We stayed in the Lyrath Estate Hotel in Kilkenny on 22nd of December 2016, we had a beautiful dinner watched our favourite Christmas movies and he proposed in front of the fire in the lobby near the Christmas tree as we both love Christmas. I cried a lot haha

Our wedding theme/colours… We didn’t have a theme in mind, but it was Vintage-esque, with burgundy, ivory and silver colours and pearls. I’ve always loved the vintage look and burgundy slotted in well as well as it being my Hogwarts house colour. We had burgundy sashes on our wedding cars and the back of the seats in the hotel, the mood lighting in the reception room was red (we both support arsenal). My dress, veil and shoes were ivory, as were the ribbons on the pew ends and the material around my bouquet. I had pearl buttons on my dress, so I had the florist incorporate pearls into the flowers and myself and the bridesmaids wore pearl earrings, I also had them in my head band. We had band names for our tables as John is really into his music, we printed our own band pictures for each table, bands we love.

Things we DIY’d/made ourselves… we didn’t really make anything ourselves, we bought a few vintage looking decorations to fit the theme and printed the pictures we wanted for the band tables, I designed our mass booklets myself.

My dress… By a designer called enchanting by Mon Cheri, I purchased it in My dress bridal in Carrick on suir, I tried on a few dresses beforehand but both me and my mother who was with me when I chose it knew that was the one when we first laid eyes on it on display in the shop. I felt so comfortable and it just felt so me. I love it more and more every time I see it. It’s ivory lace, long- sleeves with pearl type buttons, low back and front but a sheer panel in the front and a short train, I wore an ivory veil with it, same length as the dress train.

My hair and make up… my hair was done in a relaxed up-do with curls by my new sister in law, Tracy Barrett, her husband is my husband’s brother, she is lovely and couldn’t have made me and my bridesmaids feel more comfortable on the day. My make up was which was a natural look with a burgundy lip done by the lovely Jayne Carey from J’adore by Jayne, Jayne and I have been friends for years, her brother was one of the groomsmen and her other brother played in the bar during our reception. She is brilliant at make up and nails, I wouldn’t have had anyone else.

His suit… from Fitzgeralds menswear in Waterford city, the suits were all rented, John was drawn to the colour navy, so he went with the navy suit, his jacket had tails, John had a navy tie and burgundy shoes to correspond with the bridesmaids and he had a grey tweed waistcoat.

What our bridal party wore… the groomsmen all wore navy suits also, but with normal jackets without tails, navy waistcoats and silvery grey ties to match the bridesmaids belts. The bridesmaids wore burgundy dresses to correspond with my burgundy colour theme with a grey belt that had embellishments and grey shoes. The girls actually tried on a few other colours but loved the burgundy.

Our ceremony… was in St. Mary’s Church Clonmel, back in my hometown, I was christened, had my communion and confirmed in this church, we had 2 members of Achara play the church music using violin and piano, we had instrumental only. The service was done by Fr. Billy Meehan.

We chose our photographer because… John actually knows Shane with years but we also knew he has many awards and is one of the best in Ireland, we looked at his website and his photographs are fantastic, I would recommend him to anyone. His photos are more candid than posed which capture a lot more throughout the day.

We chose our wedding coordinator because… our wedding coordinators were a part of our hotel package, both ladies Laura and Rebecca were lovely and helpful throughout the process.

We chose our venue because… we researched a couple of hotels but in the end we chose the Clonmel Park Hotel, it’s in my hometown and very professional and a beautiful wedding venue, the coordinators were so helpful and offered us the wedding page Moposa as a gift which helped so much. The service and food there was impeccable.

Our menu… we had our food tasting back in November and it was difficult to choose, in the end we went with shin of beef or hake, and they both went down a storm. We also had a vegetarian option, we had the classic vol-au-vont for starters followed by soup, we had an assiet of desserts and as we couldn’t choose one. Our wedding cake was given out later in the night it was 3 tiers, one chocolate biscuit, one brownie and one brownie with raspberries.

Our honeymoon… we honeymooned in Italy, which I can’t recommend more. We spent 4 nights in Florence, an absolutely beautiful place. The architecture, art and views are stunning, as was the food and wine, our hotel was beautiful with a rooftop bar with gorgeous views of Florence, we went to see a football match while in Florence, Fiorentina versus Atalanta, it was a real experience. We took a day trip to Venice which was fantastic, a trip on the gondola and wine and lots of exploring, what more can I say? We then spent 3 nights in Rome, beautiful city with lots to see and beautiful food, the architecture is unreal.

My favourite part of the wedding day… Catching up with everyone at the reception before dinner, reflecting on the day and just chatting to people we didn’t see in ages. Also where we had our photographs taken in Marlfield house in Clonmel, such a beautiful place. We had a fun time exploring it while having our pictures taken. The getting ready process was lovely too.