“We made our invites, which involved David individually gluing 1100 half pearls onto card, the saint!”
The couple: Criona Nangle & David Flynn
Length of engagement: 11 months | Wedding date: 2nd November 2013
Wedding ceremony: Donnybrook Church
Wedding venue: Thomas Prior Hall at Bewley’s Hotel Ballsbridge
Photographer: Michelle Prunty Photography – www.michelleprunty.com
We met… We met when we were both studying Architecture in UCD. In our final year we happened to have adjoining desks in studio and we’ve been together ever since.
Our proposal… We decided to take a holiday just before Christmas, and David insisted on heading to Paris so I did have my suspicions about his plans. We spent an evening at the Christmas market on the Champs Elysees, having mulled wine and roast chestnuts, then wandered through the city until we got to the Pont des Arts, where David proposed. He gave me a beautiful plain gold bangle when he proposed, and then a sapphire ring we chose together a few weeks after.
Our wedding theme… We agreed on a city wedding early on, we have been living in Donnybrook for years and most of our friends and a good few family were in or around Dublin, so it made sense to keep it local. Our colour theme was a pale blue grey (‘wedgewood’) which actually turned out to be a difficult one to keep up theme-wise, it’s an unusual colour. We both love a project, so we went on a bit of a make-and-do spree… We made our invites, which involved David individually gluing 1100 half pearls onto card, the saint. I made the bouquets using satin ribbons and beads for the flowers, with some fresh gypsophila added on the day. David made the leaflets for the ceremony with great help from his sister Helen, I made table numbers from coloured paper and did the table centrepieces… Our apartment was a mess for months with bits of card and material and sticky tape everywhere!
My dress… I wanted a really simple dress so decided to make my own, I had done a bit of sewing in the past but nothing serious so this was a big leap! I found a vintage Vogue dress pattern from 1957 which I fell in love with, it was just a simple summer dress, but with cream silk and about 20 yard of blue tulle underskirt it would be perfect. The only decorations were the buttons, which I found in a little old-fashioned button shop in Seville, the type of place where you have to ask for items over a counter. The jacket was based on a vintage Burda pattern from the 60s.
His suit… David wore a grey suit with a printed tie from Liberty. And bright blue socks. He decided our ‘wedgewood’ colour theme of tasteful grey-blue didn’t cut it in the sock department.
What our bridal party wore… My sister Orla was my bridesmaid, in an elegant knee-length dress made by our mum in pale blue satin overlaid with lace. My niece Clodagh was flowergirl and wore a dress the same material as my own dress (I had yards of it left over so I decided to keep sewing) with a blue satin and lace sash and a cute Jackie O jacket. My nephew Eoin took on the important role of pageboy, he looked dashing in a John Rocha suit, blue shirt, and his favourite red trainers.
Our ceremony… We had our wedding ceremony in the Church of the Sacred Heart, Donnybrook, celebrated by Fr. Kevin Doran. Colm Connolly played classical guitar, and my wonderful aunt Deidre Parle sang the Bach-Gounod Ave-Maria for us during Communion, accompanied by Colm. It was incredibly atmospheric and beautiful, perfect for the occasion. The music was very important to us both and Colm was so helpful in discussing it with us and offering suggestions, we really appreciated the time and effort he put in.
We chose our photographer because… Michelle (Michelle Prunty Photography) was recommended to us, so we had a look at her website and really loved her work, we were thrilled to find her. She was wonderful on the day, so professional, and so unobtrusive. We got great photographs, there were lots of lovely candid ones of family and friends as well as the more formal ones. As the bride and groom you actually miss so much that is going on, it is really special to have the photographs afterwards.
My favourite part of the wedding day… The ceremony was special, and I made a real effort to try and take it all in.
We chose our venue because… We came across a photograph of Thomas Prior Hall in Bewley’s and thought it was perfect! It is a beautiful space, and the staff there were wonderful – Carene Lecaille was our co-ordinator and looked after everything, always calm and smiling and in control of every detail.
Our wedding cake… Our cake had a lower tier of chocolate and orange biscuit cake and an upper tier of carrot cake with walnuts and sultanas, both tiers were delicious (thanks to Michael in Creative Cakes!).
Our honeymoon… We went to Italy for two weeks, Rome, Sienna, Florence and Venice. Lots of Prosecco!
My piece of advice for other brides… Definitely take time to relax the day before and switch off totally from planning everything and keeping track of everything (that is a tough one). Also see whether one or two friends with cars are available to help out on the morning of the wedding, picking up family members from airports, getting your overnight bags to the hotel etc. Our good friends Chris and Nora were a huge help ferrying people about and delivering stuff from a to b (including delivering me to the church!).
