Meet Victoria and Jay. Our couple chose to marry 10 days before St Patrick’s Day with a beautiful intimate ceremony with Celtic and Irish cultural and heritage influences, including the Wolfhound Experience and fabulous musical choices.
Couple: Victoria and Jay
Engagement length: 7 months
Wedding date: 2026-03-07
Wedding ceremony: The Lady Chapel at St Patricks Cathedral, Dublin
Wedding reception: House No.24, The Merrion Hotel, Dublin
Wedding photographer: Darren Bourke, Hosea Productions
Wedding videographer: Tony Pathrose
Victoria and Jay first met through a media radio feature, and a movie premiere event.
Victoria shares their beautiful engagement story: “Jay picked out the proposal location of Poulshone Beach in Wexford in June 2025 when we visited there. It’s a special place for me as it was a beach I spent summer holidays with my grandparents and family. When Jay heard me reminisce he knew he would propose there, but he waited until August 2025. It was a beautiful sunny day, I was in the middle of reading a book on the beach when he turned to me and proposed in the private cove end of the beach. It was very special and romantic.”
“With our wedding taking place 10 days before St Patrick’s Day we wanted Celtic and Irish cultural and heritage influences throughout the day. I’m an Irish singer and musician so I wanted this reflected throughout the day through the music selected which included a singing harpist, my group Celtic Calling performing, the bridesmaid dresses which were dark green, and we hired the Wolfhound Experience of five Irish wolfhounds to surprise guests arriving to the reception. We were so lucky that it was a blue sky sunny day, it really felt like a perfect spring weather day. We wanted artificial flowers on the day, which were white ivory, and very pale pink.”
Victoria wore a custom-made two-piece dress by Irish designer Helen Cody which was delicate white ivory. Her favourite feature of the dress was the contemporary style and the organza bow shoulder straps. She wore a statement Cathedral-length veil with petal details from A Stór, the Irish luxury bridal accessories boutique run by Michelle in Blackrock, Dublin. For footwear, Victoria wanted Cinderella style shoes and chose beautifully from Everly in Naas, Kildare. For the evening she chose a light style bolero jacket from The Bridal Gallery, in Gorey, Wexford.
Jay wore a black tuxedo to complement the Black tie dress code of the day, with a white shirt, bow tie and black shoes all from Marks and Spencer’s.
“The overall dress code for the wedding was Black Tie, so there was plenty of glitz and glam! My Mum Janice wore a dark French blue formal full-length dress from the Marian Gale Boutique in Donnybrook, Dublin. My Bridesmaids wore dark green full length dresses with lace detail from Monsoon. The groomsmen, and my Father Irwin, all wore Black Tie Tuxedo’s from Marks & Spencers.”
Victoria and Jay’s ceremony took place in the intimate setting of The Lady Chapel in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, with the beautiful blue glass-stained windows adding drama to the atmosphere.
“We had ‘Olwyn The Wedding Artist’ (who is a friend of mine) paint the setting and us getting married. For the Processional that took place up the centre main aisle of the Cathedral the music we selected was ‘Wedding March’ by Mendelssohn and then for processing up the Lady Chapel aisle we chose ‘The Wedding Processional’ music from The Sound of Music wedding film scene. For the lighting of the candles we selected two Disney songs ‘So This is Love’ (from Cinderella), and ‘Someday my Prince Will Come’ (from Snow White) performed by the Singing Harpist Sinéad Walshe. For the signing of the register we had one of my own songs ‘You Are The Peace’ sung, along with ‘When You Say Nothing At All’ (Ronan Keating), and Someone Like You (Van Morrison) performed by my Celtic Calling colleague singer Rachel Nic Thómas and pianist Jonathan Stanley. For the readings we chose 1 Corinthians 13:2-7,13 and Philippians 4: 4-9 and the 3 Hymns were ‘Be thou my vision’, Here I am Lord, and Be still, for the presence of the Lord. The organist was Tom Little who for the Recessional played Symphony No.5 in F Minor op42 No.I:V Toccata by Vidor, and Te Deum Prelude by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. As the main Cathedral was open to the public that day as an operating Cathedral there were lots of tourists taking photos during the processional and recessional down the main Cathedral aisle which added a lot to the atmosphere.”
The couple decided on House No.24, The Merrion Hotel to host their intimate wedding as they had a small guest list of less than 50 guests, as Victoria explained:
“It has a private entrance with a red carpet and two beautiful adjoining rooms – The Fitzgerald room for the drinks reception which overlooks Ireland’s Government Buildings, and the Wellesley Room for the dinner reception which has ornate rococo plasterwork and overlooks the hotel’s 18th-century classical gardens. With the beautiful decor, period features and high ceilings creating a beautiful impression and atmosphere, it was the venue for us. We wanted to create a memorable time for our guests and these rooms fitted the intimate beautiful setting backdrop for the reception that we wanted to create. Alma the wedding coordinator and all the team including Nick, were just fantastic to work alongside with to create our perfect day.”
The day was wonderfully captured by Darren Bourke and Tony Pathrose;
“Our photographer was Darren Bourke of Hosea Productions. He’s a photographer and filmmaker and we chose him as I’ve worked with him before on my own music photoshoots for promotional content, and my music videos. There is no one else I would have wanted to take our wedding photos!! He made Jay and I feel so relaxed as a couple, and we were inundated by our wedding guests complimenting how nice a personality Darren the photographer had. His photos were everything and more that we could dream for. I definitely have been teary eyed looking at them so far! The richness in colours at the Cathedral and The Merrion Darren managed to capture perfectly for us and reminds us of each special moment and for our guests.
Our videographer was Tony Pathrose, who is also a friend of ours. He’s a videographer based in Naas, Kildare who also works for SMBs doing content marketing. He created a stunning video for us that reflects his documentary and cinematic style of storytelling which captured the real moments as they unfolded rather than directing them. The video he created for us helps us relive the day.”
Ensuring their guests made memories for a lifetime, Victoria and Jay planned a fabulous array of entertainment.
“We hired The Wolfhound Experience to greet our guests at the steps of House No.24 of the Merrion Hotel. I think for ourselves and our guests this was a unique and memorable highlight! Five Irish wolfhounds were on the red carpet and all guests could be photographed with them. It was a surreal experience for all! I’m so grateful to Wayne and the dogs for creating these special memories. The music group I founded ‘Celtic Calling’ also performed on the night which was wonderful, and I joined them for two songs which was very memorable. We also had the Irish operatic crossover style singers Soprano Emer Barry and Tenor Eoin Hynes perform a few duets from their ICONIC show which was breathtaking such as ‘Come What May’ from Moulin Rouge and ‘The Prayer’. They also sang for our first dance which was ‘Cant Help Falling in Love’ by Elvis. Our cake was also created by Camerino Bakery and Cakery, Dublin – and was sublime! ‘Olwyn The Wedding Artist’ painted our wedding ceremony from the back of St Patrick’s Cathedral’s Lady Chapel which so many guests were commenting was a unique feature!”
Favourite memory:
A favourite memory of the day for us is saying our vows. A personal highlight for me as the Bride was walking up the Cathedral’s aisle with my Dad – and then walking down the aisle with my husband Jay. It was like a real ‘Princess and Prince’ moment. Also as a musician, all the musical features were so special.
Advice for other couples:
I would suggest planning as much as you can in advance so you can relax a bit for the few days before the wedding, and just do the final agenda jobs such as collecting the cake and finalizing the table plan.
Recommended Suppliers
Harpist: Sinead Walshe Harpist and Singer
Bridal jacket: The Bridal Gallery
Other Suppliers: Ceremony: The Lady Chapel, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin | Reception: House No.24, The Merrion Hotel, Dublin | Musicians: Celtic Calling, Jonathan Stanley, Rachel Nic Thómas, Chris Comhaill, Emer Barry, Eoin Hynes, Tom Little | Hair:Batik Hair Studio and Peter Marks | Makeup: Clinique in Brown Thomas, Dundrum | Wedding outfit: Helen Cody, A stór, Everly | Suits: Marks & Spencer’s | Mums outfits: Marian Gale Boutique | Cake: Camerino Bakery and Cakery, Dublin | Flowers: All About Weddings | Artist: Olwyn The Wedding Artist
