Today’s incredible real Irish wedding of Brazilian, Ana and her Dublin based fiancé, Stephen is a lesson in being budget savvy wedding planners. We’re delighted to share their stylish day in Dublin city with photography by the very talented Caroline McNally from Wild Things Wed.
After being set up by mutual friends on a surprise date at The Grand Social, Ana and Stephen have been together since that night in June 2015! “It was very natural to us just being together and we knew very early that it was the real deal, we couldn’t stay away from each other,” said Ana.
After getting engaged the couple decided there was no point in waiting around and planned to marry quickly.
“I had an idea of what I wanted but had to be very flexible and laid back because when you don’t have a lot of time a lot of your planning has to change and you need to adapt quickly to something that works! We knew we wanted a city wedding, not traditional, small guest list, amazing food, a lot of fun for our guests and a mix between Irish and Brazilian wedding traditions, so that was our focus,” explained Ana.
With their budget in mind Ana and Stephen’s goal was to save some money on every element of the day and were lucky to have help from friends and family.
“We tried to be economical in every area but for me the food and photographer were the areas we were prepared to pay most for. Not one regret there, food was absolutely incredible and the photos are exactly what I wanted! We saved money by doing lots of things which included having the wedding on a Tuesday, having only two bridesmaids and groomsmen, having two amazingly talented friends play music at the ceremony and my graphic designer friend printed our invites as a wedding gift. We were lucky to have a lot of loving friends and family who really wanted to help us and that made all the difference, the love we felt was overwhelming and we are so happy to have shared the whole process with them,” added Ana.
Ana wore a stunning lace topped gown that was a gift from her mother in law. Along with her brunette hair swept to the side her choice of red lip worked beautifully with the vibrant floral bouquets and her maids classic navy gowns.
“The day was just amazing! Surprisingly no incidents!! I was so worried and stressed for months because I didn’t have the time to plan everything perfectly, I was sure something would go wrong! But everything was even better than I imagined, it was pure perfection!
Our highlight of the day would definitely be the speeches for both of us! We decided to do them right after the ceremony. While Fallon & Byrne prepared the room for dinner we went across the road to The Central Hotel and had everyone do them there! We thought it was better to do it right away so people could actually enjoy their dinner without the expectation of doing speeches afterwards! We also didn’t go for the traditional Best Man, father of the bride speech but we talked to our whole family and a few of our closest friends and all of them had a chance to say a few words! That was the highlight of the day, the love we felt was almost overwhelming and we couldn’t be happier to have the people we love celebrating our love!” concluded Ana.
Ana’s Advice
My advice would be to think about what you want for your day and don’t let other people’s expectations get to you! Everyone has an opinion but it’s your day so go for what you feel in your heart it’s right and everyone will enjoy it! Also remember to enjoy the day as much as you can because it flies by so quickly! If anything goes wrong, it’s ok! Don’t let anything ruin it for you, it’s cliche but it’s really the best day of your life!!!
Wedding Suppliers
Venue: Fallon & Byrne, Exchequer Street, Dublin.
Pre-reception drinks: The Central Hotel, Dublin.
Wedding dress: The Bridal Shop, Phibsborough.
Bridesmaids dresses: ASOS.
Groomswear: Topman.
Cake: The Boston Bakery, Shantalla Road, Dublin.
Flowers: Aideens Florist, Collins Avenue, Dublin.
Videographer: Gavin Douglas.
Entertainment: Barry Lee, Gareth Redmond and Ciaran Fitzgerald.
Hair: Dani Heffernan.
Makeup: Laura Devides.
Photographer: Caroline McNally, Wild Things Wed.
