They say laughter is the best medicine and we’re guessing our lovely couple, Ciara and Brendan, totally agree – their wedding day was full of love and laughter, and just wait until you hear about the proposal! Thanks to Tomasz Kornas Photography for sharing their rustic Big Day at Ballymagarvey Village.
Their story began in 2008 when Ciara was wearing fairy wings and dancing without a care in the world! A few months after becoming friends Brendan asked Ciara out and they’ve been together ever since.
“We got engaged on New Years Day in 2014. Bren took me and the two four legged monsters (aka Beau & Sully) to St Catherine’s Park in Lucan. The proposal although very romantic, was also hilarious as I went into shock and couldn’t speak, and Bren only realised after he had gone down on one knee that he’d actually chosen the muddiest part of the ground and he was filthy. The dogs had run off, so we both ended up in fits of laughter – after I said yes of course. We found the dogs… eventually. We took a picture which I still have – my ring is on the wrong finger, we both have wooly hats on and Bren is filthy – it all adds to a really good memory! Bren had asked my dads permission on Christmas Eve when we were doing some last minute Christmas shopping. As my Dad tells it, Bren asked him when they were in the middle of the lingerie section of the shop! He mentioned this in his speech on the day,” said Ciara.
With a love for the colour purple and anything rustic, the theme and style for their August wedding at Ballymagarvey Village was easily decided.
“Bren love trees, so we used wood throughout a lot of our decor. Our invitations were created on wood, with a tree and each guests name carved into them, we had a large tree slice as our cake base, and small tree slices as centrepieces, with lavender in jars on top. Each table was named after a tree, and our ceremony booklets were based around our ceremony tree,” explained Ciara. “We are extreme dog lovers and sadly Bren’s dog, Taz passed a few months ago so we decided we wanted to donate to an animal charity as part of our wedding favours. The Blue Cross were really good with Taz as he got ill so they were our chosen charity. They created little cards for us, and since we couldn’t bring our own monsters to the wedding, the Blue Cross had no problem putting their pictures on the cards.”
Ciara wore a Pronovias gown from Kathy de Stafford Bridal, whilst her maids carried the colour of the day through their pretty dresses.
“The funniest memory I have from the actual wedding day is when I suddenly needed the toilet, but I needed a hand getting out of my dress! The dinner reception was about to start so Stephen (a lovely staff member from Ballymagarvey) went to get Ciara H (my maid of honour). Later that day Stephen came over to me and quietly said ‘ That is the first time I have ever seen a bridesmaid actually sprint!’ The funniest memory I have leading up to the day, when Bren and I turned up at Ballymagarvey for our tasting and neither of us could remember our wedding date! It’s a good thing we ended up together, I reckon!” added Ciara.
“We were able to have such a good laugh with all of the staff. They made us feel so relaxed and at ease on the day,” said Ciara.
“Tomasz, our photographer was amazing. From the moment we met him I couldn’t have asked for more, he was so excited about our day and so easy to talk to. I have never seen anyone hang out a window of a moving car just to get an amazing photo which is what he did and he did it well! We are so happy with the stunning photos, and everyone said how friendly and funny he was on the day!” added Ciara.
Wedding Suppliers
Venue: Ballymagarvey Village, Balrath
Wedding dress: Kathy de Stafford Bridal, Dublin
Shoes: Badgley Mischka
Bridesmaids dresses: Dressing Pod
Groomswear: Bernard Owens, Leixlip
Flowers: Magic Moments, Ratoath
Cake: Creative Cakes, Blanchardstown
Band: The Panoramics, Dublin
Rings: Lawrence Weldon, Dublin
Photographer: Tomasz Kornas Photography, Portlaoise
