Shirley & Diarmuid’s Fun Filled Wedding by Prunty Photography

Today’s real wedding comes from Dublin based photographer, Michelle Prunty. Shirley and Diarmuid were married in August at St. John’s Church Cloughleagh, Manor Kilbride and held their reception in the stunning Ritz Carlton, Powerscourt. Their elegant wedding was packed full of lively entertainment and bags of fun!

Shirley and Diarmuid first met seven years ago on St. Patricks Day, in Lillies nightclub at one in the morning; as Shirley admits, ‘not wildly romantic, but it lead to greater things!’

Last December the couple went to The Dylan for dinner, to celebrate Diarmuid’s birthday. Following the meal the waiter invited them upstairs to a private bar for Christmas drinks, but there was no bar upstairs. Shirley was instead lead into a lovely hotel suite adorned with balloons saying, ‘Will you marry me?’

With the wedding planning in full flow, the couple knew they didn’t want a long engagement and spent the next three weeks following their engagement, and before Christmas viewing possible reception venues.

Just three weeks after getting engaged we had viewed ten possibilities and narrowed our choice down to three. We then booked The Ritz Carlton in early January. After that we spent time researching different suppliers for our wedding including a band, DJ, magician, videographer, photographer, Irish dancers, wedding car, florist, hair and makeup artists. 

The rest of the planning went well with both Shirley and Diarmuid ticking items off their list weekly until everything was sorted and all they had to do was wait for the big day to come.

Shirley and Diarmuid didn’t set out to have a very themed wedding, but she did manage to have co-ordinating lace flow through the day on the stationery, her lace wedding gown and on the wedding cake. The day was effortless and elegant with soft muted shades used throughout, which worked perfectly against the stunning backdrop of the Ritz Carlton. Shirley was a truly stunning bride in her lace gown.

After trying on approximately 100 dress in about ten different shops across Dublin, I finally chose a dress in Kathy De Stafford, Wicklow Street. I actually narrowed the search down to two dresses in the shop and then trusted my bridesmaids and my mum with my final choice of dress.

Shirley and Dairmuid didn’t really expect to enjoy their wedding day as much as they did!

We didn’t like the idea of being the centre of attention for the day, but it was actually more the thought of this that was worse! In reality it was a magical day, being surrounded by all our close family and friends that we love so much. And being the centre of attention for one day in our lives was okay. It’s difficult to pin point one part of the day as the absolute highlight because the whole day was simply great. But I probably most enjoyed our Church ceremony and greeting everyone afterwards also.

A lot of thought was put into the entertainment for the day and guests were truly spoilt for choice with a magician, Irish dance troupe, live band and DJ! It is clear to see from these fun and memorable photo booth style photos (and obligatory props!), their guests had a ball.

Advice for other couples

Enjoy your engagement! Planning a wedding should be fun not stressful. Don’t get caught up in the minor details, e.g., chair covers, wedding favours, etc., people don’t notice them or really appreciate them either. Guests will notice a happy and relaxed bride and groom though and enjoy their day all the more. And also book a hairdresser well in advance of the wedding day. My search to find a good hairdresser seemed endless at one stage. I must have contacted 20 different hairdressers before I finally found Mary from Mandikas and she was simply brilliant.