Meet Wallis and Ross! This gorgeous couple got married on a typical rainy day in Ireland, and included all of their favourite things. They included many nods to their Celtic roots, a ceilidh dance and thistles and hydrangeas.
Couple: Wallis & Ross
Wedding date: 15 March 2023
Length of engagement: 1.5 years
Venue: Rathsallagh House
Photographer: DK Photography
Wallis and Ross met during a summer where they were both camp counsellors at a summer camp in Maine, USA. They got engaged at Wallis' granny's home, a place that holds a lot of special memories!
"We had just had tea with her Granny when Ross invited Wallis into the garden. He had hung up bunting of photographs that showed the timeline of our relationship. It was just the two of us and it was perfect."
"We were the first wedding on both sides of our families for a very long time, so our "theme" per say was all about the joining of our families. We had an intimate wedding of 65 guests and included as many nods to our Celtic routes as we could. We shared a drink of Iron Bru from a quaich and had a bag piper pipe us out of the church (Ross is Scottish). Our first dance morphed into a ceilidh dance that we had our bridal party join in for. Wallis had both thistles and hydrangeas (her Granny's favourite flower) in her bouquet, so we kind of fell into the colour scheme of purple and greens, which turned out beautifully!"
Ross wore a kilt in his family tartan with a green tweed blazer and waistcoat combo from MacGregor MacDuff, a company based in Scotland. Wallis wore a Sassi Holdford Owen dress with a cathedral length veil with pearl applique.
"Environmental sustainability is really important to us both and we wanted to make sure we were conscious of this when choosing outfits. Wallis got all of the bridesmaid dresses second hand on a clothes swap app. She got her own dress from a supplier of previous season sample dresses, a company called Bridal Reloved. Ross wore his family tartan and his groomsman rented a kilt."
"We got married in Wallis' local parish church. The Rector has know Wallis since she was a teenager, which made the service really personal. During the register signing, Wallis' three sibling performed a song. At the end of the service, a bag piper piped us out of the church."
They hosted their wedding reception at the beautiful Rathsallagh House!
"Joe and his team went above and beyond to make our guests feel welcome. A lot of our guests had never been to Ireland before and Rathsallagh provided them with a real flavour of Irish hospitality. The food was exceptional, the rooms were beautiful and the staff could not have been more accommodating."
The wedding was beautifully captured by DK Photography on photos and Alan from Daydream Pictures on videos.
"What was great about choosing these two was they had worked together before and were totally in sync with each other. They were also both very willing to brave the elements- our wedding was a typical, wet Irish March day, which made for some fun outdoor shots!"
It was really important to Ross and Wallis that their guests enjoyed every part of the day. They were mindful of what they would do when the happy couple was out getting photos taking.
So during the reception they had Niall O'Loughlin doing caricatures, which the guests loved.
For their guest book, they had a painting of a tree with no leaves and, using finger paint, guests filled up the tree with their fingerprints forming the leaves.
For place names, they used photos with them with each of their guests, along with a personalised note for each person. Each guest also received a glass vial of loose-leaf tea and a chocolate.
For evening entertainment, they had Entourage Wedding Band followed by their DJ, who kept everyone on the dance floor all night long.
Alongside all of this, they had a photo booth supplied by DK Photography, to keep their guests entertained with a huge selection of props. This was a real hit as it printed passport sized photos for the guests to take home. All of these photos were also emailed to Wallis and Ross to enjoy separately too.
Wallis and Ross couldn't pick just one memory from their Big Day.
"It's not possible to pick any one moment. Having everyone we love in the same place is an experience we will never get again. It was simply magical!"
Newlyweds give great wedding planning advice. Here's what Wallis and Ross said:
"The biggest advice we'd offer, is to make the day what you want. It's very easy with family and friends being excited for you to throw in their two-cents. Always listen to your gut and make sure the day is about the two of you and celebrating your love and life together!"
Recommended suppliers
Venue: Rathsallagh House
Photography and photobooth: DK Photography
Caricature: Niall O’Loughlin
Other suppliers
Dress: Bridal Reloved | Suit: MacGregor MacDuff | Flowers: The Tangled Bramble | Hair: Lisa Babikian | Makeup: Stephanie Burgess | Videography: Daydream Pictures | Band and DJ: Entourage Wedding Band | Bag piper: Sean Kelly
