A Romantic Carton House Wedding by The Fennells

Real Weddings

“The minute I got to the church the nerves lifted, I knew it was going to be the best day of my life and it truly was!!”

The couple: Brenda Flynn & Scott McGarrigle
Length of engagement: 2 years | Wedding date: 14th July 2016
Wedding venue: Carton House, Maynooth, Kildare
Photographers: The Fennells

We met… We met on a night out, in our local ‘club’!! The matchmaker of many couples, we didn’t know each other before we met, had only heard of each other, I had only known Scott as one of the ‘twins’ from Balbriggan. We starting dating on 14th February, Valentine’s Day, this date is special to us so we chose the 14th also as our wedding day.

Our engagement… We were on a skiing holiday in the Swiss Alps with Friends for a week, Scott had been planning to propose on one of the days away, however waited until we were out on the slopes. I have to say it was a very funny moment, we were skiing around and Scott had stopped for a bit as he said he was feeling a little unwell! From a distance, I then noticed Scott standing with his skis on top of a steep slope, which I imagined would be quite difficult to climb up, and asked myself why on earth is he up there!! So with that… Scott shouts down and asks me to come up, and I automatically asked why??? I managed to climb up the hill, struggling with the weight of the skis and ski boots and said this better be good… ha!! Scott asked me to pick a red ‘thing’ out of the snow, which I started to poke with my ski pole hehe, which actually was a red rose and and a ring attached with ribbon!!! Scott proposed to me with such an amazing setting and to top it off we had our friends, Meghan and Martin with us overseeing the excitement on top of the slope!!

My dress… was exactly what I dreamt of, I absolutely loved it, and huge thanks to all at Edel Tuite Bridal Design. I chose a soft elegant french lace dress with pearl buttons, just what I had imagined! It was indeed my dream dress and would highly recommend any brides to-be to call into Edel, you’re guaranteed to receive 100% professionalism and expertise!! Edel and her colleagues specialise in unique designs and pay particular attention to the fine details for their brides!

My hair and makeup… I was absolutely thrilled with our hair and makeup, once again I would highly recommend Nicola at Mirror Mirror and Dayna from DaynaM Makeup, I wanted a soft and natural look for both hair and makeup for myself and my bridesmaids, and that is exactly what we received! Nicola and Dayna are so professional and fantastic at their job!! They both made me feel so happy and comfortable on the day, two perfectionists!!

Our ceremony… was held in the Nativity of Our Lady’s church Naul Co. Dublin, a small, elegant country church two minutes from our home. Our ceremony was beautiful, where all our guests attended and witnessed our marriage and vows to each other. Another part of ceremony that made it so special and personal was the music played throughout, thanks to Jackie McNally and Jane Morrin. The church was also decorated by Freda’s Florist, along with our own personal touches. The chairs that we had for ourselves at the top of the altar are my grandparents chairs, I thought by adding a few of our own touches it would indeed make the ceremony more personal and memorable.

We chose our photographer because… We chose The Fennells as our photographer and videographer for a number of reasons. Firstly, we met Mark and Fiona at a Wedding showcase in the RDS and loved their work, we could see straight away how professional they were and how passionate they were about their work. We were blown away by the quality of their photography displayed at the showcase. We also viewed some of their albums that were displayed in Carton House and knew from there that there was no need in looking for another photographer!! We booked The Fennells for our wedding day and thanks to them both, we can hold and cherish the memories forever. We received our photos of our special day and spent some time choosing our favourites for our album; this was so difficult as we had hundreds of beautiful photos to choose from. Our album is amazing, and the quality is 100%, we love it!!

We chose our venue because… we absolutely loved the idea of celebrating our marriage in a landed estate and Carton House was certainly one I fell in love with. As a student of NUI Maynooth and studying Historical Houses along with the Carton Demesne being a huge part of my studies, this without any doub influenced our decision!! Once again it was a very easy decision! We viewed one other venue and knew in our minds it would be Carton. We were so happy choosing Carton House as our wedding venue, would highly recommend it to any couples seeking their dream venue!

What our bridal party wore… Our bridesmaids wore pale pink dresses and the groomsmen wore navy three piece suits with a matching pink tie. The flower girls were dressed in simple ivory dresses and the page boys in little navy suits with pale pink dickie bows. The navy suits worked well with Scott’s suit, which was a very similar navy, however, Scott’s had a pale check detail. I chose a white peony rose for the bridesmaids to complement my own bouquet of pink coloured peony roses. I absolutely loved the bouquets and the buttonholes thanks to Freda’s Florist in Ashbourne, they were beautiful.

Our wedding theme/colours… We chose a pale pink as our romantic summer colour theme throughout!! It was a soft colour that complemented the summer’s day we were blessed with to celebrate our wedding. We incorporated the colour into the bridesmaid dresses, flowers and decorative touches we had on display! Our cake was created by my very talented cousin Michelle Ryan, who also incorporated the pink colour into the peony roses on the cake, along with her perfected cupcakes and cake pops!! I love this colour and didn’t even consider an alternative choice, PINK was a MUST HAVE!!

My favourite part of the wedding day… was when I arrived at the church, I have to say I was a little nervous before leaving my house and heading to the church (I didn’t expect the nerves at all), however the minute I got to the church the nerves lifted, I knew it was going to be the best day of my life and it truly was!! Another part of the day that we really enjoyed was the couple of minutes we got to ourselves before we were called to dinner, it was then we got to reflect on the day together and absorb the excitement of it all!! The entire day was perfect and we certainly danced the night away to our amazing band Electric Avenue.!!

My piece of advice for other couples… Enjoy every minute, don’t stress, it will all fall into place, take a couple of moments out with your partner on the day, it is the best day of your life!!!

Suppliers

Wedding Venue: Carton House, Kildare | Photography & Videography: The Fennells | Dress: Edel Tuite Bridal Design, Drogheda | Groom’s Suit: Exile, Balbriggan | Bridesmaid Dresses: Shaws Department Store, Drogheda | Hair: Mirror Mirror | Makeup: DaynaM Makeup | Rings: Rocks Jewellers, Dublin | Music: Jackie McNally & Jane Morrin | Flowers: Freda’s Florist, Ashbourne | Cake: Michelle Ryan | Invites: Creative Edge | Wedding Band: Electric Avenue