A Romantic Elopement in Doolin, Co Clare by DKPHOTO

Real Weddings

“Opting to do a non-traditional, family elopement in Ireland was the best choice we could have made for our wedding.”

The couple: Miranda and Matthew
Length of engagement: A year and half | Wedding date: July 4, 2016
Wedding location: 
Sea View House, Doolin
Photographer
Daniel, DKPHOTO

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We met… in 2006. We were both on a high school trip to Spain with our Spanish classes. Matt lived in California and I lived in Arizona. We met on the charter bus that our two schools shared when we toured Spain. After the trip we stayed in touch via email and text messaging, until in 2009 Matt transferred to Northern Arizona University (the school I eventually went on to attend after high school) in Flagstaff, Arizona. After, we were living in the same place, everything else just fell into place and we’ve been together ever since.

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Our proposal… was sweet and intimate. Matt proposed at our home after nearly five and a half years together and eight and half years after we met. He made sure to include our very special hound dog Presley in the engagement.

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Our wedding theme/colours… The wedding colors mainly included grays, blues and greens. Nothing was picked intentionally, but that was how it all worked out. As far as theme, we focused on merging vintage and modern in ways that worked for us.

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My hair and makeup… Lisa Doyle did my hair and makeup. She did a great job at creating a very natural look, using makeup to enhance by features. With my hair, she curled and tousled into perfection – even a bit of wind and rain couldn’t make it look bad.

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His suit… A simple charcoal grey suit with an ivory bow tie. Modern, but classic.

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What our bridal party wore… We had a family elopement and so our family was the bridal party. They did an excellent job of selecting outfits in the blue/gray color families that looked coordinated but not identical.

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Our ceremony… The ceremony was a dream. It took place at Sea View House in Doolin. We had hoped to have it on the Cliffs of Moher, but the weather intervened that afternoon. It was officiated by Dara Molloy who performed a customized spiritual based ceremony. He did a wonderful job of marrying Celtic wedding traditions with our modern love.

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We chose our photographer because… I did a lot of online research, which was my only choice since I am based in the USA and was planning an Irish wedding. While, I was doing this research I stumbled upon Daniel’s website. What I loved about his photos is that they all looked really unique and genuine. Those two qualities were important to me because I wanted my family, my (now) husband and myself to all look like us in the photos–and I wanted the photos to accurately capture our emotions on our special day. Personally, I think Daniel did a great job on all fronts. And, he was extremely easy to communicate with about the wedding, which was key for me.

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My favourite part of the wedding day… I have to say that opting to do a non-traditional, family elopement in Ireland was the best choice we could have made for our wedding. Ireland, and Doolin specifically, will always be a special place for us now. Outside of that, my favorite part of the wedding day was being able to spend it with my loved ones and having the time to focus on family and on ourselves as a couple. My second favorite thing about it is all of the photos we have from that special day.

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Our honeymoon… We were very lucky to do a lot of traveling. We spent three days before the wedding in Dublin before traveling to Doolin. After our Irish wedding, we escaped on a two-week adventure to Barcelona, London, Edinburgh and Reykjavik. Two weeks of exploring new and different cities was a great experience and the best way to celebrate our marriage.

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Our menu… We ventured off to a nice restaurant in a neighboring town, where had wine and steak. Afterward, we capped the night of at Fitzpatrick’s pub (just a short walk away from Sea View House), where the local band was nice enough to play us Bob Dylan’s I’ll be your Baby so that we could have our first dance.

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My piece of advice for other brides… I would tell other brides not to get caught up with what everyone else wants. It’s your wedding day. It should be about what you and your future husband want, and it should represent you two as a couple. You have the rest of your lives to do things and make accommodations for family. Make sure your wedding will make you happy, not everyone else.

Suppliers

Photographer: DKPHOTO | Venue: Sea View House Doolin | Bride’s dress: Maggie Sottero | Hair & Make-up: Lisa Doyle | Officiant: Dara Molloy |