“I don’t think I have ever laughed and smiled so much, which you can see from some of our pictures.”
The couple: Louise Kenny & Terence Brown
Length of Engagement: 2 years 11 months | Wedding Date: 30th December 2016
Venue: Radisson Blu St. Helen’s, Dublin
Photographers: The Fennells
We met… Terence and I attended the same secondary school and were in a lot of classes together from 3rd year onwards. Although we knew each other to see, we wouldn’t have been friends. When we hit our college years, again we attended the same college and ended up part of the same circle of friends. At a graduation night one year, we hit it off (I have to give it to Ter, he put in a lot of work that night to get my attention) but it worked and nearly 12 years later, here we are!!
The proposal… We were 9 years together at the time and had been through a tough couple of months with losing out on our first home after months of prep and the uncertainty of Ter’s job due to the crashed construction industry at that time. Ter decided we needed something positive to look forward to. He went out that day and bought a ring and went to my parents’ house to get their permission. I got a text in work asking me to pop by his house on the way home. When I got there, he had candles lighting and a lovely romantic setting arranged and asked me to marry him. I did not see it coming at all.
My hair and makeup… Susan Peggs and Tanya Pepper from The Powder Room Girls did my hair and makeup. I must give the girls credit, they had things running like clockwork on the morning of the wedding with no stress. The house was so calm.
His suit… was from Dublin Formal Wear, Lucan Village.
Our ceremony… was a traditional ceremony in the Sacred Heart Church, Donnybrook. This church holds a special place in my heart as I attended mass here with my parents and grandparents as a little girl. Our priest was really great and allowed us to make the ceremony our own with the choice of music and prayers. We also added a remembrance section at the start of the mass for our late grandads. When we went up to the altar to light our individual candles, we also lit two remembrance candles for each grandad. This was a really special way of remembering our grandads on our special day and meant a lot to each of us.
We chose our photographer because… Mark and Fiona’s bubbly and down to earth personalities along with their enthusiasm for their work struck us the minute we met them at a wedding fair in the RDS, along with their portfolio of pictures. We knew immediately that we wanted The Fennells to be a part of our wedding day. We wanted someone who would capture the emotion of the day with some fabulous natural pictures and that’s exactly what they did. Our pictures are truly stunning.
My dress… was Mori Lee by Madeline Gardiner. I always knew I wanted a white wedding dress. I had seen my dress online and went to Bridal Designs on Aungier street to try it. It was the first and only dress I tried that day and instantly fell in love with it. I got my veil in Embrace Bridal in Gorey along with the girls’ dresses. I wanted my veil to be simple and not take away from the detail of the dress. My favorite accessory from the day was a blue diamond bracelet that I borrowed from my mam. Her dad bought this for her over 30 years ago and I always knew it was something I would wear on my wedding day. It covered my something old, borrowed and blue.
What our bridal party wore… I had seen a bridesmaid dress online, however it was really important to me that I found dresses that the girls liked as much as I did. We all took a trip down to Embrace Bridal in Gorey to look at the one I had seen online as well as other options. All the girls loved the same dress and that is what we went with.
We chose our venue because… Radisson St. Helen’s is a stunning venue and just perfect for a Dublin wedding. When it came to viewing potential venues, this was always a front-runner for us. With the beautifully manicured gardens and great selection of reception rooms, it was just perfect. Zuzana, our wedding planner was fantastic and looked after us so well the whole way through. She listened to what we wanted and delivered that and so much more. On the day, itself everything was arranged exactly as we had imagined and the room looked stunning. The staff in the Radisson Blu St. Helen’s were just fantastic on the day and throughout. I cannot say enough good things about them and all our guests were talking about how good the food was.
Our wedding theme/colours… We both talked about so many potential themes for our wedding but in the end decided to keep it simple and go with ‘love is in their air’, we felt it fit well with us as a couple. We wanted to make sure our theme carried throughout our wedding so we incorporated this into our wedding invites, mass booklets, reception details and accessories. With it being Christmas time, our colour theme for the day was red and white. We incorporated this into everything from the dresses and flowers to the wedding cake and accessories for the reception.
The details… Sticking with our ‘love is in the air’ theme, we made and added our own accessories. We bulk bought photo frames and had romantic quotes from movies such as Love Actually and Moulin Rouge as our table names, simple heart shaped candles on each table and personalised packets of love heart sweets in mason jars (we spent some Saturday nights with a glass of wine, gluing red ribbon and love heart details onto these jars, in the end they looked really well). We had a candy buffet at our drinks reception provided by Candylady, Lisa which also tied into our theme by having light up love letters and personalised treats with love heart designs. Lastly, we had a fairy light dance floor, backdrop and other room accessories provided by Chic Events which along with the Christmas decorations, really added that final touch to the room.
Our honeymoon… Straight after the wedding we jetted off to Rome for a week. What a fantastic city, so much to see and do. We had both talked about visiting Rome in the past so this was the perfect opportunity. It was bit chilly in January but that didn’t stop us getting out to see all the sights.
My favourite part of the wedding day… The whole day was fantastic from start to finish but we both agree that the ceremony and the hour or so before dinner where it was just us in the grounds of the hotel, were the best parts of the day. The ceremony was just so special, walking down the aisle to my husband-to-be may be a bit of a blur but is a memory that will stick with me forever. Mark and Fiona also made having the photos taken, so much fun which is why we both enjoyed this part of the day so much. I don’t think I have ever laughed and smiled so much, which you can see from some of our pictures.
My piece of advice for other couples… Enjoy and make the most of the wedding day and all the planning, it goes by so quickly. Don’t stress over any of the small details that don’t go to plan on the day as no one else will notice. And one last piece of advice, try to take five or ten minutes away together at some point during the day. You have both worked hard in preparation for this day, it is nice to step back for those few moments and take it all in together.