“Don’t lose sight of the fact that the best is yet to come – being married is brilliant!”
– Aoife’s advice for other brides-to-be as she looks back on her wedding experience
Length of engagement: 15 months | Wedding date: 17the August 2012
Wedding ceremony: Duiske Abbey Kilkenny | Reception: Step House Hotel, Borris, Carlow
Photographer: Laura Faherty Photography
We met… in college ten years ago.
Our proposal… was during a surprise trip to Paris. Until we arrived at the airport I thought we were off to Donegal… I still have no idea how he managed to keep it all under wraps!
“At 4.30am, [my make-up] still looked perfect and I didn’t want to take it off!”
– Aoife, talking about her make-up artist, WeddingsOnline Supplier of the Year 2012, Ailbhe Lynch
My dress… was a raw silk and alcon lace dress from The White Room. I absolutely adored it.
Getting ready… My make-up artist Ailbhe Lynch did a brilliant job on all the ladies. Everyone was delighted with their make-up and how well it lasted. At 4.30am, it still looked perfect and I didn’t want to take it off! Ailbhe has a lovely calm and professional manner and she was an absolute pleasure to have around on the morning of the wedding.
Our wedding theme/colours… We went for quite soft romantic colours with shades of peachy nude and cement grey. The bridesmaids wore nude dresses from Ghost while the men wore grey tails. The bridal bouquet was entirely
composed of Lily of the Valley which is such a beautifully delicate flower.
Our ceremony… Our ceremony in Duiske Abbey was perfect. It was a real celebration with lots of laughter and the atmosphere was very relaxed, just as we wanted it. People say you don’t notice what happens in the church but between the beautiful singing (Ingrid Madsen) and wonderful priest (Father Gerald Byrne) it was so special and we have such fond memories of that part of the day.
“People say you don’t notice what happens in the church but between the beautiful singing and wonderful priest it was so special and we have such fond memories of that part of the day.”
Our photographer… Laura Faherty is a fantastic photographer and a really lovely person. She managed to capture each and every emotion on the day and yet somehow remained so unobtrusive. We absolutely love our photos and couldn’t recommend Laura highly enough.
“Our venue, the Step House Hotel, was Daniel’s family home until being redeveloped into a hotel five years ago.”
We chose our venue because… This is a loaded question. Given that the Step House is owned and run by Daniel’s family (it was Daniel’s family home until being redeveloped into a hotel five years ago) the decision seemed kind of obvious…
…But when we got engaged we thought that, rather than have daniel’s family stressed and working during the day, we would go to another venue where they could relax and so we did the usual thing that couples do and went to view our favourite places around Dublin and Leinster. Ultimately after numerous viewings we decided, rather selfishly, that although it might be a lot of work for Daniel’s family, we had no choice but to go for the Step house – it’s a fabulous hotel, the function room is probably one of the best in the country and we knew the food, ambience and craic would be top notch! And in the end Daniel’s family really relaxed and left everything to the brilliant staff!
My favourite part of the wedding day… We loved every single minute of the day. If we had to pick the best part, it would be having all of our family and friends celebrating with us. Having everyone we love in the same room was amazing and it was really lovely to see them all enjoying the day.
Our honeymoon… was a three and a half week road trip around California. We had a brilliant time – it was a great start to married life.
My piece of advice for other brides… Embrace the wedding experience but don’t lose sight of the fact that the best is yet to come. Being married is brilliant.
Vendors
| Photographer: Laura Faherty Photography Venue: Step House Hotel Wedding dress: The White Room, Mullingar | Make-up artist: Ailbhe Lynch Make-up Artist Bridesmaids’ dresses: Ghost |
