These Two Tied the Knot On the Bride’s Birthday

Real Weddings

“One thing that was unique for us was that we got married on my 30th Birthday.”

 

Names: Zoe & Paul Kinahan
Length of engagement: A year and a half
Wedding Date: 29/03/2019
Wedding location: Mount Wolseley Hotel
Photographer: AK Photography

 

 

We met… Paul and I first met 9 years ago in work. It was three years later when we went on our first date to the cinema after our first sneaky kiss at our work Christmas party. Things got pretty serious from early on. We moved in together after 5 months and began to build a great life together and after 4 and a half years we got engaged.

 

Our proposal… The proposal completely caught me by surprise (even though I was always convinced I would know when it was happening) I thought we were going to visit Paul’s family in Portlaoise but when we were on the road he told me he was bringing me for a night away to one of our favourite hotels Mount Wolseley to say thank you for all the effort I put in for his birthday. We checked into the hotel and went up to our room, which was one of their suites called the York Suite. When we walked in there was a bottle of champagne and some roses in the reception area and when I walked around the corner I was faced with the most amazing view of the grounds, more champagne, chocolates and a huge bouquet of flowers. Before I could even realise what was going on Paul dropped to one knee and asked the all important question. The hotel staff were amazing at helping Paul do the special touches to the room. We had stayed here once or twice before we got engaged and we always knew it was the hotel we wanted to get married in, so to get engaged there was very special.

 

 

Our wedding theme/colours… I wanted a nice relaxed day with not too much fuss. I knew I wanted to incorporate some light blush pink tones into our decor as I thought it would fit in well with the time of year. I went for a white bouquet with roses and hydrangeas. I ended up going for blue for the bridesmaids’ dresses and we did their bouquets with white and pink flowers which were gorgeous with their dresses. I rented some white cherry blossom trees for the room in the hotel and they were a stunning feature.

 

 

We used the illustration from our wedding invitations for the unity candles, mass books, and throughout
the hotel. They were on the table plan, with the table names, dinner menus and signage in the hotel. We
were very happy with how it all tied together.

 

Things we DIY’d/made ourselves… We did the decor in the church ourselves. A friend of the family, Aoife, who was doing all the flowers for the wedding kindly lent me some fabulous bits she had for weddings. We put a mix of baby’s breath and wicker love hearts on the pew ends. At the church entrance we had a welcome to our wedding sign with some lanterns and baby’s breath around them and outside on the wall on the way into the church we had some lanterns lighting. Paul did the mass booklets himself which was no easy task and he used the illustration from our
wedding invites on the cover. We made the crisp sandwich packs ourselves for the resident’s bar. We got little signs made for our wedding favours on the tables.

 

My dress… I absolutely love my wedding dress and wish I could just wear it again. I had seen it online a while after we got engaged and I fell in love with it. The detail of it was just gorgeous and I just loved the back of the dress. It was a Mori Lee dress from My Fair Lady in Monaghan. The two ladies I dealt with were Niamh and Cera and they were an absolute dream. The whole experience was absolutely fantastic.

 

 

My hair and make up… For makeup I had Kate Mc Cormack. The minute we got engaged I knew I wanted Kate and I messaged her fairly soon after. I just love her work. She was fantastic on the morning of the wedding and all the women, including my nana, were beyond happy with how all their makeup turned out. It lasted all night. For hair I had Donna Ivie. Donna is just amazing at what she does and all our hair turned out absolutely amazing. She got my vision for mine and the girls hair from the get go and she was such a great addition to the morning of the wedding.

 

His suit… Paul got a made to measure tuxedo from Louis Copland in Dundrum. He dealt with James in the store and he was so great to deal with for the whole process. He couldn’t have done anymore for Paul and it was a great experience.

 

What our bridal party wore… I got the bridesmaid dresses from Nikki Kavanagh’s in Rathoath. They were dessy dresses and myself and the girls loved them. I didn’t go in with a particular style in mind I just wanted the girls to be comfortable in whatever they wore on the day. I had intended on going for a pink dress for them but fell in love with a blue shade called larkspur and went with that. Paul rented the groomsmen’s and fathers tuxedo’s from Mardec clothing in Naas. They were great to deal with before and after the wedding and they were great value and a great quality.

 

 

Our ceremony… Our ceremony took place in St. Anne’s Church in Ardclough. It’s a lovely small church where I grew up and I always knew I wanted to get married there. We had Fr. O’ Byrne for our ceremony and he was great. He had a great sense of humour and really gelled well with us which we thought was very important.

 

We chose our photographer because… We had seen Anthony’s work at a wedding showcase in Mount Wolseley and we immediately fell in love with his style. We spoke to him that day and we knew straight away he was a good fit for us. He was so easy going and was an absolute dream on the day of the wedding.

 

 

We chose our wedding coordinator because… We clicked with Amy from the get go. Nothing was too much or any hassle. She couldn’t do enough for us and she was a pleasure to deal with during the whole planning process. On the day itself Amy and Hannah( the function manager) were amazing. We were so well looked after and Hannah made sure that we had everything we wanted. I couldn’t speak highly enough of them and their team.

 

We chose our venue because… We just fell in love with it from the first time we stayed there previous to getting engaged. For us it just had that wow factor that we wanted and the staff were so helpful and friendly. We always thought there was a great vibe there.

 

Our menu… We had our wedding tasting a few weeks before the big day and we knew there and then we would not be disappointed. The food was out of this world! To this day people still compliment us on how good the food was.

 

Our honeymoon… For our honeymoon we went to Vegas first for 4 days and then onto the Dominican Republic for 9 nights. The whole thing was amazing, an absolute dream! We stayed in the MGM Grand in Vegas and in Secrets Cap Cana in Dominican. The highlight of the trip for us was the helicopter tour we did of the grand canyon where we got to land in the canyon and have a champagne breakfast. It was a memory that will last a lifetime.

 

 

My favourite part of the wedding day… My favourite part of the day was when I got to the church. The excitement and nerves hit all at once. It was so special knowing that all of our favourite people were under one roof to share our day. Walking down the aisle was a moment I’ll never forget and seeing Paul waiting for me at the top was just a dream come true.

 

My piece of advice for other couples… if I could give any advice it would be to relax as much as possible and enjoy the whole process. The run up and the day itself just goes so quick and no one wants to look back and just remember how stressed they were. Trust that all your suppliers and the hotel will do the best job imaginable for you and take it all in. Also, if possible, take a quick 10 mins with your hubby for yourselves to just take it all in.

 

What is it that makes your wedding unique? One thing that was unique for us was that we got married on my 30th Birthday. What better feeling to have all the special people in our lives to celebrate that milestone with me. We also put a big focus on our entertainment we had Irish dancers before the band and we hired someone to sing in the resident’s bar which people still tell us was a great idea that they hadn’t seen before.

 

 

Suppliers

Wedding venue: Mount Wolseley Hotel | Photographer: AK Photography | Planner/coordinator: Amy Masterson
Videographer: You&Me.ie | Band: Pink Champagne | DJ: Gary Mc Keown – First Class entertainment | Hair: Donna Ivie | Makeup: Kate Mc Cormack | Dress: Mori Lee – My Fair Lady, Monaghan | Suit: Louis Copeland | Bridesmaids dresses: Nikki Kavanagh bridal shop, Rathoath | Groomsmen outfits: Mardec clothing, Naas | Cake: Special occasion cakes by Marian Malone | Invitations: The Daly Design Studio | Irish Dancers: Celtic Dance Fusion | Trad band for second day: The foxy devils | Light up letters, photo booth: First Class entertainment | Cherry Blossom Trees: Finesse Weddings | Flowers: Aoife Bracken Kennedy | Rings: Fields Jewellers | Rolls Royce Phantom: Absolute limos | Residents Bar Music: Mush Molloy Entertainer | Nails: Alter ego nails | Church Music: Jenny O’ Donovan Weddings | Unity Candles: Wogansecrets