If you're considering a city wedding, get inspired by Dee & Phil's city celebration...

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Nothing like a Dublin city wedding to get you lovin' this fair city again. Not only did Dee and Phil show their guests all the best bits of Dublin, they did it in style. Bride Dee channelled the elegance and refinement of her favourite series, Mad Men, in her beautiful bridal ensemble (that's what they called it back in the 60s), and they added more than a bit of fun to their soirée. A ceremony in City Hall was followed by a quick jaunt through the streets of the capital to No 25 Fitzwilliam Place (locale of next week's Bridal Banter!) for an intimate reception. Elisha Clarke followed the pair through the city and shared their best bits with us today...

I am not surprised that Phil met the lovely Dee at Ladies Day at the Galway races because if you haven't spotted it already, she is one stylish little lady. This time however it was Dee's sister who was a finalist in the G Hotel's ladies day hat competition and Phil's friend happened to be one of the judges (FIX!). But how did they actually meet? Well Phil sat on Dee’s expensive handbag which was ‘saving a chair’ and Dee was not impressed... I thought I would have to have words with this guy, however, the smooth talking tall English man that Phil is, he managed to get both the chair and the girl! We didn’t stop talking all night and when he kissed me on the cheek at the end of the night I was sold! (Gotta love those polite Englishmen). I crashed the Race Ball to meet up with Phil the next night and spent the next year or so travelling up and down the motorway. It was a long time afterwards that Phil actually admitted to having noticed me earlier in the crowd and seized the opportunity of the spare chair to try to work his charm. I moved to Dublin in 2012 and to add the icing to the cake our gorgeous baby daughter came in to the world the August of 2013.

Phil the smooth talker worked his magic yet again for the proposal.. "Before heading off to the UK for Christmas we decided to have a day in town soaking up the atmosphere, but Phil had other plans! Having booked us into the Shelbourne he had a full day of activities planned. A surprise trip to a pop-up bean bag cinema screening of the iconic christmas movie Elf, followed by Christmas carols and dinner in Pichet. Phil popped the question over dinner with a beautiful cocktail ring from Rhinestones (picked all by himself!) Then back to the Shelbourne bar to people watch and party the night away. I may still talk of meeting Gabriel Byrne in the hotel lift as the highlight of the night!

Sounds like the perfect Christmas present, well done Phil!

60's style bride in pink dress with hat and fur coat

Dee is a massive Mad Men fan (meet your sister, Dee! All hail Joan!) So she knew she would have to incorporate the stylish era into her own bridal look. Her blush pink wedding dress is from Alexander Mc Queen @ Net-A-Porter and is a stunning colour on Dee. She donned her grandmother’s beautiful fur coat and that impressive headpiece. The ladies day competition finalist herself (Dee’s sister) whipped up the headpiece, talk about talent! Dee only saw it for the first time on the morning of the wedding and it matches perrrrfectly, amazing!

60's style bride Dee in pink dress with hat

When it came to choosing the ceremony venue for this stylish soiree, the couple wanted to incorporate the best bits of Dublin for their guests...We wanted our wedding to reflect our love of Dublin. We couldn’t think of anywhere better to have our ceremony than City Hall with its amazing architecture, light and that ceiling! It is even more special to us as City Hall is on our route to town, we know we will always look up with a smile and think ... ‘Thats where we got married’

Music was a big part of the ceremony (and cool music at that!) Dee and Phil's friends preformed 'L.O.V.E' by Nat King Cole during the ceremony ...

...and for fun the newlyweds had an impromptu dance down the aisle to 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered’ by Stevie Wonder - Brilliant!

It's official!

I'm a little bit in love with the bridesmaid dress, aren't you? The two-tone pleated skirt is gorgeous, the girls picked it up from MaxMara in Brown Thomas.

As I mentioned, Dee has a love for all things vintage and loves the old-fashioned look. For fun the pair hired a green vintage bus to take their guests to the next venue. And don't they look like happy campers...

While City Hall was the perfect ceremony reception, they wanted to introduce their English pals to the beauty of Ireland's Georgian architecture and one of the most beautiful spots has to be No.25 Fitzwilliam Place...We were sold on No. 25 with its beautiful Georgian architecture, elegant decor and the relaxed feeling that we felt when we looked round. Originally we wanted to have our whole wedding at No. 25, however, our guest numbers prevented this. Suzanne at No. 25 suggested having a drinks reception at No. 25 and then dinner at Brassiere Le Pont which worked out perfectly as Brassiere Le Pont transformed perfectly from a superb restaurant to the ultimate city centre reception venue.

We were looking for a great venue, great food and a great party! Conscious of the fact that our guests would be coming from both the UK and Ireland we wanted those from the UK to get a sense of Dublin at its best whilst making it a stylish affair. We did not want the ‘wedding’ to take over our lives and with the help of the staff at City Hall and Brassiere Le Pont were able to achieve this.

Having all our close friends and family in the one place to celebrate with us and having our beautiful baby daughter at our special day made the day perfect.

What advice would you give to brides and grooms planning their day? Keep it simple. Short and sweet, I like it Dee!

A huge congratulations to Dee and Phil - One seriously stylish couple! A big Thank You goes to Elisha Clarke for sharing her work with us at One Fab Day. To see more of Elisha's work pop over to www.elishaclarke.com.

The Wedding Details