Today's wedding was a thrill to write while swooning over the gorgeous images! To give you a taster of what you're in for, Larissa and Justin are two stylish individuals with bags of personality. They brought their professions as musicians to the table to create a fun-filled family celebration at Mount Druid and they did it their way from the style, the personalised ceremony to the string quartet dance off in the evening. Sounds like one epic celebration! Amy of Rubistyle was their photographer on the day and it's a joy to share this wedding...
We met in Cork and were introduced by friends. A friend of mine was playing viola with Justin's band for a gig and we all started hanging out together. Between then and now there have been many gigs, adventures abroad and gourmet gallivanting. It has been a great eleven years.
Justin proposed at a hotel in Belfast just as we were heading out for a meal. He had bought the beautiful diamond and sapphire ring the week before and was delighted when it looked better on my hand than the hairy fourth finger of the male sales assistant!
For Larissa the idea of a fairytale wedding dress was an alien concept, she knew what she didn't want and that is a good place to start and the results were unique, vintage inspired, beautiful and very much Larissa as she explained "I couldn't get my head around wearing a long white dress and I knew I didn't want to look like a bride. I just wanted to look like myself, just the best version of myself! What came together was a skirt and top combination that was roomy and breathable and felt good. The top was from BHLDN and the skirt and belt from Ciara bridal in Powerscourt. My fur stole came from Mercury Goes Retrograde vintage shop in Cork. Last but not least, my headpiece was from my mum, she wore it to my sister's communion in 1986. There is a picture of me wearing it that day too, with a gap toothed grin in runners and a dress!" Tis a long way from gap-toothed grins she is now!
One look wasn't going to be enough for this stylish gal, Larissa also had a beautiful white silk dress hanging up in the wardrobe which she made into a little lace skirt and silk bomber jacket that she changed into before the dinner so that she was ready to kick back and relax and go mad on the dance floor for the evening!
Of course Larissa wasn't the only one looking swell that day. Justin scrubbed up well with a few little funky touches of his own.
'L' for Larissa?
One of the couple's favourite moments of the day was their first look. A new(ish) tradition that just love at One Fab Day. We have had the pleasure of featuring some gorgeous first looks over the years, like Christine and Caomhan's. From Larissa's description it sounds magical, a highly-recommended way to start your wedding day...
"Amy of Rubistyle Photography suggested we meet at 1.30pm on the mound at Mount Druid. Amy and Justin were there first and Justin stood on the mound facing away from the steps. My sister Eimear gave me a lift to the venue and we waited in the car until I got the shout from Amy to start walking up the mound. It was so exciting, I felt like a fifteen year old on a first date, my big sister dropping me in to meet my best friend, the man of my future!"
Amy was brilliant from the start, everything was easy. She was our favourite photographer out of all we viewed online, her style is unique and every one of the 800 or so photos she gave us is beautiful.
The pair had their hearts set on having a party in a barn and a humanist wedding ceremony in a building that was not a church.But it wasn't as hard as you might think, they chose somewhere we've known well since it first opened two years ago Larissa can give you the details... "Mount Druid was the perfect wedding place for us as it had it all for the day we pictured. I played at the first wedding at Mount Druid a few years ago too. The red tin chapel had enough space for our guests and musicians and the rows of pews and space inside lent a formal air to the occasion. We really wanted a venue where everyone would feel comfortable and there would be no preconceptions of a traditional wedding day, so people could relax and be themselves. Etiquette was a subject we felt like stamping out from the start. It was a real breath of fresh air when we went to view the Mount Druid, the lakes and trees were so refreshing. There was a real sense of space. My uncle said it was like a magical mystery tour on our wedding day, moving from chapel to drinks barn to dinner barn during the day as he never knew what to expect around the next corner."
While Mount Druid is known for being very boho-cool already, with lots of bits and pieces of decor in situ, it's always nice to have that personal touch added ... "My mum, sister and friends arranged all of the flowers in the chapel and barn and I made my own bouquet and the buttonholes for the two families. We ordered boxes of flowers the week of the wedding from wholesaleflowers.ie. We needed them by February 14th though, the day before the wedding. We weren't in the market for anything red, phew!"
Being musicians really comes in handy when you're getting married. The pair asked some of their friends (who are also musicians) to play on the day. They had a string sextet at the chapel, who played Sigur Ros 'Staralfur' as the entrance piece and The Beach Boys 'God Only Knows' as exit. They also had an a capella rendition of 'By Your Side' sung by Justin's bandmates, Niall Connolly sang his own song 'Seagull', and Dee Gavin sang 'Secret Heart'. As well as sounding beautiful, it is lovely to have people you know involved as it means so much more.
Husband and Wife. Altogether - aw!
From the start of planning their wedding day, Larissa and Justin wanted to stray away from traditional and make it their own. Their idea was to combine a little bit of rustic with crafty and colourful details along with some added vintage touches with a theme that Larissa called 'Love and laughter' How sweet!
We wanted to incorporate our history together as musicians and Justin's former work as a projectionist at the IFI, so we had a polaroid camera at the guest book table and a few hats and masks, our friends got out their guitars and we had a session after dancing and then moved down to a cabin near the lake for another session with string quartet, trumpet and guitars. I pity anyone who could hear that, it's not easy to play the violin after a full night of eating and drinking!
Mount Druid is home to some beautiful vintage decor, upcycled furniture and a rustic barn setting, so even if you're not into DIY and decor it's a great place full of talking points that you can blag as your own (we won't tell anyone!)
But Larissa is a crafty bride so she did put "quite a lot" of effort into some special details embroidering 100 cotton napkins with the letters L&J, we had to ask about that... "When I had just about lost my love for the art of embroidery (and anything to do with needles and super thin pieces of thread), my friend Cat stepped in and finished the last 20 napkins." Hats off to you Cat, it's not many friends who would be able or willing to do that level of diy.
So the party kicked off in earnest in the big barn, and once the food was served and the drink was flowing, there was someone very special to get the party started... "Justin's band played for our first dance and he joined them after that for the next half an hour. We played our own spotify playlist after that and had some classic 80's hits, keeping young and old alike on the dance floor." So if you're not into a band, or it's not in the budget, don't worry - these two party animals didn't bother, and they had a whale of a time as you can see...
What advice would you give to brides and grooms planning their day? Book the venue, celebrant, photographer and baker straight away and forget about the rest until closer to the time. Once the venue and celebrant have been booked, everything else comes together very quickly. Enjoy spending time with your partner during the planning stage too! It can be easy to get wrapped up in ordering extra bits and pieces online, looking up pinterest and blogs. Remember to switch off the computer and have an old cuddle instead! The day will be perfect because your family and friends are there and even if you get married in an old boat with no designer white dress or favours or hand embroidered napkins or any of the other special things, the day is filled with so much love that you won't even notice anything else.
What a bright and colourful wedding! Congratulations on making Mount Druid your own Larissa and Justin! A huge Thank You goes to the lovely Amy of Rubistyle for sharing her work with One Fab Day, to see more of Amy's work pop over to www.rubistyle.com.
The Details
- Ceremony: Mount Druid
- Brides Outfit: Top & gloves from BHLDN, skirt and belt from Ciara bridal, Mercury Goes Retrograde fur stole
- Shoes: Zara and Lk bennett
- Flowers: wholesaleflowers.ie
- Groom's Suit: River Island
- Cake: Wildfour Bakery
- Invitations: Dollface design
- Make Up & Hair: 1st Floor hair and beauty
- Photographer: Rubistyle Photography
