Getting together over Paddy's Weekend for a wedding sounds like my kind of fun, especially when like Gillian and Conor you're surrounded by a group of super helpful, not to mention creative and talented peeps, who, when it came to their wedding day at Trudder Lodge, were more than happy to get involved. From putting together a choir (I kid you not), designing the wedding stationery to hand making bespoke decor and accessories, and even making their very own wedding tipple, their nearest and dearest combined to create a wedding machine. The results, as you can imagine, combine to create a really sweet and personal day with a good dash of non-twee Irishness as a nod to the old patron saint (he needs a bit of celebrating too of course). This is truly what a modern Irish wedding is all about, and we're delighted that Dara Munnis and Gillian and Conor are sharing it with us today...
So how did today's couple get together? Well Gillian’s friends Tanya and Claire lived with Conor during their final year at university in Edinburgh. Bride Gillian has known Tanya forever as went to secondary school together, so she took her friend's advice when she said that she would get on really well with Conor, that was 7 years ago so I think Tanya was right!
So first thing you need to know is that Conor and Gillian are foodies, and where else would a foodie propose but Girona? Wondering what it is about Girona? Yeah, I did, but it made perfect sense when Gillian filled us in... "Conor is a chef so last August for his 30th birthday I booked a weekend in Girona and meal at “El Cellar de Can Roca”, the world’s number one restaurant. We decided to make a holiday of it and go for a week. Conor proposed on the first night on our bedroom terrace overlooking the Pyrenees - I didn’t have a clue! Our good friends Luke and Kathy and Bob and Emma were joining us a few days later for the weekend and meal at El Cellar to celebrate their own 30th birthdays so we decided not to tell anyone, not even our parents, until they arrived. It was very special, Luke and Kathy arrived first and noticed straight away (maybe due to the fact Kathy had received some cryptic messages from Conor about her own engagement ring a few months earlier when designing mine!) Our other friends Bob and Emma, on the other hand, took a while to notice much to the amusement of us all. We then called the parents and enjoyed an extra special evening with great friends, food and wine at El Cellar to celebrate!"
When it came to choosing their venue Gillian and Conor wanted a big house that they could take over for the weekend and not have too many restrictions and Trudder Lodge fit the bill... "Niamh and all the staff at Trudder Lodge were fantastic, they literally handed us the keys at the start of the weekend but were still on hand to set up and ensure things ran smoothly on the night. Niamh was the most responsive and helpful person during the 5 months of wedding planning. On top of that, the house and grounds are stunning and the location is central for everyone flying in to Dublin or driving from other parts of Ireland. We just wanted a big party and for everyone to feel relaxed and enjoy themselves like they would in their own home or home of a friends, Trudder Lodge is perfect for creating that atmosphere.
As for the men's attire for the day, groom Conor looked seriously country chic gent in a bespoke suit from King and Allen in London. Conor is a chef and rarely gets to be suited and booted so he took the opportunity to go all out on his wedding (and I don't blame him!) He had a Herringbone Donegal tweed suit made for the occasion and bought Peter Werth brogues. The pair wanted all the groomsmen to be comfortable and wear whatever they wanted and luckily they all are very well dressed! Gillian and Conor then gave them TM Lewin ties provided by their very kind friend Richard who works there and a buttonhole.
As it was St Patrick’s weekend so we wanted to give some nods to the holiday. We had bunches of shamrocks given out at church, which people wore as boutonnieres, we had little pots of shamrocks throughout the house and outside the church, and then a trad band during the service and drinks reception, plus a little bit of green in Conor’s tie and Irish stew for food the next day!
Two of Gillian's uncles drove her in their own cars to the church, they added ribbon to the cars and donned chauffeur hats that they pair ordered from Amazon!
The involvement of friends can really make your wedding that extra bit special, for Gillian and Conor it was the icing on the cake. Lucky for them their friends are also super talented too and Gillian doesn't mind telling you just how great they are, who could blame her they sound fantastic! We know it’s boasting but we really think we have the most talented group of friends and wanted as many as possible to be involved. We asked some friends including my sisters Paula and Diane and Conor’s brother Adam to form a choir led by Adam, he whipped them into shape for the wedding service. We then had a friend of Conor’s mum, Brian MacKay, conduct them on the day and play the organ. His opera singing wife Juliana also did a few pieces in the church as everyone was arriving. Now I am impressed! A choir of friends sounds brilliant, the talent doesn't stop there but you'll have to read on to find out...
The ceremony took place at Church of Ireland, Newcastle in Co Wicklow, not too far away from their venue...
Hurray! It's official for Gillian and Conor!
Conor’s nephews Freddie and Johnny were Page boys and their mum's Siobhan and Sarah made sure they were in the cutest outfits, mainly from H&M - green checked shirts, bow tie, braces and navy jackets. If you're having little tots at your wedding check out our Page Boy Outfits & Inspiration and Flower Girl Dresses For All, for gorgeous outfits for all budgets!
We thought we should have a dress code so we chose 'Country Chic' to encourage guests to wear their tweeds and furs as Conor’s suit was tweed and I had a fur coat. This confused some people who wanted to know if they should be wearing cowboy boots! Hilarious, well I have to say they got it right in the end as all of Gillian and Conor's guests turned up looking super stylish on the day!
Competing with the Oscars selfie are we?
The pair wanted a relaxed vibe on the day so while they scooted off for some photographs with their photographer, Dara Munnis, their guest enjoyed some drinkies on the lawn...
We didn’t want to be away from our guests for very long but luckily we had an extremely talented photographer in Dara Munnis and videographer in Joe from Big Day films, who were on our wavelength. They got the necessary shots in and captured some amazing pictures and footage of us partying with our guests during the day. They were so relaxed and fun to work with, all our guests were loving them!
Gillian choose a beautiful lace dress simply entitled 'White' from the Vera Wang collection for David's Bridal. She added a beautiful beaded hair clip made by her talented gal pal, Lisa Dodds who owns White Chalk Studio - worth checking out for the sweetest home decor items. For her something, old, borrowed and blue Gillian wore a garter donated from her Aunt Marian. With her wedding day taking place in mid March, Gillian came prepared with a fur coat from ASOS Marketplace to keep the cold at bay, although the sun shone all day!
My birthday falls around St Patrick's Day, so I remember this rugby match well, and eventhough it was Gillian and Conor's day, there was no way the crowd were going to miss the big match. So it was all-squish-in to the front room for a cosy bit of shouting at the telly.
Both Conor and Gillian love good food and wine, so no surprises as to what was a priority, but it wasn't about being pretentious and showing off as Gillian explained..."We didn’t go too fancy with the food, we just kept to food we enjoy eating, but made very well by Ella at Kitchen and Larder. Both Conor and Ella had worked at Ottolenghi in London at some point so we had Ottolenghi inspired starters, a big chicken and ham pie for main, one large dish sat in middle of table, we then nominated a guest at each table to serve out and gave them a chef’s hat, and rhubarb crumble with Pooh bear ice cream, provided by Conor’s uncle John for dessert. It was all absolutely delicious and a bit of a change from the normal wedding food."
As I mentioned earlier, Gillian and Conor's pals are a talented bunch of people, not only did they put together a choir for the day, but also friends Laura and Clive designed the invites, sister Diane took care of the reception decor, another friend Lisa made the framed “Gill & Con” sign and “Mr Gadd/Mrs Gadd” stamped spoons, and pal Lorna baked delicious biscuits for the dessert table, last but not least there was Conor’s uncle John providing the Pooh Bear ice cream and even more importantly Raspberry gin for the drinks reception. For wedding favours the couple gave the lads little Jameson bottles and the girls mini soaps from Avoca.
Conor knows the lead singer from Hibernian Jungle, Barry Hargadon, so we asked him to get the band together for the wedding. They were fantastic, the dance floor was filled all night! We couldn’t decide what to have for a first dance song, we didn’t really want a slow number as we wanted to get the party started immediately. When up visiting some friends in Aberdeen we were talking about first dance choices and agreed that the next song to come on in the bar would be our first dance. It was an acoustic version of “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk so we honoured this and it seemed fitting as it’s been thee song of the last year. It was great fun on the night and really got the party started!
So any words of wisdom to share with us Gillian and Conor? "Don’t give in to wedding pressures or feel you should do certain things because that’s what “should” be done or has been done before. Choose good suppliers who can take care of everything on the day - One Fab Day is good for that (Thanks Gillian, we're here to help!) Relax and enjoy the day by being with your guests as much as possible and soaking up everything that you’ve planned - everyone loves a good wedding!" So true, no matter what people say about weddings, they love a great day out and everyone's a sucker for a good love story too - a great wedding is the celebration of true love, so what more could you want to do of a weekend?
Huge congrats to Gillian and Conor on their Trudder Lodge wedding! A big Thank You of course must go to Dara Munnis for sharing his work with us at One Fab Day! To see more of Dara's work pop over to www.daramunnisphotography.com.
The Wedding Details
- Ceremony: Church of Ireland, Newcastle, Co Wicklow
- Reception: Trudder Lodge
- Photographer: Dara Munnis
- Wedding Dress: White by Vera Wang at David's Bridal
- Brides Fur Coat: ASOS Marketplace
- Shoes: Amazon
- Make Up: Marie Bailey
- Hair: Danish Hair Design
- Groom’s Suit: King and Allen Bespoke
- Groom's Shoes: Peter Werth
- Bridesmaids dresses: J.Crew
- Bridesmaids Shoes: “Untold” at House of Fraser
- Brides Accessories: Katherine Swaine
- Bridesmaids Accessories: Glitzy Secrets
- Flowers: Mary Larkin @ Floralicious
- Stationey Supplies: Essentials Company
- Catering: Ella at Kitchen & Larder
- Fruit Cake: The Windsor
- Ceremony/Reception Music: Ger Doyle Trad Band
- Wedding Band: The Hibernian Jungle
- Videographer: Big Day Films
