Last week someone asked me what we look for in a real wedding to feature on One Fab Day - and my answer was a little less than straightforward, as we don't have a particular "look", unlike some other wedding blogs who are known more for a particular style. As the Irish wedding blog our main focus is twofold: Ireland & Inspiration.

We love to show the amazing variety of Irish weddings from vintage to contemporary, civil partnerships to traditional church blessings. And this week we're delighted to have just such a line up - completely different weddings, all inspiring, all beautiful. And we're starting with the ultimate in City Chic Sophistication - it's the Dublin wedding of Eva and Dave in Cliff Townhouse on St. Stephen's Green captured by Brian and Trish from We Are The Mastersons. Eva is a jewellery designer so as you can imagine this is one stylee wedding...

Dave and Eva had not one, but two weddings (lucky ducks) as Eva explained... "The official wedding took place in Wicklow registry office on Friday 3rd June witnessed by our immediate family, then on to Mount Usher gardens for lunch. Dave and I booked in to the Druids Glen Hotel for our wedding night and as it was a scorcher of a day everyone came along for drinks on the terrace. As luck would have it Druid's Glen had misplaced our reservation and so they comped our entire stay! A great way to start married life and we can't say enough about how good they were to us."

"Two days later we had our real ceremony upstairs in the Cliff Townhouse with about 70 guests present. On the morning of the wedding it was lovely to have Trish at home with us taking a few photos of the girls getting ready and back in Windy Arbour I know Brian hung up his camera to transcribe Dave's speech for him while he grabbed a shower. " So quick note to all of the Masterson's clients - this is the sort of service you should be expecting!

For their wedding day in the Cliff Townhouse Eva and Dave had a subtle dark sapphire theme woven throughout the details, from the thistles that were used in all the floral decor to the sapphire cufflinks Eva made for Dave - even the Cliff Townhouse decor blended to their scheme...

Eva wore a beautiful strapless short ivory Amanda Wakeley dress with a beautiful seven strand sapphire necklace Dave encouraged her to buy in Morocco just before they got engaged last November

"Our high priestess for the day was our good friend Neidra. She officiated over our ceremony and married us in front of all our family and friends. It was a very laid back ceremony with poetry, music and a long passage from "Everything Is Illuminated" that my poor brother had to struggle through. We wrote the ceremony with Neidra about a week before the wedding and it meant an awful lot to have her marry us in front of our nearest and dearest. She made sure everyone knew when they were up and I think she even reorganized the room before we got there so that there was an aisle for dad to walk me down!"

After the ceremony the couple relaxed with family and friends in Cliff Townhouse before heading over the road to St. Stephen's Green for a quick walkabout with Trish and Brian to have the wedding portraits taken... "We had a fizz and macaron reception upstairs before trotting downstairs to the restaurant for a three choice, three course meal. Aside from being a beautiful venue, a big part of choosing the Cliff Townhouse was the amazing food. After dinner and speeches more guests arrived and the party split between the dancers upstairs and the chatters downstairs. Later in the evening we had masses of cured meats and cheeses for soakage!"

Being a jeweller has a lot of advantages, not least when it comes to being a bride - it brings the whole Wedding DIY thing to a whole new level... "I made my engagement ring and our wedding rings, which are all platinum and I also made the wedding jewelry  - a tahitian pearl bracelet for my sister Marianne who was my only bridesmaid, sapphire cufflinks for Dave, silver cufflinks for his best man, and a garnet and pearl necklet for Dave's mum. I'm still working on the mother of the bride gift, but for once it's not going to be jewellery!" I can hear a whole chorus of brides around the country sighing at their screens right now and throwing the scissors and fancy paper out the window. How can any of us measure up to that!

Despite being the very epitome of chic city sophistication, Eva and Dave's wedding was very much a handmade affair, with everyone getting involved "Our friends and family did so much on the day from music and lighting, to straightening table settings (thanks Carol) and dressing the cake. It's thanks to all of them that we had such an amazing day. Invitations were designed by my brother and I. Our friend Iseult played violin during the ceremony and our friends Trish and Brian (We Are The Mastersons to the rest of us) took our wedding photographs. The cake was made by myself and Dave's mum, and then decorated by my brother on the day. Dave's best man Ev and his girlfriend Linda provided sound and lighting, so I guess everybody rowed in behind us."

In my experience, everything that is handmade for a wedding, has its own story to tell - and these placecards are no exception "We made place cards from baggage tags and our friend Carol tied thistles into each one with ribbon from the Hemline (I couldn't find enough grey ribbon anywhere in Dublin and this wholesaler came to the rescue just days before our wedding). "

And then it comes to that time of the evening... some people hate the speeches, but personally I think they provide some of the most intimate and special moments of the day, and often some of the most hilarious and heartwarming ones too. At Dave and Eva's wedding this was the case, but it wasn't off-colour jokes or tales of childhood but for Eva "when my two and a half year old nephew pottered up to his bumpa during the father of the bride speech and said "hi" in to the microphone" was a real highlight of the day.

And some final words of wisdom from this very happy couple..."Put as much effort as you like into the planning, but on the day don't worry about the details. You only get married once so make sure you enjoy every moment."

Never a truer word... So big congrats and thanks to Eva and Dave for sharing the inside story of their day with us. And of course a big Muchos Gracias to Brian and Trish of We Are The Mastersons for sharing their gorgeous work with us. Brilliant inspiration for those of you planning a city wedding...

All the Wedding Credits

Ceremony & Reception: Cliff Townhouse

Wedding Dresses:  Amanda Wakeley at Harvey Nichols, Dundrum

Bridesmaid dress: D&G at Harvey Nichols, Dundrum

Shoes: Carvela ; Kurt Geiger both from Brown Thomas

Jewellery: Eva Dorney 

Photography: We Are The Mastersons

Flowers: Appassionata Flowers

Groom's Suit: M&S

Tie: Canali

Accessories: Sapphire necklace from Morocco