Travel-themed details at Mount Druid

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My favourite part of the real weddings we feature here on OFD, is getting to read the love stories behind so many great couples. And today, Maya & Derek have a pretty special story. After their initial encounter in Vietnam, this American bride quit her job, packed her bags, and moved across the world to live with her Irish groom in New Zealand. Pretty romantic right? Well the romance doesn't stop there. Read all about this adventurous pair and their wonderful whirlwind of a wedding at Mount Druid, and see their gorgeous photos by Eavan McLoughlin...

Maya & Derek met in a pretty majestic setting - on a boat in the middle of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. “Derek was backpacking with three friends on his way to settle in New Zealand from Ireland, and I was taking a leave from my job in the U.S. to travel solo in Southeast Asia. Our recollections of the night we met differ, but in short we got to talking over beers (partially because we were the oldest people on the boat by at least a decade and I think instinctively gravitated toward each other)… and just hit it off.”

Maya says there wasn’t some lengthy long distance relationship to follow, “I went home, quit my job and packed my belongings for New Zealand. I think most of my friends and family thought I was being insane and rash, and I probably was, but it was an obvious decision for me. It turns out I was right to follow my heart!” Wow, what a love story - but when you know, you know!

How pretty is Maya's upstyle?

Derek’s proposal was simple, and perfect, as Maya tells us, “After looking at rings online for about a year, I had suggested one day that we just get a silver band and then swap it out down the line. The very next day we came across a fossil shop in Utah where we were camping and we got a little silver and moonstone ring for $18.”

The couple eased into their day with a first look ahead of their ceremony.

Derek didn’t wait around to pop the question, “As soon as we got to our campsite an hour later, he was singing some song he was making up as he went… he does that regularly so didn’t think anything of it until I realized he was down on one knee, pulling the ring out of his wallet – it still had the size label on it and everything! It wasn’t a fancy, been-planned-for-months proposal, but I love that once we found a ring he literally took the first opportunity to propose – there’s something about that that makes it feel even more romantic to me.” I totally agree!

Maya says her memories of her wedding day are a happy haze, “We are pretty laid back people and overall the wedding was rustic and relaxed. But honestly everything flew by in such a blur that sadly I don’t actually have a good sense of the wedding – it’s almost as if I wasn’t even there! But apparently we were both smiling ear-to-ear the whole time…

I love the open back in Maya's wedding dress.

The couple said most of the typical wedding concerns weren’t high on their list of priorities, “We worried most about our friends enjoying themselves and making it a relaxed and fun atmosphere - nothing too “weddingy” or stuffy. And of course the dress!”

The couple included a few homages to their travels throughout the day.

The ceremony was one of the biggest highlights of the day for the bride and groom, “I asked Lili, one of my best friends since the age of five, if she would do us the great honour of creating and performing our ceremony. She put together the most appropriate, personal, and meaningful ceremony we ever could have dreamed of. Having the ceremonial aspect of our wedding be so intimate and tailor-made for us really made the event all the more special.”

Maya was really happy with how the bridesmaid dresses worked out, “I gave my bridesmaids a color scheme and asked them to pick their own dresses in hopes they might one day wear them again and not be stuck with the dreaded “bridesmaid dress”. They nailed it and it worked out better than I could have imagined – they were perfectly coordinated in different but complementary colors!

The couple wanted something different from their wedding venue, “It seemed like the overwhelming majority of venues in Ireland were either function rooms or castles, and neither of those really felt like us. I googled “alternative weddings Ireland” and Mount Druid came up – we went to see it (in the rain and cold in mid-December, no less) and knew as soon as we arrived – the landscape, the funky art around the property, the yurts and huts (we’re big campers and festival-goers)… it was just a unique, laid back, rustic place and it was perfect.”

This Mount Druid menu is making me hungry!

Maya has some great advice for others embarking on wedding planning, “Get a wedding planner. We didn’t, but I wish we had! Otherwise, if you’re indecisive like me, try not to agonize, especially on the things that people likely won’t really even notice – if you do, you will only drive yourself crazy, waste loads of time, and ultimately make more work for yourself…” Too true!

The international guests got a taste of Ireland at the reception.

This adventurous pair had pretty spectacular honeymoon plans, “We spent two glorious weeks in Nicaragua kayaking, paddleboarding, diving, swimming, sailing, eating and drinking our way across the country!”