At the weekend, we shared Lynda and Feargal’s wedding film, and has you may recall, it was quite the tearjerker. Today we’re back with their real wedding - captured skilfully by Annie Kheffache - and well, we’ve fallen for this couple all over again. These two are meant to be! From their love story straight out of a romcom, to an insanely thoughtful proposal, and their intimate, relaxed, and all-round gorgeous wedding at Rosleague Manor, this one is laden with style, decor, planning ideas, and seriously sweet autumnal vibes! 

The couple read letters from eachother on their wedding morning - hear what they wrote in their beautiful film by D.Art Wedding Stories.

Lynda and Feargal tell us their story started out with some bad timing! “When we first met at a friends birthday party in 2008 we both immediately liked each other (as we now know!) but we were both going out with other people at the time so we didn’t think too much on it.”

After their initial meeting, they crossed paths from time to time but only both became single as Lynda was moving away to New York. “We lost touch again. She was away for a few years and had only moved home a couple of months when our friend invited us both out for dinner and drinks on New Year’s Eve but bad timing tried to strike again as Lynda was already due to go to another party that night.” Feargal recalls, “Luckily for us, she decided to join us for dinner and then go on to the other party afterwards.”

Feargal says they just clicked. “We were getting on so well that when Lynda got up to leave for the other party I had to ask her to stay. Apparently she was hoping I would ask, so thankfully she stayed out with us that night. Even now we always wonder what our lives might look like had that single moment gone another way.”

Dried flowers are a gorgeous alternative for a rustic, autumnal bouquet.

These two had a movie-worthy first kiss, “We had our first kiss (not at midnight!) and we got on so well we didn’t want to say goodbye at the end of the night and somehow ended up walking from Ranelagh to Phibsboro in the early hours of New Year’s Day without really noticing. As it turned out that was the just the beginning of a lifetime of evenings spent together that we would never want to end.”

Feargal tells us he spent ages putting the proposal together in great secrecy, “Many a Saturday, when Lynda was under the impression I was helping friends fix their cars I was actually picking a ring and scouting a location. I eventually settled on the Japanese Gardens in Kildare as I liked the way it’s laid out to tell the story of a couple meeting, getting married and growing old together and Lynda had mentioned it was a place she always wanted to visit.” We’re already on board with this proposal story!

“I wrote my speech the day before and practiced by getting down on one knee and reciting it to the dog who gave her blessing with a big face lick so I felt I had it in the bag!” Feargal explains, “I have never been so nervous and so calm all at the same time. I got down on one knee and I don’t think Lynda took in a word of it through all the tears but she managed to say the best yes I’ve ever heard in my life. We kept the news to ourselves for just one day celebrated with champagne and dinner in town, followed by playing some blackjack which happily gave us the start of the wedding fund.”

But it turns out Feargal didn’t know the full story behind the proposal, “Only recently Lynda confessed that apparently she already knew I was going to propose that day and it wasn’t a surprise at all! Turns out I’m not as sneaky as I thought as I had excitedly told my plans to my sister-in-law at a family dinner only a few weeks before I got down on one knee and Lynda overheard the whole thing! That explained why she had her nails done to go to the Japanese Gardens! It may not have been the surprise I planned but I got the yes from the woman I love and that’s all that mattered.” These two!

Lynda says the first look was one of the highlights for her, “We organised a first look before the ceremony which initially Feargal was dubious about, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions we made. It meant the big emotional moment of seeing each other on our wedding day was just for us and we got to spend an hour or so together on our own before the whole day kicked off.”

Feargal agrees, “It took the pressure off the ceremony entirely, to the point where Lynda and her dad were cracking jokes on their way down the aisle and it all was very relaxed in the end.”

Relaxed was the order of the day when the couple started planning their wedding, “We knew we wanted a small wedding with just our nearest and dearest and we wanted the day to be easy for everyone, so from the get go, our theme was ‘relaxed’! It helped that we have the most wonderful family and friends and most of our guests would have met previously in one form or another.”

His face! This pair just give us all the feels!

The couple decided to set the tone for their celebration with a dinner the night before, and other careful planning, “So people wouldn’t have to travel the day of the wedding. We had the ceremony and reception in the same place, some guests gave informal speeches in the bar and we booked the whole place out so it was just us and our guests for the entire weekend. It turned out exactly as we wanted, everyone was so chilled out, including us  and it really felt like our place for the weekend rather than just another hotel.”

A sand ceremony is a nice alternative to lighting a candle for adding a unification element to your ceremony.

The ceremony was another key moment in the day for this smitten pair, “We wrote our whole ceremony ourselves so we it was entirely personal to us and we involved friends and family as much as possible. Several friends gave readings, our niece and nephew were a bridesmaid and groomsman, Lynda’s brother collected the sand for the sand ceremony and Feargal’s mother handmade the hand-fasting cord.”

The couple sought out a venue that suited their small gathering, “We wanted somewhere private where we could have the place entirely to ourselves and also accommodate everyone on site so no-one would have to bus/taxi to or from our venue.”

The bride and groom were eager to get the food and music just right, “They’re always the two things people remember most about a wedding. Our band was unbelievable and had everyone up ‘til all hours and even my father was doing the limbo on the dance floor by the end of the night! We had no worries on the food front as the food and service in Rosleague is second to none and people still mention to us how much they loved the venue overall.”

For Lynda and Feargal, the venue search was the hardest part of their planning, “We had looked at a lot of places but nothing felt right. We were just about to give up hope but when we found Rosleague. We actually drove up and back to Clifden on New Year’s Day to see it and even though we only saw it in the middle of their winter renovation without heat, we just fell in love with it immediately.”

Rusted hydrangea and rose gold frames tie in beautifully with the reception space and give the room a cosy, autumnal feel.

“It’s beautiful, private, a very local place, family owned and has so much soul,” Feargal explains what makes Rosleague so special, “Every member of staff was beyond personable and accommodating, and in the end they really added to the day for us. Even Tyson the dog showed people where to park on the day of the wedding, kept the kids entertained and even stood guard outside Lynda’s room when she was getting ready, I assume in case anyone tried to sneak a peek! He kept us company as we wandered around and made an appearance in some of our wedding pictures which we loved because we missed our own dog on the day. It truly felt like a family home the entire time we were there for both us and our guests.”

These 'something blue' shoes are so chic!

It ticked all the boxes for the bride and groom, “We wanted somewhere unique, with a relaxed feel where none of our family or friends had been before and since it’s a long way to travel from Dublin so we wanted somewhere luxurious to ensure our guests felt like they were having a fancy weekend away and Rosleague just fit the bill from start to finish.”

The changing landscape around Rosleague made from some pretty stunning photos.

The romance! These two really are like a pair of Disney characters - isn't Lynda's gown fairytale-worthy?

This rustic wedding cake - baked by a friend - looks delicious!

The reception was made all the more personal by the couple’s friends, “A few of our friends asked if they could give speeches in addition to the usual participants and hearing their take on how me met and how we are as a couple was gave us all a great laugh. Our cake was made by an incredibly talented friend and was so good the whole thing was gone by the end of the night!”

Which ties in nicely with Lynda and Feargal’s advice for other couples, “Include your friends and family as much as you possible as it really makes the wedding feel so much more special. Your wedding is about you as a couple so personalise it where you can. Lastly, if there’s something you want for the day and can’t find do not underestimate the power of Etsy!”

After such a relaxed wedding, a big adventure honeymoon was called for, “It was off to Myanmar and Thailand for us for a whole month after the wedding and both places were incredible. The honeymoon was a great mix of spectacle and luxury. Myanmar was just such an shock on the senses, full of amazing temples, scenery, food and the nicest, most welcoming people we’ve ever met. Thailand was where we went for the luxury and spent a week in a private pool villa high up on a hillside where we were pampered rotten.”

And can they pick a highlight? “It’s hard to choose between both countries which is why we didn’t but we’d highly recommend either for something really different. We got to take hot air balloon rides over fields of temples, cocktail-filled sunset river cruises and finished off feeding and washing elephants in an ethical sanctuary. It’s well worth going completely mad for your honeymoon wherever you decide to go!”

A dream finale to a dream day! Thanks so much to Lynda and Feargal for sharing their amazing wedding with us - and of course to Annie Kheffache for documenting it so beautifully.