So many couples tell us that all they want is a 'laid-back wedding', but not all of them put in the planning it takes to actually ensure that translates to the vibe of their day. Today's real wedding is showing us how it's done! Cat and Jack wanted their wedding to be stress-free and enjoyable throughout the planning process and on the day itself, so their scrapped their notion of an entirely DIY wedding, and opted instead for a house party at Cloughjordan House. From the simple decor and the fuss-free styling, down to the format of their day and the spread laid on for their guests, peak enjoyment for all was the top priority. Thankfully, Dena Shearer Photography was on hand to capture all the fun in the sun!
The couple tell us the goal for their Cloughjordan House wedding was to achieve a relaxed, informal vibe, “One where we, our families and our guests felt comfortable and at ease from the start,” says Cat. “We felt the best way to ease the nerves and make the most of the weekend was for the whole bridal party to wake up in one location the morning of the wedding – Roundwood House was the perfect location for this and we had an amazing meal together there the night before! We then threw caution to the wind when it came to tradition on the morning of the wedding and all had a chilled breakfast together before the pampering began.”
When it came to the details, Cat didn’t want anything overly-styled or formal. “Everything was kept very natural with wild flower bouquets/button holes and milk churns for the woodshed where we held our ceremony. I had a rosemary crown in my hair and rosemary and wild flowers around our cake so everything looked very natural and smelt amazing!”
The burst of colour provided by Cat's bridesmaid dresses is a breath of fresh air! The bride herself looked stunning in a silk sheath gown with a lace top.
We’ve said it before (many times!), but pulling off an wedding that feels ‘in the moment’, actually takes a lot of forward planning. “Our priority was to make the most of the day by setting it up in a way that we felt would allow us and our guests to sit back and enjoy every moment; without feeling rushed or constrained by formalities. Spending the night before and morning of together with our families and bridal party around us helped settle pre-wedding nerves and build a wonderful atmosphere and shared excitement from the moment we arrived in Roundwood House.”
To maximise the day, the couple had their portraits taken ahead of the ceremony, “It freed us up at the drinks reception to spend as much time as possible with our guests. We didn’t want loads of formal, posed shots and instead wanted photos of our guests enjoying themselves so we could look back on the little moments in the day we perhaps weren’t aware of at the time - Dena’s documentary style really suited what we were after from this point of view. Getting our pictures taken before the ceremony also really helped settle the nerves and gave us a chance to check in with each other before the whirlwind properly kicked off!”
The couple opted for an afternoon ceremony so they could make the most of the day, “Our ceremony wasn’t until 3pm which helped set a chilled morning pace and hopefully took the pressure off our guests; particularly given we had friends and family travelling to Tipperary from all corners of the country. It was great to just be in Cloughjordan from then on, no travelling between our ceremony and reception again freed us up to make the most of the day and our time with our guests.”
The couple’s cockapoo Sabah had a key role in the day, “Jack’s mum hand made a beautiful lace collar for Sabah and stitched our wedding rings on for Sabah to parade up the aisle – everyone admits she stole the show!”
The pair googled ‘house party-style weddings’ and found Cloughjordan House, “It was the only venue we went to see and knew it was ‘The One’ when we arrived. We loved its chilled vibe - the two house dogs wandered out to greet us and straight away we were told there would be no issue with our dog, Sabah, joining them on our big day.”
Food was another big draw of Cloughjordan, “Particularly given their reputation as a cookery school, and we loved the way they use organic, local produce (we weren’t disappointed on this front – everyone still raves about the breakfast!). The laid back style of the buildings and out houses; the onsite accommodation at varied price points (with a hostel and local B&Bs also in walking distance) and the fabulous outdoor space and lawn games also fit the brief and suited what we were after – a venue where our guests stay onsite/locally and come/go at their leisure.”
These two had a great excuse to go all out on their wedding wine, “Jack's parents live in France so when we were over visiting them the summer before the wedding we had a great day out together visiting their local vineyards and selecting our wines. Cloughjordan were happy for us to pay corkage and again it just added an extra personal element to the day.”
The sun came out for the drinks reception, right on time for lawn games and outdoor dancing!
We are HERE for Cat and Jack’s advice to other couples, “When we first set out we had an idea that we wanted to completely make our wedding our own but we quickly realised how expensive and time consuming setting up something completely different, from scratch, would be. We learned that there is a typical wedding formula for a reason – it works; people like a bit of structure/tradition. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t shake things up at different points and prioritise what is most important for you.”
Thinking about the structure of the day is something the couple highly recommend, “Getting ready in the same venue and doing our photos before the ceremony is one thing that really worked for us. Likewise, we decided to spread out our speeches (dads at the end of the drinks reception and bride, groom and best man after dinner) to break things up for our guests and avoid nerves getting in the way of people having a good time.”
Cat and Jack were eager to keep the decor simple and cost-effective, “We also wanted to use local, small businesses where possible and avoid too many unnecessary splurges. We sent e-invites to our guests and set up a wedding website; we used Aldi’s wedding stationery for the place settings and bits from the Dealz wedding section were used to make our table plan. We weren’t interested in spending hours doing DIY jobs but these little touches were simple, cheap and fit in with the overall rustic look we were going for so worked out well.”
We love how Cat opted for the best of both with a stress free cake that was still homemade, “My mum and aunty made the cakes from our wedding cake and we were delighted to find Brenda Ryan (Dream Cakes), who is local to Cloughjordan, as she agreed to ice, put together and deliver the finished product on the day. This took the pressure off the bridal party on the day but meant we still had that personal touch to our cake.”
Thanks so much to Cat and Jack for sharing your utterly relaxed bash with us, and thanks so much to Dana Shearer Photography for sending it our way. Be sure to visit the gallery below to see even more details.
