A Perfectly Pretty Day at Powerscourt House: Jane & James

A stylish downsized wedding replaced this duo's destination celebration in Spain!

Today's real wedding couple, Jane and James, originally planned for a destination wedding in Spain for June 2020. However, when it became clear that pandemic travel restrictions would not be lifted in time for them to move forward, the pair switched gears, turned their original plans on their head and decided to marry at the one of the couple's favourite childhood spots with a downsized guest list of 50. Although their sunny Summer wedding in Spain was moved to October in Ireland, their light and airy colour palette looks just as beautiful in Autumn as it did in Summer, thanks to the stunning surrounds of Powerscourt House. Their October wedding was bursting with style and so much love, all captured wonderfully by Into the Light, so let's take a closer look, shall we!?

Jane and James met in Kilkee, Co. Clare, on New Year's Eve 2015 through mutual friends. Jane had just returned from living in London and James had just returned from living in Australia. Jane fills us in, "James moved to Dublin that March and we were pretty much inseparable from then. In 2017, we took a risk moving to Naas, not knowing anyone, to buy a house and very quickly added to our family with our dog, Bailey. She is our first child and brings us so much love and fun everyday!"

The proposal took place in October 2018 while the couple were out for a walk. Jane reminisces, "James is very laid back and proposed on a walk, with our dog Bailey, in Donadea Forest, Kildare." She adds, "Not one for romance either, we had planned to go to the Home Show in the RDS and there was no plans to change that, so we celebrated by looking at house ideas and eating a store-bought sandwich, while sharing a table with another couple! Very romantic! Luckily, my parents had the champagne ready for when we called in that evening."

Bride Jane is the is the founder and designer behind the Irish jewellery brand Emma by Jane. In the lead up to the big day, Jane wanted to create a very special collection for her wedding and any brides to be, and so, designed some stunning new pieces. On the big day, Jane wore two pairs of earrings from the new collection, one set for the church and a droplet style pair for the reception, and every piece in the collection was lovingly named after her bridal party.

Jane and James were due to get married in Spain in June 2020. Jane tells us, "The wedding was originally meant to be in Spain in a cathedral and then a gorgeous outdoor venue overlooking the hills and sea in Marbella. Sadly, Covid had other plans and after moving the date once, last July we realised our dream wedding would not take place. We wanted to get married, we were not interested in putting it off for a year, so decided to take a look at Powerscourt House. We spent our childhood in Powerscourt and it had the same gorgeous vibe that we had loved in Spain, a rustic feel with gorgeous views."

She tells us that by the time the couple had decided to view Powerscourt House, they had given up on the idea of a "dream wedding day. It all felt so tainted, for months it had been disappointment after disappointment. It was my sister that pushed us to see it as she didn’t want us to just have a dinner in a restaurant when we could have the 'big day,' but just with less people. When we viewed the venue I remember getting chills, I could imagine the day there with as many people as we could have. It was just as special, if not more special than our Spanish venue, and I began to get excited about our wedding day again."

What a stylish duo!

Jane sourced her incredibly chic off-the-shoulder gown from Dublin bridal designer Sharon Hoey. Her cathedral-length veil featured delicate petals, which adds such a romantic feel to her bridal look.

James's donned a timeless navy suit by Louis Copeland & Sons. I think we can all agree it was a great choice!

Just how gorgeous are these midi periwinkle blue bridesmaids dresses!? They are by Australian fashion label Bec & Bridge.

Jane tells us how lucky they were to be able to have a wedding at all. "We were extremely lucky with the date we got as so many people had pushed their weddings and we were able to have 50 people, a band, hair and makeup etc. A week later, the whole country went into Level 3 and the look of weddings changed completely."

While their downsized day was more wonderful than they could have hoped for, there was a bittersweet element, too - missing those who couldn't come due to guest list restrictions. "The people have always been the most important part to us, we planned a wedding abroad so we would get a few days with our close family and friends, it was what were looking forward to the most," Jane says. "We were so lucky with the day we got in the end but sadly a few of our best friends were missing due to living abroad or being high risk. We wouldn’t change a thing about the day except have the special people were missing."

Their favourite memory from their celebration? "It was the relief that it had finally arrived, the week before the big day, it was unclear if the rules would change so we were on tenterhooks and had to have another back up plan. We stayed in Powerscourt Hotel for the whole weekend and to have all our guests arrive was so special and really got us excited the night before", says the bride. "Our bridal party went above and beyond to make the weekend so special, they created a video from all our family and friends who couldn’t be there so we could watch it on the day. It really was such a special weekend and because the numbers were small we got to spend proper time with all our close family and friends."

To other couples planning a wedding in a pandemic, Jane has some words of advice to pass on. "Create the day you want for yourselves, it is easy to take everyone's opinions on board but it is your day and whatever you plan, your guests will love it," she says. "The current circumstances are so hard with numbers and how the day looks, we were ready to move on with our lives after nearly two years of planning so decided, for us, we were getting married either way."

The couple had planned to go to South Africa on honeymoon after Christmas, but instead had a minimoon in Kenmare. Jane tells us it was "really special after all the tears and stress of the few months before." She also tells us, "Our honeymoon is still on hold, instead we are due to our first baby this August and if we can get the few staycations with our families that we have booked, then we will be delighted with life." Awh, huge congrats, guys!

Thanks so much to Jane and James for sharing their gorgeous wedding with us, and to Into the Light Photography for capturing it all. There are even more images in the gallery below.

Recommended Suppliers

Wedding Dress
Sharon Hoey

Suppliers 

Bridesmaids Dresses //
Bec & Bridge
|
Shoes //
Aquazzura
|
Jewellery //
Emma by Jane
|
Flowers //
Fussy Peacock
|
Transport //
AT&T Chauffeurs
|
Ceremony/Reception Music //
Dublin Gospel Choir
|
Band/DJ //
One Fine Day
|
Videographer //
Little Bear Film
|
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