There's something so special about being a wedding blogger, it's such an honour and privilege to be able to write about true love stories; to see and hear all about the celebration of a couple and their life together; to create a post that shares that love story and celebration with the world. But to share the day of a couple who have read the blog and been inspired by what you've published, to see ideas come to life in a celebration that is perfectly personal and absolutely original, well let's just say, today is a good day.
It's the day we share with you the wedding of Jenny and Rossa...
If you've seen the Summer Preview of One Fab Day Magazine, you'll be well familiar with Ballybeg House. It really is a fabulous venue for a personal celebration - a beautiful old house and a permanent marquee, with the gorgeous Grouse Lodge just up the road for the ladies to prepare in peace...
So let's start at the very beginning - how did you to get together? "We knew each other for years through the Rathfarnham Concert Band where I played clarinet and Rossa played trombone, although we didn’t get together until we were in first year in college. And twelve years later here we are, we have our house and our two dogs so getting married was next on the list."
So how did the big question get popped? "We had talked about getting married in the past, or at least I had talked about it and Rossa listened. He then planned to whisk me away to Antwerp to get an engagement ring until I ruined the surprise by throwing a strop, wondering why he didn’t seem interested in tying the knot. We did go to Antwerp and picked a ring together but Rossa made me wait another 6 weeks to actually propose. We were taking the dogs for a walk on the beach when he got down on one knee. It was so romantic. I just got this feeling in my stomach, this is the moment, this is it."
Jenny was clear on her bridal look from the beginning... "I wanted something a bit non-traditional and when I saw tea length dress I fell in love. I ended up getting about 4 inches taken off the length to make it more 50s style and funky. I am so in love with my dress and couldn’t imagine wearing anything else. My pearl necklace belonged originally to my grandmother, and my mum wore them for her wedding. Regina of WaterMemory restrung them with Swarovski crystals."
Having chosen a lavender theme for the colour palette (more about that later...) Jenny was super practical about getting her accessories all sorted - buying standard ivory shoes in Debenhams and having them dyed to match. Smart! And the mauve shade is perfect as a contrast with the tea-length dress. The bridesmaids' dresses were found in Coast "I didn’t want to spend a fortune on a dress they might only wear once and didn’t want anything too bridesmaidy"
Aren't these gorgeous? It's those special moments that a great photographer will capture. Julie caught the mood perfectly, just as Jenny and her Dad had a very special moment..."I was doing so well all morning, was really relaxed and enjoying the preparation. Until my dad walked in and told me I look beautiful and I lost it. That was a really special moment for me."
Having started with a core idea of using lavender, Jenny wove the colour throughout the wedding in simple yet stunning touches - her friend Yvonne designed the fabulous stationery, while Jenny, an avid knitter, knitted little lavender button holes for the guys - I love them so much!
The couple chose Romy McAuley as their celebrant for the wedding to assist them with a more intimate and unique celebration that reflected their relationship and commitment to each other...
I loved that our ceremony was so personal to us. Because we had a civil ceremony we threw out the rule book. Our readings were about friendship and the challenges faced in marriage. We gave our parents gifts related to their hobbies because we wanted to publicly thank them for everything they had done for us during the year. We also planted a tree that will grow stronger as our marriage grows stronger. I even wore an apron and garden gloves to great amusement. Because the venue was so intimate our guests were right there with us and we laughed so much during the ceremony."
As Rossa is a musician, friends were called upon to provide the music for the day adding another personal element to the day...
How cute are the three ladies? And if anything epitomises the relaxed atmosphere of Ballybeg, it's these three amigos - it's such an informal yet beautiful location, well worth visiting if you're on the search for a venue with character that you can put your own stamp on.
When I said Jenny is an avid knitter, I wasn't kidding...this beautiful piece of work was her own labour of love..."I love knitting and knitted a shawl for myself to wear. It took about three months in total and there are about 650 Swarovski crystals knitted into it but it was totally worth it. I was surprised that it acted like a security blanket on the day, something familiar and comforting"
Wheee... this is what a bride should feel like on her wedding day... And Ballybeg is a great place for it... "I actually saw Ballybeg in a post on One Fab Day (Breffni and Conor's October wedding) and fell in love there and then. There were several factors that informed our choice of venue. We didn’t want a hotel. There is nothing wrong with hotels but we wanted to do something a bit more unique with more flexibility. Ballybeg was so relaxed and our guests loved it.
We are huge foodies, so the food was so important to us. We used Molly’s Larder, as recommended by the venue and every single guest complimented the food which made my day. The buffet also leant a more relaxed atmosphere we were going for. Rossa is a home brewer and brews the most delicious beers. Ballybeg allowed us to serve his homebrew at the drinks reception so we had three kegs with different beers in each, Ballybeg Blonde, Galaxy Pale Ale and Coolatin Brown Porter.
After seeing a feature on growing your own favours, we had pots of lavender on the tables and gave them to guests to take home at the end of the night. The smell was amazing. And I also loved how delighted our guests were with all our little touches, hearing people say "this day is just so you". It made all the hard work worthwhile. For us Ballybeg was the perfect venue and the staff were fantastic. I can’t compliment them enough.
Before you all start asking where to get the cake - a friend of Jenny's family made it and graced it with the most gorgeous cake topper - also knitted by Jenny. If you look closely you'll see it has two tiny knitted dogs as well as the bride and groom! And you might recognise that thumbprint tree guestbook - Jenny used our own thumbprint tree template for it, customised with her own typography!
To round off the evening, Holly and the Golights were chosen to get the guests rocking, - the choice was easy, as Rossa has played with them before so, when it came to choosing the music apparently "there was no contest. They had the whole room on the dance floor all night."
So any advice on how to create a celebration as fabulous as yours? I found Pinterest invaluable in keeping all my inspiration in one place and religiously read One Fab Day every day." Yay! "Do things your way. Keep the traditions that make sense to you and ditch the ones that don’t. And have fun, the days go by as a dream. For other brides and grooms considering including DIY in their weddings my advice would be: Be realistic about your time frame. And ask for help, your friends and family are probably dying to get involved in your big day so let them. Take the pressure off. And finally if whatever you are creating isn’t perfect you are the only person who is likely to notice so don’t worry about it."
The final word has to be this: "One of my favourite moments was falling asleep smiling holding my new husband’s hand." And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call love...
Huge thanks to Jenny and Rossa for sharing their day with us, we're honoured! If you're inspired by Jenny's fabulous creative approach then you should have a look at her blog craftytails.wordpress.com where she has more pictures from the day and gives the inside track on how she created some of the elements...
And to Julie Matkin of Half A Dream Away - such beautiful work, we're so delighted to be able to share with everyone - a huge thank you!
All the Wedding Details
Venue: Ballybeg House
Styling & Coordination: Pairs and Peaches
Photographer: Julie Matkin
Dress: Justin Alexander from Moreland Bridal
Bridesmaids dresses: Debenhams
Shoes: Coast & Debenhams
Shoe Dyeing: C&D shoes
Flowers: Pairs and Peaches
Fascinator: Astrid
Ceremony celebrant: Romy McAuley
Wedding Band: Holly and the Go-Lights
Stationery: Yvonne Keogh
Hair: Jen Monks
Makeup: Deirdre O’Halloran
Caterer: Molly’s Larder
