Jessica and Adam pulled off the wedding of their dreams at Killruddery House and Gardens, Co. Wicklow, surrounded by their friends and family, who helped make the day truly special. Personal touches were dotted throughout their day - handmade flower arches, created by Jessica's parents, accentuated the entranceway and our couple even did a traditional hand-fasting ceremony. All of the happy tears, laughter, and euphoric dance moves towards the end of the night were captured beautifully by their photographer Nina Val. Let's take a leisurely scroll through their wedding, shall we?
Jessica and Adam's love story all began in a bar in Chorlton, Manchester and let's just say they hit it off pretty much immediately both being Irish in another city! As for the proposal, Adam popped the question not once, but twice. Adam explains: "I actually proposed twice, once in California on a trip away in the Sequoia Grove of Yosemite National park. This was because I wanted to pick up the ring in New York but wasn’t able to get the timings right and pick it up without suspicion! The whole first proposal went great until we noticed an actual bear about 50m away and ran like hell back to the car. Once the ring was sorted and I had time to ask Jess’ parents for their blessing then on a walk on a bright winter's day along Renville Point in Galway I pulled out the ring and asked her again. Thankfully she said yes both times!"
The aesthetic for this awe-worthy wedding was kissed with a warm array of sunset oranges and peach tones. "We wanted it to be simple, floral with summer colours. If anything we were hoping the day was going to be sunny happy and warm so the reds and oranges came from that," said Jessica. The bridesmaids kicked off the palette with silky terracotta gowns to match the pretty florals.
Jessica. our real bride stunned in a full-length laced gown with the most divinely detailed train. To complement her dress, she paired a floral headband with loose-flowing curls. Her hair look was created by the talented Mags from Upstyle Funk.
The style continued to the gentleman, as they followed suit with vibrant buttonholes, a refreshing choice of bow-ties and check grey three-piece suits. Adam, the dapper groom, looked very emotional as he beautiful bride-to-be as she made her way up the aisle!
Adam's mum picked out the ribbons for the hand fastening ceremony they chose, and his sisters gave beautiful readings and signed the wedding licence. bTheir favourite ceremony reading was Sonnet 17 by Pablo Neruda read by Adam's sister and their favourite music was Godspeed by James Blake.
The wedding ceremony took place in the stunning Orangery at Killruddery House, allowing the sunshine to beam down on the guests. "Shelia Moran delivered a really fantastic ceremony as the celebrant. She took time to get to know our story and then delivered it with warmth and grace, and helped tailor everything to us and was perfect in tone, delivery and timing. Could not recommend her more," says Jessica.
Their magical wedding venue of choice was an 800-acre mansion on the idyllic Wicklow surrounding. The newlyweds explain what made the venue the one: "We didn’t know anything about Killruddery when we started looking but we both know the Irish weather well so we were petrified of the wedding being rained out. We agreed we wanted to get somewhere with a conservatory or orangery which narrowed down our options. When we got to Killruddery and walked around the corner into the main area, the sun was shining down on the house and it immediately hit us this was the venue. It sounds a bit silly but they have a beautiful tree that is placed in the lawns as you walk in and it looked magical. After the wedding, several of the guests commented on how it looked like something from a fairytale!"
Other elements that filled the day with personal and special touches, was having Jess’ mum make the wedding cake, along with her dad creating the floral archway and sourcing fresh oysters, a shucker, and cherry poitin, which went down too well, they recall! "Adam's father had been prepping his speech for weeks and it was really heartfelt with brought many tears to eyes. It was all the little things everyone did that culminated in an incredible day," they said.
From showcasing the beautiful grounds and epic Wicklow backdrop, to using smoke bombs and making the most of the raw steel and exposed brickwork in the industrial style sheds on site, photographer Nina Val put her creativity to work to give Adam and Jess a truly special collection of wedding portaits to cherish.
As for advice, Jessica and Adam spoiled our readers with some great and invaluable points! Take a read, "I know lots of people say it but enjoy every minute and don't let things go wrong - there will be some - get in the way of enjoying it. Plan some time for you to both be able to walk away and take it all in. You won’t get time on the day with all the stuff going on if you don’t. Focus on your guests in the right way. Don’t worry about who sits where, people won’t remember that in a year. They will remember if they had good food, good drink and a good laugh! It’s your big day, obviously, but if you spend a bit more time planning the food, drink, entertainment etc you know the guests will enjoy it more and you will too."
A very special thank you to photographer Nina Val Photography, as well as our couple Jessica and Adam for sharing their wonderful summer's day wedding with us.
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