Happy Monday everyone, today we are very lucky to have a really beautiful and unusual wedding to show you courtesy of the super Ms. Christina Brosnan. Mary and James were married only a few days ago in Newman University Church on St. Stephen's Green. Their intimate wedding was followed by an casual dinner in Forty One in the Residence Club, around the corner overlooking the Green.
Mary is from Dublin and James is from the UK, but they live on the other side of the world, down under in Australia. They asked Christina to do a "first look" in St.Stephen's Green and around Grafton Street because Mary wanted to incorporate a bit of home in her wedding photos.
The results are a set of truly intimate and personal portraits I'm sure they'll treasure...
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, a "First Look" is when the bride and groom opt to see each other before the ceremony and spend some time alone, just the two of them. A good photographer just fades into the background and unobtrusively captures the magic moment when the couple first see each other.
As you can see from Mary & James' faces above - a first look is a moment of pure happiness.
Mary is just such a beautiful bride - I love her natural-look makeup and slightly 60s style hair, it allows her natural beauty to shine through. Her white strapless ruffled dress with black belt is from Australian designers Manuell&Moore, while the fur wrap was borrowed from a friend. Mary made her beautiful bouquet of blush roses herself, and they match James' pretty pink tie perfectly.
Mary particularly requested a walk around the Green and Grafton Street, to have a lovely reminder of the wedding and home, when they're both back in Australia. What could be more romantic? I love the shot of Grafton Street, because though it's clearly a busy day, with shoppers milling about, Mary and James are so perfectly happy they seem to be in their own little bubble of love.
The wedding ceremony took place in University Church, just behind 87 St. Stephen's Green, somewhere that has a special place in my heart - it's where my own grandparents got married over 60 years ago. The richly decorated interior is really stunning - the gold and jewel colours bathed in lamplight give off a gorgeous warm glow, especially lovely for a winter wedding.
While Mary and James particularly wanted a "first look" as a special reminder of home, it is also a really smart way to take the wedding photographs at this time of year. November in Ireland isn't exactly known for blue skies and balmy temperatures, and with the evenings getting longer, good light for photographs can be a problem. Having photos taken before the ceremony in a First Look is an elegant solution. It also puts the bride and groom at their ease before the wedding itself, and means there's no awkward hiatus between the ceremony and reception for photographs. In Mary & James' case they were able to enjoy a walk through the Autumn leaves in the Green with their guests, with Christina on hand to capture the smiles, laughter and kisses.
Congratulations James & Mary, and a very special thanks to Christina Brosnan for sharing these with us, it's truly a gorgeous example of her great work. For more of Mary & James' wedding hop over to her blog to gorge and also to check out her other lovely weddings.
