Summer is here (heard on the radio this morning about the heatwave this weekend apparently - uber-excited!!) and the season of music festivals and fun is kicking off, so today's real wedding is right on time. Inspired by their very sweet Electric Picnic proposal (and their love of festivals) lovebirds Sinead and Steve celebrated marquee-style at Hotel Doolin on the Wild West Coast of Clare. Bright pops of yell Incorporating sweet vintage touches and a relaxed family atmosphere, they planned the sweetest open ceremony followed by some frolicking in the fields. David Olsthoorn Photography was the man on hand to capture the fun, so let's check the snaps out...

An unexpected meeting, and a kiss on the dance floor got these lovebirds together. I'll let Sinead fill you in on the details... "Steve and I met in 2006 on a night out. My younger sister and brother were involved in a car show , and Steve was also in it. So in September 2006 there was a charity car show on in Limerick and Steve who is from Waterford came up for the Show. When I met Steve it was a brief hello, but I did notice his amazing eyes and asked my sister who he was. After the show there was a big night out in Limerick for all the participants, so I went along. Steve was with the group of people I was with, we just started talking and talking and talking, we just got on so well. We danced to Justin Timberlake's “ Sexy back” on the dance floor, then he asked if I had a boyfriend, I said no and he planted a kiss on me...

...So we swapped numbers and started texting. We were texting morning, noon and night, (both of us can talk for Ireland!) So after about 7 weeks of texting, we decided to meet up. Steve came to Limerick on the Saturday of the October Bank Holiday weekend, and we had made a deal that if we didn’t get on in person Steve would just leave on Sunday morning and there'd be no hard feelings. Steve ended up leaving Tuesday morning, longest first date ever! We just clicked and got on great. So from then on, we travelled to each other every second weekend and finally Steve decided to move to Limerick in April 2007."  A few years later,

Steve and Sinead are both festival-heads, so Steve put together a clever little plan to pop the question at the best of them all - Electric Picnic... "In 2012 we had tickets to go to EP and the day before we were due to go Steve had to go into hospital, and stayed in and out of there for 3 months (he’s all better now!) So because we missed that year, Steve was determined not to miss the next one! We arrived on the Friday and I didn’t notice anything at all, we were both in great form, the weather was great and we were happy out. We were waiting for Steve’s Sister and husband to arrive (his sister knew what was about to happen) so we met them and went into the Body & Soul area and his sister said, 'Sit down there Sinead and I’ll take a photo of you and Steve', next thing I knew Steve just dropped to one knee and produced a ring and proposed, and his sister caught it all on video! So as you can imagine we had a great weekend celebrating!"  Smarty Steve had even made sure Sinead's nails were in tip-top shape by surprising her with a manicure a few days before they headed to the festival. Now there's a man who thinks of the details!

Sinead found her vintage style tea dress at Lilac Rose in Limerick. She incorporated lost of really personal elements when putting together her bridal look, but particularly special was the silver locket her sister gave to her with a photograph of her mum and dad on their wedding day. Sinead's mum passed away 28 years ago, so this was a lovely way to have her close by on the day.

As festivals lovers and having had the proposal at EP, the pair wanted to celebrate their wedding outdoors in beautiful surroundings, so a marquee in the grounds of Hotel Doolin ticked all the boxes as Sinead told us "The hotel just has a great vibe about it. from first meeting Donal the manager we were put at ease, there was never any stress or panic. The hotel is just a lovely, friendly, homely place. You just feel really relaxed in there! Having a marquee was key and the décor and set up of the marquee on the grounds of the hotel are just gorgeous and exactly our style. Donal was on hand all day, he kept everything running smoothly, we couldn’t have asked for more, he took care of everything!"

Wanting to keep it informal and relaxed, Sinead and Steve had their ceremony in the marquee, surrounded by family and friends.

"We had everyone stand around us for our ceremony in the marquee and it was really lovely. We asked Pastor Tony from the Christian fellowship in Limerick to conducted our ceremony and he was great.  My sister-in-law Aileen also sang and played guitar during the ceremony and that amazing, it was great to be able to incorporate close friends and family into our day."

Awwwwwww. *Wipes tear* Hurray, it's official for Sinead and Stevie - time to celebrate! But first some pics...

Given the location right on the Atlantic, the couple were delighted to be able to take advantage of the amazing scenery for their portraits and have one special person Sinead was really grateful to..."Our Photographer David was amazing. He was so much fun and the locations he took us for photos were just gorgeous, we had great craic out on location with him and he was a pleasure to work with. He got the shots without being too imposing and he is such a lovely guy which was important to us." Full marks to David!

Despite a little bit of grey in the sky the sun is still bursting through. And what festival style wedding would be complete without some retro shades?

Throughout Sinead and Steve's wedding you can see flashes of colour popping through. From groom Steve's patterned bow tie, his groomsmen's bright turquoise tie and of course the bridesmaids yellow dress - which I love. Having one bridesmaid means you have a lot more options as you're only trying to compliment one complexion. Sinead choose a yellow criss cross bodice dress from Ted Baker and added cool suede turquoise heels (no doubt to match the groomsman's tie) from Asos!

Having a marquee wedding meant that the couple had lots of scope for decor. Sinead loves all things vintage and wanted a vintage afternoon tea party vibe for the reception. With this in mind she called on the talents of Louise from Grace Covers... "Louise did a fantastic job, she decorated each table uniquely. She added some really sweet vintage touches like umbrellas hanging from the ceiling and  bottles filled with wild flowers, it was exactly what we wanted, she captured my vision perfectly it was beautiful...

...Our main aim for our wedding was that we wanted a relaxed, comfortable and enjoyable day. We wanted a party with our friends to celebrate the commitment we made to each other, and I must say we got it! Neither of us were nervous, at all, our guests were lovely and relaxed and we danced all night and had fun...

...It was great to have personal touches to our wedding also. Our wedding favours were handmade by my sister, all 110 of them! Steve came up with the idea of the prizes for the guests and a basket of flip-flops for the ladies for dancing! (Good man Steve!) We also had “Advice to the Happy Couple” sheets rolled up like a scroll to give to each guest to fill out during dinner, the more humourous the better, they all had to be placed into a box and after the speeches we pulled a few and read them out loud and the guest got a prize if their’s was read out, it was  such a fun addition."  A lot of effort, a lot of thought, but it all looks like it came together beautifully.

How cute is this cake topper? Made by the bride herself!

So finally, what advice would Sinead and Steve like to share? It's very practical.."Make a deal, that ye are allowed to have one argument over the wedding planning and that’s it, because in real life you will have an argument! That’s what we did, we had one and that was it, after that everything ran smoothly. Set a budget, make a list and go through it. Give each person a job to do and let them do it. Cross things off the list as you do it and then make a new list, and you will see it getting shorter. Keep a notebook in your bag aswell, so handy to write down ideas that pop into your head. And lastly, don’t run away with what you think you need for the day, be practical."

Huge Congrats to Sinead and Steve! Thanks so much for sharing it with us all, Hope you're enjoying married life!

A big Thank You goes to David Olsthoorn Photography for sharing his work with us at One Fab Day. To see more of David's work pop over to www.davidolsthoorn.net.

The Details

• Venue: Hotel Doolin
• Wedding Dress: Lilac Rose
• Bridesmaids dresses: Ted Baker
• Brides Shoes: Miss KG
• Bridesmaid Shoes: Asos
• Groom & Bestman Shoes: River Island
• Flowers: Mes Fleurs
• Grooms suit: Louis Copeland
• Best Mans Suits: River Island

• Bride’s Jewellery: Swarovski from Mathew Stephens
• Bridesmaid Ring: Michael Kors
• Bridesmaid headpiece: Asos
• Cake: Hotel Doolin
• Stationery: Mary Doherty, Hospital, Co.Limerick
• Make Up & Hair: Miriam Costelloe from Enchant Beauty and The Hair Boutique
• Bride's Wedding Bands: Matthew Stephens
• DJ: Dekker
• Décor: Louise from Grace Covers