A 1950's Halloween wedding that's anything but spooky.

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For Michelle and Michael wedding planning was going pretty well - they had a set autumnal theme (with a stylish nod to the 1950's) and a wedding venue they loved. Then, disaster struck and a new venue had to be found. However, lady luck prevailed and Michelle and Michael secured the beautiful Kilshane House for their unique Halloween wedding all captured by Martina California. As Michelle and Michael fondly remember..."It was definitely the most magical day of our lives, on a week that had been so wet we got a beautiful, warm and sunny day. There were smiles all around for the day especially from Michelle who had the brightest smile on for the whole day." Can't ask for much more than that...

Beautiful Autumnal wedding at Kilshane House by Martina California Photography | onefabday.com

Echoing their Halloween wedding, Michelle and Michael met on October 31st decked out in fancy dress. Michelle remembers..."It was on 31st of October 2009, Halloween night. I was home from Australia only 2 or 3 months and on a night out in Limerick with my friends all in fancy dress. We were also celebrating our friend Stephen's birthday. Michelle was dressed as a circus ring master, complete with top hat. Michael was also out that same night with his friends, one of them, Kieran, was actually a first cousin of mine. Michael only decided to go out in fancy dress at the last-minute and was dressed as a police officer with sunglasses and handcuffs."

Michelle continues..."We both ended up going to the same club in Limerick City, it was called ‘Angel Lane’ at the time. It wasn't long before our paths crossed and we hit it off straight away. We spent the night dancing and chatting about how our parents were from the same area. It turned out that they did the marriage course together. After a great night we swapped numbers and met up again within a week, the cinema was our first date. There was an obvious spark between us and we were instantly very comfortable with each other. We continued dating and then became an ‘official’ couple after a month of meeting, we have never looked back."

To propose Michael went all out, planning a surprise hot air balloon ride - but things didn't go quite to plan..."We got engaged on the 22nd of July 2013. Michael had arranged a trip to Trim Castle and hotel in Co. Meath. The big surprise was a champagne hot air balloon flight over the area, and a proposal to top it all off. Well that was the plan anyway. Unfortunately due to thunder clouds in the area, Michael discovered that the flight had been cancelled. During a quick shopping stop off en route to Meath, Michael snuck off and rang the hotel to organise champagne, flowers, chocolate etc. in a suite. It was there that he got down on one knee. After a few tears I said yes."

Hosting their wedding on Halloween Michelle and Michael kept their venue décor suitably autumnal with pumpkins at the church doors, an impressive leaf arch and lots of orange and autumnal hued prints.

A dream come true, Michelle used her dad's utterly adorable vintage car as her wedding car. Michael and Michelle told us..."I think the most unique thing was our wedding car. It was Michelle’s dad's first car and he had it ready for the wedding. Since she was a small girl Michelle said the BMW Isetta was going to be her wedding car, her dad used to laugh and say I hope you're not planning on getting married soon. After years of work it was finally ready and it was a dream come true for Michelle to be able to sit alongside her father and make their way to the church in the car." Not to leave the rest of the bridal party out, Michelle and Michael borrowed some gorgeous vintage cars, from Michelle's brother and uncles, for them too.

Not so cute (whatsoever) was the fact that just a month before their wedding Michelle and Michael's original venue was closed down due to a fire. Luckily though, the gorgeous Kilshane House was available on their wedding date. Michelle remembers..."We had a little hitch a month before the wedding where our original venue (ballroom and kitchen) went on fire so we had under a month to find a new venue and start the planning again. Kilshane House is just down the road from where we live and we were so lucky to be able to secure our date there. It really is a magical venue and words can’t describe its beauty both inside and out. We can’t thank the owners and staff enough for pulling it all together for us at the last-minute. It really was a fairytale wedding."

In keeping with their autumnal theme Michelle and Michael decorated Kilshane Hosue with lots more foliage, pumpkins, fairylights. Michelle recounts..."Kilshane House was dressed beautifully with large twigs as table center pieces together with moss, leaves, pumpkins and tea lights. The top table was our favourite with a feast of pumpkins, fruit/veg and candles. We had large balloons in the ballroom, spelling LOVE and M&M these were so unique and a beautiful present from Michael’s brother Shane and sister in Law Selena."

After a sparkler send off, Michelle and Michael honeymooned in Cancun, Mexico at The Secrets Resort for 6 nights, followed by San Juan for one night and then a 7 night Southern Caribbean cruise with Royal Caribbean. Amazing!

Huge congrats to you both, and thanks so much for sharing your beautiful day with us all. A big thank you also goes to Martina California for sharing her work with us. To see more from Martina California visit www.martinacalifornia.com