It's all sunshine and beaming smiles in today's real wedding as this couple created a 'festival of love' for their nearest and dearest. Sinead and Paul wanted to have a real party style celebration on their big day and that's exactly what they created and all in the wonderful Ballintubbert House and Gardens in Laois. The couple also managed to organise for the sun to be shining down on their September wedding, making for some gorgeous photography from Aidan Oliver - just take a look for yourselves below.

Sinead and Paul met in acting school where their chemistry was undeniable. "We met in acting school when I was doing a year-long performance course and Paul was managing the school," Sinead explained. "We used to see each other most days around the building, had a few chats and I was always checking him out on the sly! Near the end of the year, I was upset over my shocking performance and thought my career had ended before it began. Paul opened his arms for a hug and that was it - the chemistry was off the charts. He asked me out the night we were all celebrating our end of year. That will be seven years ago this May!"

Sinead was easily fooled by Paul's best-laid proposal plans which ended up being the ultimate movie moment. "The proposal came as a complete shock to me," Sinead explained. "We were living in London and Paul said we should go to Paris to meet his best mate Andy and his wife Ruth to see Ireland vs France in the rugby - so, I thought nothing of it. When we landed, he hadn't seen the Eiffel Tower so he arranged for us to meet his mates there and go to dinner after. We got to the viewing square just a few miles back from it, and I was looking around for the guys. He was getting very antsy and it was so busy. Just before 9pm, he brought me down to a quieter place and when the lights came on the tower, Paul dropped to one knee and popped the question. I burst out laughing in shock... and then said 'yes' of course!"

As an easy-going pair, Sinead and Paul wanted to plan a wedding that would feel like that for their guests. "We're pretty chilled so wanted the day to be laid back and not a traditional wedding," Sinead told us. "We loved the idea of having festival vibes with our friends and family together for some gorgeous food and a whopper party."

And Ballintubbert House and Gardens was the place to have that whopper party. "We were going to have a small city wedding to keep it intimate and handy for everyone," Sinead told us. "It turned out, one of the restaurants in town gave away our date and we'd seen some photos of a wedding in Ballintubbert and just loved the look of it. I got in touch with them and it turned out they had one date left in September. It was a scorching hot day in May when we went to view it, so the minute we were shown the gardens, we both fell in love with the whole vibe of the place and we got on great with Emily who showed us around. We're big foodies so knew we'd be in great hands with Andrew Rudd from Medley who does the catering there. It was just meant to be!"

On the day, this couple wanted to do things their way and not stick to the cookie-cutter format. "We had an intimate spiritual ceremony in front of the water with our close family and friends under the most beautiful floral arch created by our good friend Patsie the first time I saw it I burst out crying," Sinead admitted. "Paul and I were the last ones to bed so we walked around the full venue again at the very end of the day and ended up back where it all began - by the water. The sun was just coming up and it was the perfect ending to the most magical day of our lives." 

It was important for this pair that not only would their day be true to them but also how it was captured. "All of it was photographed by our friend Aidan, who went above and beyond to get incredible shots," Sinead gushed. "We didn’t want to spend much time away from the party for our pictures and wanted the moments caught on the go, which Aidan did so well. He was an absolute gent throughout and we couldn’t have had a better photographer on the day."

In the end, Sinead and Paul had their 'dream wedding'. "It was honestly the most serenely beautiful day, filled with sunshine and laughter," they beamed. "We were surrounded by everyone that we adore and we all had the best craic in our own little festival of love. "

While it might sound counterintuitive for some, Paul and Sinead want to remind couples starting the wedding planning process to enjoy it. "Enjoy all the planning," they say. "It's easy to get stressed but once you talk through exactly the day you both want, don't compromise on anything else. Lots of people will give you advice - take what you want and let the rest go over your heads. Shop around, ask friends to are able and might want to help - it'll make everything even more special."

Thanks so much to today's couple Paul and Sinead for sharing their truly gorgeous wedding day with us and to their friend and photographer, Aidan Oliver, for capturing it all.