I honestly don't know where to start with today's real wedding - the stunning wildflower bouquets, the killer copper centrepieces, the repurposed wedding gown constructed from three vintage dresses? You can understand my predicament! Faye and Paul's wedding day at Borris House was exceptionally stylish and oh-so-atmospheric, and they managed to plan it all the way from Philadelphia (with help from friends and family, of course!). What impresses me most is how they pooled their talents to bring their ideas to life, never straying from their own personal style. Aoife O'Sullivan was kind enough to share her incredible photographs from the day, so let's take a closer look!

Faye and Paul, or Patsy, as he's affectionately known, met when they were just 16 and 17 years old. “We spent any free minute we could trying to meet up after supervised study at Loreto and CBS Wexford," Faye tells us. "We would go for Sunday drives in Patsy’s red, souped-up Ford Fiesta! We dated for the next 13 years (with some bumpy breaks along the way) and experienced living together in Paris, Dublin and Philadelphia before a very exciting engagement came in August 2016!”

You spilled your tea, didn't you? Well, we did warn you that this wedding dress was pretty special! Faye works as a designer for one of our favourite brands, Free People, so she knew exactly what she wanted for her wedding dress and when she couldn't find it, recruited seamstress Susan Chen to help her create it! “The dress was constructed from three vintage wedding dresses that I purchased in Woodstock, NY, and Los Angeles."

Faye and Paul got engaged in Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. “The proposal was low key, romantic and very natural in true Patsy style,” Faye says. “We were walking through the gardens when we veered off track into what was the most beautiful hazy overgrown meadow. I could not stop admiring the meadow and how surreal it was, which prompted Patsy to lead me to a nearby oak tree and get on one knee. He asked me to marry him with the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. He very bravely designed it himself and had carried it around for weeks waiting for the right moment!"

What a beautiful space! Paul made the huge circular wreath, which formed the backdrop to the couple's ceremony.

Faye and Paul say they knew immediately what kind of atmosphere they wanted to create for their big day. "We were definitely going for a relaxed and fun vibe for our wedding, which I feel we captured,” Faye says. "Borris House was the perfect setting for our wedding as it combined the beauty and elegance of an Irish estate with the charm of such an old building. Living away from Ireland made it even more important to us for our venue to have an authentic Irish feel."

It's pretty fitting that Faye's parents walked her up the aisle because they were instrumental in putting the wedding together! "They met with the caterers and had two food tasting sessions and plenty of wine tasting in our absence. They frequently chatted with the owners of Borris house to go through logistics for the day and even gate crashed a wedding in order to see some of the bands we were interested in! It’s not easy or ideal planning a wedding from a different country, but it is possible if you have the support!”

The couple masterminded lots of creative wedding projects, including individually hand-painted invitations for each guest. “In hindsight, this was a lot to take on," Faye admits, "only made more challenging when Patsy decided to hand type each invitation for our guests! It was worth all the effort in the end as I loved how they looked."

Faye and Paul knew they wanted the venue to look “natural with an informal wildflower garden feel." Faye tells us, "I had a Pinterest board which I shared with my Mam, Breeda, a keen gardener with endless ideas for decorating the tables and bouquets for the wedding. Living in the States, I felt quite removed from everything, so I really wanted this aspect to capture my aesthetic and style.”

The only problem was that when Faye and Paul arrived in Ireland to get everything done for the wedding, Co. Wexford was hit with a massive storm, which left them with no electricity! “Given the undertaking of doing my own flowers, decorations and table settings, we had a lot to achieve in the dark!”

Thankfully, friends and family were there to help. “It was stressful to say the least," Faye says, “but my Dad was on the go 24/7 to ensure we had a generator to accommodate all of the flower arranging, WiFi access and table name settings. He was amazing, and kept everything going amidst the craziness."

The couple didn't like the idea of having a traditional wedding cake and had actually scrapped the cake altogether, when Paul was struck by a bolt of inspiration! “I came home from work one day to a sitting room floor filled with fresh pears and a large wooden structure that would form the base of our pear wedding ‘cake’," Faye remembers. "It was not the most straightforward structure to transport to Ireland (the pears did not travel!). He constructed the pear cake the night before the wedding with fresh pears and hydrangeas. It was his show piece!”

How gorgeous are the bouquets that Faye and her Mam made!? Naturally enough, Faye’s bridesmaids wore Free People on her wedding day. “I settled on fully-embellished antique gold mesh dresses. In keeping with the other aspects of planning a wedding from afar, my three sisters did not get to try their dresses until the week before the wedding, which was a little risky. Luckily, it all came together when styled over the individual vintage slips."

We just love the chic, rustic effect Faye and Paul created in the dining space at Borris House. Faye and her Mam sourced copper vessels in the US and Ireland for centerpieces. “For candles, we chose low tea lights instead of candelabras as the light from the tea candles reflected beautifully in the antique copper vases jugs. It was really magical.”

The look was completed by beautiful wildflower arrangements. “We ordered fresh flowers from our local florist, Slaney Flowers, and Mam and I set about making approximately 100 flower arrangements for the tables in the copper jugs," Faye says.

Although Faye and Paul took a really hands-on approach with their wedding, they didn’t want to overstuff the day with too many extras. "We wanted our wedding to be truly focused on the happiness and love that was so strong on that day, between us and between our friends and family that surrounded us,” Faye says. "It’s easy to get carried away when it comes to the finer details, especially when you are working in the design field and constantly looking at new ideas, but I was determined for the wedding to remain relatively simple and not become contrived."

Faye's advice to engaged couples is to keep things simple. "Stick to what you like yourself. It's easy to be swayed by different opinions and bombarded with imagery on Instagram and Pinterest but sometimes less is more. Try to be aligned with your other half on your wishes for the day. Accept genuine offers of help, and don’t forget to remind yourself it’s just one day in a lifetime of plans." Here, here!

The couple decided to postpone their honeymoon for a few months, and return to Philadelphia shortly after the wedding. "We're planning a minimoon to Cyprus to give us a blast of vitamin D after the freezing winter we had in Philadelphia. Then we're planning an adventurous honeymoon for next year!"

The couple co-hosted the wedding speeches in the entrance room in Borris House to keep things informal. So many couples are doing this nowadays and we can see why!

What a drop-dead gorgeous wedding day! At this point, we should say a huge thanks to Faye and Paul for giving us the inside scoop on their celebrations and, of course, to Aoife O’Sullivan for sharing her incredible photographs.