Looking for wedding inspiration? Then you are in luck! Julie and Gerard's real wedding is full to the brim with personality, fun ideas and sweet wedding photos by May 22 Photography. This couple started their day with a ceremony at their local church in Glasnevin, before heading to the nearby Dublin Botanical Gardens for pictures and on to the Celbridge Manor Hotel for their reception. From the unique style to the self-described 'nerdy' details, this celebration is guaranteed to make you smile!
Talented bride Julie made her dress with a mixture of new and reclaimed fabrics based on a photo of a dress by 19th century designer, Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon. The bridesmaids were given free reign to source their dresses in a shade of maroon from wherever they liked. Julie also made a couple of dresses to change into for the dancing at the reception and breakfast the morning after.
Julie gushed to us about her pre-wedding glamification, "Makeup and hair were done by the AMAZING Sarah and her assistant Lindsey at Angel Hair and Makeup. Sarah is an absolutely beautiful person, so kind and friendly that it felt like we’d known her for years after only a couple of sessions. She is an artist, an absolute gem, and I couldn’t have been happier with how each of us looked on the wedding day. I felt like a goddess after getting my hair and makeup done by her!"
The couple had some special helpers among their wedding party, “Fiona and David, one of my bridesmaids and Gerard’s best man, went out of their way to make our wedding day work. They lived near the church, so they opened up their home to us so that we could get ready there. They fed us, literally clothed us (thanks for steaming the dress, Fiona!), and drove us to and from Celbridge for the reception. They humoured me when I said I wanted to walk through the park to the wedding, even when it made things more stressful. Davey gave a knock-out speech at the dinner that had everyone laughing, and was so personal and meaningful to both me and Gerard. Without them, our wedding literally would have fallen apart, so to them we owe an enormous debt of gratitude,” says Julie.
"Unequivocally 'us'" is how the couple sum up their wedding day, "Our priest, Father Richard, encouraged us to write a prayer as a couple, and we also wrote extra lines to our vows, so from the first moments of the ceremony to the last dance of the night, the nerdy decorations, the hand-made elements everywhere, this wedding could have been for no one else but the two of us. It felt really comfortable, liberating, and so deeply personal. It was perfect,” says bride Julie.
From the ceremony to the reception, music was an important element for Julie & Gerard, "Our reception music was done by Emily O’Connell Early and Teresa O’Donnell, who we were lucky enough to have had as the cantor and organist every Sunday at our church in Glasnevin. Emily even learned a song in Italian for us, under serious time constraints, in a language she doesn’t speak! I can’t imagine our ceremony being any more beautiful, she and Teresa are extremely talented and made the day absolutely magical."
How amazing are the unique paper flower accessories? Julie hand-made paper peonies and roses from Italian crepe paper bought at the Homemakery, using YouTube for instructions.
The Celbridge Manor Hotel ticked a lot of boxes for the couple. "The venue was so stunning. The stone arches inside, the bed of lilac and ivy-climbed walls out front," says Julie. "The food was absolutely out of this world, and everyone for weeks after was telling us how much they enjoyed the dinner. Caroline Walsh, in charge of weddings at Celbridge, is a gem!”
Because many of Julie’s relatives could not attend the wedding in Ireland, the couple had another party at the Spencer Country Inn in Massachusetts for those who missed out, a few weeks after the wedding. "It was a blast, we had a table quiz, and a giant marble cake from the impeccable Wright’s Dairy Farm in North Smithfield, Rhode Island, and my 94-year-old grandmother stole everyone’s candy. It was awesome." Julie says.
This crafty couple also made the wedding cake. Julie baked the top two layers, which were orange-cranberry and ginger, respectively. Gerard put together the bottom layer, which was an ombré biscuit cake (white, milk, dark). Cake-making, dress-making, paper floristry, writing AND a Ph.D, is there anything this bride can't do?!
The couples opted out of wedding favours, but told their guests that the table decorations were free for the taking, "We covered the tables with Dungeons and Dragons multi-sided dice, and on each table were gold dinosaur figurines. Celbridge provided gorgeous candelabras, and at each child’s seat were dinosaur-themed colouring books and pencils. Rather than having a table number, each table had a novel that meant something to the two of us, and so by completing a scavenger hunt, someone at each table won the novel as their prize," the couple explain.
The couple have high praise for their photographer Joanna Kisielinska of May 22 Photography, "From the very moment we met her, Joanna was a pleasure to work with – so kind and hard-working, and her photography is absolute artwork. She was there every step of the way leading up to the day, and on the day she captured moments, documentary-style, that are so perfect they look like they could be out of a movie. We couldn’t believe it! There was no awkward posing, and at no moment did any of the picture-taking feel intrusive. Joanna seamlessly blended into our wedding and worked her magic, ultimately giving us the best gift we could have received – the memories that we’ll be able to look back on in the years to come. Book Joanna now, she is amazing!"
We hope you loved this cute love story as much as we did. Huge thanks to Julie and Gerard for all of sharing your day with us. Head over to the gallery to see even more!
