For those in need of inspiration for a civil wedding ceremony in Ireland, Shane and Niamh show how it is done, with their civil ceremony in Borris House

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If there's one thing I've learned in almost 2 years of writing about weddings, is that no matter how much effort and thought is put into the style - the dress, the decor, the colour palette, the details, the music etc - the thing that every couple, almost without exception, remember as their most cherished part of the day is the ceremony. It often takes a backseat in the run up to the wedding so it's a delight to share a wedding today, where the couple Shane and Niamh, made a huge effort to make their ceremony as special and personal as possible.

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While their wedding reception was set for Lyrath Estate, they wanted a different venue for the civil ceremony and chose the beautiful Borris House in Co. Carlow as a unique location where they could create those memories that will last a lifetime...

Every love story has a beginning, and as with so many Irish love stories, Shane and Niamh's began in a local watering hole... "Well, we have to thank McSorleys Bar in Ranelagh, Dublin for that. I was in McSorleys with my friends celebrating one of their birthdays. Shane happened to be in the same bar watching a match with his friends. It may sound like a clichÃ© but at some juncture in the evening our eyes literally met across the room. Later on that evening we swapped numbers. We spent three days texting back and forth before Shane asked me out. Within a few dates we both knew that something special was happening... it may sound hackneyed, but the rest is history."

And a few years later, under the sunny skies of Malahide, Shane popped the question and the answer was... you guessed it - yes!

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When you want to have a civil ceremony, often the rooms within hotels can be less than inspiring, and registry offices are not exactly romantic, a problem Niamh and Shane found..."it was very difficult to find a nice venue that would allow us to conduct a civil ceremony with the numbers we had. We looked at a number of beautiful venues but they were all too small. We really wanted everyone to be able to attend the ceremony and did not want to compromise on our guest numbers.

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Finally, Niamh’s mother suggested trying Borris House in Co. Carlow. We rang them up and were delighted to discover that they were licenced to conduct civil ceremonies and even more delighted to hear that they could cater for our guest numbers. When we viewed Borris House we were very excited as we knew it was the perfect place for us to get married. It is a beautiful house that is steeped in history. The grounds of the house are spectacular and also offer impressive views of the verdant Carlow landscape.

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Although they were having a civil ceremony, which does set certain limitations around the content of the ceremony, Niamh and Shane still brought a personal touch to it... "We included the ancient tradition of ‘handfasting’ in our ceremony. Niamh’s cousin Catherine and our friend Dave tied our hands together as we said our vows. Not many couples can boast getting tied up during their wedding ceremony. We also include a ring blessing ceremony where our wedding rings were passed around the room and each of our guests placed a blessing on them for our lives together."

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(Niamh) made the bridal and bridesmaid bouquets myself. I also did some of the flower arrangements in the ceremony myself. The florist from the Lyrath Hotel, Maruta, did all our other flower arrangements for both the hotel and the ceremony.

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Delphine was great to work with and she allowed me to incorporate my own ideas into the design process of the dress.

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After the ceremony, Shane drove his bride to the reception at Lyrath, where Niamh had woven her magic into every detail.

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What advice would you give to brides and grooms planning their day? "Do it your own way and make sure to relax and just have fun on the day"

Sage advice. You don't have to follow the crowd or take the options that are offered, as Niamh and Shane show, if you seek out something a little different it's easy to create a treasure trove of unique memories.

Congratulations Niamh, Shane, thank you so much for sharing your day with us.

And of course, our thanks to Derek of Memento Photography for sharing these lovely images - if you like what you see, then make sure to pop over to mementophotography.ie

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