I just love how Pauline and Stuart approached their real wedding. This pair wanted an intimate family wedding in their favourite place, and a big party in their hometown with all their friends. So that's what they did - two parties, for one gorgeous couple! Not only have we got the beautiful photos of their sophisticated, yet simple celebration by the sea at the Cliff House Hotel by Amber Baruch Photography, but the newlyweds are telling us all about their 150-guest Guinness Storehouse bash back in Dublin too.

Pauline tells us she met Stuart at a friend’s house after a night out, “I thought he was very loud with his Scottish accent which makes me laugh now as I don’t even hear the accent anymore! It wasn’t until a year later that I met him again at the Electric Picnic where he was always to the left or right of me keeping me entertained. He asked me for my number, but I was cheeky and told him get off a friend of ours, imagine! Thankfully he did, and we had our first date a few days later.”

Stuart whisked his bride-to-be away to pop the question, “Stuart knows the way to my heart is through delicious Michelin star tasting menus (or tasty burger and chips) so he brought me to the Cliff House,” Pauline tells us. “I had never heard about it so when we were driving through Ardmore initially I really didn’t know what to expect as I couldn’t see where we could possibly be going, but then the Cliff House just pops out and is there, in the cliff and it’s amazing!”

Pauline says the proposal itself was super sweet, “It was on the beach in Ardmore, looking out to the sea (my favourite place to be looking out at). He chose his moment perfectly, on the beach, just the two of us, it was a great few days and ever since then, we cannot get enough of Ardmore and the Cliff House, it’s a real treat that we try and get to once a year.”

What a stylish bride! I love that Pauline paired her Caroline Castigliano sweetheart ballgown with effortless wavy hair and a statement headpiece - the perfect combination for a laid-back, yet super romantic look.

The couple explain that they actually had a two-part wedding, “Very selfish of us, we know! Part One was the wedding with our immediate families at The Cliff House, and Part Two was the party, two days later. A whopper party with 150 of our nearest and dearest at The Guinness Storehouse.”

The couple’s intimate Cliff House wedding sounds like a pretty special celebration, “I could not have imagined a more perfect day, says Pauline, “Our families, the venue, the weather, the views it was all just right. Really emotional, very happy and super chilled…and let’s not forget the amazing food.”

Making it official is significant for every couple, but for these two, it was particularly symbolic, “Our main priority was mostly just to get married finally… My dad passed away in 2014 a few days before we were supposed to book our wedding, so I could not think about it for a long time after this (hence the looooong engagement),” explains Pauline. “So it was really lovely to put it back on the map for us and just to make sure it stayed there. Stuart announced at his family Christmas dinner that we were getting married in 2018. We had to get planning ASAP as we didn’t have much time, so we did (well mostly I did, ha). It was a busy few months, but we turned it around. The other priority was doing something that felt right for us which is why we did it the way we did it.”

The Cliff House was an easy choice of venue for the wedding, given the couple’s history with the hotel. “We are truly the happiest versions of ourselves when we are there, and now all our families are too,” says Pauline. “As for the Guinness Storehouse, myself and Stuart love our city as do all our friends and family, we also love Guinness, so it felt like a great spot in the middle of summer with views over the city, toasting with the black stuff that we all love so well, I know my dad would have loved it too.”

As for their Dublin party, the couple tell us it was all over too quickly, “SOOO much love in one room. We had an absolute ball with the best family and friends anyone could wish for. In most of the pics my teeth are hanging out to dry from all the laughing!” jokes the bride, “Who knew you can smile so wide! It was the time of our lives and we felt very blessed as you do when all your family and pals come together to celebrate with you.”

The couple relished bringing their families together in one of their favourite places, “Being able to share a place we love so much was so special, the memories we have together, I’m welling up now thinking about it (good tears),” says Pauline. "Also, I always worried I would be upset or there would be a sad element to the day without my dad, obviously we all miss him terribly but, on the day, it didn’t feel like that. I made sure to have photos of him with me and Stuart and some of his things like his “man from del monte” summer hat, (which features in a lot of our photos as someone always had it in their hands), so it just felt like he was with us all celebrating what we dubbed “the best day ever”.”

This pair have a few pieces of advice to bestow on those in the midst of planning, “I suppose the obvious stuff," says Pauline, "Do what feels right for you as a couple, if anything starts to stress you out, ditch it and to enjoy every minute of the planning especially the wedding dress shopping for a bride, I seriously underrated that until I went, and it was soooo much fun!”

After all the excitement of their double celebration, the newlyweds honeymooned in the South of France, “It was during that mad heatwave time so was a bit warm for us, but we made the most of our air-conditioned honeymoon wheels!”

Thanks so much to Pauline & Stuart for sharing your gorgeous seaside wedding with us, and of course to Amber Baruch Photography for sending the photos our way.