Today's real wedding is that of Anna & Tim, who chose the groom's hometown of Cork to tie the knot. From their gorgeous ceremony at the very cool St. Peter’s Cork and fun reception at The Imperial Hotel, to all the little personal details they added up along the way, their wedding really was an expression of them as a couple. Filled to the brim with colourful blooms, boho style and some seriously cool city views, their wedding rolled relaxed Aussie wedding vibes and Irish big day banter all into one memorable occasion! And with Aoife O'Sullivan Photography there to capture the whole day, their wedding album is every bit the colourful and relaxed affair they hoped it would be.

Bride Anna is originally from Sydney, Australia, and groom Tim is from Cork, the pair are currently based Australia. The couple met while Tim was travelling and working in Sydney. Anna fills us in, "we met in my hometown, Sydney at my local pub after a long day at work. I was enjoying a quiet night with my friends. Tim was backpacking and working in Sydney at the time and living across the road from me. He was also there with friends that night, but he saw me, came over, fell to one knee and sang me Raglan Road (I actually walked up the aisle to this song played on flute by our friend, Will). Not used to lamentation, I didn’t work up the courage to meet up with Tim until a few weeks later, but from the second time we met, we were head over heels. Almost ten wonderful years on, and here we are!"

The proposal happened in 2018 while the couple were on a trip to Gibraltar. "Tim proposed in our hotel room overlooking the Alameda Gardens. He was up and nicely dressed for the day, I was half asleep and looked like a swamp monster. The waiter had delivered champagne and strawberries moments beforehand. Tim then got to one knee, completely to my surprise. We enjoyed champagne on the balcony overlooking the gardens, then chose the worst footwear possible to climb the rock together. (It was actually the perfect day!)."

When it came to planning their day, the couple's top priority was their guests. "Our number one priority was always that we made our friends and family feel welcome - particularly all of our international guests making the long journey to Ireland from across the world (including 30 guests from Australia!). We were so overwhelmed by the love and support from our friends and family and the willingness to travel such huge distances to be with us, that the priority from the very beginning was always our guests, the people we love the most."

The couple's nieces had the honour of being flower girls for the day. How adorable are their outfits?!

The couple said 'I Do' at the very cool St Peter’s Cork, a modern venue just off Cork’s city streets. Anna tells us what made it 'The One', "I love Cork and I love Cork city. I’m a city girl, so the buzz of being central was exciting to me. We found St Peter’s online and it's a popular gallery and a gig space and it felt so full of life and encompassed two things we love the most - music and art. Apparently, the church has hosted weddings since the 12th century which was pretty incredible too."

The ceremony was truly personal one, with every detail carefully chosen to represent something to this pair. "The day was made truly special and unique thanks to our incredibly musically gifted friends, who played songs that were special to us during the ceremony, as well as our personalised and hilarious readings and speeches. My grandparents stayed home in Sydney, but they made us a beautiful hand tie together for the hand fasting ceremony. It was wonderful knowing that they had put all of their love (and some jigsaw puzzle glue!) into our special tie, and that will always be very dear to us."

It's official!

When it came to planning the vibe for their day the couple wanted, "a touch of vintage glamour with a bit of a nod to Australia. The vibe was warm and friendly, relaxed and a bit silly (hopefully that captures us nicely)."

Anna's stunning boho wedding dress was a clever Grace Loves Lace find which she found through Still White. She tells us, "my beautiful dress was a perfect secondhand piece from a lovely woman I found through stillwhite.com.au. I love recycling pre-loved pieces!" 

We can't take our eyes of Anna's exquisite colourful bouquet by Cork-based florist Flowers From The Secret Garden who included Australian native flowers such as billy balls, Geraldton wax and wattle.

To complete her bridal look she added sparkly Badgley Mischka heels and bespoke accessories, which were made to order from a Sydney-based bridal designer. We're loving Tim's fantastic groomswear look too! He rocked a blue Magee three-piece tweed suit and classic brown Ted Baker brogues.

Anna's lucky bridesmaids got to wear hunter green bridesmaids dresses by Aussie fashion label Pilgrim. We love the flattering neckline and midi length.

After the ceremony the couple and their guests headed to The Imperial Hotel for the evening reception, a venue that stood out to the pair for its unique history, decor and hospitality. Anna says, "the people there were always warm, friendly and incredibly accommodating. It was the perfect fit from the get-go."

Anna used her creative skills to add some extra personal touches to the day. She impressively designed their wedding invitations, as well as fun Irish farmyard and Aussie native animal place card holders! For wedding favours, the couple gifted lucky guests a little goody bag of memorable sweets from the the couples' childhood.

After all the celebrations, the couple headed off on mini-moon to Venice. "We spent our few days exploring Venice, then going home to cook fresh pasta at our Airbnb, eat desserts and drink wine. It was stupendous, I never wanted to leave."

Anna received some pretty solid wedding advice before the big day, "A very wise colleague of mine put his hand on my shoulder at my wedding farewell party at work before he left and said ‘listen, something will go wrong. It will, but you know what? You’ve just gotta ride the wave.’ He got jeers from my other colleagues, but guess what? Something did go wrong! And you have no option but to enjoy the day and say well, what else went right? What else was perfect? Because at the end of the day, most of it really is."

Thanks so much to today's couple Anna & Tim for sharing their fabulous colourful celebration with us and to Aoife O'Sullivan for capturing the fun and energy of the day.