Today's real wedding takes us from Coogee Beach in Sydney, to the bride's childhood home in Armagh, to the Conyngham Arms in Slane for Rós & Sean's stylish celebration. This fun-loving couple made their friends and family the focus of their day, with Rós climbing into her dad's car for the drive to the church, the couple hiring a VW camper to have the craic with their bridal party, and treating their guests to fabulous food and great music. Rós made a stunning bride (her gown is gorgeous and her hair and make-up are so glam), and as you'll see from their beautiful photos by Adam and Grace, she and her new husband Sean didn't stop beaming all day.
Rós tells us how she and Sean first met though friends of friends! "A random night out, where he played the "chivalrous guy" (who pretended to be my boyfriend so I could get into a club) I showed my gratitude by buying him a drink (which a girl had never done before apparently)!”
The couple thought they'd parted ways for the night only to meet again in the taxi on the way home where they swapped numbers, "Some hilarious texts and a few weeks later we organised a date.... which he stood me up on. But some serious grovelling (and a pretty good reason later) we rescheduled another date.” Dang Sean, you almost blew it!
After weeks of dating, the couple finally made it official, “On an amazing night in history - the day Armagh won the All-Ireland, the entire town were out partying in full swing! Somehow that was 15 years ago!? Time has flown by since.” Rós tells us.
Nowadays, the couple live in Australia where the couple often picnics to the beach with their dog Coco. This gave Sean the idea for his crafty proposal, “This day was no different, a picnic at Coogee Beach on the rocks watching the sun go down. Suddenly my phone rang and I picked it up to answer. But when I looked at it, it was Sean calling, but his call picture had changed, and instead of his usual picture was a picture of a beautiful ring. When I turned my head to face him again he was on one knee. That's still his picture on my phone two and a half years later!” Okay, that's a brilliant proposal! We forgive you for standing her up, Sean!
Oz might be where the couple live right now, but there's no place like home, which is why after coming back for their wedding, Rós & Sean wanted to have their some of their photos taken at her mum's house, "Having them somewhere where I grew up and where we spent so much time as a couple just made them so much more meaningful, we were very lucky to have such an opportunity on our hands.”
Rós is full of praise for her make-up arists, “Originally, I booked Stacey of SAK Designs but her mum suddenly passed away, even though all her pain Stacey ensured I was covered for makeup artists on the day and both Chloe and Cathy were amazing to step in last minute to help out in such an awful scenario!” Kudos to Stacey and the girls for powering through such a difficult time.
How cute are these flowers? They look like something out of a fairytale.
Rós and her family had a pretty special drive to the church, “Instead of special cars down to church on the morning, I traveled with my Dad, Mum and two sisters in my Dad’s car, all piled in together with Dad driving, using the opportunity to reminisce about when we were younger travelling together, as we have all been living away for some time now.” N'awwwh, you guys!
The couple's maid priority for their wedding was getting to spend the day with the people closest to them, and giving their guess a great time “We definitely wanted a great band to be able to dance to and great food. Other than that, we just wanted it to be a great chilled day for everyone to enjoy!”
The couple had a pretty cool idea for transporting their bridal party, “We got the VW Beetle campervan so the entire bridal party could travel together and we had so much craic on it! It's hard to get time with your bridal party on a personal level so this was perfect.” So fun!
The couple have a really solid piece of advice for others getting married, “On the day, just go with the flow, nothing can be done by that point just have the best day ever and ignore whatever goes wrong because something will!”
“When the pressure starts to mount.... think about why you're doing it.” More words of wisdom from the bride. We definitely think this is something everyone needs to keep in mind.
We just love the contrast of the feminine gown with the edginess of the leather jacket!
The couple were really impressed by their photographers, Adam & Grace, “They had an accident on the morning of the wedding and still turned up straight onto the job - the uber professionals! They had such an ease with both families, adapting easily to whatever banter was thrown their way! They were snapping away but could hardly tell they were there! We had so much fun with them on the day!" Rós tells us.
Rós had been a big fan of their work for a while, "I used to stalk all their Insta posts in anticipation of what they would create for us; they just capture the essence of the day so beautifully! Beyond their photography skills they are just lovely and funny people, so much fun to have with you on the day.”
The power of technology helped make Rós & Sean's wedding back home extra special; “Living in Australia, we had friend unable to attend but they were so good to send us videos to wish us well on the day!”
I love that the couple had their speeches outside during their drinks reception - such a relaxed touch.
The couple said they didn't have one particular style in mind for their decor, "The venue was quite chic, and I love rose gold, but that was as much thought went into the look. We came home from Australia to have the wedding so that our family could be there so that's what it was about, having our family and friends together to celebrate our wedding day.” Thankfully, the venue doesn't require much work, so Sean and Rós were able to enjoy the wedding prep with minimal stress.
Not only is the Conyngham Arms a very pretty venue, but Rós and Sean couldn't say enough good things about the staff, “Killian, the chef and part-owner was just amazing; the food was fantastic on the day even with the size of party we had. Even in the run up he was so accommodating, he even dug us out of a hole with a cake catastrophe two days before the wedding! He and Louise could not have done more for us to organise and then the whole team on the day were just amazing! It may be a smaller venue but the staff and food were 5-star.”
“We also changed up the top table "rules", we had all our family there with us, we didn't want to separate them so we just made the "top" table what we wanted!”
One of the couple's favourite details of the day (apart from getting to spend it with all their friends and family of course!), their unique balloon wall, "Luce Balloons were so great; they could see what we wanted and were able to put it together for us with no hassle! The end result looked amazing!” says Rós.
Huge thanks to Adam and Grace for sharing these fab photos with us. We wish Rós and Sean all the very best - thanks for letting us in on your day.
The Wedding Details
- Photography: Adam and Grace
- Ceremony: St Mochua's Church, Derrynoose, Co Armagh
- Wedding dress: La Boda Bridal
- Alterations: Una Rodden Couture
- Bridesmaid Dresses: Una Rodden Couture
- Shoes: Emmy London
- Groomsmen suits: Red Groom Belfast
- Headpieces: Catherine B
- Cake: Krafty Kakes
- Flowers: Rita Keenan
- Stationery: Minted.com
- Makeup & Hair: Beautiful Beauty & Maria Byrne
- Wedding Band: The Poor Boys
- Ceremony Musician: Catherine Grimley
- Balloon Wall: Luce Balloons
- Videographers: Shutter and Light
