Today's real wedding is taking us to Borris House for an Irish-English affair that's positively dripping in beautiful decor and stunning style. Dublin bride Susanna and London groom James, came from their home in Surrey for a weekend of celebrations that fused meaningful rituals, with massive craic! From their romantic ceremony, and creatively styled reception to their raucous dance party (based on the couple's favourite club night!) there are so many ideas and tips to glean from the day; not least how to take traditions that resonate, ditch the rest, and adapt inspiration from other weddings. Rubistyle Photography documented the all-round gorgeousness, so let's dive in, shall we!

Susanna and James met in the London, while Susanna was studying for her masters at Kingston University. “I was working in a pub part time,” the bride explains. “Jamie used to frequent the pub after rugby matches with his team. Our first conversation was Jamie lecturing me on the amount of Red Bull that should go in a Jager bomb!” The makings of a great love story!

Already enjoying the colour combinations happening here!

James popped the question with a romantic winter proposal in Ireland. “We were en route to Clare Island, off the west coast of Mayo to celebrate New Year’s Eve with some friends,” recounts the groom. "Having stopped for a walk along the picturesque coast-line in the shadow of Croagh Patrick, I got down on one knee and asked Susanna to marry me. She said yes, and we then headed off for an extra special NYE celebration on the island.”

A quick pre-ceremony snap!

The couple created their perfect celebration by blending traditional wedding elements with plenty of fun and frivolity, “I think we are both traditionalists at heart so we are both a sucker for certain formality but then on the other hand we are super relaxed and were really keen to have a massive party!” says Susanna. “I think we managed to find a balance of both with the day starting off with a beautiful service in the on-site chapel, with a string quartet playing for the procession, then in the early hours, everyone was up dancing covered in glitter singing power ballads into inflatable instruments!

James and Susanna created a ceremony that would really resonate with them and their guests, “The service was an important part of the day and it was made extra special as we had a close family friend, Paul, solomnised for us and Susanna’s brother in law, Michael, gave a beautiful address. The Kavanagh Ensemble played a newly created arrangement of Craig Armstrong’s The Balcony Scene from Romeo + Juliet as Susanna walked down the aisle. The church is really small so it sounded even better! “

The bright pink florals really pop and give a fun, yet luxe aesthetic to the bouquets.

The couple’s nephew Nathan, was their super ring bearer, “He is the only grandchild in Susanna’s family and we are all totally obsessed with him! I wanted him to be excited about being part of the wedding so I thought it would make it more fun if he had his own super hero cape. I sourced a navy suit linen for the outside and added a polkadot lining and a big N on the back. He was adorable!” To frickin' cute! 

The couple sought out a venue that would accommodate partying into the wee hours, "Having the venue for the whole weekend ensured we could go into the early hours and not worry about having to be out in a rush the next day!”

Susannah's long-sleeve wedding dresses is stunning, the lace and edging on the bodice is particularly pretty. I'm also a big fan of James' tie and pin giving his look a unique, modern feel - what a cool pair!

As an interior designer, Susanna says it was love at first site when she first saw Borris House, “It is an absolutely stunning property and setting. Each room is so beautiful and full of history. It has a gorgeous ‘lived in’ vibe which was perfect in creating a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Over half our guests were from London so we were so happy that they could experience the gorgeous Irish country side and the village of Borris.”

Bringing their Irish and English friends and family together was a major priority for this bride and groom, “We wanted to make sure the weekend was something that catered for everyone as much as possible. Having a space that we were able to put our own stamp on, have a proper party in, and have as many of our friends and family in close vicinity as possible was really important.”

Fresh fruit like grapes, figs and pomegranates makes for such stylish, opulent table decor.

When it came to styling the reception, these two got creative, “We wanted to do something a little different for the table décor so we bought a huge roll of navy linen to cover the tables and spent a lot of time collecting antique and vintage brass candle sticks and vases. The navy worked so lovely with the brass, dusty pink candles, flowers and fruit which ran down the centre.”

The catering on the day is enough to make you hangry! “Melanie and Elinor from Blackstair catering were so flexible with their menu offering and they ended up creating an Old Fashioned Whiskey Sorbet (Jamie’s favourite drink) and Guinness Chocolate Mousse (needed some Irish cheese) for the day.”

We love this pair’s solution to first dance jitters! “I was really nervous about doing a first dance so we agreed to compromise on having it at 00:00 (when everyone was nicely tipsy),” Susanna tells us, “There is an amazing night in London called Ultimate Power which we both love, so we decided we would do an ‘Hour of Power’ at 12 o’clock. Our first dance kicked this off and it was ‘The Power Of Love’ by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. By this stage everyone was embracing the glitter table and inflatable instruments!”

Having planned such a fun weekend, these guys know a thing or two about making your wedding your own, "Get to know what the traditions you want are, and be confident in adapting or throwing out the ones you don’t want. Spend your time working out the things that will make the day special for you, but remember that part of that is about your guests having a great time and celebrating with you. Some of the best bits of our wedding came from ideas we saw at friends’ weddings, as long as you can put your own spin on it, don’t be afraid to borrow from other people’s weddings.” Wise words, you two!

Susanna and James are schooling us that a week-long honeymoon can still be far flung! “We did a week at Alila Diwa in Goa as a short honeymoon, we would certainly recommend it; the hotel is excellent, the Goan people were warm and welcoming and the food was delicious!”

 Thanks so much to Susanna and James for sharing your incredible wedding with us, and to Rubistyle for sending the fabulous photos our way - hit the gallery below for even more details to pore over!