Cróna and Brendan, our real wedding couple had intentions to wed abroad until they stumbled upon the Irish barn wedding venue of their dreams! Along with 150 of their nearest and dearest, they shared a wonderful weekend, enjoying the bright winter sunshine in Co. Louth. Prepare for fabulous bridal style, a bridal party in gold, a special appearance by a llama and many, many more special touches sprinkled throughout! We'll let the fabulous photos by Pawel Bebenca paint the picture...
Childhood sweethearts, Cróna and Brendan first met 15 years ago at a friend’s birthday party when they were just 15 years old. After many years of friendship, the couple parted ways to different universities but reunited in Chicago on a J1 holiday in 2012. "Brendan contends he always had his eye on me but it wasn’t until we returned from our summer in Chicago that we got together and we have been together since! The proposal took me by complete surprise. We arranged to go away for the weekend to the Wineport Lodge in Westmeath as Brendan had just finished his accounting exams and I was going back to work after the summer break. When we arrived, Brendan had arranged for the Pavillion to be decorated with lanterns and candles and he proposed beside the lake! It was a beautiful setting and we celebrated there for the weekend!" says Cróna.
Cróna reading her handwritten with love letter from her husband-to-be! Summing up the day, the couple describe it as an absolute blast. "It was the 9th December so everyone was in good spirits coming up to Christmas. It was also the first time in a long time that we had seen some of our family in person, as family had travelled from Australia and New York to be there! We really felt the love from every person there on the day and everyone was just ready to have a really good time!" they add.
From her vintage red lip, Hollywood curls, glittering wedding rings from Commins & Co, accessories and a showstopping bridal headpiece our bride looked incredible! "I absolutely love this headpiece, and I would wear it every day if I had the chance. The beading and jewels on the earrings, veil and headpiece tied everything together for me," she says. "As for my bridal makeup, I wanted a look that was really fresh and dewy. My skin is very pale so I knew I needed something bright and colourful to lift the colour which is why we chose the bold red lip." She says she got great advice from her makeup artist on how to best prepare her face for the big day.
The finishing floral touch added - a beautiful buttonhole!
The groom, groomsmen and fathers of the bride and groom sported timeless tuxedos for the winter wedding celebration. Brendan, the dapper groom, opted for a midnight blue tuxedo and finished off the look with a vintage pocket watch and buttonhole. "I received great advice and attention to detail from the staff in McKenna Man. Two of the groomsmen were coming from abroad including Crona's brother who landed two days before the wedding from Australia. They still managed to get him sorted with a perfect fit for the wedding within a very small time frame!" says Brendan.
Showing her loving appreciation for a beautiful group of ladies, Cróna gifted them with gold earrings to wear on the day of the wedding.
Now, onto the star of the show - the wedding dress! Cróna visited three dress shops in total looking for her wedding dress and finally found her dream gown by Bo & Luca. "As soon as I put it on I fell in love with it. I loved that it had a tiered skirt but was also quite slim in shape. I often wear halterneck dresses and I loved the idea of a bow at the neck. It had everything I was looking for. After that, every dress I tried on didn’t compare to the Nina. I was helped by the lovely Kerry who owns the shop and gave me lots of ideas for styling the dress. I fell in love with the Bo & Luca accessories she had there!"
The mother of the bride is captured adding the finishing touches to her cobalt blue attire, and we must say she looks oh-so stylish!
As part of their winter wedding ceremony, the couple chose a handfasting ritual, which involves the binding of hands among ribbons, hence the phase, of tying the knot! Cróna’s mother, Mary, made a braid with wedding rings from Cróna’s grandmothers and Rosary beads that belonged to Brendan’s granddad plaited into it. Brendan also wore his grandfather’s embroidered handkerchief, who was also called Brendan. "Ann, our celebrant had some lovely ideas to personalise our ceremony. She had us write four things we love about each other and email them to her separately. It wasn’t until the wedding ceremony that we heard what the other had written," they say.
Yes, that is a llama walking up the aisle!
The stunning bridesmaids wore a shimmering gold shade. The hand-tied bouquets, bursting with rich seasonal blooms, were bunched together and draped with a satin gold ribbon to match. "I loved the idea of having two different tones of the same colour for my bridesmaid’s dresses. Two of the bridesmaids, Sarah and Sarah, wore a rich gold tone dress from Topshop’s bridesmaid collection. The other two bridesmaids, Joanne and Eimear, wore a lighter shade of gold from H&M’s bridesmaid collection. They also wore gold strappy heels," says the bride.
Elements that were of importance to the couple when planning their winter wedding, we're ensuring they would enjoy the day from start to finish as well as their guests. "We wanted a zero-stress, laid back and enjoyable day! We wanted to keep everything very light and fun and this mindset had a big influence on the choices we made for our day in terms of music and entertainment. It’s one of the rare occasions you get everyone you love in the one room together so we wanted to make the day really special, enjoyable and entertaining for our guests," they say.
The wedding venue that ticked all of the boxes for a dream winter barn celebration was Seagrave Barns, situated in Co. Louth. The couple had their heads turned when the bride's best friend recommended they check it out. "It was local to us so we booked a viewing. We didn’t even need to view another one after seeing it. At every corner on the tour we saw something new that we had never seen in another venue before. The owner's John and Eugene have really mastered how to keep guests guessing and the party going on your wedding day." The overall vibe of Segraves is cosy and rustic with lots of fun surprises thrown in for guests! The fact that they could stay there for the whole weekend with their nearest and dearest made it feel like home. "We even gathered a group to go for a sea swim the next morning at the nearby beach which is walking distance from the venue," the couple add.
The newlywed's included a phone guest book! "This was a real hit with our guests! It was so much fun to listen back to the voicemails left by our guests on the day (and night) of the wedding. They make a fabulous addition to the other media we have from the wedding and it was a big talking point on the day." They creatively used Christmas trees to display the Instax pictures taken by guests on the night. "We also invested in some batons for the dancefloor. Segrave Barns have many of these additional touches already in place for their couples such as a charging phonebooth, a sweet cart complete with jars and sweet bags for couples to use if they wish and baskets and signs for the bathroom supplies!" they say.
The three-tier wedding cake was made up of drool-worthy lemon drizzle and chocolate biscuit cake. To tie in with the décor in the barn wedding venue, they went for a rustic naked cake with flowers. They displayed the cake with frames of loved ones, adding a sentimental and special touch!
The father of the bride and groom are captured making a heart-warming speech, along with a very creative picture slideshow playing for the guests in the background. We applaud the efforts and thought that went into it!
We had to ask the lovebirds for some worthy words of advice. They say: "Brendan and I really enjoyed the days out in the run-up to the wedding such as the day trip to choose the wedding rings, the food tasting etc. All of those events are part of your wedding too so make a day of it, go for dinner and a few drinks! We have lots of great memories of those special and exciting days. The day really goes by in a flash and it’s essential to pause for a few moments throughout the day to take everything in, take a mental picture of the room, and have a look at everyone and how they are enjoying themselves! Spreadsheets are your best friend–spreadsheets for everything!"
To complete the magical celebrations, the couple jetted off to Vietnam for three weeks on honeymoon straight after the wedding. "We had the most amazing time. We travelled from the North of Vietnam in Hanoi to the South and finished up in Ho Chi Ming City!"
A very special thank you to Brendan, Cróna, and Pawel Bebenca for sharing this divine day with us all at One Fab Day!
Thinking of a rustic venue for your own big day. Check out these 28 Brilliant Irish Barn Venues! We also have plenty of winter wedding inspiration from winter wedding florals and winter wedding stationery right here!
