When planning your wedding, you need all the help you can get (even if you haven't realised it yet, you will come the last week, trust me). And having a hands-on bridesmaid from the very beginning can really make all the difference. For Lucia and Paul they were blessed with a secret weapon in the form of Lucia's best pal Charlie, who lent a helping hand in all sorts of big and little ways to help transform a beautiful venue, at Drenagh Estate into a very personal 'Lucia and Paul' celebration. One the whole circle of family and friends could thoroughly relax and enjoy. We're delighted to share a very sweet and crafty wedding with you today thanks to Paula Gillespie (and for the cuteness factor, keep an eye out for a few special furry guests of more than one variety...) Hope you enjoy Lucia and Paul's sweet wedding as much as we did...
A chance meeting and a helping hand led Lucia and Paul together... "Paul and I met in the famous Dolan’s Warehouse Limerick at a Juliet and the Licks gig (the actress Juliet Lewis' band). I was attempting to be a journalist for the University of Limerick magazine at the time and he was at the gig with friends and had brought his camera. I got chatting to him and I ended up giving him my email as he offered his photos for my article. Apparently he couldn’t read my handwriting and did a long search for lots of possible name combinations until he found me, his pictures made it into the article and the rest is history!"
Seven years later after moving into a new house, under the twinkle of the Christmas tree Paul surprised Lucia with the best Christmas present I girl could ask for... "It was our first Christmas in Derry together in our new house and we had just opened our presents for each other before breakfast. There was one lightweight present under the tree and he was hinting for me to open it, I kept saying, I’ll open it later (I was fooled as it didn’t look like a small box with a ring it I promise!) I eventually opened it and was shocked to see a the most beautiful blue Sapphire engagement ring! We went visiting and showing it off all day and it was wonderful."
While Lucia and Paul were the two planning their dream wedding, they were blessed in terms of help, as Lucia's best friend Charlie,is a crafty queen from Handmade by Charlie. There was no limit to Charlie talents when it came to special touches and decor on the day. Starting with a bridal dressing gown with Lucia's personalised hand stitched name and a crocheted place mat to put nice things on for photographer Paula Gillespie to take photos on, and that's just for starters! You'll have to wait and see...
While the girls got ready, the boys had other things on their minds...
Meanwhile the boys have come back from their adventures and are getting suited and booted along with this little guy...
The church was beautifully decorated with jars of hydrangea and wildflowers. The perfect touches to add colour and a little bit of personality to your aisle!
After their ceremony Lucia and Paul slipped off for some time together (of course with someone special in tow...)
Having wedding photographs that last a lifetime and accurately reflect the love and atmosphere on the day is so important, something Lucia and Paul were well aware of, so they chose their photographer wisely as they told us "We wanted an informal feel so that's why we choose Paula Gillespie as our photographer. The photos tell an intricate story, personal only to us and our families. It's the little details that made them so special and the mood she created with each one."
Paula's creative input from the start was brilliant, with special hand-made packages delivered to our front door when we booked to the finished product. Her presence on the day was unobtrusive and this was portrayed in all the photographs as they were so natural and full of character - exactly what we wanted. They are something we will treasure for a long time.
Lucia chose to ask her bridesmaids to wear one shade - blush pink - but they could choose different dresses, allowing them to could find something that suited and that they were comfortable in. We're seeing more and more brides adopt this approach, it certainly cuts down on some of the bridesmaid dress drama. If you like the idea but not sure how to do it - check out our guide to how to Mix and Match Bridesmaids Dresses.
Oh. My. God. What better guest could you want at your wedding? Well, if you're a horse-lover like me that is!
Better watch out Lucia - they're both eyeing up that tasty looking bouquet!
When it came to choosing their venue, Drenagh Estate swept the couple away... "Drenagh has a magical quality to it, that's hard to describe. You can just feel it when you’re there. And the fact that it was so local to us was a bonus, it was like a slice of how the other half live, as many of us had never been inside the grounds of the estate." I love that everyone was local but hadn't been there before, it's like discovering a hidden gem right on your doorstep.
The couple had a beautiful marquee reception on the estate, and with the help of the hardest working bridesmaid in town to add some pretty crafty touches, it did come together to be truly 'Paul and Lucia', the effect they were aiming for, with a great family atmosphere, a properly fun occasion. Creating this atmosphere was paramount, as Lucia explained... "Paul had lost his dad less than a year before the wedding so we wanted to throw his family a big party to celebrate life and have a happy occasion to look forward to. We also wanted it to be child friendly and it had to have a crafty feel, we didn't want to spend money on frivolous things that would be forgotten. Most of the guests described it as the most relaxed wedding they had ever been too. It wasn’t fussy or over the top despite the grand reception venue, we felt that all our little touches made it relaxing and enjoyable."
A major factor in creating this personal atmosphere was someone to whom Lucia is very grateful "my chief bridesmaid Charlene is a fantastically talented lady, she can turn her hand to anything. We have been best friends since secondary school. This wedding turned into a major craft project, she kept turning up at my house with bunches of new bunting she had sewn from second-hand curtain fabric!" As Lucia is a harpist and very into music, Charlie put together music-inspired hanging decor using music notes including a hand embroidered sign which we hung over the cakes 'Home is where the harp is'.
And while it might seem like a lot of work, it wasn't hard or tedious at all, in fact it added a lot of fun to the wedding prep. "The list of beautiful gifts that Charlie surprised me with were just so much I couldn’t possibly list them all but they and the decor made the day. We had so much fun putting it all together the day before, the bales of hay, putting up bunting and little touches." She even made Lucia a bespoke crochet headpiece, to replace the cathedral veil during the reception (much easier to dance in!) this lady thought of everything.
There's the headpiece!
Having been through the wedding rollercoaster, Lucia knows the story and has some very honest advice "I would say that old cliche, 'don’t stress' but the fact is you probably will. The best thing to do is be organised and have everything paid up front, so no paying on the day. Try and make it as relaxed as possible and have fun planning it all. Try not to tell everyone what you are planning as everyone likes to have their say on what they think you should do, plus everyone loves to be surprised!" Hear, hear on the keeping it under your hat advice.
Huge congratulations to Paul and Lucia on their beautiful wedding day! A big Thank You goes to Paula Gillespie for shring her beautiful work with us www.paulagillespie.com.
The Wedding Details
- Ceremony: St. Finloughs Chapel Ballykelly
- Reception: Drenagh Estate
- Photographer: Paula Gillespie
- Wedding Dress: McElhinney’s Bridal Rooms
- Bridesmaids dresses: Marks and Spencer & Asos
- Shoes: Untold @ House of Fraser/Poetic Licence/Asos
- Wedding Décor, accessories & church flowers: Handmade by Charlie
- Bouquets by Sharon Peaker Flowers
- Groomsmen suits: Ryle Menswear
- Cake: The Green Cat Bakery
- Wedding Favours: Pipii
- Hair: Ciara McGuinness
- Makeup: Katie Bell
- Soprano: Margaret Keys
- Harpist: Les Magee
- Uilleann Pipes: Martin Crossin
- Reception Music: Lisaire
- ???????????Wedding Bands: Thumping Jellyfish
- Ceili Dancing: Mary McGuigan from Eglinton
