The pub is more commonly known as where you might meet your significant other, but what about as a venue to tie the knot in? Elaine and Kenny decided to forego tradition and after their ceremony headed to the pub for a fabulous DIY pub wedding celebration. The pub was creatively decorated from head to toe making it more romantic than alternative, and more intimate than casual. One to raise a glass to for sure...
Kenny and Elaine first met at a mutual friend’s 21st birthday party in April 2000. They chatted all night and found out they lived just minutes from each other. After the party they ran into each other numerous times, at college, in the neighbourhood and on nights out but It wasn't until November 2001 that Kenny finally asked Elaine out. They met for their first planned encounter and have been inseparable ever since.
Two years later Kenny suggested they go for a drive to Slieve League. Having never been before they were both taken aback by the gorgeous scenery both during the drive and on the hike up the cliff. Once they reached the top Kenny dropped to one knee taking Elaine completely by surprise. As it was April Fools day friends and family originally thought it was a joke, but soon realised it was in fact wonderful (truthful) news.
Once everyone realised Elaine and Kenny really were engaged the planning and DIY projects began. Elaine and Kenny wanted a wonderful wedding where everyone had a great time, but at the same time they didn't want to go OTT on the budget. (Sound familiar?) To get the best of both worlds they decided to do as much as possible themselves as well as asking for help from obliging family and crafty pals. As Elaine explains "If you are planning on doing a DIY wedding let your family and friends help you and do get some professional help too! I suppose I just got lucky with everyone around me being creative and hands on."
Of course it helps that Elaine and her family are naturally creative. Elaine and her sisters own handmade glass & jewellery company Mc Gonigle Glass Studio so a DIY wedding didn't seem too daunting. "We made everything from invites, jewellery, escort cards with the glass wedding favours (fused glass heart pins for the girls & little glass surfboard pins for the boys), table numbers, ribbon backdrop for ceremony, doilie bunting, paper bunting, heart garlands, 82 jam jars with ribbons & flowers, photo booth backdrop, menus, blackboard signs, wedding speech bingo cards etc."
Even the ceremony was kept DIY with lots of family members taking part and Kenny’s daughter providing the ceremony music. If you're not naturally crafty personal contributions like this can be just as meaningful and budget friendly, not to mention you'll avoid any unnecessary paper cuts and bickering over twine and kraft paper.
Elaine's DIY girls kept their looks feminine and romantic with soft pink mismatched dresses, bouquets and natural makeup. I love the effort the girls put into their photo backdrops. Something similar would be quite easy to achieve with a plain neutral wall, store bought fairy lights and some chic wedding balloons.
Elaine's own dress is a Pronovias design, equally pretty and flowy. Elaine accessorised with a simple hair chain, giving a little boho edge to the overall look.
After the ceremony and portraits it was off to the Surfer's Bar for a relaxed drinks reception. "We served our favourite drinks, mojitos and the Porterhouse Plain & Wrestlers beer with gourmet popcorn and our wedding cheesecake. We had the speeches here before dinner, it was perfect!" Such a fun idea and of course the pub was decked out with some glorious DIY details..
Signature cocktails or drinks at a wedding are a lovely little personal touch that we see pop up again and again. If you're thinking of having your own wedding cocktail just keep it simple and limited to one or two options.
As one last final DIY touch Elaine's mum baked a fabulous wedding cake, as well as carrot cakes, cupcakes, apple muffins and little individual fruit cakes so each guest could bring home.
For their honeymoon Elaine and Kenny had a little mini-moon at the Merchant Hotel in Belfast. Congratulations guys on your inspirational DIY day and a big thanks to Paula Gillespie for sharing your work with us. To see more of Paula's work head over to www.paulagillespie.com
The Wedding Details:
- Ceremony: The Sandhouse Hotel
- Wedding Dress: Pronovias at Mc Elhinneys
- Bridesmaids dresses: Coast & BHLDN
- Shoes: Louboutin, Ted Baker, Penneys
- Flowers: Posh Buds
- Groomswear: River Island, ej menswear
- Accessories: McGonigle Glass Studio
- Hair piece: Jennifer behr at Knightsbridge boutique
- Chocolate: Aroma coffee shop
- Cheese Cake: Bellingham Cheese
- Wedding Favours & Stationery: Mc Gonigle Glass studio
- Make Up: Jason Doherty at Gloss Hair Salon
- Hair: Rossanos hair salon
- Wedding Bands: Paul Sheeran Jewellers
- Ceremony & Reception music: Roisin Atcheson, Diarmuid McGee & DJ Pedro
- Chair hire: Simply divine weddings
- Ribbon: A.Rubanesque
