The first thing I swooned over in today's real wedding was Maureen's incredible crochet wedding dress - then I read the story behind it, and was pretty blown away. But that wasn't to be the last exceptional thing about Maureen & Ben's Loughcrew Estate wedding. The couple, and their friends and family poured months into creating the perfect laid-back party, from growing the flowers, to importing the wine, or baking the cake, to collecting the jam jars - even the kids were on duty making pom poms and drawing birds! That kind of love and effort makes for a pretty special celebration, as you'll see from the beautiful photos by Livia Figueiredo Photography.
Maureen & Ben first crossed paths a long time before their wedding day, “We originally met in university many years ago, Ben being a very close friend of my brother,” Maureen tells us. “Subsequently Ben moved to San Fransisco for 18 years. We have many mutual friends and as a result we met again after many years at a private festival organised by our friends in Ireland. It was on a trip home the following year that romance blossomed.” A reconnection has to be one of our fave ‘how we met’ stories!”
Ben’s proposal was a pretty cool one! “On the dancefloor, surrounded by friends. Nobody got down on one knee!”
Maureen's bridesmaids chose their own dresses, but don't they work beautifully together?
Maureen’s wedding dress as a lot more meaning to it than most, as the bride tells us, “Hand crocheted and designed by my grandmother for my mother’s wedding in 1972. It took her two years to make it, which she did while my mother lived in Africa for the two years of her engagement.” What an incredible gift!
The dress has become a much-loved family heirloom, “It has since been worn by two of her sisters and four nieces, so eight of us in total and hopefully it will continue to be worn by more of the women in our family, it is still in perfect condition! The under slip was made by a fabulous seamstress called Jenny Hughes who is based in Cootehill, County Cavan. We had a special display of photos of my granny and all the previous brides in the dress.” Such an amazing story and such a stunning dress!
The couple had no specific theme to their wedding, but say it ended up with something of a shabby chic vibe, “We searched friend’s sheds looking for old jars, stools and boxes. We raided friend’s gardens. My mother planned all the flowers by what was in season in late August, growing them in her wonderful garden.”
All the details came together in a relaxed way, “Birds featured heavily in the décor as it happened, from the bunting in the ceremony room to the hand drawn birds (by Ben’s nieces and nephews) for the table names. It was romantic and informal; in fact we even forgot to cut the cake on the day of the wedding. We rectified this during the party the next day though!”
The couple had lots of friends help out with the wedding music, “Our ceremony music provided by the bride’s cousin Sarah Lynch with Michael Conefrey and Luke Mercer. The reception music was provided by our many D.Jing friends, (10 in all) proceedings were kicked off by the amazing Dr.Groove.”
Ben & Maureen were pretty familiar with their venue before they started wedding planning, “We had previously attended a private festival organised by friends at Loughcrew. It is a beautiful place. We knew we could create the wedding we wanted, unique to us; the venue gave us this possibility. Everything had to be brought to the venue, décor, drinks, food, glassware etc. Loughcrew also has beautiful bedrooms onsite, enough to provide beds for the bridal party and immediate family.”
Ben & Maureen’s flowers were something of a joint effort, “The bridal bouquets, buttonholes and two centre pieces for the ceremony room were provided by Cedar Flowers, Cavan. All other flowers and arrangements were created by my mother and a team of friends who worked tirelessly the days before the wedding.” Maureen explains, “My mother planted her garden with late August harvest of flowers in mind. Many friends and neighbours kindly allowed us to raid the blooms from their gardens for the occasion.”
The couple made some fun arrangements for sleeping the rest of their guests, “With much of Ben’s friends and family travelling from America we had to ensure there was enough accommodation for them both at the venue and locally. Also, with camping allowed many of our friends could pitch their own tents on the grounds. We also hired a glamping company for some luxury camping.”
The couple’s biggest priority was giving their guests a great day out, “We wanted to make sure everyone could enjoy a great party! We wanted to ensure all our guests’ needs were catered for, whether they were 8 or 80. Once our guests arrived we wanted them just to relax and enjoy themselves.
Maureen & Ben’s advice to others? “Don’t sweat the small stuff. Accept help when needed. Delegate, you cannot do everything yourself. Take a moment during the wedding day to take it all in; it goes by in a flash.”
Maureen's family in her grandmother's beautiful dress!
The couple laid on a full Indian feast for their guests.
The couple set up a marquee for their reception at Loughcrew, “We knew our guest list was too big to have the reception in the main house (180) but we were able to hire a marquee that provided all the room we needed. We wanted a two day party and we were able to hire the venue for the weekend. The location was convenient to many of our guests and we were able to provide buses to transport them there and back.”
Maureen tells us that the effort other people went to for the wedding was overwhelming, “From day one many of our friends and family were involved in helping us with the big day. Within a few weeks of booking the venue friends of my parents made a trip to France and brought back all the wine. The invitations were made by a friend. Jars were decorated by friends. The music was provided by friends and relatives. A friend’s daughter tirelessly made what seemed like hundreds of beautiful tissue pompoms.”
And that wasn’t it, Maureen continues to tell us about all the amazing helpers, “People were on hand in the lead up to the wedding to help us to transport everything to the venue and assist with the setting up of tables, chairs, hanging of bunting, pompoms, flower arrangements etc. My uncle supplied all the food for breakfasts, friends baked cakes, my cousins in the hotel business brought the deserts with them and helped us enormously on the day.”
The work wasn’t done, even the night before the wedding, “I was frantically trying to print out the list of tables and names when one of the groomsmen rescued me and sorted it all for me. It was a group effort, many hands were involved in shaping the wedding and we are just so grateful for all our wonderful, talented friends and family and how much help and support they gave us. It really brought home to us how loved we really are and what wonderful people we have around us.” P.S. Love these bird table names drawn up by the kids in the family!
Love is in the air!
What a colourful spread! Impressively Maureen & Ben's wedding cake was made by a friend's teenage daughter! A future baker in the making, we think so!
And after all that hard work, the couple headed to Connemara for a well-deserved rest. But wasn't it all worth it! Thanks so much to Maureen & Ben for sharing their wonderful hand-made wedding with us, and to Livia Figueiredo for capturing all the details!
