Nothing like a pop of colour to brighten up a drab day, and given it's Friday, today's real wedding is the perfect start to get you in the mood for a party weekend, Liz and Paul's Dublin City Hall wedding is fun, fun, fun from beginning to end. Just one glance at their gorgeous celebration captured by Sona of Inspired by Love is all you need to instantly pick up on their sassy personalities, quirky sense of style and insatiable appetite for love and laughter. Pops of colour from Paul's bright red pants and pocket square to Liz's lipstick and fuchsia frills under her wedding dress, through all the details of the wedding from stationery to the florals, create a sense of stylish fun and irrevance that perfectly match the couple's personalities - this wedding is one you will just wish you were invited to!
A little bit of history first - Liz and Paul met in college, where Liz saw Paul and knew she had to have him! Liz attended a few of Paul's gigs while they were in DIT and in the end, he fell for her too!
But Paul took charge when it came to the proposal. According to Liz, "Down on one knee in our garden at home, my ring was under a flower pot. Complete surprise!" What a sweetie!
From the start, pops of colour defined the look for the day Paul designed their wedding stationery - invitation, menu, table settings and ceremony booklet. and they used Matrimonia press for letterpressed invite. Then invitation was echoed in Liz's wedding dress. We just love the way Liz's dress from Joanne Fleming incorporates an awesome flash of colour - that fuchsia trim is such a fabulous surprise!
Once the proposal was a success, the couple knew they wanted a few key ingredients for their big day: "Fun, colourful, relaxed, good humoured and friendly. " We think they nailed those five pretty well!
Dublin City Hall was the setting for the ceremony on a crisp Spring day, and what a location..."We wanted a wedding in Dublin, our city, we wanted great music and one big party with everyone we love. City Hall - we love this building! As neither of us are religious, but we love a good building, it was great to be able to hire this place for the afternoon. It gave such weight to the occasion."
But while the building may have added gravitas to the occasion, Liz was far from taking the whole thing super seriously - after all making your vows is a happy event, a serious one yes, but it doesn't have to be solemn. This is clearly one bride who was having the time of her life! "We set the tone early, as my father, bridesmaid (sister, Sarah) and myself danced into the ceremony to “Jump in the Line” by Harry Belafonte. The party started at the ceremony and the bubbly flowed from then on."
Loving the brightly coloured unity candles!
When the vows were exchanged and the legalities signed and sealed, it was time to enjoy some sparkles under the awesome rotunda of Dublin City Hall, the high spirits soon turned into high jinks...
Liz and Paul drew on their talented set of friends to make their day picture perfect. "Our friend Sally made my bouquets, our friend Iain drove for us, our friend Bronagh made my fascinator, our friends Crayonsmith played at our ceremony, my mum made our badges... Basically we had everyone involved, all our talented friends and this just made everything so personal and special. A few of our friends made speeches, instead of traditionally the best man etc. There was a lot of love in the room."
Look at those beautiful feathered buttonholes to jazz up the wedding party! They paired perfectly with the badges for each important person on the day!
Nothing like a photo with a few guards to make a Dublin city wedding photo op! After the ceremony, the couple headed towards The Angler's Rest for the reception by way of the Phoenix Park, where they met a few furry friends for some photos...
Paul and Liz had a really original idea to remember their wedding day for years to come, "Wedding scents! We recommend this, we both bought Jo malone colognes for the day and now anytime we wear them, the memories come flooding back!"
While the party had started in The Angler's Rest, a quaint little pub and restaurant by the banks of the Liffey just nestled on the outskirts of the Phoenix Park (one of our 100 Best Wedding Venues in case you're wondering) "The Angler's Rest is a great venue to host your wedding, it is so pretty, they serve great food and it has such a relaxed vibe, we could all let our hair down. The venue felt like it was all ours for the night."
"We also had a lot of fun creating tables, we bought loads of random statues to put under glass domes with flowers – lucky cats, robots, miss piggy etc."
Even Paul and Liz's wedding favours added a fun touch! "Our favours were a lotto line for the Daily Million draw, no one won." Tough luck!
Liz has practical advice for any couples planning their weddings: "Spreadsheets!!! Create an excel sheet, be warned, there is some hard work, be decisive and regret nothing, if you survive planning a wedding, married life will be a dawdle."
For their honeymoon, Liz and Paul road tripped around deep south USA, Atlanta-Nashville-Memphis-New Orleans-Heuston-Austin, something they highly recommend for adventurous types like them... "Music and Food characterised every stop. Hectic but so much fun!"
Huge thanks to Liz and Paul for sharing their fantastically fun day with us all - what a treat! And of course to Sona of Inspired by Love, a big Thank You for sharing her great work www.inspiredbylove.ie
All the Wedding Details:
- Ceremony: Dublin City Hall
- Reception: Anglers Rest, Strawberry Beds, Dublin
- Wedding Dress: Joanne Fleming
- Bridesmaids dresses: Phase Eight
- Shoes: Rachel Simpson – shoes are called 'Ginger', as a Redhead, I just had to have them, plus they are comfy!
- Flowers: Appassionata
- Groom’s suit: Brooks Brothers Jacket, Tommy Hilfiger trousers
- Accessories: Bro Jolie
- Hair: Style Club
- Wedding Bands:Engagement ring from Courtville Antiques
- Ceremony Music: Crayonsmith
- Reception Music: Til Death do us party
