Today's real wedding is a real treat because you can feel the love jumping off the screen with every image, and each one just gets better and better. Edell and Brian stole my heart with their smiling faces and loved up embraces and yes I felt all warm and fuzzy inside! Their Dublin city wedding has all the vintage charm they could muster up and a pop brilliant yellow as their theme. It worked really well - I think you'll think so too! After a ceremony in the iconic City Hall the pair strolled around town having an absolute ball with their photographer Paul of Moat Hill Photography before finishing up in Fallon & Byrne for their reception. Need a pep in your step this morning? This wedding is just the thing...
Edell and Brian met in 1999 in their 1st year at college in DIT Bolton Street where they both studied architectural technology... After a number of “playing it cool” exchanges about how great each other’s drawings were and Brian offering to stay back late in college to help me with my projects the penny still hadn’t dropped. There was one evening when he let me borrow his discman and I thought 'hmmm maybe he’s interested?' A few months later he casually told me that a friend of his had given him free tickets to the DIT Christmas Ball in Frasers on O’Connell Street (which he’d actually paid for!). He said that he had two spare tickets if I wanted to go and bring a friend, still being ‘breezy’ he told me that there was a girl going who he was interested in. I know, I know you’d think that if someone had written it on a billboard I still would have missed it...
Anyway I asked my friend (and bridesmaid) Siobhan to be my plus one and when we arrived in town I realised I had forgotten my purse. The night nearly didn’t happen if it wasn’t for Siobhan emptying her bank account probably of the £15 that she had for the month. We went inside and Brian’s good friend Shane (and groomsmen) chatted away to Siobhan giving Brian the chance to ask me out! I said yes and the rest is history!
The morning of the wedding was gorgeous, I was lucky to have such a happy funny bunch of people around me, there was no end to the laughing and dancing. Niamh, Brian’s cousin, had flown back from Perth to do our make-up, Declan from Queen was looking after our hair, and Paul from Moat Hill Photography was capturing every moment.
Edell was vintage glam on the day in a beautiful full length gown, her chenille shrug and hairpiece were from the fab girls at Dirty Fabulous and her something old and borrowed was an engraved gold bangle that her Pop gave to her Mum when she was only 19 years old for Christmas!
Back to the story...It may have taken Edell a little while longer to realise Brian was falling head over heels and when it came to popping the question she was none the wiser, it made for a lovely surprise though. It took a bit of creativity and two men on a boat to seal the deal... Our anniversary is the 16th December, and on our 13th anniversary Brian said that he had a little surprise planned. We got up early and crossed town to the north side. On reflection he had a few hairy moments driving over, I should have known something was up but he said he was just worried his surprise might not work out! We arrived in Howth and headed towards a little fishing boat called Christmas Eve and I knew then that the plan was to take me over to Ireland's Eye for a picnic (it was a beautiful sunny winter’s day!). When I was little my Granny Berkeley (a very special lady to me) would often bring my sister, brother and myself over during the summer months, and I had told Brian I’d love to go back but just never got around to it...
I was so excited and the lads on the boat were gas. The sea was a little rough and they don’t normally land on the island in winter, Brian had to literally throw me from the boat on to the rocks. He told me afterwards, that when booking, they jokingly tried to talk him out of marriage but if they couldn’t change his mind they’d get me onto that island one way or another and true to their word they did, just about! I did think something was a little odd when Brian asked the lads how long do we have until they come back for us and they said 'You’ll have long enough to get done what you need to do'. Have I suddenly found myself in an episode of Murder She Wrote? So with the island to ourselves we set out on a stroll up the hill to get the best views. We stopped for our little picnic which was tea and chocolate Kimberly’s and Brian gave me my anniversary card of which the last lines were ”Hopefully you’ll say yes to the next thing I ask you” I turned around and there he was on one knee with the most beautiful antique Victorian pearl ring, there was a little few expletives, some tears and then a big, Yes!
I’m very much a true blue Dub, back to great grandparents and Brian is a Kilkenny man, but we wanted to get married in Dublin as we both love Dublin and wanted it to play a big part in our day. What we hoped we achieved was a bright and colourful celebration with a touch of old Hollywood glamour and a lot of yellow! The feel of the day was totally relaxed with everyone just having lots of fun!
City Hall was our first destination when beginning our planning. I have wanted to get married in City Hall before I ever had a boyfriend or knew you could actually get married there! It’s the most amazing building and both sets of families and friends were wowed by it on the day!
The ceremony was put together by Brian and beautifully delivered by Anne Bradly the registrar, he added in a “warming of the rings” which was a really special part of the day and we were overwhelmed by the time our family and friends took giving us their best wishes. So much so that the music ran out and we had to roll it again, a few times!
It's official! Whoop!
The fact that all our guests could take a short stroll together down through the city we love from the ceremony in City Hall added to the casual and easy-going vibe we were looking for.
Absolutely love the bridesmaids dresses, a soft yellow compliments the skin tone well and the bow detail is so cute, of course the boys match in yellow ties!
The photography was a big part of the day for us. I love photography and spent ages trying to find the right fit and we really did find it with Paul from Moat Hill Photography, he told our story beautifully!
Having the lols I love it!
After City Hall they pair wanted to give their family and friends a great night out with great food. They choose Fallon & Byrne... Fallon and Byrne was our first choice, as we knew we were in good hands when it came to the food! We loved the room, dark wooden floors, white walls, big windows, spacious yet intimate, and those gorgeous lights hanging down the external façade made it perfect.
The pair made almost all of the decorations themselves with help from friends who painted and crocheted signs - the best kinda friends!
The room and the food made the night for us. We especially love the ballroom, it is elegant, bright, not fussy and it gave us the room to put our own colourful stamp on it.
What advice would you give to couples planning their day? Try to have your day your way! Trust yourself, we knew if we planned a day that we would love, it would be enjoyed by those who love us. Soak it all in, my bridesmaid Orla turned to me during the meal and said “Take a moment, look around and feel the love in the room!” I did...
Congratulations Edell and Brian! A huge Thank You goes to Paul of Moat Hill Photography for sharing his work with us at One Fab Day! To see more of Paul's work pop over to www.mhphoto.ie.
The Wedding Details
- Ceremony: City Hall Dublin
- Preparation Location: The Cliff Townhouse
- Reception: Fallon and Byrne
- Wedding Dress: Chenille Shrug & Hairpiece: Dirty Fabulous
- Bridesmaids dresses: Monsoon
- Shoes: Rachel Simpson Shoes
- Flowers: The Wild Bunch
- Groom's suit: Hugo Boss at Louis Copland
- Groomsmen Suits: AB Formal wear
- Bridesmaids Earrings: Bow in Powerscourt Centre
- Wooden Cufflinks: Kieran Reynolds Woodturner
- Cake Table: Sam’s Pantry
- Make Up: Make up by Niamh Doherty
- Hair: Queen
- Rings: John Brereton Jewellers
- Umbrella: Brolliesgalore
