In the impressive surrounds of Dublin City Hall, our real wedding couple Kate and Simon exchanged vows surrounded by 100 of their closest friends in family. With their adorable pooches Bobby and Ruby in tow, the pair's bright, colourful and whimical day features a glorious hand-painted floral gown, a joyful photoshoot on the streets of the city, and unique entertainment in the form of a magician! To carry on the celebrations the pair made a stop at Nolita for a fun-filled BBQ on the terrace, followed by a big party in the Bourbon Bar at the Odeon on Harcourt Street. Check out Kate and Simon's floral laden celebration, captured by Studio Brown, below!

Before diving into the details of their amazing day, let's get to know our couple a bit more! Having both lived just ten minutes apart from each other their whole lives in Sandyford, Kate and Simon's paths would eventually only cross through sheer coincidence. "We met originally on Bumble and you have 24 hours to chat and then it disappears. I hadn’t messaged him yet and I went to my jiujitsu class. I remember at the end of class you have to line up and shake hands and I shook his hand not realising he was in my class, he didn’t know either!" After going home and messaging Simon that he was in fact the same person from her class, the two arranged an ice skating date and have been together ever since.

Fast forward to their sweet engagement story, Kate and Simon headed for their usual weekend walk up Ticknock in Sandyford, packing flasks of tea and sausage sambos. "I had packed two mugs and one happened to be my dad’s mug, he passed away in 2017. When we were finished our walk we sat down on a bench and had some tea and sandwiches, Simon was drinking from my dad’s mug, it just felt like a little seal of approval from dad." Simon got down on one knee and proposed with Kate's mums blue Ceylon Sapphire and diamond engagement ring which he had remodeled. Putting their engagement celebrations briefly on hold, the couple found a dog on their way home and brought it to the vet. After making sure the dog was okay the couple celebrated with a party set up by Kate's family and later that night with Simon's family. 

How adorable are the couple's golden retriever Bobby and shitzu Ruby who turned up on the day to play the role of ring bearers? Decked out in a dapper doggy tuxedo and a cute flower collar, the two were brought to the venue by a dog walker who provides the service of bringing dogs to weddings and looking after them for the day or night!

A moment for the dress please! Gorgeous bride Kate donned a phenomenal custom House of Savin tulle gown complete with a hand-painted floral design and chic balloon sleeves: "This dress was one of my favourite parts about the wedding!"

The pair reminisce on their favourite parts of the day. For Kate, "the part that was most special was doing the hand fasting with my dad’s ties. We used two of his ties in this part of the ceremony to bind our hands. My mum still has all his ties so we spent some time choosing which colours we wanted to use on the day."

And for Simon? Kate says, "the Dublin String Quartet musical arrangements. All the songs meant something personally to both of us. Free falling by Tom Petty was played at the moment of musical reflection and it was one of my dad’s favourite songs. Simon loves the Beatles too and I walked down the aisle to “Something” by the Beatles."

We can only imagine the joy on guests faces after the adorable doggie surprise!

With Saturday availability hard to come by at the historic venue, Kate and Simon booked their wedding at city hall two years in advance. The pair also tell us about their strategically picked date, "Our wedding was held on the 10th June 2023. Purposely picked in the middle of the leaving cert, so we got the weather!"

The bride describes their day as,  "floral, colourful, elegant, romantic, authentic, relaxed and fun." She adds, "It was filled with so much love, surrounded by the people we love the most!"

We'll never tire of bridesmaids in white!

For their cocktail hour and food, the couple and their guests headed to Nolita on South Great George's Street for a BBQ, drinks, speeches and a little magic in the form of magician Jamie Skelton.

"We had beef burgers, calabrese spicy sausage with rocket and Parmesan , chicken fillet and Nduja
burgers with lettuce and cabbage slaw and gorgo mayo, burrata with grilled aubergine and courgette, sun dried tomato and rocket. Along with potato salad, ceaser salad, pasta salad and tomato and mozzarella salad, and unlimited amount of fries! The food was amazing and Nolita were so accommodating, they brought us in beforehand to taste it all and it was just stunning. We were delighted that our guests were getting top quality food in a relaxed setting. We had bottles of Peroni and Prosecco on arrival for our guests. Everyone could sit
where they wanted and it allowed people to mingle and chat to different people throughout the evening, this was something we wanted for our wedding and it was important to us that it was more of a relaxed atmosphere. We did our speeches here with all the guests and everyone was standing on front of us while we spoke."

Kate and Simon had this advice for couples embarking on their own wedding planning journey: "We would say to soak it all up, as it’s all over in 24 hours and you’ll wish you could do it all over again. Also, do what YOU want, don’t feel the pressure to do it the ways its always been done, think outside the box and don’t be afraid create a day that suits your style. Have fun and wear a colourful dress, walk to your venue, have a BBQ, don’t have a seating plan! It will turn out amazing!"

That evening, the newlyweds and their guests headed to Odeon on Harcourt street to continue the celebrations.. "We had invited more guests to this part and this was held in the Bourbon bar upstairs. It was brilliant, as it was just what we wanted, a big party!"

Following their colourful evening reception, the couple headed off on a minimoon to Killarney to unwind after all their busy wedding festivities. "We then went to Marbella in Spain for a week after this. We rented a fabulous penthouse apartment in Elviria for the week."

Thank you so much to our real wedding couple Kate and Simon for sharing their charming city wedding with us and to Studio Brown for the gorgeous images of their day! Make sure to check out the gallery below for more shots of this fabulous wedding!

Dreaming of a city wedding? We have lots more city wedding inspiration here!