What's better than one insanely stylish bride? TWO insanely stylish brides! When I first laid eyes on Grace and Katy's epic real wedding over on photographer Katie Kav's insta feed, I basically begged to share it with you guys. Because of course, it's beautiful. But not only that, because it represents everything that One Fab Day is and wants to be. Love, pure and simple. Beauty, in its most basic form. Celebration at its finest. From their City Hall ceremony to their stylish reception at Fallon & Byrne, see their magical October wedding day in Dublin unfold in Katie Kav's wonderful imagery below.

Grace and Katy first met when they both had summer jobs in UCD. After a week or two they began having lunch together most days, and by the end of the summer it was clear that there was a frisson of something else! That was in 2011, and they’ve been together ever since!

The proposal happened in September 2020, a week after the lovebirds moved into their first flat. Katy fills us in, 'We took a trip down to Doolin, Co. Clare, with the plan to spend a day out on Inis Oirr for Grace’s birthday. The weather didn’t play ball, but during a wet and windy walk out along the cliffs from Doolin, Grace proposed with a beautiful amethyst ring. I was completely surprised, but absolutely delighted, of course! We rang our families and then toasted our engagement with lunch at Vaughan’s in Liscannor before a couple of nights at the Wild Honey Inn.'

Once engaged, the couple started planning their city wedding celebration. 'We wanted our wedding to reflect our taste and interests and bring our family and friends to the places that we love in Dublin. We wanted colour and joy; to convey the importance and solemnity of the occasion, but also for people to be relaxed and happy in each other’s company.'

Conscious of the late October light, Grace and Katy met with their photographer Katie for an hour before the ceremony for their couples photos. As well as being a brilliant practical idea, the couple tell us it became one of their favourite moments of the day! 'Not only did this give us time alone before the ceremony, it also meant that there was minimal time away from our guests afterwards - save for a few family photos in City Hall. We even bumped into some of our guests on our walk around the city, which along with the congratulations of other passers-by, meant we were having an absolute ball before we even got to the important bit!'

The pair said 'I do' in front of 100 of their nearest and dearest in the epic surroundings of Dublin City Hall.

After the ceremony, the couple and their guests headed to The Stag's Head for a cosy drinks reception, before heading to Fallon & Byrne for dinner and more merriment!

The couple choose their iconic city centre spots for their guests to enjoy a piece of the city. 'City Hall has it all: beautiful architecture, a fascinating history, and perfectly located right in the middle of town!' Katy adds, 'Although we live in Dublin, many of our family members live outside of the city and hadn’t really experienced a city centre wedding. Being able to walk from the ceremony to the Stag’s Head and then to Fallon & Byrne made everything so easy and was something different to the weddings many of our guests had been to before. And sure look, you’re guaranteed a good creamy pint and an excellent dinner in both of those places!'

We just have to take a moment to discuss the style of this gorgeous pair! Katy's epic sparkly green wedding dress is by Badgley Mischka which she cleverly sourced on eBay! She completed her bridal look with a custom cape made by Natalie based at Roisin Cross Silks, LK Bennett shoes and accessories from Mo Muse.

Grace's dreamy, sparkly cream gown is by Needle & Thread. Her bridal ensemble was also made complete with LK Bennett shoes and accessories from Mo Muse.

Priorities for the pair when planning were, 'music, photography, flowers and food'.  Katy add, 'We wanted to support small Irish businesses but above all, it was important to us to work with great people who shared our sense of style and fun. Many of our suppliers were recommended by friends or other vendors, we also reached out to people whose work we saw online - for example, when we couldn’t find stationery that we liked, we messaged Katy Ruth Halpin on Instagram to see about using one of her Dublin lamp designs for our invites and ceremony booklets. She was so enthusiastic, and we achieved something that felt unique while also really reflecting the Dublin day we had planned. It also doubled nicely as ‘something blue’!'

'In the early planning stages, we looked at the sites of several different photographers but Katie Kav’s work has such a bright, joyful aesthetic that it immediately felt like a good fit. Although we couldn’t meet in person before the day, Katie was great for keeping in touch and getting to know us through social media; it felt so relaxed and natural when we met her before the ceremony. Around the time that we booked her, Katie recommended Flowerpop as an option and we were delighted to take up her recommendation. Heather took so much time to talk through what we wanted - from the types of flowers, colours that would work with our clothes, as well as having two bouquets that were complimentary but not too matching - we couldn’t have asked for a better pair of hands. Heather also provided beautiful blooms for our cake, made by Denise Drum at Baked Cake Design, who’s baking we knew through a work connection and Instagram. We were also thrilled with the team at Gloss House in Booterstown, who did our nails.'

'For the music, I called on the expertise of Carmel Whelan to help us find musicians for the ceremony; we had some specific pieces in mind and Carmel worked with Andrew Yau and the others to arrange these for us. Hearing them soar through the rotunda of City Hall as we walked in was amazing. For much of the time we were planning our wedding, it wasn’t clear whether there would be any dancing after the reception, but luckily the rules changed just in time and we were able to book the amazing Debbie and the Bentley Boys band.'

'There’s nothing worse than being hungry or thirsty at a wedding: the Right Catering Company provided some nibbles for our guests at City Hall while we finished up the formal photography, then we strolled over to the Stag’s Head for a drink. Fallon and Byrne was always on our list of places for the reception: their food is fantastic, and as an added bonus, we had gone for lunch there on our first date. Ciara, Natalie and all the team there looked after us so well on the night.'

From the ceremony to the reception, it sounds like this couple had the most joyful day. 'For the ceremony, having friends and family involved in rituals like lighting candles, standing as a witness and doing readings, along with choosing music that was special to us and working with our celebrant, Susie Kennedy, on the wording, made it very personal', Katy says. 'We like nothing more than spending a Saturday in town, walking about and having some great food: our wedding was like a scaled up, more sequin filled version of this - so many of our guests commented on how like ‘us’ it felt, which we take as a great compliment!'

Katy's advice to engaged couples is to 'choose the elements that work for you and create a day that really reflects you as a couple. You don’t have to go along with the set wedding traditions: neither of us set foot in a bridal shop, we got ready together, we didn’t have wedding favours…what mattered was spending time together, having an enjoyable day, and being relaxed enough to at least try and take it all in! It is so easy to get caught up in the hoopla and forget what the day is about.'

After the celebrations the pair headed to Marina Suites in Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria for 'sun, sea and sangria'!

Thanks so much to Grace and Katy for sharing their gorgeous city wedding with us, and to Katie Kav for providing the beautiful imagery! There are even more photographs to swoon over in the gallery below.