Liz and Luke's real wedding comes to us from Kilkenny, where the couple said their vows at Duiske Abbey before moving to Hunter’s Yard at Mount Juliet Estate for their reception - two entirely special venues for a country chic wedding! The foodie couple, who met on a night out in Dublin and now live in Dunmore East, wined and dined their guests throughout their two-day celebration. Be inspired by the gorgeous style, let the menu make your tummy rumble, and swoon over the beautiful photos by Jessica & Danilo Photography.
Luke popped the question while the couple were walking along the cliffs outside Dunmore East, something they do together often. Liz tells us about the big moment, "Luke got down on one knee and proposed. He had a backpack with a bottle of champagne and two glasses in it with him which we quickly drank before going home to tell my family the news. Luke had arranged for both our families, who had never met before, to be in my house when we arrived home and had planned a surprise party for that night which all our friends came to. It was one surprise after another that day!”
Liz and Luke tell us they wanted a classic wedding in a beautiful country setting with lots of good food, "I found booking the main suppliers quite stressful. It took a lot more time than I thought it would and I wanted to make sure I got the right ones to suit the vision I had for the day," explains Liz, "Once they were booked, I found the rest of the planning such as the décor and flowers easy. I didn’t necessarily have a theme but I had an idea of bringing the colours outside, inside, so I went for sage green bridesmaids’ dresses and had leaves on my invitations and table plan."
Liz tells us she had a good idea what kind of wedding dress she wanted, but finding the right one wasn't easy! "I narrowed down my search by finding what designers I liked and going to the stores that stocked those designers. Wedding dress shopping was slightly overwhelming and I think I tried on about 40 dresses before I found 'The One'.”
The couple had their ceremony in a beautiful 13th century abbey, "We fell in love with the abbey the minute we saw it and knew we had to get married there. It was very special and unique.”
Luke's suit was from Louis Copeland, Liz jokes that the outfit shopping was much easier for the men in the wedding party, "The staff in Louis Copeland were great and they made a waistcoat to match the suit for Luke as it didn’t come with one.”
And when it came to dressing her gals, Liz got a little bit crafty and customised the dresses to add a little more personality. “The bridesmaids' dresses are from Folkster but I added some beading to the waistbands which I sourced in Hickeys,” she explains.
This pair tell us it’s hard to pick our favourite part of the day, but the morning stands out to Liz, "Getting ready with my mam, sister and my other two bridesmaids and seeing my dad’s face when he saw me dressed up for the first time. I also loved the ceremony, seeing Luke at the top of the aisle and the beautiful music that we had chosen being played by the string quartet. I tried to take in as much as I can as so much of the day feels like a blur. Luke’s favourite part was seeing me walking up the aisle.”
This pair of foodies put on a hunger-inducing spread for their guests, "I am a big fish lover, being from a fishing village so I made sure that there was a great fish option on the menu. We chose fillet of cod with a beurre blanc sauce, bacon lardons, potatoes and peas," says Liz. "Luke is a big steak fan so we had sirloin steak cooked to each person’s liking with potato dauphinoise and red wine jus."
This bride and groom say there's not a single thing they'd change about their wedding, "It was better than we ever could have imagined. I’m really glad we did a second day party as the wedding day itself goes so fast and having a second day just drags the celebrations out that bit longer. It also gave us a chance to talk to people who we may not have gotten a chance to talk to the day before. It is impossible to talk to everyone!"
Liz's nugget of advice is to book all the main suppliers as soon as possible, "And try not to stress out too much. Take some weekends off from 'wedding talk' as it can take over your life for a while! Remember than once the main suppliers are booked and the dress is bought all the rest should be fun, so enjoy it!” Wise words Liz!
We absolutely loved the elegance of the reception room at Mount Juliet, and loved that Liz and Luke kept their decor simple, “The room in our venue was beautiful and I didn’t want to take away from it by adding too many decorations or colours. It also had loads of windows looking out on the views in Mount Juliet so I wanted to make the most of that.”
When it came to the venue search, Liz and Luke, knew exactly what they were looking for, “The minute we saw the reception room we knew it was perfect. We wanted somewhere that suited the classic, elegant style of wedding that we wanted but that had lots of character and natural light. Mount Juliet also has a reputation for really good food and that was something that was very important to us. We both love good food and wanted to make sure that our guests enjoyed it as much as us," Liz explains.
And one day wasn't enough! The couple opted for a second day celebration close to home, “We had a BBQ outside the Strand Hotel beside the sea in Dunmore and later on danced the rest of the night away to the band in the bar,” the couple tells us.
Congratulations to Liz and Luke, and thanks to them for letting us in on their beautiful day! Thank you too to Jessica & Danilo Photography for sharing their gorgeous work - you can see even more pictures in the gallery below.
