This wedding at Killyon Manor is pretty phenomenal and probably one of the most fun weddings we've featured - but what really stands out is the absolute unconditional love in each and every picture by The Lou's. An adorable couple Sarah and Gav's wedding will both inspire and put a grin on your face. As Sarah told us so honestly..."We’ve been together for so long and done so much together that I really didn't think marriage was a big deal, it was never top of my list of things to do. I think we've both been really nicely surprised by how much of a difference it does make!! Sounds ridiculous but knowing that we’re married never fails to bring a smile to my face." Sit back and enjoy...
Fabulous bride Sarah tells their love story..."Gav and I met in college, have been together 12 years and have travelled the world together. We'd recently gone sale agreed on our absolute dream house (well it will be when the renovations are finished) so a proposal was definitely the last thing on my mind. My birthday is early September, so when Gav suggested a surprise weekend away a few weeks later I thought nothing of it!"
Sarah continues..."He brought me up to an Eco cottage at the edge of the earth in Port, Donegal and after spending an incredible night watching shooting stars and hanging out together we went for an early morning walk and he asked me to marry him overlooking the sea. He had a beautiful Zoe & Morgan star ring hidden in his pocket. I was totally shocked, but so thrilled - it was incredible. We spent the rest of the weekend in Donegal and told no one, it was pure bliss having that time to ourselves. We then told all of our family individually, and waited until the end of the week to tell our friends together face to face – so much nicer than a blanket text to everyone we knew! It was so much fun seeing everyone's reactions!!" Such a unique and wonderful way to propose!
Having attended many classic weddings, Sarah and Gav knew they just didn't fit their style. So instead they decided to have a less formal celebration - filled with coloured confetti, giant balloons and an intimate woodland ceremony officiated by one of their best friends.
Having decided on a non-traditional wedding, Sarah and Gav had to find a non-traditional wedding venue. Coincidentally Sarah stumbled upon the unique Killyon Manor - which is run and owned by the same owner as that little cottage where Gav proposed. Sarah explains..."I'd been looking at different houses and festival venues and stumbled across Killyon Manor's website - there wasn't a lot of info on the site so I sent them a quick email. Roland, the incredible gentleman that owns the house with his wife Zoe emailed me back, the more I read the more I knew I wanted to see it so I started telling Gav about it. He stopped me straight away when I mentioned Roland's name - he'd rented the cottage in Port Donegal where he’d proposed on Airbnb from Roland - what were the chances!!"
Sarah continues..."We told Roland straight away and he loved the coincidence!! We arranged to meet him at Killyon - both he and Zoe are amazing people and we were thrilled they became part of our story! Once we saw Killyon Manor we knew it was the only place we wanted to get married. We were blown away by the forest and all of the nooks and crannies. Even though there was no 'wet weather' ceremony location we just knew we had to go for it - we booked it straight away and never viewed anywhere else!!"
In love with Sarah's high-low wedding dress and those hot pink Manolo Blahniks...
The almost surreal wedding ceremony was held in the middle of the woods, with Gav singing Sarah down the outdoor aisle. Sarah remembers..."He and his uncle Rick played Eight Days A Week by The Beatles. It was incredible to hear him on our way through the trees, crossing the little bridge over the river into the forest in candlelight was magical."
So, so beautiful!
Making the ceremony extra special and emotional, a close friend of Sarah and Gav's officiated. Sarah told us..."I can't put into words the feeling of having someone so close to us do our ceremony. We wrote the ceremony ourselves but Ciara surprised us with a hilarious introduction - we included our friends and family, Gav's Dad read Seamus Heaney ‘Scaffolding’ - he's helping us rebuild our house so very appropriate. Our friend Cathy travelled from Melbourne and treated us to an amazing dinosaur impression when she read A Lovely Love Story by EdMonkton."
After their handwritten vows Sarah and Gav were showered in a rainbow of confetti which was captured wonderfully by the lovely The Lou's. Sarah and Gav sing their praises..."Regardless of your budget spend as much as you can on photography!! We were insanely lucky to have all of our close family and friends in one place at the same time – and we have the most beautiful photos of everything who was there on the day. The Lou's have given us memories that we’ll genuinely have for the rest of our lives...Lou and Louie were such lovely people and genuinely fun to have around on the day – it really shows in the photos, everyone is so calm and relaxed, even the more formal shots are still chilled and fun! Louie captured an incredible shot of us under the stars that night – spine tingling stuff!"
For the reception the focus was kept on "colour and fun, fun fun" with giant balloons, gold tassels, snowglobes, gold animals on each table and a late night silent disco.
Velvet DJs then provided the music, with every dancing all night before retiring to their glamping tents.
Sarah gleefully looks back on the day..."We planned the whole thing together – it was as much Gav's vision as mine, which was really important to us both. We've all been to weddings where the groom is an enthusiastic bystander on the day, I can safely say ours was a totally 50/50 effort! I also think it meant more than we had realised to our families – our parents have been high on life since, the day was incredible and it’s stayed that way since! Overall though, it was how loved we felt. All of our friends and family did so much for us to help see our vision of our wedding become a reality. Grateful doesn't really sum it up."
Huge congratulations to you both, and thank you so much for sharing your wonderful Killyon Manor wedding with us all!
A big thank you also goes to The Lou's for sharing their work with us - always a pleasure! To see more from The Lou's visit www.wearethelous.com
The Wedding Details
- Photographer: The Lous
- Venue: Killyon Manor
- Wedding Dress: Don O’Neill Theia from Folkster
- Shoes: Dune
- Flowers: Appassionata Flowers
- Groomsmen’s suits: Magee
- Bow tie: Ted Baker
- Brides Headpiece: Hat Society
- Earrings and Ring: Zoe & Morgan from Loulerie and McCaul Goldsmiths
- Cake: Crumbs Cakery
- Stationery: Walking Dot Design
- Silent Disco: Headphone Disco
- Event Manager: Tim Kiernan