We dare you not to smile while reading about today's real wedding couple's beyond-adorable celebration. After Coronavirus postponed their wedding plans, Susan and Peter decided to pivot to an intimate beach elopement. The pair said "I do" in a simple and beautiful ceremony at St Joseph’s Church in Rathmullan, Donegal before heading to the idyllic Rathmullan beach for a picnic where they toasted with bubbles and chocolate Guinness cake! Their incredibly sweet and touching day was all captured by the talented team at Simple Tapestry (who were also the couples witnesses!) and we're delighted to share it with you all today. This is one to give you confidence - covid weddings may be a whole lot different than originally planned but just as beautiful and filled with love.
Bride Susan is from Belfast, and groom Peter is from Houston, Texas. The couple are currently based between Ireland and New York.
So first things first, how did this lovely pair meet? Susan fills us in, "we first met in Grand Central Station, the day after Thanksgiving, in November
2018. Our first date was going for Manhattans in The Campbell Apartment bar in Grand Central and knew that despite how strange it felt to meet in real life and the distance, we were going to try and find a way to be together. A week later, after exchanging “I love you”s in the airport, I flew back home to Ireland. My Dad became critically ill and hospitalised and Peter flew over to be with me, having never been to Ireland before, and spent Christmas with all my family in Belfast for our 4th date so we were never very casual! We flew back and forth a few more times and got engaged 6 months later."
The couples proposal took place in the States where Peter proposed while on a road trip at the side of the road in the Texan Hill Country under a crescent moon. "We had taken a trip to Texas so I could meet Peter’s family for the first time. We stayed in a beautiful B&B, went wine tasting and were nearby Enchanted Rock State Park watching sunset, when Peter got out of the car and got down on one knee. He proposed with a beautiful ring his Dad had proposed to his Mum with in a ring box from his family’s old jewellery shop. Because of the time difference, we had to keep the news to ourselves for a night before phoning my family back in Ireland. A month later we took engagement photos in Grand Central Station and Peter got down on one knee (again much to my surprise!) and gave me the beautiful ring we designed together with Susie Saltzman. We ended up with two proposals, so we are hoping for two wedding days - an elopement and a wedding celebration with friends and family, pandemic permitting!"
When they began planning their April 2020 wedding at Rathmullan House, Susan and Peter couldn’t have known that a global pandemic would render their celebration impossible. But, this resilient couple decided to make the best of the situation by pivoting to an intimate ceremony followed by a picnic on Rathmullan Beach before heading back to Rathmullan House for a cosy dinner for two that night.
"We eloped, telling only our parents the day before. We went to the same church and venue that we had planned for our April wedding that was not to be, we got dressed up as best we could with 10 days to plan everything! We packed a picnic with a bottle of champagne, a Guinness chocolate cake, and a beautiful McNutt of Donegal blanket we gifted each other to sit on the beach. The Atlantic blue grey colour of the blanket and the crescent moon brooch pinned to my flowers were all nods to the colour scheme and style of the wedding day we had planned and are still hoping for. It was a simple and relaxed day filled with love. We laughed and cried and ate cake and did all the things we wouldn’t have been able to do on a full wedding day with guests!", Susan reminisces.
Donegal holds a special place in Susan’s heart as a childhood holiday spot and Rathmullan House hosted a few family celebrations. Susan had many times promised Peter she’d bring him to Donegal so they booked it without even visiting because they loved the location! "The food at Rathmullan is beautiful too. They have been so kind and supportive helping us make new wedding day plans. We were delighted we could stay there and sit down to a beautiful dinner following our picnic while imagining bringing everyone back for a wedding day someday ... who knows!"
Susan's stylish short wedding dresses is by designer Laure de Sagazan which she picked up at The White Gallery boutique. She accessorised her look with the Hope feather hairband by Aura and vintage white jade earrings which were a wedding day gift from Peter. And heart eyes for her darling cardigan by Donatelle Godart!
Another important part of Susan's bridal look was the vintage crescent moon brooch that her aunt gave to her to add to her bouquet. "It reminded me of the crescent moon we had gotten engaged under and the celestial ceiling of Grand Central that we first met underneath, and made me feel like my family was with me too."
Looking back on some of their favourite moments from the day, the couple have many but one very touching one, "On the beach at the end of the day, Peter scattered some of his father’s ashes. We had always wanted to do this as a way of including his Dad who passed away in 2011 in our wedding day but weren’t sure when to get a private moment to do it, so our elopement was the perfect opportunity. It helped us feel less alone on a day that we had never imagined we would be alone on and now that spot has extra meaning for us. Susan’s mother also informed us that an Old Jewish tradition to end a pandemic was called a Black Wedding, where couples are married at a graveside! She didn’t realise our plans when she told us this but we thought, as Peter is Jewish, that we were accidentally following an old tradition."
"Also, Susan’s great grandmother and namesake was married during the Spanish Influenza pandemic and various other family stories of wedding plans going wrong on Susan’s side made us feel like we were continuing in family traditions, carrying on just as our ancestors did. This was comforting knowing that life does indeed go on, even when it isn’t picture perfect. Our elopement was a space of calm in the midst of all of this chaos."
Susan also adds, "we both gave each other polaroid cameras as a wedding day gift, without ever having mentioned the idea to each other, so that was a surreal and very sweet moment. We took polaroid portraits of one another as keepsakes of the day."
As for advice for others who might be in the same position right now, Susan and Peter share their thoughts... "Go with the flow! Now more than ever that seems apt. Remember why you are doing it so if and when plans go awry, you can make the most of it. Dress up, eat cake, take photos and enjoy every minute that you can. If you’re eloping or having a smaller wedding, try and do things you can’t do on a more traditional wedding day - that really helped us embrace the positive sides to eloping."
The couple also add, "when we had to cancel our April wedding, we felt heartbroken, and we are still trying to hold out hope that we will be able to have our families meet and get to hug and dance and wear our full suit and (longer!) wedding dress but ultimately, we just wanted to be married. This has been a difficult time for so many, including us, and it feels good to have been able to choose love and have a joyous occasion in the middle of it all. We wanted to look back at the end of this year and know that we did all that we could, and for us, that meant getting married as soon as we could."
After the celebrations the couple enjoyed a covid-friendly staycation in Ireland. "We stayed 2 nights in Ashford Castle where Susan’s grandparents had gone on honeymoon. It is a magical place with the kindest staff and in the most stunning setting on Lough Corrib. The other guests were so kind when they found out we had just gotten married and said they would be our honorary family members until we could have a wedding celebration! We had a ball. We have also ended up on an accidental and somewhat epic American roadtrip the last two months through Texas and from New York to Texas so we are calling that our extended pandemic bonus honeymoon."
Huge Congratulations to Susan and Peter - hope you're enjoying married life. Thanks so much for sharing a look inside your gorgeous Irish beach elopement and to Simple Tapestry for capturing it all.
