When I say today's featured real wedding is a Must See, believe me, it is. Rachel and Tom's summer wedding celebration in Castle Leslie is oh-so special in so many ways - a transatlantic love story, the beautiful blending of two cultures and traditions, the style and sophistication, the scenery, the romance, the laughter and the good old-fashioned Irish craic - seriously this wedding has it all.
And most importantly, Rachel and Tom asked Tim from This Modern Love to be their master photographer for the day, and the results are EPIC (yes, those capitals are meant to be there)
While the culmination of their courtship took place by the shores of the Green Lake in Co. Monaghan, Tom and Rachel's romance took them half way round the world and back (several times), as Rachel told us... "Tom and I met while I was studying abroad at Trinity, where he was going to school, and we hit it off right away. We dated for only two months before I had to go back to finish my final year of college in California...
...We decided we would try to visit each other over the next year while we both finished school, without really knowing where it would lead. After Tom’s first visit to California in September 2006, we knew our relationship was worth it despite the (very) long distance.We made the eleven hour plane journey between Ireland and California back and forth until finally we could move to the same city after graduation, and enjoy being with each other every day (a new and exciting concept for us!)...
...Fast-forward to October 2010, and Tom proposed to me on a cozy fall evening in our New York City apartment." And fast forward to last July, and you have one of the most beautiful Irish-American weddings of the year, nay decade, (century?)
Living in New York, Rachel had quite the choice when it came to picking her wedding dress and what the bridesmaids would wear (not jealous I swear) she opted for this gorgeous vintage-inspired lace wedding dress from Melissa Sweet, which she found on sale in Saks. To give her girls the best possible choice of style to suit them, she chose a palette of two colours from Amsale - rhubarb and blush - which gave a number of options for the girls to choose from. They seem happy!
Given that Rachel is American-Jewish and Tom is Irish but not Jewish, the ceremony was destined to be a real meeting of cultures, and the couple made a huge effort to blend both of their respective traditions into something unique and special that represented them both and their new union. In terms of an overall vibe for the wedding, Rachel explained their vision "we were having an outdoor ceremony with a fairly intimate group of people so I wanted the charm of a backyard wedding combined with the elegance of a blacktie event. I chose mostly muted colors with soft whimsical flowers."
In case you haven't seen one before, the Chuppah is the traditional canopy under which a Jewish couple is wed. Rachel and Tom's Chuppah was built by Tom together with his dad, brother and neighbour, out of ash trees and wheat from his family farm. While the quilt is a family heirloom made by Rachel's grandma and used in all of the family weddings - each couple’s names are even embroidered on the top.
So the stage is set, the most beautiful Chuppah is set on the lawn overlooking the lake, the sun is shining, the flowers await, but in typical Irish fashion, things start to wobble a little when it comes to the sky...
"We planned for an outdoor ceremony (risky, I know, considering Irish weather!) overlooking the lake, but as the castle staff were setting up the chairs a tremendous downpour occurred and all the chairs got soaked! So they started setting up indoors. About an hour before the 4:00 ceremony the sky really started to clear up and we had to make a decision - stick with indoors, or re-set up outside with only 20 dry chairs that were left (we had 110 guests)...
...I let Tom make the call since I decided I was done with making decisions at that point!...
...We ended up having a sunny outdoor ceremony, which was only the third outdoor wedding ever held at Castle Leslie...
Could you get any more fairytale than this? Descending the grand staircase of the magnificent Castle Leslie, accompanied by her best girls, Mum and Dad, to tall, dark and handsome Tom waiting on the lawn by the lake, under that beautiful Chuppah?
While Rachel walked down the aisle with both her Mom and Dad, two of Tom’s groomsmen played a gorgeous version of Planxty Irwin on mandolin and guitar.
Tom and I wrote our own ceremony, which was a mixture of Jewish and Irish traditions, and my Uncle officiated. With most of our guests standing, it surprisingly made for a very personal feel. Everyone was close to one another, huddled in, and very connected. We had little white and gold maracas and tambourines for all the guests to rattle at different parts of the ceremony, so the feeling was joyous and lively.
You may have spotted the yarmulkes (Jewish caps) with little harps on them - these were handmade for the wedding by Rachel (is there no end to the cuteness??)
And that's just part one! Stay tuned after lunch for part two of Rachel and Tom's beautiful day - trust me you won't want to miss it...
All the Wedding Details
Wedding Venue: Castle Leslie
Photography: This Modern Love
Wedding Dress: Melissa Sweet, from Saks 5th Ave, New York
Bridesmaids dresses: Amsale(colors rhubarb and blush), bought at Bella Bridesmaid in New York
Shoes: Diane B
Earrings: Anthropologie
Flowers: Deborah Flack of Fresh Flowers
Groom(smen)’s suits: Tony McDonnell
Cake: Celebration Cakes
Hair: Cameo Salon, Glaslough
