Our bride Dena, is from an Arabic background but grew up in Wales, and Rob is from Ireland and met his gorgeous bride in The Netherlands. Together Dena and Rob they have travelled the globe, and have friends in every corner of the world - so it was hugely important to treat their guests for their Irish wedding, to make sure it was a complete blast for all those coming from near and far. Combining Arabic and Irish cultures in the beautiful Lisnavagh House they created a wedding none of their guests will ever forget. Thanks to The Campbell's beautiful photographs we get to share a little too...
As Dena is from Wales and Rob is from Ireland, it's only natural that they met in...the Netherlands? Dena was living there at the time, and Rob was visiting on a training course. One night Rob and his class mates decided to go out for a group meal, and as chance would have it Dena was brought along by a mutual friend. After dinner the group went out for drinks, but knowing he had to get up early Rob decided to head on home. While waiting for a taxi, Rob found himself unable to stop thinking about the gorgeous Dena and went back to the bar. The feelings were mutual and a few months later at Dena's 25th birthday the pair began to date for real. Then followed 3 years of long distance ("Netherlands, Scotland, anywhere else with a cheap flight") before Dena decided enough was enough and moved to a permanent home in Scotland.
Following an intense series of great weddings in Wales, Fife, Suffolk, Lebanon and Spain, Rob realised that marriage might just be the next step for him and Dena too. So, the night before flying to another wedding in Hong Kong no less, Rob organised sushi and lots of candles for a romantic at home proposal.
With lots of friends located all over the world, Rob and Dena knew that they wanted to throw a big party for them all - almost like a wedding reunion. To achieve this party vibe Rob and Dena chose the wonderful Lisnavagh House as their venue, which they took over as their own for the entire weekend.
"The venue could house 74 people so it meant our closest guests could roll home. We loved Lisnavagh as you start with a blank canvas and the venue is exclusively yours which was very important to us. We did not want a venue where we had to choose the wedding out of a package. Emily and William were great for advice and recommendations but we never felt pushed to use their sources. And of course the venue and setting were incredible."
The fun and laughter filled ceremony was held indoors at Lisnavagh House, with lots of sprigs of lavender filling the room with a hint of purple cheer.
Dena's trio of bridesmaids each wore bright dresses from Coast with cute bow detail. If you'd love to incorporate bows into your own wedding look check out our Beautiful Bow Wedding Ideas here.
Other than DIY, Dena was eager to make sure she included her own Arabic heritage, which she did with an abundance of fun. "I am from an Arabic background brought up in Wales and Rob is from Ireland, so it was important to include some of my culture into the wedding and blend it with Irish traditions. We had a belly dancer, and Arabian corner with rugs, and Shisha, Arabic style food and even the photo booth was made of a mixture of welsh, Arabic & Irish props."
Inside the Lisnavagh marquee there was more aromatic lavender, homemade polka dot jam jar favours and a wonderful set of light up letters. If you're thinking of having your own light up letters be sure to have a look at our marquee letter lights post, with a list of the best light up letter suppliers and some DIYs on how to make your own.
The following day Dena and Rob had a BBQ at Lisnavagh, to catch up properly with all their guests they didn't get a chance to chat with on the day itself. Huge congratulations to you both, and thanks so much for sharing your fun wedding with us all.
A big thank you also to Kristi and Neal at Campbell Photography for sharing their work with us. To see more from Campbell pop over to www.campbellphotography.co.uk
