Today's real wedding is taking us to one of Ireland's most luxurious wedding venues, but that doesn't mean this celebration isn't packed with heart. Eileen and Adnan married with an elegant wedding at Adare Manor that mixed the bride's Irish traditions with the groom's Pakistani heritage. Aspect Photography documented all the chic style, the grand candlelit reception, and the personal touches. This is one that both the hopeless romantics and those who appreciate the finer things in life will love!

Eileen tells us she was living in London when she was first introduced to Adnan, “My love life had been a bit of a disaster for years and I had decided to become more proactive upon turning 30. I had joined an Irish ladies networking group called “The Lovely Girls” and at one of their events, on the spur of the moment, I asked one of the ladies there, Brona, if she had anyone she could set me up with, as she seemed very social.”

Now that's a glam station!

A few weeks later, Brona got back to Eileen arranging a blind date with a newly single guy she knew. Adnan and Eileen ended up staying out until 2am on their first date. “We met for drinks on the terrace at Roka in Canary Wharf – Adnan had never been on a blind date before so the concept of a casual drink date was alien to him,” recalls Eileen. “He had arranged for dinner afterwards in a buzzy fusion restaurant and then had booked a romantic cocktail bar for post dinner drinks – it was so sweet and thoughtful.”

Eileen had dropped a hint about where she hoped Adnan would pop the question, “I had once said in passing that I wanted all my major life events to happen in Ireland so Adnan felt that if he proposed, it would have to be there. Adnan is from Pakistan but his grandfather is from Clogheen in County Tipperary.”

Eileen got her perfect low-key Irish proposal at Christmastime, “We went for dinner in a lovely restaurant called “The Old Convent” which is in Clogheen and Adnan proposed as we were having a quiet drink before dinner. It was just the two of us which was nice – I didn’t want a big public spectacle. He had a fake ring as I always had wanted to choose my own. We had good fun looking round the fancy stores in London before I settled on commissioning a bespoke emerald ring.”

This ceremony space is so beautiful!

Eileen says she got a two-for-one deal in meeting her new husband, “In the intervening years, I also gained a really good friend as Brona and I got to know each other very well and she was one of my bridesmaids.”

The dipped lace back on Eileen's gown is so elegant - especially paired with her undone updo.

Eileen and Adnan had a clear vision for their Adare Manor wedding, "We wanted something elegant and classy but also very fun. I think we managed to achieve that!”

Eileen tells us how her friends and family went out of their way to make the day extra special, “My mother is meticulous at keeping things and the day before the wedding, I asked if she had any ribbon as we needed some for the tying the knot/hand fastening we were going to have at the ceremony. She had kept the ribbons from the cars from her own wedding so we used that.”

The couple personalised their ceremony with the help of some of their guests, “My old schoolfriends, Siobhan and Dearbhla, sang and played the flute – both of their pieces were hauntingly beautiful,” recalls Eileen. “For walking down the aisle, one of my mother’s favourite songs is ‘I’ll Walk Beside You’ and I had asked Peter, a university friend to sing it – he had worked with Kelly (from Something Blue Acoustics) unbeknownst to me – and they sang it beautifully in harmony.”

The couple’s number one priority was to reflect both their backgrounds and bring their two families together, “Adnan is from Pakistan and that heritage is very important to him, as is my Irish background to me. We did a Nikkah (an Islamic ceremony) on the Friday night, which was hosted by Adnan’s family and then we had a traditional white wedding on the Saturday. Our Imam was fantastic and performed a ceremony that was very touching and inclusive.”

Eileen and Adnan’s advice for other couples, is to make sure you enjoy the day, “Have a ball – it really sets the tone for how everyone else approaches the day – we both were having a great time and lots of people commented how that really transmitted to the crowd. Also only invite people you really want there – we kept ours deliberately quite small – and we're really glad you did. It's such a precious day and hence you want to save those moments for the people that are the most special in your life.”

Aren't these two-piece bridesmaid dresses beautiful? The brocade skirt ties in with the refined surroundings!

The bride and groom were understandable wowed by Adare Manor, Eileen tells us what sold her on the venue. “Firstly, the stature of the building – we wanted a venue with a sense of elegance and grandeur, especially as we were having the legal ceremony there as well as the reception, and we felt the age and footprint of Adare Manor lived up to that”.

When the couple booked their wedding, they couldn’t actually go near the venue because it was undergoing renovations, “Thankfully we had driven around the grounds a few years before and the moodboards provided by the designers were very impressive. It was great fun seeing the renovations evolve – about a month before it reopened, we got a site tour, and they even had Bride and Groom high vis vests for us.” Such a thoughtful touch!

The team at Adare Manor went above and beyond for the couple, “The wedding co-ordinator Sandra Flavin was exceptional – from the moment we first made contact, she was so responsive and made us felt that we would be treated with a true personal touch.”

This room is so stunning - like a ballroom in a Disney film!

The dancefloor action was a big highlight for the bride and groom, “People really got into the swing of things. Whether it was my sisters endlessly twirling in their swing dresses, Sai leading a conga line, my Indian friends Jazz and Kush doing bhangra to ‘The Shape of You”, everyone’s attempts at Irish dancing to Riverdance and ‘Step it Out Mary’ (special shout out to Denis and Dearbhla), we had so much fun,” says Eileen. “A particular highlight was when Adnan scooted across the floor on his knees during ‘I’ve had the Time of My Life’.”

The party continued on to the early hours, “Finally, the night ended in the residents bar, where my dad held court as Fear an Tí until the early hours. He is fantastic at writing rhymes and definitely my friends were a little shocked, but hugely amused, in particular at his one regarding the Fifty Shades of Grey."

The couple had a pretty epic post-wedding getaway, “We went to Argentina – Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Patagonia – and to Uruguay, to a lovely fishing village called Jose Ignacio.”

Thanks so much to Eileen and Adnan for sharing your beautiful wedding with us, and of course to Aspect Photography for sending their wonderful work our way.