What girl hasn't dreamed of getting married in a castle with their very own prince charming? Today Charlotte and James live the dream, and even better their chosen castle works just as beautifully for their ceremony as their fun filled reception (complete with two wedding cakes!).
This lucky pair met in Belfast and returned to Charlotte's home in Sligo to tie the knot in a relaxed and oh so pretty Markree Castle wedding. A traditional day with James in a classic tail coat and bride Charlotte stunning in lace, and amazing details - a hand-painted wedding cake, personalised DIY décor and a flowing veil from the 80's to name but a few! All captured with style by Darek Novak.
At one point in all our lives we have all been told if a boy is being mean to you, sure that only means he likes he you even more. Luckily for Charlotte and James this rung true. After spending a year abroad in France, Charlotte returned to college to study chemistry. Being away for a year Charlotte was thrown into a new year with all new faces, one of them being her future husband James! Although things could have easily gone the other way... "In an attempt to be one of the lads in the lab one day, she made a joke at the expense of James only to look him in the eye immediately afterwards and regret her actions bitterly, he was just so cute especially when turning bright red. Undeterred by Charlotte’s first impression James struck up a conversation with Charlotte a few nights later on a class outing to the Belfast Christmas market. From then on we found each other’s company fun and easy and gradually found we could spend less and less time apart, before we knew it we had moved in together." Phew!
Sticking with their casual ethos Charlotte and James didn't have a formal proposal, "There wasn’t any proposal as such, we just decided together over a few months and one evening James suggested we look at rings in Fred J Malcolm’s." Utterly simple yet perfectly suited to Charlotte and James,sometimes something small and personal is just as romantic as something grand.
Although not much of a spectacle was put into the proposal the idea of a castle wedding had been on the cards for quite a while. "Charlotte’s family have a house in Co. Sligo where her granny grew up. Before we were engaged, we were doing some work on the family house and during the stay we went for a drink at Markree Castle where Charlotte’s parents joked that we could get married there some day. So when we did get engaged 18 months later, Markree was still in our minds so we went back for a second look. We loved their laid back attitude and loved that we had the entire place for just ourselves and our guests"
With a ring on her finger and the perfect location scouted, Charlotte and James got inspired by a beautiful scenic photo with a pretty sunset illuminating the sky with lilacs and pinks. Keeping the theme loose they didn't confine themselves to any set ideas as such but instead kept to the palette of lilacs and pinks to soften their castle wedding and add some pretty femininity.
Charlotte's dress on the day was a simple, fitted David Fielden number with beautiful lace detailing and a gentle lace peplum. The pretty pink roses in her hair are very sweet and give the traditional dress a youthful and fresh feel.
How unique and ornate is the Markree chapel?!
One of Charlotte and James's favourite moments from their wedding day was the ceremony held in Markree's intimate little chapel. "Our ceremony was wonderful, the registrar was great and she made it so personal and fun. The setting also made it very special as the chapel was very romantic and intimate made even more so by our friends’ beautiful music and the gorgeous decorations from Markree and Feehily’s, not to mention having all of our friends and family there."
A little concerned the chapel wouldn't hold all their guests James and his best man set up a video relay of the ceremony in the bar so guests could watch from afar. A clever idea if you have your heart set on a ceremony venue that your worried is just a tad too small!
It's official! James's super helpful mum sourced the petal confetti making for some fab photos.
Markree Castle's surroundings made for some lovely country portraits and it's clear Charlotte and James couldn't be happier..
Charlotte's amazing veil is made even more amazing through the fact that it was borrowed from James's mother, which she had kept from her wedding day in December 1980. Heirlooms really do make the best vintage finds!
Just like a castle wedding in a fairytale...
Continuing the pink and lilac theme, the bridesmaids wore lilac dresses from Coast - a real trusty go-to for bridesmaid dresses.
How dapper is groom James in his coat tails? Such a perfect classical wedding look, just what is needed for a castle wedding!
Wanting to keep things as relaxed as possible on the day, and remove some pressure Charlotte and James decided to have a pre-wedding meal with their guests "One of the best decisions we made was to have a meal with all of the guests who could make it, the night before, this meant that on our actual wedding day we had seen most of our guests and we didn’t have the same pressure to do the rounds and talk to absolutely everyone which made the whole thing so much more relaxed."
A great alternative to day after wedding activities, the day before everyone is excited, the atmosphere is great and there are no hangovers to deal with!
For the meal on the wedding day itself the speeches were the highlight, impromptu Mexican wave included..."We also had a great time listening to the speeches which were all a great mix of laughter and tears and were even accompanied by an impromptu Mexican wave through our 150 guests orchestrated by Charlotte’s brothers and facilitated by the long banquet style table setting in Markree Castle. This layout also made conversation easy between guests."
Getting crafty, the table names were based around old postcards featuring scenes from in and around Sligo which James’ mum had collected over the years, the oldest of which were from the beginning of the 20th century! Charlotte then hand wrote the place cards for all of the guests as well as mounting the postcards for each of the table markers.
As well as fab handpainted wedding cake, Charlotte and James spoilt guests with a delish tiered cheese cake. If you're thinking of having your own wedding cheese cake check out our wedding cheese cake ideas here.
If you'd like to have a castle wedding like Charlotte and James they have some advice "I would say trust your suppliers, remember they’re the pros and they often know what works. Don’t believe the hype too much, you don’t have to be stressed if you don’t want to be. Just relax and enjoy it!"
Congratulations to Charlotte and James and a big thank you to Darek Novak for sharing your beautiful work at Markree Castle with us!
If you'd like to see more of Darek's work pop over to www.photosligo.com
The Wedding Details
- Venue: Markree Castle
- Dress: “Grace Kelly” by David Fielden
- Bridesmaids dresses: “Lori Lee” from Coast
- Shoes: Monsoon
- Flowers: Feehily’s Florist
- Groomsmen’s suits: E.J. Menswear
- Cake: Cakewalk
- Wedding Favours: Thorntons
- Invitations: Paperbark
- Hair: Salon 2
- Wedding Bands: Fred J. Malcolm
- Reception Music: Anything Goes
- Videographer: Edithouse
- Cheese Cake: M Cosgrove & Son
