While on a girls holiday to Turkey, Michelle and her pals ran into Colm. They got along, hung out in the sun, and once they all returned to Ireland Michelle and Colm stayed in touch...Seven years later and Michelle and Colm have never been more in love. To celebrate their holiday romance and life long love Michelle and Colm hosted a super chilled wedding party at their beautiful home, all captured by the wonderfully talented The Lou's.
Michelle and Colm first met on holidays in Turkey over 7 years ago. Michelle explains how they began to date..."I was there with 2 friends of mine and to ward of the affections of the local Turkish men we spent most of the week with Colm and his best man Barry. When we came home to Ireland we kept in contact and became really good friends, after a couple of months we finally arranged a date. Colm left all the lads at the Galway races early to come and meet me. For years he never lived that down but finally on the day of the wedding, exactly 7 years to the day, the lads finally admitted he had made the right decision. (Although they still insist that he missed a great weekend!)"
Two years prior to their wedding Michelle and Colm built a beautiful house together, and so Michelle knew an engagement was likely. Michelle and Colm tried on rings together and finally chose to get a bespoke engagement ring made. Keeping an element of surprise Colm decided to propose just before Christmas as Michelle remembers..."It was 2 weeks before Christmas, 8am on a Sunday morning, in the forest walking the dogs, it was a dry crisp morning and the sun was starting to come out, it was so peaceful… I was just saying that to Colm when I realised I was talking to myself! I turned around to see where he had gone, and he was down on one knee."
Smitten with their new home (and each other) Michelle and Colm decided to have their wedding reception in their house. Michelle explains what made it the perfect venue for them..."As it was a newly built house it took a lot of work to get the house finished, especially the garden, but we have the most amazing uninterrupted views and most importantly, space. We wanted to bring all our friends and family to our home to celebrate our new future together. We also wanted to do something different and we are both quite creative in our own way so we had a very strong vision from day one how we wanted our wedding to look and feel."
A make up artist by trade, Michelle has worked at lots of weddings and is all too familiar with the importance of hiring good wedding suppliers. With this in mind she took to One Fab Day to find almost all her lovely wedding professionals. Michelle told us..."I work in the wedding industry as a makeup artist so am fortunate to know a lot of good wedding suppliers, I also stalked One Fab Day for other suppliers - I totally trusted their recommendations. Choosing good suppliers make all the difference on the day as it means you don’t have to worry about those areas."
Adore Michelle's vintage inspired wedding booklets! Such a unique idea.
Opting for a classic bridal look, with a twist, Michelle chose a floor length Watters wedding dress from Myrtle Ivory which she accessorised with a subtle flower crown and a sparkling Anna Campbell cuff from Little White Dress. To match his bride's style Colm then chose a sharp navy blue Louis Copeland suit.
For their at home reception Michelle and Colm used the downstairs of the house for a Champagne reception while a marquee was set up in the garden for the reception meal.
To compliment the relaxed at home vibe Michelle and Colm removed as many formalities as possible, as Michelle recounts..."For speeches just myself and Colm said a few words, by serving anti pasta platters for starters we wanted to create a food sharing experience, with the BBQ it allowed people to pick their own meats and salads and we had a desert table by The Cake Cuppery, so again, you could eat what you wanted when you wanted! We also had a free bar so that kept everyone happy! We chose the wedding band The Trips as they are really interactive with the crowd and make it all about them."
The marquee itself was decorated with lots of foliage, flowers, stationery by Appleberry Press and lots of DIY details by Michelle.
For their honeymoon Michelle and Colm spent a week in the Grand Hotel Conventio on the Amalfi Coast. Huge congratulations to you both and thanks so much for sharing your gorgeous wedding at home with us all.
A big thank you also goes to the always lovely The Lou's for sharing their work with us. To see more from The Lou's visit www.wearethelous.com
