The real wedding we're featuring today took place before the pandemic, and it's a testament to the kind of incredible day you can create when there are no restrictions on guest numbers or services, and the weather plays ball! Emma from Newtownards in County Down and John from Surrey wanted to throw a "cracking party", choosing Mount Stewart House and Gardens as their venue, with tipis provided by Magnakata. We love how they mixed sophisticated details like an Afternoon Tea reception and full-length bridesmaids dresses, with more relaxed elements, like table names inspired by their favourite potato-based dishes! Sarah Fyffe Photography captured the day in glorious detail, so let's take a closer look...

Emma tells us that she first met John at their university swim club. "I kept trying to speak to John, but his competitive nature took over and he was quite intent on swimming. It wasn’t until the Christmas Social, that we managed to have a full conversation (I strategically dressed in a Santa outfit!) and we haven’t looked back since!"

John proposed in the Cotswolds, where the couple had rented a little Shepherd's Hut in the middle of a field of wildflowers. John tells us, "It was the weekend of a Royal Wedding, so the radio played non-stop love songs on our drive up there. Upon a quick inspection of our accommodation (where Emma thankfully thought nothing of the full bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge!), we went for a walk through the fields at sunset, where I popped the question."

As you can see, the style in this real wedding was off the charts!

This couple had a simple brief that informed all of their decisions in wedding planning. "Most important to us was for our day to feel relaxed and to throw a cracking party," Emma says. "We have large families and a lot of friends who were travelling over from England. For many, this was their first time in Ireland and so we really wanted to show it off."

The Ulster Quartet performed a few numbers at the couple's ceremony, and it sounds like they brought so much fun to this part of the day! "They will play anything you want and make it sound really beautiful," Emma says. "They even let us have our recessional music as the Raider's March from India Jones! They played at both our ceremony and reception and were extremely professional."

I think we can all agree that this floral church doorway arrangement is next-level!

Mount Stewart is close to where Emma grew up, so it was a clear frontrunner when the couple started looking at venues. "It's somewhere we have both enjoyed visiting together many times before," Emma says. "It feels like home and none of the other venues came close."

How good does this Afternoon Tea set-up look!?

Emma's bridesmaids wore elegant, cowl-back gowns by Ghost for the big day, in the colour Dusty Green.

Emma and John tell us that their favourite thing about their big day was, "having around us all the people that we loved in one place! It will probably never happen again and it was so special."

Featuring stunning appliqué florals, Emma's Alexandra Grecco gown is beyond gorgeous!

The wonderful team at Magnakata provided the tipis for the couple's big day. "We couldn’t use Mount Stewart House for our reception, but the tipis allowed us to have everyone we wanted there and the style was very relaxed," Emma says. "We loved it!"

Emma's advice for engaged couples is to take the week before the wedding off work, if possible. "It gave us a chance to relax, spend time together, sort out the last few details and have the odd pint of Guinness in between. We actually came over with some of our friends a few days beforehand and spent some time on the North Coast – these are some of our favourite memories from the weekend! Similarly, the day after the wedding, my parents hosted an open house for family to drop by and have a bit more of a chat with us. This took even more pressure off the day itself." What a lovely idea!

This couple had a particularly adventurous honeymoon! "We actually headed straight to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro," Emma tells us. "We are a very active couple and have once-in-a-lifetime memories from that trip. The great thing was that there was no phone signal, so we had the time completely to ourselves. After being surrounded by people, we got to instead focus only on each other and the spectacular scenery that surrounded us. We also then headed to Zanzibar for some much needed R&R in the sun after... with Wi-Fi!"

Thanks so much to Emma and John for sharing their Mount Stewart House and Gardens wedding with us, and to Sarah Fyffe Photography for providing the beautiful imagery! There are lots more photographs in the gallery below.