Both from West Cork, Aideen and Dave chose to embrace the natural beauty of the area for their homegrown outdoor wedding. DIYing where possible Aideen and Dave treated guests to fresh flowers for their hair, organic seed wedding favours and a totally personalised outdoor wedding ceremony. Rose Gowan Photography was on hand to capture all the sweet details...
Blissfully unaware that they attended the same primary school, Aideen and Dave first met nine years ago on a weekend away to West Cork. Aideen remembers..."We met in the Kilty Stone, in Clonakilty. The next day we had a bonfire on the beach and got to know each other. We realised we lived 10 mins away from each other and had gone to the same primary school! Most of the people there that weekend were involved in our wedding day."
Now living in Australia, Dave proposed on Aideen's 25th birthday just as the sun rose. Aideen told us..."I had organised a champagne breakfast for my 25th birthday at Byron Bay lighthouse in Queensland. The most Easterly point in Australia where the sun rises first. Dave decided that this would be the perfect place to propose. It was a wonderful moment and it felt like the start of a new chapter in our lives! We rang all our close family even though it was the middle of the night in Ireland - we just wanted to share the moment and make it feel real."
For their wedding Aideen and Dave returned to Ireland and had a first look, on the beach they first met, before celebrations began.
After settling their nerves Aideen and Dave joined their guests for an outdoor humanist ceremony. The main point of the day, lots of time and effort was put into planning to ensure it was absolutely perfect. Aideen recalls..."We spent a lot of time researching and finalising our Humanist ceremony, which included readings, songs and rituals that were special to us. My parents and siblings sang "Desiderata", Dave's sister read 'The Union', by Robert Kavanagh, Dave's dad read a piece from 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin', while we planted an oak tree and added soil from our mums' gardens in Shamrock Lawn and Blossom Cottage! Our friend read 'Blessing of the Hands', while our most supportive family members tied our hands together with ribbons and rope for a really touching hand fasting ceremony. We then danced back up the aisle with our friends and nieces blowing bubbles."
Next, making the most of their garden setting, Aideen and Dave had an outdoor drinks reception complete with a homemade lemonade stand, seed wedding favours and fresh flowers for guests to put in their hair.
A big congrats to you both and thanks so much for sharing your wedding day with us all! A big thank you also goes to Rose Gowan Photography for sharing her work with us. To see more from Rose Gowan Photography visit www.rosegowan.com
The Wedding Details
- Ceremony: Fernhill House Hotel
- Wedding Dress: Memories
- Bridesmaids dresses: Debenhams
- Shoes: New Look
- Groomsmen’s suits: Simply Suits
- Necklace: Etsy
- Bracelets: Dervish, Alex and Ani
- Dave's bracelets: Glebe Market
- Cars: VW Weddings
- Wedding Favours: Seed Savers'
- Make Up: Lola Desmond
- Hair: Lynn McCarthy and Aoife Whyte from Fusion Colour
- Wedding Bands: Glebe Market
- Ceremony/Reception Music: Kieran Kramer Band
- Photographers: Rose and Dara Gowan
