We’re so excited to share today’s real wedding, because not only is it beautiful, stylish and fun, but it features a brand new barn venue in Ireland that we’ve never featured before! Emily & Colm got married with a Wimbledon-inspired wedding at Segrave Barns; an idyllic countryside venue just outside Drogheda, Co. Louth. If a rustic, Pinterest-worthy barn wedding is what you're after, then this could be just the place. Emily and Colm's tennis-themed reception was a testament to their planning and DIY skills. Fusing glamorous attire (Emily's beaded gown from Frilly Frocks is just gorgeous!) with playful sporting touches, a singing chef and an epic barn backdrop, there's a lot to love about this wedding - and that's before we start swooning over the beautiful photos by Tomasz Kornas...
Emily & Colm me online around Christmas 2012, but it wasn't a speedy connection Emily tells us, "Colm had to be very persistent as I was terrible for replying and left him waiting months between emails. I guess there must have been something there though, because once we met up it all went very quickly from there!”
The parents' first look is always such a beautiful moment to capture!
The couple's proposal story will make you rethink ever complaining about having to go on a long walk ever again! “We got engaged on June 12th, 2016 in the most unlikely of circumstances! Colm had been planning the proposal for months. Then, over the June Bank Holiday, I tore my calf muscle while playing tennis and was on crutches for a number of weeks. During this time, I couldn't drive, so Colm offered to drive me up home to see my parents. He suggested we go for brunch and get some fresh air on the beach before going to visit.”
Emily didn't make it easy for Colm, “When it came time to go to the beach, it was raining and I really wasn't feeling it, but Colm insisted we go. So, I hobbled along, complaining all the time. The walk that would usually take 10 minutes took nearly half an hour. Just when we were about to turn to go back, Colm got down on one knee and produced the most beautiful ring. As it had been raining, the beach was completely empty so it was a very romantic and personal moment.”
Colm's surprises didn't end there, "Even though we were just a few hundred metres from my home, Colm wouldn't take me home as he had other plans. He insisted I ignore the phone calls from my mam who was wondering if we'd like salmon for dinner! He kept driving. Just as I was starting to feel as though I'd been kidnapped he turned into Castle Leslie Estate."
Emily assumed the couple were going for dinner but Colm had other plans, "He had booked us in for a night in the castle. He had sneakily packed a bag and arranged a day off work for both us. The funny thing was, when he drove into the residents' car park I assumed he'd made a mistake. Then I spotted a sign saying wheelchair access so thought he must have gone that way because of my leg. It wasn't until he produced the bag that I realised what was happening! When we got up to our beautiful suite, he finally allowed me to answer my mother's calls and share the exciting news.” A proposal like that? The boy definitely did good.
Emily says she was impressed a Colm's calmness in all the excitement of the proposal, “Though I knew we'd probably get engaged within the year, the proposal was completely unexpected, given the circumstances. It was very romantic and lovely to escape away to the castle for the night. Colm is extremely organised and very good about keeping his cool. Even our housemates, who ran into him as he was frantically packing my overnight bag, had no idea what he had planned!”
The couple say they worked on identifying their priorities early, and advise other couples do the same, “Don't stress about the small things. You can spend a small fortune on little things that really don't matter. Put your money and time into the things that do matter to you. For us that was our ceremony, speeches and the entertainment.”
Emily is a big advocate for investing in photography and videography, “I’d also recommend you have a good photographer/videographer. When your day is over, your photos/video are all you have. We've so enjoyed reliving our day with friends and family through our photos.” As you can see from their photos by Tomasz Kornas, they got some really beautiful shots.
Emily's last nugget of advice? Enjoy your day, “And my last piece of advice to couples getting married is to do whatever you need to do to be as relaxed as possible on your day. I had terrible stress headaches the week before the wedding but they gradually disappeared as the day approached (and I went for some spa treatments!).” Emily, you're a genius!
The couple say their biggest issue while wedding planning was sorting out their wedding party's attire, "The most stressful thing was probably trying to sort out the wedding party's attire! We both found our own outfits fairly easily, but it's tricky trying to visualise how all the different colours will tie together. We found it especially difficult to find suits for hire. Every place we went had a lovely selection of blue suits but we feared that wouldn't work with the teal bridezmaid dresses.” We reckon Emily and Colm totally nailed the wedding party styling!
Emily & Colm incorporated their shared love of tennis into their day, “Our wedding fell during Wimbledon so we had a loose Wimbledon theme for our wedding day. The caterer served Pimm's and strawberries and cream at our reception, we had a giant tennis ball as an alternative guest book and we named our tables after great Wimbledon rivalries.” So many cool ideas!
How amazing is this rustic barn reception hall? It's like Pinterest come to life!
There seems to be fairytale touches and fun Wimbledon details at every turn.
The couple say they opted for lots of DIY details throughout their day, “Colm found a new calling as a graphic designer and designed all our invites and booklets himself, using Canva and PowerPoint. He and his brother also created our wonderful mini Wimbledon scoreboards, which acted as table names. Sticking with the tennis theme, we filled old tennis balls with little treats for the children present and they went in search of them as part of a treasure hunt!” What a fun idea for the kids!
The couple both got involved in their wedding planning and pulled off their barn bash in under a year, “Segrave House is a breath-taking venue and the owners, John and Eugene, are very flexible about allowing couples to personalise the venue. In some ways, this meant that there was a bit more work involved as we had to organise our own caterer, drink, etc. However, having this flexibility allowed us really to create the type of wedding we wanted.”
The wedding was made all the more special by the contributions of their creative group of friends and family, as Emily tells us, “I've lots of very musical friends who came together for our ceremony music. My brother's girlfriend's mam created our delicious naked cake and two friends came out of flower retirement to do our beautiful flowers.”
Emily says that arriving into their reception was a highlight for her, "We entered to the Wimbledon theme music so really felt like tennis stars. That will never happen again! It was also lovely to see all our friends and family so happy and to realise that all the effort had all been worth it.”
This photo wall, made out of a pallet, was a unique addition to the reception hall. It's a really lovely way to document your relationship timeline, as well as getting the guests up of their seats and mingling. Let's just hope nobody had any regrettable hair dos...
The giant tennis ball guest book!
A hay bale couch is the perfect spot to sit and relax after a long day of being cute.
The couple both give a special mention to their singing chef Gino, as Colm tells us, "I loved lots of parts of the day. The church music, speeches and band stand out for me. However, my personal highlight has to be Chef Gino's wonderful after dinner performance! He had everyone singing along and up on their feet in no time. He is an incredible singer and entertainer and reads the crowd so well. He also happens to be one of the masterminds behind the stunning Segrave Barns venue.”
I just love the texture and glamour of Emily's vintage inspired wedding dress from Frilly Frocks.
What an amazing introduction to Segrave Barns! Huge thanks to Tomasz Kornas for sharing these beautiful pics with us. We wish Emily and Colm all the best for the future!
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Photographer: Tomasz Kornas
- Ceremony Venue: St. Michael's Church, Clogherhead, Co. Louth
- Reception Venue: Segrave Barns
- Dress & Shoes: Frilly Frocks
- Bride's Jewellery: Newbridge Silverware
- Bridesmaid Jewellery: Juvi
- Bridesmaids dresses: Folkster
- Hair / Makeup: Kazoo & Becca Cummins
- Flowers: Martina Nolan & Margaret McConnon
- Grooms wear: Magee Menswear
- Cake: Deirdre McKeown
- Reception/Ceremony Music: Brass and Co
- Wedding Bands: John Brereton
- Videographer: Michael Flanagan
