Today's real wedding is a heartwarming one, and it won't take you long to see why. It's super stylish, (oh we do love a bride in a jumpsuit). It's so creative, (this couple have one talented gang of friends!). It's untraditional, it's fun, and it's personal. But best of all, you can just tell this couple are meant to be! Sandra & Seán fell in love over Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn, and said 'I Do' with a fabulous house party in Dingle’s Ballintaggart House complete with classic paintings (with a twist!), homegrown florals, lots of music and lots of love. Their day was captured beautifully by photographer Katie Kav, and if intimate, alternative weddings are your thing, then prepare to fall head over heels...
"Although some brides want to look like a princess on their wedding day, I wanted to look like Roisín Murphy," Sandra is clearly a bride after our own hearts!
Sandra & Seán met online back in 2014, “It was Sandra’s first ever internet date and she almost chickened out and cancelled at the last minute,” laughs Seán.
But boy, was she glad she didn't, "On our first date went to see Funny Face in the IFI, we were the only people under 75 years of age in the audience. I knew Seán was the one straight away and was told my friend Ciara I was going to marry him a mere two hours after the first date." Old movies? Great first date idea!
Seán's wedding gift to his bride was a pretty cool one, "Seán had a record made (a double LP, four sides!) of our favourite songs to listen to the morning of the wedding. Not only that, the cover had lots of pictures of our faces on the inside cover, Seán on one side and me on the other, so when it closed our face got squished together. Romantic, no?" Very romantic Sandra!
One of the things the couple bonded over was their shared love of art and popular culture. And sometimes their interests were so well-matched they were... well, practically the exact same, "Our first Christmas together we independently commissioned the same artist (Mick Minogue) to make gifts for each other. Mick realised we were connected and made the two commissions into one. The art work now has pride of place in our house."
Seán planned a very special proposal for Sandra, "Seán proposed on the grounds of Malahide Castle, near my family home. He asked a childhood friend of his to make the engagement ring, and proposed under a big oak tree. Our families were waiting for us nearby (with signs and balloons) so thankfully I said yes!"
The vibe of Sandra & Seán's big day? "Our wedding felt like a big house party! Well, if we owned a fancy country house!"
The couple loved that they could put their own spin on a wedding at Ballintaggart House, "We wanted it to be relaxed and about us, our families and our friends, so we chose a venue that we could make our own. We knew we had lots of people to contribute to make the day special."
Though it turned out they hadn't found quite the undiscovered gem they thought, "We liked the relaxed atmosphere, the fact that we had he whole place to ourselves for three days and the beautiful views of Dingle Bay visible from all over the house. And there was a bath in the bedroom! We thought we had found a ‘hidden gem’ but it turns out that we knew couples who got married in the same venue the week before and after us."
Sandra & Seán made sure their ceremony had an intimate, personalised feel, "Our celebrant was my best friend Mags McAuliffe (the award-winning playwright of the hit show “Humours of Bandon”; I’m like a proud mama!) who wrote the ceremony and invited a number of close friends and family to speak, read, contribute and give TED-style talks about tying shoe laces, which made it heartfelt, humorous and affecting – there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!" Sandra tells us.
The couple's wedding rings had special meaning, "The wedding rings were designed made by the same friend who made the engagement ring, Christopher Heltzel of Rudolph Hetzel. He’s a half-German half-Swedish Kilkenny man. Imagine the design aesthetic – genius!"
Some of the musicians who performed at the wedding were in Seán’s band, and some were former pupils of his music class. It looks like something out of Love Actually! And the music didn't stop with the ceremony, "Our very special friends and one of the most adorable couples we know travelled from the UK, overcame many technical difficulties and came out of retirement to be our DJs for the night and the crowd LOVED THEM."
Sandra and Seán's approach to wedding planning was to take it in their stride, "Try not to worry too much, lean on your friends and trust the professionals. We organised our entire wedding in four months. Don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done."
The personal touch ran through the florals too, "The flowers and bouquets were grown and arranged by the best woman’s husband Des. Oh, and Seán has a best woman, not a best man." Sandra tells us.
Photography was a big priority for the bride and groom, "Our wedding photographer was the extremely talented and downright amazing Katie Kav. Katie kept everyone in check AND looked liked Action Barbie (in a hot pink jumpsuit) whilst doing it. We adore her," the couple gush.
The couple gave their tables names a fun twist, "For our table plan, we used famous paintings which our good friend (and talented graphic designer Andrew Duffy) Photoshopped us into, with hilarious and sometimes terrifying results."
How amazing does this sprinkle-laden cake look! "Sandra’s aunt from House of Cakes in Laois made the beautiful (and tasty!) wedding cake." Seán tells us.
Most couples head straight for the beach after their big day, but not this pair, “We flew to Stockholm after our wedding, and stayed a few days before taking a night train north, into the Arctic Circle and across into Norway. We stayed in a cabin, in a really isolated and beautiful spot, right on the shore of a fjord. We got to enjoy the views all day and night as it was mid-summer and the sun never set. We flew home from Oslo a few days later. We will take a proper, longer honeymoon in Sri Lanka in December.” A cabin in the Arctic sounds pretty spectacular!
The couple even went untraditional with their guestbook, "We had an Balinese wedding pig that Seán and his sister Siobhan found in an antique shop in Dublin. Guests wrote their hopes and wishes for us and added them to the terracotta pig (think extremely heavy piggy bank with an Indonesian look about him) which we will crack open and read the contents of in future years." That sounds so cool!
Sandra & Seán cool custom sign nearly didn't make it, "One of the things we were most excited about was a neon sign we had made for the wedding. When it arrived from Berlin it was much bigger than we thought and it wouldn’t fit in either of our cars for transport down to Dingle! It almost didn’t make it to the wedding at all!"
What a fabulous wedding! Thanks to the talented "Action Barbie" Katie Kav for sharing this incredible celebration with us. Sandra and Seán, you two throw a good party - we wish you all the best in the future!
- Photography: Katie Kav Photography
- Wedding Venue: Ballintaggart House
- Wedding Dress: Covet
- Bridesmaids dresses: Cari’s Closet
- Groom’s suit: Armani
- Best Woman's Dress: Vera Wang
- Bride's Earrings - Kenneth Jay Lane
- Cake: House of Cakes
- Wedding Favours: Metalman Brewery
- Stationery: Claire Goodwillie Design and Advertising
- Make Up & Hair: Deborah Leonard (make-up) & Ken Browne (hair)
- Wedding Bands: Rudolf Heltzel
- Reception Music: Amber and The Bear
- Bridesmaids' Accessories: Chupi
- Shoes: Brown Thomas (Bride)/ Dune (Groom)