Some weddings were just meant to be...

By

It's not too far from the valleys of Wales to the heart of Ireland in Wicklow, just a short journey for today's lovely couple Clare and Fergus to make to celebrate their gorgeous nuptials in the quaint surroundings of Rathsallagh House, a place very dear to Clare's heart. They were blessed with a glorious Summer's day, perfect for pimms and champers on the lawns and to party til dawn. Planning a wedding from another country, no matter how close, isn't easy, but Clare could rely on a merry band of family and friends to help her and her Welshman celebrate in style. Claire of Ginger Pixel Photography was there to capture all the fun, and we're delighted to share it all with you this fine morning...

So how did this Irish - Welsh union come about? Clare told us their tale... "We met through our mutual love of music (me dancing and Fergus playing). I was living in Cardiff at the time we met and went to see a gig in town, where Fergus was. A group of us got chatting and we all ended up spending the evening together, and at the end of the night Fergus explained that he was moving to Cardiff in a month and asked for my number to meet to for a coffee. A few months later he texted to say he had arrived and did I want to meet for a drink. At this point I genuinely thought this text was a friendship text and nearly brought my housemates with me for company, until they decided at the last minute to stay at home. When we did then meet it was pretty clear very quickly that we weren’t going to be just friends." Sounds like it was quite the date!

When it came to popping the question, Fergus gave Clare a birthday present she would never forget as she told us... "Fergus proposed on my 30th birthday. We both live in Cardiff but were back in my home town Dublin to celebrate. We had treated ourselves to a hotel in town and had arrived back in the afternoon. When we got to our bedroom there was a bottle of champagne waiting and beside it lots of birthday presents. So I started to open the gifts and the first one was a cheesy mug which said ’30 is the new 21’, then Fergus said ‘Sure why don’t we pour some of the champagne into the mug?’ As I took the mug out of its box there was a ring in the mug. You can probably guess the rest, my answer was yes!"

A moment in time...

Clare's beautiful dress is the 'Darcy by Belle & Bunty, a delicate creation with a simple silk bodice and skirt, the beautiful heartshaped neckline with lace sleeves is just gorgeous, but it's the back that really stops the show.

The only way to arrive is in style and Clare and her Dad did. Vintage wheels for the bride-to-be, who arrived to St. Nicholas in Co.Wicklow in a white Citroen DS.

Flowers were a huge part of the day for Clare and Fergus, the most was made of the mid-Summer bounty of beautiful blooms.

Being musically talented themselves, the pair wanted to incorporate music into their ceremony in the most personal way possible, bringing their friends and family into the proceedings. They asked Clare's cousin and a friend to sing as Clare walked up the aisle, Clare's brother sang during the ceremony while another family friend played the organ.

With sweet music serenading them down the aisle the newly weds beamed with joy.

The colour palette on the day was the epitome of summer chic - full of pretty pinks, lilacs and creams. Clare choose soft purple dresses from Dessy for the bridesmaids and the colour combination was perfect.

Having our wedding in Ireland was a priority. Fergus’s dad is Irish so he is not unfamiliar with it. We wanted to have a relaxed, fun and traditional day - we really are traditionalists at heart! We wanted a wedding where we felt relaxed and at ease and had plenty of time of mingle with our guests. The pair really lucked out on with the weather (well this summer was phenomenal by Irish standards), meaning their guests could enjoy the lovely surroundings of Rathsallagh during the drinks reception, getting up to all sorts of fun and games.

Rathsallagh was no random choice for the couple, you could almost say it was meant to be - it was in fact, Clare's childhood dream wedding venue... "When I was still at school my parents brought my brothers and I to Rathsallagh for a weekend. I remember thinking that if I was to ever get married I would want to get married there. So when we visited Rathsallagh I had everything crossed that Fergus would feel the same, and I was delighted when he loved it as much as me! We loved the country feel and the beautiful grounds including the stunning tree lit up at night. It was formal, but not too formal, and we felt relaxed there. It really is such a beautiful special place. The staff were amazing and nothing is too much for them. They have so much experience that I trusted them completely, I can’t say enough about the place. Plus the food was just fantastic!"

There's that show stopper back! The delicate and feminine detailing is stunning and a nice surprise too!

Our photographer, Claire was amazing as she only took us away from our guests for about 20 minutes! Really our priority was to spend our time with each other, our friends and family as it’s not every day you have all of your friends and family in one room!

We were blessed with glorious weather which made the day even more perfect. We both love music and this ran through the day, from the church to the walled garden to the band and the obligatory late night sing song in the grounds of Rathsallagh. Luckily we had the place to ourselves so we didn’t wake anyone up (we hope!)

Love the fingerprint tree guestbook? Well, it's actually a copy of the one by our own Susan and you can download your own for free here.

The pair's marquee reception was beautifully decorated with patterned bunting and wild flowers table centerpieces. As music fans the gave their guests cds of their favourite songs as a wedding gift - Apparently the whole gang listened to their cds on the way home the next day!

The flowers were a huge priority for me. I was very lucky that my mother’s friend is a florist and she provided us with the most beautiful flowers which were exactly what we had imagined. She decorated two vintage bikes with flowers too which sat outside the church and then outside the venue too,I absolutely loved them! Rathsallagh also provided flowers too in the venue that were just perfect.

The pair's family and bridal party pulled out all the stops when it came to the speeches. From singing songs written by the brides mother to sharing sweet stories about the newlyweds.

What advice would you give to brides and grooms planning their day? Enjoy every minute of the planning and cherish every minute of the day. It will exceed all your expectations. Try not to worry about the little things. Make sure you steal some moments together on the day to take it all in. This was a piece of advice we were given and we are so glad that we did
have some time alone together, even if it was for only 5 mins!

Huge congrats to the lovely Clare and Fergus on their wedding! A big Thank You goes to Claire of Ginger Pixel Photography for sharing her work with us at One Fab Day. To see more of Claire's work pop over to www.gingerpixel.ie.

The Wedding Details