As every Irish person knows, rain on your wedding day is not ironic as Alanis Morrissette would like us to believe, but just a matter of course at any time of the year in Ireland. The key is not to let it get you down, but just take it as it comes, continue the party regardless because you'll have a fantastic no matter the rain, sleet or snow. That's the beauty of wedded bliss! Today's real wedding couple Laura and John are perfect examples of how to take it in your stride and have an amazing time - but then they did plan a full wedding festival on an island, so these two were obviously up for a good time (and doesn't it rain at every festival anyway?) Party people will love this wedding by our two pals the Lous of Blackbox Photography...
Water is a bit of a theme for this couple - they started life off together across the water..."We met 8 years ago when John was on night out in Liverpool, it was love at first sight (although the vodka probably helped!) We met up the next day and long story short we were travelling between Liverpool and Enniskillen for 7 years before I finally moved to Enniskillen after we got engaged. We often reminisce about the weekend we met, it was one of the best weekends of both our lives."
And the proposal took place overlooking the beautiful waters of the Adriatic, although it wasn't plain sailing (pun-overload!) "We decided to go to Santorini to celebrate the 7 year anniversary of the date we met, that night John booked us in an amazing restaurant overlooking the caldera and we had the best table in the place. I had a feeling John was going to propose that night (I'm hard to surprise!) so spent the whole day getting ready, giving special attention to my hands in anticipation of a ring! I searched the whole room while John was in the shower to find a ring as I’m very impatient, but I was very disappointed when I found nothing!
John had told me he had a 'small gift' that he wanted to give me in the restaurant and when we got there I was so excited waiting for him to ask. Imagine my surprise when he actually did give me a gift but it wasn't the ring I was expecting. Although it was a lovely gift (a memory book with pics and stories from all the years we had known each other) I burst into tears because I was so disappointed he hadn't asked me to marry him. I cried a further two times as the night went on but I wouldn’t say why! John said he was laughing to himself thinking that I needed to be a bit more patient. In the end I cheered up, determined to enjoy my night, convinced I'd made a mistake.
As we were finishing our meal I glanced away and when I turned round John was on one knee asking me to marry him.. I was so shocked instead of saying yes, I actually said 'I hate you, I hate you' (because he'd watched me cry and knew all along!) I quickly changed it to Yes when I'd got over my shock though! Patience is a virtue as they say Laura... but then, all good things come to those who wait, and this was worth waiting for!
While the celebration was set as anything but traditional, the couple returned to their roots for the tying of the knot. "St. Michael's is our local parish church so we always knew we would get married there. Fr David was brilliant and included some Greek Orthodox elements in the service as that's my Dad's religion, it made it a bit different."
Laura and John were really clear on the kind of wedding they were planning from the beginning... "Our priority was always to make the wedding different, and to make a proper weekend out of it – mainly for the Liverpool guests. We both love live music festivals, and decided to borrow ideas from those festivals which we felt our guests would enjoy. The best memories are made when all your family and friends are in one place... just be careful the whiskey doesn’t wipe those memories!"
John and I both wanted something different from a hotel wedding and our plan from the start was to keep it small and informal. We both love festivals and when we saw the tipis knew that they were for us. The benches and outside feel were perfect and the open fire created the festival feel we wanted. We didn't choose any sort of colour scheme, we basically just picked things we liked and it all came together in the end. I think having everything individual for example, wild flowers on the tables, mismatched cushions in the seating area added to the relaxed feel (plus, it was easier to get things as you didn't have to worry whether or not the colour was correct). And in true festival fashion, the rain lashed for part of the day, (wellies ahoy!) but with the fun of the tipis was a great distraction for the guests, and soon the skies cleared and the party really kicked off.
We had visited Lusty Beg before and knew how beautiful the place was, plus it's an island which was something John really wanted as he’s from the Fermanagh lakelands. When we went to see them they were so accommodating with the Tipis and happy to do everything we wanted to make the day special. As a lot of our guests were from Liverpool it also made a perfect base, plus, we also had a third day of the wedding which was a BBQ in the woods and they made it out of this world! The view from the Tipis over Lower Lough Erne was absolutely stunning.
I'd say the mojitos helped raise the spirits a bit!
John owns a print company so he was able to involve his professional expertise in bringing the festival vibe to life... "The Print Factory designed us Tipi shaped invites and festival style lanyards detailing everything that would be happening over the weekend, it also included a funny map of the venue etc and we asked guests to wear them on the day to add to the festival feel."
It's always those little touches that make the difference, and Laura looked after her man well - he loves a German wheatbeer called Erdinger so she emailed the brewery and arranged to have Erdinger glasses and drinks delivered so that we toast the speeches with pints of Erdinger as a surprise on the day (he loved it!).
One of the most important elements at a festival wedding is of course the music. Laura and John had originally seen ‘The Dukes Box’ at Scottish music festival ‘T in the Park’ about 5 years ago and thought they were brilliant, so as soon as they started planning the wedding John tracked them down and apparently basically harassed them until they agreed to come play at the wedding as they normally only do festivals. They were quite the hit, keeping the dancefloor full all night.
Given that they had had the family and friends over from Liverpool for the weekend, it was important to Laura and John to make the absolute most of it. And so their advice is probably best for any of you travelling a distance to celebrate "If you can, do something the day after the wedding as well. We hired a boat and took our guests out for a cruise and afternoon tea around Lough Erne. Knowing that I would see all the guests the following day took the pressure off and we didn't feel like we had to spend the wedding day trying to make sure we chatted to everyone."
After the wedding, the couple headed to Africa, first a Safari in Kenya and then to the island of Zanzibar, off the east coast of Africa for a nice bit of relaxation after all the wedding madness.
Huge Congratulations to Laura and John, and big thanks for sharing your fabulous, fun festival wedding with us all.
Thanks too, of course, to our pals the two Lous of Blackbox Photography - be sure to check out more over on www.blackboxblog.com
The Wedding Details
- Ceremony: St. Michael's Church, Enniskillen
- Reception: Lusty Beg Island
- Tipis: Magnakata
- Photography: Blackbox Photography
- Dress: McElhinneys Bridal Room
- Bridesmaid Dresses: Cloud 9
- Flowers: Tempo Flowers
- Groomsmen's suits: Red
- Cake: Lough Erne Cakes
- Stationery: The Print Factory
- Make up & Hair: Rachel Spence
- Rings: Diamonds Factory
- Ceremony: The Dublin Gospel Choir, Carlo Luchessi
- Reception Music: The Dukes Box & The Front
- Venue Styling: Sweetheart Vintage Weddings
