Today's real wedding is about more than just two people getting hitched. It's about two families coming together, and meeting their newest addition for the very first time. Mayo bride, Lisa and Welsh groom, Wayne live in Melbourne, they flew across the world for their wedding, bringing with them a very special guest, their nine-month-old daughter Fiadh Rose. The trio enjoyed the loveliest celebration at Kilshane House surrounded by family and friends; fittingly, the couple chose a travel theme for the day (you'll love the paper place confetti!). Bronté Photography was their top choice to document the day, and from the first look in the gardens to the intimate vows in the conservatory there's a lot of gorgeous moments to coo over.

Guaranteed, sparkly shoes will catch my eye. Every. Single. Time.

Oh my, Fiadh Rose is too cute!

Lisa and Wayne originally met online, “I was living in Melbourne and Wayne two hours away,” explains the bride. “We had organised to meet for a drink in a bar down the street from my house, Wayne drove two hours to meet up and I almost cancelled, but thankfully my friend talked some sense into me.”

The couple hit it off instantly and one date quickly led to another, “On our second date I decided to myself that she would marry Wayne, while he was telling me a story about being at a fancy dress and my friend lighting his grass skirt on fire. Quite early in the relationship we planned a trip to Fraser island, initially there was a group of us going, a few people dropped out and we both decided we would still go and we camped and drove around the island and to this day a it’s very magical and fond place to us.”

Single-colour bouquets are a big trend, and we're loving Lisa's blush bunch!

Wayne planned a perfect surprise proposal for Lisa, “He spent months designing the perfect ring and then set about how to propose. He rang my parents and ask for their blessing and organised a weekend away staying in a country cottage down the Great Ocean Road.”

The couple set off to explore on the Saturday morning, “We stopped at a secluded beach, as we were walking along the rocks with our dog Toffee. Wayne stopped and wanted to ask me a question,” the bride recalls. “I expected it to be about lunch and then he held me at arms length and took out a ring box and proposed. I instantly said yes and with all the tears and excitement it was only about five minutes later that we realised Wayne forgot to open the ring box and put the ring on my finger. I was so over the moon I didn’t give the ring a second thought and when I saw it I instantly loved it. It was perfect in every way.”

What a pretty setting for a first look!

I love this pair's vintage-inspired wedding day style. The tea-length dress and the t-bar shoes, the tweed jacket and the dickie bow - these guys are too chic!

Lisa and Wayne wanted to include elements from both of their families throughout the day, “I wore my mother's veil which was worn 38 years earlier,” explains Lisa. “Wayne wore his father’s hip flask to represent his father who sadly past away so could not be there to celebrate with us. We wanted to ensure our photography captured these little elements and we wanted the story of our day captured beautifully.”

The couple didn’t look far for their photographer, “Lisa had seen Tanya from Bronté Photography's work before and actually booked her before the venue or any other details were booked,” explains Wayne. “We were confident Tanya would capture those small details and her relaxed, candid approach to the photography would be in keeping with the day we wanted to achieve. We wanted a first look to have a moment to ourselves during the madness of the day and also to take the pressure off so we could enjoy our celebrations after our ceremony. Tanya made it all very easy. It was a pleasure to have us with us in our day.”

These two were eager to combine a relaxed atmosphere with a show-stopping setting on their big day. “We wanted our wedding to be personal and as informal as possible. We wanted our family and friends to mingle and to spend time together. We wanted family and close friends to be part of our ceremony as much as possible and, as we don’t get much time with our nearest and dearest, we wanted to enjoy some quality time. We wanted it to be memorable for every one who attended.”

As well as her mam and dad, nine-month-old Fiadh Rose was the star of the show! “We wanted to walk down the aisle as a family together so Wayne carried Fiadh Rose with him followed by our wedding party, brothers, parents and myself. Fiadh Rose was a big hit with everyone walking down the aisle. As she is our little Aussie, it was the first time many of our guests had seen her. We wanted to show our two families had combined to make a new family.”

The conservatory at Kilshane House is such a memorable setting for a ceremony!

The bride and groom loved the idea of having all their favourite people in the same room to enjoy a full weekend of celebrations, “For all our family members and friends from all over the world to meet and be a part of our special day. As everyone was travelling to be there, we wanted them to experience something beautiful with comfortable accommodation so they could also relax and go at their own pace the day after.”

The newlyweds say it’s important for other couples to keep their wedding about what’s important, “Stick to what you feel comfortable with even if it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. For example, we did not stick to tradition when it came to our wedding party, Lisa chose her brother as her bridesman in place of the traditional maid of honour and I chose my best friend Anita as my groomsmaid in place of a best man”, explains the groom. “We then asked Lisa’s friend Emer to be our one bridesmaid and my brother’s to be our groomsmen. So we had an uneven number and mixed gender wedding party because we wanted it like that. Remember it is your day, and do what will make you both happiest.”

These three are giving us all the feels!

As the pair live on the other side of the world, a travel theme was a natural fit for their big day, “We also wanted to bring a piece of Australia, our home together to our day. We achieve this by the little details, the men’s bowties had the map of Australia on the fabric, our seating plan was a vintage map of Australia and table names were all small towns in Australia. Instead of throwing confetti we asked our guests to throw glider planes over our head as we walked out the door. This made for a great picture and our little guests got hours of fun out of them. Australia is or home and is also where our daughter Fiadh Rose was born. It was very special to have Fiadh Rose be part of our day and part of our memories and it was lovely for our extended family and friends to spend some time with her.”

Wayne made both the seating plan and the selfie station himself in keeping with the travel themed vibes.

The welcoming staff and facilities cinched Kilshane House for Lisa and Wayne, “For us trying to plan and organise a wedding from the other side of the world was going to be difficult in itself without having to source and organise suppliers for various additional parts to our day. Kilshane House took a huge amount of weight off our shoulders with this."

Kilshane House took their breath away as soon as they drove up to the house, “We received a very warm welcome and our 30 minute tour soon turned into a three hour chat and many cups of tea,” recalls Lisa. “We sat in the drawing room for five minutes and Wayne said to me 'I can see us sitting here having a chat on our wedding day.' We were sold! The venue is stunning from the beautiful 1920s glass conservatory and walled gardens with lovely walks and a lake for guests to stroll around and explore. We knew would have an amazing time and a beautiful setting to be married in.”

The couple shook up the traditional speeches by having them outside before their reception - a popular choice lately for Irish summer weddings!

With an extended trip home for the wedding, the couple opted out of a traditional honeymoon, “As we live in Melbourne, we came home for six weeks to celebrate our wedding with family in both Ireland and Wales so we had the wedding and honeymoon rolled into one.”

That paper plane toss is too cool! Thanks so much to Lisa & Wayne for sharing their wedding and of course to Bronté Photography for sending it our way!