An alternative pair Sofie and Seán knew from the moment they got engaged they didn't want a traditional wedding with a white dress and church ceremony. Instead they wanted a personal celebration with "as much fun as possible." Foregoing their original plan of a wedding at home Sofie and Seán took residence at Killruddery House & Gardens, throwing a chilled, intimate wedding party all captured by Aoife O Sullivan Photography. Perfect inspiration to reassure that you can plan your wedding exactly how YOU want to.
Sofie and Seán met in IADT, where they both studied Fine Art. Sofie remembers..."One of the first things I noticed was that Seán had a huge smile and was laughing and making friends so quickly on the first day when I was still really nervous. We were best friends throughout college and we would go to lunch every day at 12:15 – that tradition continued for years. We only got together a few weeks from the end of college. We had been friends for so long that by the time the relationship bubbled to the surface we really knew why we wanted to be together." Very sweet...
At New Year's 2014, Sofie and Seán found themselves celebrating - and before they knew it a very unplanned proposal occurred as Sofie and Seán recall..."The proposal wasn't planned at all. We just got talking about our lives and blundered into it."
Far from your traditional bride and groom Seán and Sofie kept their engagement to themselves for a few weeks. They used this time to think about what kind of wedding they really wanted, and what aspects they really didn't want. Sofie explains..."We only told our families we were getting married three weeks after the proposal. In that time we had time to talk about what we wanted, including the ceremony, food, dress, location and when we wanted to do it. We decided early on that we should get married that summer instead of waiting for a year or two."
By the time they told family Sofie had even managed to buy her beautiful alternative red wedding dress (on sale!)..."I went shopping in the January sales in Dundrum two days after the proposal and I found the perfect dress in Karen Millen. Seeing as nobody at this stage knew our plans I sent a picture of the dress to Sean to get a second opinion. We were on holiday in the French Alps when we told our families – they were speechless when we told them that not only were we getting married this summer, but that I already had the dress. It was just too much information for them but it was so nice to be able to tell them all together in person."
The original wedding plan was to have a small civil ceremony in a registry office, followed by a garden party at home, but once Sofie and Seán began planning things escalated just a little..."As the planning advanced, so did the ideas and the wedding grew in size. We still wanted a civil marriage and a relaxed and fun evening with family and friends. Once we thought about Killruddery as a possible wedding venue there was no changing our minds and luckily they were available at relatively short notice on our preferred date, which was also Sofie’s birthday."
The civil ceremony was kept short and sweet with Sofie's nephew Daragh acting as an adorable page boy and friends reading carefully chosen readings including Us Two by AA Milne, from Winnie the Pooh, and The Master Speed by Robert Frost.
A true family effort Sofie's mum, dad and siblings all got involved to make sure Soife's wedding (and birthday) was the best one ever. Her sister surprised her with the amazing light up S&S sign and chose all the wine for the meal, her dad made all the wooden table centrepieces, cake stands and table numbers, while her mum made the bouquet from flowers in her garden that were grown especially for the wedding, as well as flowers for the cake table and homemade lemonade. Such super thoughtful gestures and extra meaningful wedding gifts.
A big lover of cakes Sofie undertook the huge task of baking an impressive range of wedding desserts and cakes - she shares the details..."We knew from the beginning that we wanted a cake table in favour of a sit down dessert on the wedding day. We began testing recipes a couple of months beforehand and tried to narrow the selection down. We had a few guests who are coeliac and a friend who is allergic to eggs and dairy so it was fun coming up with cakes for them too. The main cake was a chocolate biscuit cake which was decorated with handmade fondant daisies and bees. There was a huge selection of other cakes and biscuits such as coffee and walnut cake, lemon curd cake, apple cake, torta caprese, brownies, florentines, passionfruit macarons, blueberry cheesecakes, amaretti, mini lemon meringue pies, walnut whips and lots more. All the baking was done two days before the wedding and it was a huge family affair. The kitchen was packed with my family, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins who all had specific tasks. Everything came together really well and it took a lot less time then I was expecting too."
To end their alternative wedding Seán and Sofie organised Soul Purpose to provide the wedding reception music - complete with the entire room singing an impromptu rendition of Happy Birthday for Sofie. Huge congrats to you both, and thanks so much for sharing your Killruddery House wedding with us all!
A big thank you also goes to Aoife at Ruby Sky Photo for sharing her work with us. To see more from Ruby Sky Photo visit www.rubyskyphoto.com
