There are city weddings, and then there are city weddings like Genevieve and Naoise's epic day. With an emphasis on iconic Dublin City spots, and oh-so-stylish bride and groom outfits, it's no wonder the images from today's real wedding by Naomi Kamat Photography left our jaws on the floor! Due to the pandemic, these two had to ditch their original weddings plans and instead planned this gorgeous part-one wedding, proving that small is beautiful. And although the pair plan to have a sequel wedding party at Smock Alley in 2022, they tell us their September 2020 minimony worked out better than they could have imagined!

Bride Genevieve is from North Carolina in America and Groom Naoise is from Dublin, where the pair now live. Genevieve fills us in on how they first met, "I was only one week into studying abroad in Dublin when I stumbled into a pub in Temple bar, where Naoise was playing music. We got to talking after the gig was over about '90s grunge music and how I played football growing up in America, apparently rare for women in Ireland. We spent the next 4 months hanging out almost every day, going out to bars, gigs and generally having a good laugh together. Then my study abroad was up and it was time for me to go back to America. I remember we were both so sad I was leaving but said we would keep in touch. We texted and video chatted every day and ended up doing a year of long distance while I finished college in America. I took extra courses and went to summer school to graduate early and move to Ireland to be with Naoise. 10 years later, we are still together!"

As Genevieve's family were unable to travel, the couple arranged a Zoom call of the ceremony for close American friends and family. She says, "it was special that they could all be there, if only virtually!"

The proposal happened while the couple were on a romantic weekend at Bellinter House. Genevieve tells us, "we had lovely spa treatments and went for a nap after. An afternoon nap is a personal favourite of mine. I remember being woke up by Naoise moving around loads, in retrospect because he was so nervous. I went to the bathroom, as you do when you wake up from a nap, and when I came out he was running towards me holding out the ring and asked the question. I of course said yes, and then he tried to put the ring on the wrong hand. So, then I said No and he got confused and then I had to explain I meant that no, it was the wrong hand! It was all amazingly awkward and wouldn’t have wanted it any different!"

The bride adds, "We didn’t tell anyone that evening and I would advise other couples to not tell anyone immediately and hold that space and time for just the two of you to celebrate your engagement. It’s nice to share it just the two of you, before letting other people know."

Due to restrictions at the time, Genevieve and Naoise could only have a small number of guests at both their ceremony and wedding lunch so needed to find a venue that could accommodate them. "Fallon and Byrne were extremely accommodating in allowing 3 tables of 6 people in line with government restrictions for a lovely lunch with friends and family, who we hadn’t seen since the start of the pandemic. We also booked a space in The Stags Head afterwards for pints and were able to get through 38 pints of Guinness in the 90-minute allowance!"

Another special little detail from the day was that the couple made their our own playlist to be played during the ceremony. "One of Naoise’s best men acted as DJ and played through the songs during the ceremony. It was special making the playlist together and now we have the playlist as an extra to remember the day by." How lovely!

Although the pandemic brought about many obstacles, including last-minute venue changes and the downsizing of their guest list, the pair took them in their stride and ended up with not one, but two (soon to be three!) beautiful, relaxed wedding days. "It was not the wedding we would have imagined but it actually worked out better than we could have thought", Genevieve says. She adds, "people try to squeeze all this stuff into one day and we now have the opportunity to split it all up and take our time with each part. We got one day for the ceremony that was shared with close friends and family. Then we got a day where we got all dolled up and had a full photo shoot with amazing photos. Now, we're waiting for the massive party with everyone at Smock Alley in 2022, where we don’t have to have wedding nerves or be whisked away from our guests by our photographer, but just get to enjoy a good time with all the people in our lives."

As they celebrated over two days, this fashion-loving pair had multiple outfits. For their ceremony, Genevieve wore a River Island dress which she sourced on ASOS with chic white boots from Mango, while Naoise rocked a Kooples suit jacket with a sharp printed shirt.

For their city portraits, Genevieve looked incredible in the Brooklyn 2.0 wedding dress with fringe back detail by & For Love, which she paired with retro-style white-trimmed sunnies and white boots.

We love Naoise's Hugo Boss velvet jacket, crisp white shirt and black slacks. Such a timeless groomswear look!

How stunning are these city portraits of Genevieve and Naoise by Naomi Kamat Photography? They look like something straight from the pages of Vogue! Photography was a very important element of their day, as Genevieve explains, "we are very creative people so the aesthetic of us and how the photos would come out was always important. We wanted to pair with a good photographer who would get great photos of us to remember the day. Naomi did an amazing job and the photos are an incredible reminder that we are proud to hang around our home."

Genevieve's advice to engaged couples is to, "think about what you both want from your wedding and plan for that. Whether that’s one day, or a few, or none! You don’t have to plan your wedding day based on the normal format. Covid actually helped with this, because we got to break everything up into parts and have time to do everything we wanted, without stressing ourselves out trying to fit it into one day."

Due to Covid travel restrictions, the pair haven't yet jetted off on honeymoon but hope to visit  Greece, Athens, Mykonos and Santorini when it's safe to do so. "We cannot wait until Covid is over so we can go! I just want to be on a terrace somewhere in the sun having a glass of wine and olives and nibbles!" Sounds perfect!

Thanks so much to Genevieve and Naoise for sharing their stylish Dublin wedding with us, and to Naomi Kamat Photography for providing the beautiful imagery! There are even more photographs to swoon over in the gallery below.