Hope you're all enjoying your Sunday? A break from our usual Sunday routine, we thought you'd enjoy some real wedding inspiration today so we're bringing you a couple of lovely weddings - starting with Aine and Karl's summer celebration at the Village at Lyons. Their love story may have taken them across the atlantic and […]

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Hope you're all enjoying your Sunday? A break from our usual Sunday routine, we thought you'd enjoy some real wedding inspiration today so we're bringing you a couple of lovely weddings - starting with Aine and Karl's summer celebration at the Village at Lyons. Their love story may have taken them across the atlantic and back, but when it came to tying the knot they chose somewhere very close to home, and to their hearts. Elisha Clarke was the lady behind the lens, and we're delighted to be able to share their story through her beautiful images with you...

So first, let's hear how it all began... "Ours, I think is quite an unusual story, but in this day and age it's becoming a more popular way of meeting people - we actually met on match.com. My best friend Eimear made me join. I thought why not? I've got nothing to lose. You may not think that is unusual, but, funny thing is that we both joined match on the very same day, and we both were each other's first contact. I made the first move, I electronically winked at him and later on that day I got an email from Karl. There was daily emailing, presents in the post, flowers delivered at work, then nightly 2 hour phone calls before finally he asked me out on a date - 2 months later! But it was worth the wait, we've been together since. It was the best decision my best friend Eimear ever made for me!

The proposal happened in New York in May last year. We were heading over for Karl's sisters wedding. We got there two days before everyone else was due to arrive and so on the first night we arrived Karl casually said - "C'mon its New York - Lets head out". Cocktails in Delicatessen, dinner at The Mercer in Soho. we were already having a fantastic night when Karl says "I know of this really cool place - trust me". So I agreed to tag along. We hop in a cab and get out near the Empire State Building. Again, very casually Karl says - "Hey, fancy going up? It's supposed to be a pretty amazing view at night."

Off we go and head in and its quite busy so we're queuing for ages. We get to the security check point. I see two lines. One seems to be for men, the other for women so I go off down to the other line and leave Karl at the first line. I get through quicker so I wait for Karl at the other side. I was waiting quite a while, I thought nothing of it though. Karl told me after he proposed that he had a proposal ring in his pocket which he had to take out for the security man and if I'd have seen it I would have known what was going on. We walk out to the observation deck and it is sooooooo busy that we could barely even get a proper look. While strolling back Karl asked if I fancy going up to the 102nd floor? I was actually a bit tired at this stage that I nearly declined but we went up to the 102nd floor and there is only about 10 people there. It was lovely and quiet and romantic and the views were out of this world!

I'm up on a step, looking at the Chrysler Building when Karl says to me from behind "Can you keep a secret?" I replied yes without even looking at him - I'm still staring at the Chrysler. When he asks again "Ãine, can you keep a secret?". I turn around and I'm about to say yes when I see Karl down on bended knee, when it suddenly dawns on me what is going on. Karl being a total gentleman slowly asks me "Will you marry me?" to which I reply "DID YOU ASK MY FATHER?!". When he confirmed he had about a month earlier, of course I agreed. So we had our little secret for about 3 weeks to ourselves as we didn't want to take anything away from Karl's sister's wedding and my brother's wedding which was the weekend after we got home. On the Wednesday after the latter wedding we told everyone."

Proud Papa must have felt quite the pro at this wedding malarkey, having seen one son off the year before, and now the apple of his eye...

Not sure if we should be encouraging clinkies before the ceremony, but hey, it's your wedding day!

When it came to the look of the wedding, Aine had only one thing in mind... "All I said said to Karl is that I would love flowers everywhere. I didn't even know what kind of flowers at the start. I think when we decided on the invites we worked with the colours from there. Fushia, pink, purple & orange. Then I spoke with Laura & Sharon from Frogprince and they really helped to polish the idea off. We added the flowers to the 6ft Candelabras in the ceremony, flowers to the back to the chairs and arrangements to the table settings. And the other obvious theme of the day was to have fun!

Choosing the venue was easy: "When we were living in Straffan, we used to go for weekend walks along the canal. One Saturday we were going for our walk when we said we'd stop off at the Canal Cafe at The Village at Lyons for a cup of coffee. As we were going in to the cafe we saw that a wedding was taking place in the La Serre Restaurant. It just looked so romantic. Myself and Karl weren't even engaged but while we were sitting down having our cuppa, Karl informed me that if we ever got engaged we should definitely have to look at The Village at Lyons as a potential venue. Six months later we were engaged and The Village at Lyons was the first place we visited.

And so it was, that in the utterly romantic conservatory of the Village at Lyons, that Aine and Karl made their vows.

So what were your favourite moments? "I would have to say the ceremony. But I think that is the cliched answer so I'll say it was when we went into the photobooth, because it was the only time we got by ourselves. We had a quick catch up & a secret kiss and then got back to the dancing! Karl says that his was when we were walking down the stairs to dinner. We had the whole bridal party and ourselves walk into the song "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" by Stevie Wonder. Everyone was up clapping and excited for us. It was a great point in the day.

Who is the little cutie? Every wedding should have a dog - they're the perfect (paw-fect) guest..

As the village is so quaint and cosy, decoration comes easily..." I asked my Mother could I use my Grandmother's china tea cups as decorations around the venue. Thankfully she agreed. We had them scattered around the Mezzanine & Bar area either filled with fresh roses or Karl's favourite chocolate Lindt. Everyone commented on how pretty they looked and luckily none were broken. We also had a photo display. There was photos of both sets of parents, back in the day when they were just going out, on their wedding days and a current day picture. We also had a few of our pictures and a burlap print with the dates that are most special to myself and Karl - our first date, the day he proposed and our wedding day."

Any words of wisdom for those preparing to trip down the aisle? "Preparation is key. Do all the preparation in time so you have to do nothing on the day except get married to the one you love and enjoy yourself! We had everything done so we were both calm the whole morning of the wedding. Also don't be afraid to ask for help. I would have been lost without my bridesmaids and family, they were brilliant throughout the whole run up to the wedding"

Congratulations Aine & Karl - hope you're enjoying married life! Huge thanks for sharing your beautiful day with us.

And to Elisha Clarke - a big Thank You for sharing your work with us - if you like what you see, make sure to pop over to www.elishaclarke.com to see lots more loveliness...

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