Is there anything better than Dublin city on a sunny day? There's only one answer to that question according to Ciara and Peter, for although the pair are from the midlands, after living in Dublin for many years, their perfect wedding just had to be city celebration. They didn't forget their country roots though, and there's more than a touch of an old world feel to these proceedings with little handmade elements and of course Ciara stealing the show in her classic 50s style dress. The gang had great fun wandering around town in all their finery, delighting the tourists and having a rare old time, ending by dancing till dawn in Fallon & Byrne. Tanya from Bronte Photography joined in with their gallivanting around the city and if you're a Dubliner (by birth or by choice) you'll recognise quite a few places...

You know those nights out when you're exhausted and the thought of getting glam is more tiring than the night itself? Well, next time you feel like that... Go out! You might just meet the love of your life. Not convinced? Ciara will win you over with the story of how she met her hubby to be, "I had recently met up a friend called Rebecca from secondary school that I hadn’t seen since I did my Leaving Cert., 13 years previously. Rebecca was moving to Australia and invited me to her leaving party. Peter’s flatmate was also friends with Rebecca, so he brought Peter along to the party. That’s how we both ended up in the same place at the same time, it was a bit random! I can remember coming home from work that evening and sitting on the couch for ages trying to decide whether or not to go out that night. I’d had a busy day at work and was exhausted, and was working the next day as well, and knew it would be another hectic day, so I really didn’t feel like it, but luckily I went out for ‘a few’. It’s strange how little decisions can sometimes have an enormous impact on your life!" Never a truer word, Ciara.

If you're on the hunt for the wedding guna, and not really feeling the whole "white dress" or "wedding gown" thing, then Ciara's story might give you a bit of solace, her story sounds just like that of many, many brides I know, it's a case of trying different things and not being too set in your own thoughts.  "I knew I wanted something tea-length and either genuine or replica vintage, but had never thought I’d wear an ‘actual’ wedding dress. I had originally wanted to get something I could wear again, and was also nervous of wearing a white or ivory dress as I am quite clumsy and accident-prone! I couldn’t imagine getting through a whole day and night without ruining a white dress, and had planned to wear pink or gold. I had looked at lots of vintage dresses that weren’t actual wedding dresses, and they were all lovely but I hadn’t found one that was ‘perfect’. I only went to one ‘wedding dress’ shop, and I know it’s a cliché but I did instantly fall in love with the dress I chose as soon I saw it on. My sister Shauna suggested I try it on, even though I wasn’t mad about it when I saw it first, and might not have tried it on if not for her. It was ‘mocha’ with a layer of ivory over it. Ingrida altered the neckline to make it a sweetheart neckline. It was so comfortable and really easy to move in, and more importantly, dance in! My sister Nessa, and maid of honour, had packed emergency ‘anti-stain’ wipes in the bag of tricks she brought with her on the day, but fortunately (and miraculously!) they were not needed." Like the scouts say, be prepared. And of course, when you are, nothing bad actually happens. Is that Murphy's Law? If you're like Ciara, a bit accident prone and worried about wearing white check out our Emergency Beauty Kit for top tips on what to bring to avoid disaster.

Bringing her look together was all about the pretty bling. Ciara discovered Etsy through One Fab Day and fell in love with all the handmade crafty treasures, so when it came to her wedding jewellery she headed straight online and that's where she found her beautiful earrings made with pearls surrounded by blue stones that acted as her something blue! Ciara also wore two gold bracelets that were given to her by her two favourite aunts, who had unfortunately passed away a number of years ago and a pearl bracelet which was a gift from her mother, who also gave me a ring that had belonged to her that morning, which she wore as well!

Ciara and Peter chose a tiered approach to the wedding, something we've seen more and more couples opting for - basically having a smaller ceremony and immediate celebration afterwards, followed by a big party later in the evening. It relieves the pressure if you're not big on being the centre of attention, or if you want the ceremony to be more private, and it cuts down on the costs if you have a huge group of friends and family to entertain. Ciara and Peter explained their thinking... "From the very beginning we wanted it to be relaxed and fun – both the day itself and the lead-up to it. Neither of us wanted anything stressful that we wouldn’t be able to enjoy ourselves. We didn’t want a traditional wedding as such, or anything overwhelming, but we did want to celebrate with our family and friends, and we wanted the occasion to feel more like a party than anything else. The plan was to have our immediate families with us for the ceremony and dinner, and were joined by wider family and friends later for more food, drinks and dancing." And so they did. Starting with the ceremony in the registry office in Dublin 2 by the canal.

"Neither of us is religious, and we didn’t want a church wedding. We considered having the ceremony at Fallon & Byrne as well, but as there were only a few of us for that part of the day, we didn’t want to feel like we were all alone in a large empty room. We didn’t want anything elaborate or that would involve a lot of planning and organisation on our part, and the Civil Registration Office was great, it’s understated but elegant, exactly the right size, and really central." So the pair made their vows, shed one (or two) tears and committed to a lifetime together.

The great thing about the registry office is the location by Grand Canal, such a lovely quiet area to have a wander around and take some snaps. But if you're dressed in white with a veil, you will attract a bit of attention...

Ciara and Peter were the object of many congratulatory cheers as they spent the afternoon wandering around... "All day long people were waving and beeping at us, especially when we were in the vintage car as it really stood out. We drove past a crowd of people waiting for a bus at a bus-stop on Dame St  and they all started clapping! As we took photos on the streets of Dublin, passers-by would stop to congratulate us and wish us well. There was a group of Italian tourists we kept bumping into, and in the end we got into a photo with them."

From the start Ciara was a hands on bride, she got involved in as many elements as she could without stressing herself out and the bouquets and button-holes were one element she really enjoyed doing herself... The peonies and chrysanthemums were bought from a flower-seller on Grafton St the day before the wedding, and I got the baby’s breath, thistles and roses from a few different florists the day before as well. My sister Nessa and I made the bouquets and button-holes the day before the wedding and had great fun. I didn’t know at the time that she and the rest of my family thought I was crazy doing the flowers myself and that Nessa had been secretly researching possible florists to have on stand-by, but they were all pleasantly surprised at the results!" Ha! We would think you were crazy too, to be honest, but all's well that ends well. The bouquets look lovely, and it's a great feeling to make something yourself and be able to triumph over everyone's (unspoken) doubts. Well-chuffed is the correct phrase I think...

As Ciara didn’t really know how the flowers  were going to turn out, having decided to do a ‘pot-luck’ and see what she could find the day before, and we wouldn't  recommend this option for everyone as we are believers in trying to chill out a little bit the day before the wedding. But if you're thinking of following her lead, her advice would be to keep an eye on the shops in the run up to the wedding and see what they have in stock continuously (also get to know the local florists so that they know what you're planning!). Ciara stuck to white and pink as she had seen those colours many times in the local shops. she lucked out the day before with peonies and chrysanthemums available too. For the actual arranging she found lots of ideas and tutorials online and kept it simple, the finishing touch was ribbon from A.Rubanesque. My heart is a little a flutter thinking about it, but if your game to do your own flowers keep it simple like Ciara.

To coordinate with her own vintage wedding dress, Ciara headed to a well-known bridal brand to sort out her ladies' dresses. "The bridesmaid dresses were from Dessy, they do a gorgeous range of vintage-style dresses, and my sisters chose their own dresses from the range that I selected. I didn’t want them both to have to wear the same dress, especially as they both have different styles and tastes to me as well as to each other, and what flatters one person does not necessarily suit another. I also wanted them to pick something they liked and actually wanted to wear so that they’d enjoy the day as much as possible, and so that they might hopefully wear their dress again. I loved their dresses as much as I loved my own one!" 

Ciara and Peter made the most of their city wedding and stopped off at their favourite spots for some photographs. For them having the right photography team with them was a priority..Our wedding photographers, Bronté Photography, were really amazing, they were exactly who you’d want to share your special day with. They had such a lovely manner, and warm and fun personalities, they got on really well with everyone, and captured the day in lovely, unexpected, and unusual ways.

After strolling around town for the afternoon and stopping for pints in No Name and a photo shoot outside the very cool (now open) Drury Buildings it was time to head to their own venue, for Ciara and Peter, it had to be Fallon & Byrne...We’re both from the midlands but were living in Dublin and wanted a city-centre wedding. We have always loved Fallon & Byrne, how it looks and feels, as well as the food and drink. We went there on one of our first dates, which was also a Friday 13th, so it was quite appropriate to celebrate our wedding there on another Friday 13th a few years later! 

On the day we were so lucky to have a great planner in Ciara of Fallon & Byrne she made it all run smoothly. Music was a big part of the day for us and DJ, Aidan Kavanagh, was fantastic and spent a lot of time going through our likes and dislikes, and advising us on what would and wouldn’t work. He came up with a play-list that really reflected our taste and personalities, and had people dancing all night.

A lot of the elements of the day were DIY, as I mention earlier, the gorgeous bouquets weren't all that Ciara made. "For our guestbook we had a home-made finger-print tree inspired by One Fab Day. I had read a post about them and decided to make one myself with a car being lifted by balloons instead of a tree. I drew a vintage car we had rented and driven around Kerry a few weeks after we got engaged." So sweet! If you're not a dab hand at the drawing like Ciara, you can download the Fingerprint Tree Guest book that inspired Ciara here. It's really easy to do!

Family friend, Liz Gilhooley, who is a professional baker, made the fabulous wedding cake and surprised the couple with the gorgeous lace detailing. How cute are the Moomins cake toppers? The characters are from Ciara's favourite children's book and she whipped them up herself with some modelling clay! Talented young lady! Thinking of a personalised cake topper for your own wedding cake? Take a look at all the fab ones available in our Cake Topper Ideas post.

What advice would you give to couples planning their day? "Celebrate in whatever way feels right for you and don’t worry about what anyone else thinks. Don’t feel under pressure to conform to someone else’s idea of the perfect wedding. It doesn’t matter if what you do is a little unconventional or if it might not to everyone’s taste, as long as it’s to your taste, and what you both want. I never wanted to think of our wedding in terms of it being the ‘best day of our life’, as we hopefully have plenty more wonderful days ahead of us, but it’s certainly the one day in which the entire world seems happy for you, and that definitely makes it even more special."

Ciara and Peter had nothing but nice things to say about all their suppliers so it was great to hear! Congrats you two! A big Thank You goes to Bronte Photography for sharing their work with us today. To see more of their work pop over to www.brontephotography.blogspot.ie.

The Wedding Details

• Ceremony: The Civil Registration Office, Lower Grand Canal St, Dublin 2
• Reception: Fallon & Byrne
• Photographer: Bronte Photography
• Wedding Dress, Veil & Headpiece: The Vintage Room @ The White Room, Mullingar/ Alterations by Ingrida in The Diamond Needle Studio
• Bridesmaids dresses: Dessy
• Shoes: Bride: Nine West
• Flowers: Fallon & Byrne / Handmade by the bride with A. Rubanesque ribbon.
• Groomsmen suits: Louis Copeland
• Accessories: Earrings: Handmade from a seller on Etsy/Pearl bracelet was a gift from bride's mother.
• Cake: The Kitchen of Liz Gilhooley
• Cars: KPCD Car Hire
• Stationery:  Zazzle
• Make Up & Hair: The Hair and Makeup Crew
• Reception Music: DJ Aidan Kavanagh