Imagine a glorious day in West Cork, a couple walk down the aisle of a 6th Century church, and make their way to a country mansion for a vintage garden party wedding reception, complete with pretty tea sets; swing dancing on the lawn; children playing and stuffing their faces with cupcakes; guests sipping champagne and […]

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Imagine a glorious day in West Cork, a couple walk down the aisle of a 6th Century church, and make their way to a country mansion for a vintage garden party wedding reception, complete with pretty tea sets; swing dancing on the lawn; children playing and stuffing their faces with cupcakes; guests sipping champagne and nibbling strawberries around tables decorated with wildflowers.

Sounds idyllic, almost like a movie doesn't it? Well this vintage garden party wedding was a very real, and took place just a couple of months ago when Claire & Holger chose to celebrate their wedding at the Glebe Country House near the Old Head of Kinsale, after marrying in the picturesque surrounds of St. Finbarr's Oratory in Gougane Barra. And we have inside scoop and gorgeous photos thanks to Iwona of IG Studio Photography and Claire who shared their story with us...

Claire and Holger originally met when they worked together, Claire teaching Italian, Holger teaching German, but it wasn't a instant romance, more of a slow-burn "things didn't really develop until, strangely enough, he ended up renting a house directly across from my house. Our bedroom windows were directly facing each other! Strange coincidence. After a few weeks of hesitation, Holger eventually plucked up the courage to call to the door and ask me out for a drink. I am so slow I actually thought he was just being a friendly neighbour. It took me a few weeks to realise he was hoping for something more..."

The proposal wasn't exactly a Hollywood movie kind of moment. Holger just asked me one day while we were in my sitting room, no ring or anything. I wasn't really in a hurry to get an engagement ring so put if off for over two years. I actually ended up picking up the engagement ring myself in Dublin 3 days before the wedding. I got a pink sapphire ring at a local jewellery designer's. Holger saw the ring on the day of the wedding!

Finding her one of a kind wedding dress was a little bit of serendipity as Claire explained "My mother spotted Xpose were doing a piece on Vintage Brides and rang me. I switched on the tv, saw a 1950s white and lace wiggle dress that I really liked, heard it would be on sale at the vintage fair in Dublin and managed to pick it up the next day. The lovely Catherine of Hayworth Vintage was really helpful and friendly. I'm not sure you would get that personal touch at a bridal shop. It really was the dress that set me off on this search for all things pretty and vintage.... "

Once the frock was on, the hair and make up done and the nerves settled, it was off to the picture postcard perfect St. Finbarr's Oratory in Gougane Barra, the dinkiest, most beautiful little church in Ireland, which is straight off a Discover Ireland ad...

Claire comes from a very musical family, with many of her 6 sisters and 2 brothers involved in music in some way."Irene and Linda are both composers, Annette is a singer-song-writer, Catherine is a music teacher and Seamus is in a choir. Catherine, Annette, Irene and Linda did all the music in the chuch and it was so special. I felt so honoured to have my own sisters singing at my wedding."

I wanted to find a venue that was quite near my parent's home in the Old Head of Kinsale to make it easier for everyone. After having had a gorgeous weekend at nearby guesthouse Glebe Country House, I decided to ask Gill, the owner, if they did weddings. When she told me that they did casual-style weddings in a marquee on the lovely grounds, I knew it was exactly what we were looking for. It is a beautiful period house that used to be used as a rectory and is set in acres of gardens. It is just outside the tiny, quiet village of Ballinadee that doesn't seem to have changed at all in the last 30 years. There is even an outdoor stone pizza oven in the gardens so we were able to have delicious, hot pizza at midnight. A great snack after all that swing dancing!

Our wedding was a casual garden wedding that included some vintage elements. Once I had the dress, I decided to add in a few vintage elements just for fun. The night before the wedding, my sisters and myself started decorating the marquee. When it was empty, the marquee looked pretty bare and uninteresting and I was starting to get worried it wouldn't look nice at all. Thankfully, within a few hours the place was transformed. Thanks to the sisters for their styling assistance!

We used vintage-style advert postcards as invites and each guest got a different one. We had retro placecards with 1950s style faces on each one, which were sweet. I decorated the marquee with pretty vintage-style bunting and had some retro pieces like an old Bush radio and tin advertising signs. For the centre-pieces, I used enamel jugs filled with dried lavender and jam jars filled with wild flowers. We hired beautiful antique china from Pearl and Godiva which looked so pretty on the tables.

Aren't these the sweetest little cakes you've ever seen? They're the scrummy creations of the Diva Boutique Bakery (somewhere I am dying to visit on my next trip to West Cork), and I'm not their only admirer "We had a lot of children at out wedding so it was really nice to see all of them having so much fun. We had a bouncy castle that kept them happily bouncing for hours on end! Our beautiful wedding cake was covered in tiny cupcakes which were the perfect size for all the little ones at the wedding. It was cute to see them running around the gardens with these little cupcakes in their hands."

In keeping with the retro theme, we hired Swing DJ Gary Baus for the evening who had everyone dancing like crazy. Swing Dance music is a form of jazz music that was popular from the 1920s to the 1950s.

So what was the best bit of this gorgeous garden party? "To be honest, the best part was just having all my family, Holger's family and our friends together for a fun day. It really doesn't happen very often so it was one to remember..."

And any words of wisdom do you have from one bride to another? "Even if you do plan things well, small things will go wrong. No need to stress out about these things as nobody else really notices. Try to snatch a few moments alone with your partner- It is nice to touch base now and again. And remember to relax and enjoy the day!"

Huge thanks and congratulations to Claire & Holger for sharing their day with us.

And of course to Iwona from IG Studio Photography for allowing us to feature her lovely pictures - there's lots more to see over on IG Studio Photography.