With the daffodils and crocuses popping up, it really does feel like Spring has sprung and we're heading into the sunny days of summer. Today we have a beautiful real wedding which really sums up the perfect Summer's wedding day - blue skies, warm sunshine and lots of fun outdoors.
Louise and Roddy were married last summer in The Rectory in Glandore, a picturesque corner of West Cork, and their perfect Summer's day was captured by wedding photographer Wim Vanhengel who caught the fun and relaxed atmosphere of a very personal day...
Louise and Roddy actually live in San Diego in California so organizing a wedding from that far away was a bit of a challenge. Louise admitted that Roddy did the bulk of the work to quote - "made me extra glad I was marrying him!" If only all grooms could be induced to do the same! (ah, but that would take away all the fun from us girls)
Louise & Roddy's chosen wedding venue was The Rectory, a beautiful Victorian house surrounded by woodland, overlooking a vast expanse of lush lawn sloping down to Glandore harbour. The perfect idyll for a summer wedding, with guests enjoying the gorgeous views of the water, and the sunshine in complete peace and privacy. Louise & Roddy chose The Rectory specifically because they wanted to have the venue all to themselves as Louise explained...
We preferred having the entire premises to ourselves. We thought that our guests and families would appreciate the distinct nature of having the wedding in a corner of west cork, away from the hustle and bustle and in a old Georgian house steeped in Irish history - with a killer view. The O'Brien family (particularly Aoife and Michelle) were fantastic, helping us organize our day, giving us advice on the menu and seating plan. They also have a policy of giving the bride and groom about 30 minutes to be alone before dinner, which was lovely as the day is quite long and very busy. We arranged the menu such that all food would be in-season and locally grown/harvested.
Louise's colourful summer bouquet was made locally by Hanako Flowers, the florists in Inchigeela, Co. Cork (+353 26 49216) who also happen to be a family friend of Roddy's. Louise was full of praise for Hanako for any of you who are getting married in West Cork and looking for a florist -
They have a wonderful home in the hills above Inchigeela where most of their flowers are grown and manicured. They did a wonderful job with getting in-season flowers, decorating the church, providing smaller arrangements for the bridesmaids and parents and not only that but the were extremely reasonable in terms of cost.
Louise was also full of praise for their photographer, Wim:
He was great. Our families and guests were delighted with him. We really appreciated that he sought out venues for photographs and trusted our choice of venue also.
The lovely shots outside O'Sullivan's shop in Inchigeela are so fun and memorable. A great memento from a very Irish wedding.
Louise and Roddy did something that I think is a great idea:
We both really liked having a little bit of quiet time with just the two of us before the announcement for dinner. The Rectory staff provided us with a private room plus some champagne and snacks and it was great to take stock of the day and sit down for a few minutes, just the two of us. We had a drink and big snog!
And Louise & Roddy's advice to couples preparing for their big day?
Probably to relax! Everything will go to plan or near enough. Try to avoid listening to everyone... just take the advice of one or two trusted and conscientious friends/family. The cliche is that the wedding day is a blur. We made decisions to not do some things and emphasized others so that we would remember everything and it seemed to have worked in our case. Have fun on the day - enjoy every minute of it.
Hearty Congratulations to Louise and Roddy, many thanks for sharing your day with us, hope you're enjoying married life!
And to see more of this oh-so-pretty wedding, and the work of the lovely Wim - hop over to WimPhotography to see what wedding fun he has captured...
