Wow. That's the word that sprang to mind when I first saw this wedding. And it's still the best way to describe it. Nicki is originally from the US and Alex from the Ukraine, and while they've been in Dublin for 14 years, none of their families had been able to visit them in Ireland. So their wedding needed to be special - a giant welcome and celebration for everyone they loved. They painstakingly thought out each detail (from the 100 DIY paper cranes to the Russian doll cookies) to ensure every single guest that flew to Ireland to attend had an unforgettable time. The time and effort paid off and we are delighted to share with you their enchanting and inspirational day. This is inspiration bottled. All captured beautifully by Cara Mia Photography and her second shooter sidekick Ivana Patarcic.

This is no ordinary real wedding, and the story of how Nicki and Alex met isn't ordinary either. Rewind back 7 years, and Nicki was forlorn in love and Alex was working at the local Meteor store. Knowing Nicki hadn't been on a date in a while, Nicki's pals Vicki and Lorraine took it upon themselves to arrange a blind date of sorts. While buying a new phone from Alex, Vicki and Lorraine couldn't help but notice how alike in personality he was to Nicki. Taking a chance they offered Alex Nicki's number, and before Nicki knew what was going on a coffee date was organised.

Needless to say, Nicki wasn't so sure, but decided to trust her friends and made her way to meet Alex. Things didn't start well. Nicki was late, and in a panic managed to knock over the table and spill poor Alex's coffee onto his lap. Luckily Alex is a forgiving fellow, and what began with trepidation turned into a blissful six and a half hour date. It seems it was a match made in heaven (or Meteor if you prefer) and they've been together ever since.

Alex chose International Women's Day to propose, which is a big day in Eastern Europe where Alex is from. Using this as a guise Alex surprised Nicki in bed with a bunch of flowers. As Alex is quite the romantic, Nicki didn't pay much heed and drifted off back to sleep. Meanwhile Alex was confessing his love for her. It wasn't until Nicki heard Alex saying "he loved me and he would be the happiest man alive if I agreed to be his partner in life forever" that she opened her eyes to a diamond ring.

With a diamond on her finger Nicki began to plan a colourful American-Irish-Ukrainian wedding day. As Nicki is originally from America, and Alex the Ukraine, they wanted their Irish wedding to be a wonderful fun filled celebration to bring together their families who had never been to Ireland before.

Eager to have a wedding that reflected them as a couple, rather than the traditional notions of a wedding, Nicki and Alex decided on an outdoor wedding at Kippure Estate. Nicki explains what made Kippure Estate the one. "The outdoor rustic feel. The wedding coordinator Grainne was incredible. The relaxed homieness and the fact everything was at the one venue, the gorgeous lodges, the trees, everything we would need all at one place. Not stuffy, no hotel, no red carpet, we could decorate as we wanted, we were all on the same page of quirk."

The ceremony was held amongst the tress, and although the setting was fabulous it was the music that stole the show. "As I walked up to the tree to my future husband my friend Juliette and Mick played Green Day’s ‘Time of your Life’ on the harp and flute which they had learned to play as a wedding gift. My cousins are in an accapella group from the states ‘The Bathtub Dogs’ and sang a gorgeous rendition of John Legend’s ‘All of Me’ during the ceremony..My favourite was when my grandmother, a stunning trained soprano singer 79 years old, brought the house down with her rendition of the 1950’s song ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’, there was’nt a dry eye in the house!"

With the freedom to decorate as they pleased, Nicki and Alex covered the area in 200 metres of handmade colourful bunting and old photos of their grandparents and great grandparents on their wedding days, which hung from the trees. DIY queen Nicki and her friend also hand stitched her ring pillow and hand fasting ribbon with hession, stuffing materials, pom poms, ribbon & chantilly lace.

Claps and wolf whistles all round for the fabulous couple..

How adorable are these family snaps? You can easily see all of Nicki's efforts to make sure her family had a wonderful time totally paid off.

The Bridesmaids carried light pink and dark pink peonies with yellow craspedia bouquets on the day while Nicki bouquet was a mixture of light and dark pink peonies, exotic bright coloured flowers, venus fly traps and succulents. The boutonnières were craspedia and succulents and Alex had additional venus fly traps. For more gorgeous boutonnière ideas check out our 16 Alternative Boutonnieres for Grooms post.

Nicki's showstopper of a wedding dress is a Rachel Gilbert sequinned gown which she accessorised with a custom made headpiece and dainty vintage jewellery. You may also have noticed Nicki's stunning make up and hair - being a make up artist herself this was incredibly important to her. The look is perfection.

Inisde the marquee things were kept equally fabulous with big pink and white peonies in vintage 1920’s mint mason jars and hand-cut tissue table confetti decorating the tables. Nicki also borrowed Smyth’s of Ranelagh pub's big silver star lanterns to hang up in the reception hall. Smart thinking.

Taking things to a whole other level Nicki made 1000 paper cranes and sprinkled them around the reception, a nod to the Japanese legend which states if you fold 1000 paper origami cranes you will be granted one wish. How cute is she?

The jam-packed cake table was home to a red velvet cake, lemon chiffon cake, s’mores, multicoloured macaroons and Russian doll iced sugar cookies, the latter made specially to incorporate Alex's Russian heritage. The table was then decorated with salvaged bird cages filled with paper cranes, bouquets and candles.

Having planned such a wonderful detail filled day it's no surprise that Nicki has some grade A advice "Don’t let people tell you what you can or can’t do on your wedding day. What made us the happiest was that we did it exactly how we wanted and diy-ed most things to save money. And we didnt compromise our happiness. I wore a dress head to toe covered in sparkles and sequins and wore coral wellies when I got married out in the woods amongst sheep. We had paper cranes, bunting, smores, a pig on a spit over a fire, vodka shots with pickles, rock music, fire poi dancers, beer in wheel barrows and tattooed bridesmaids. And it was the happiest day of our lives!"

To ensure their wedding day was as wonderful as they envisioned Nicki and Alex postponed their honeymoon. Not a couple to do things by halves, they hope to travel the French Polynesian Islands, Figi and Bora Bora in the new year. Huge congratulations guys and thanks so much for sharing your inspiring day with us!

A big thank you also goes to Cara Mia for sharing her work with us, to see more of Cara Mia's work head over to www.caramiaphotography.com

The Wedding Details

• Second Shooter: Ivana Patarcic
• Venue: Kippure Estate
• Wedding Dress: Rachel Gilbert @ Frock N’ Fabulous
• Legal Ceremony Wedding Dress: French Connection
• Bridesmaids Dresses: Oasis & Dorothy Perkins
• Floral Kimonos: Comfy Clothing
• Brides Shoes: Dune
• Bridesmaids Shoes: Penneys & Topshop
• Flowers: Green Art
• Groomsmen’s suits: Aston Formal Wear
• Accessories: Hello Forever headpiece & Folkster bracelet
• Cake: Kaleidoscope Bakery 
• Confetti: Inside my Nest
• Stationery: As You Wish
• Ribbons: A. Rubanesque
• Make Up: Hila Karmand & assistant: Noella Goeghegan
• Hair: Maria Callaghan @ Toni & Guy Clarendon St.
• Reception Music: Till Death Do Us Party
• Ceremony Music:  The Bathtub Dogs