We both love to socialise with our friends, listening to music and ultimately having the craic, Doolin is definitely all about that.
Our photographer MrsRedhead – Olga is a credit to her craft.
She was recommended by our hotel but I had my eye on her for a while before we had even booked Doolin as our venue. She photographed Ailbhe Garrihy’s wedding and I absolutely fell in love with the pictures. We’re not serious enough for the typical gorgeous and dramatic portrait photos that a lot of bride and grooms go for, we just wanted to have fun with it and as soon as I started looking into Olga, she literally says that exact thing on her blog. Her work is candid and cool, she spots a moment before it happens and it also helps that she knows Doolin like the back of her hand so takes you to all the best spots! We were going to be in Doolin not long after we had booked her for our wedding that was still another year and a half away but we decided to send her a message on the off chance she was around to meet to chat about what vision we had for our day and she was more than happy to. We sat, had a drink, a chat and a laugh. We fell in love with her straight away. We are so delighted that we chose Olga, she floated around the day of the wedding and brought a fun energy. We also barely noticed her (in the best way possible) taking pictures throughout the day! And the shots she got speak for themselves! We will never get over how beautifully she captured our day.
Niamh & Alan
Ceremony & Reception: Hotel Doolin https://www.hoteldoolin.ie/
Photographer – MrsRedhead Photography Ireland https://www.instagram.com/mrsredhead_photography/
Videographer Bridal Suite Weddings https://bridalsuiteweddings.com/
Celebrant Gabrielle https://www.instagram.com/gabrielleceremonies/
What made your venue “the one”?
As we had already fallen in love with Doolin, when we got engaged there was wasn’t much of a debate on where our wedding should be – but the fantastic packages they offer made the decision all the better! We also never wanted our wedding to be a hugely stressful time as it so often can be so the relaxed atmosphere of Doolin always made us so happy with our decision.
The decor was something that was so important to me. I knew I wanted colour and fun so we decided to add in disco balls to reflect our fun loving party side. I wanted floral arrangements that wowed people and I think that was definitely achieved thanks to Ríona who was always there to bounce ideas off. She brought my vision to life
For my bridesmaids, I always wanted to do something different and loved the idea of mixed matched bridesmaids but had always seen different dresses in the same colour or same dress in different shades of a colour but my girls are all very different so that’s what made me decide that the dresses were all going to be totally different. When I started looking at colour palettes I kept getting drawn to the pinks and oranges and yellows so finally narrowed down shades I really loved and complimented each other and asked the girls to pick dresses in the colour they were going to be and I think they ended up looking very well together!
What advice would you give to other couples planning their day?
Try and make your day as personal to you as you can and want, I’m so glad I did as it paid off when people noticed the little elements that connected our day to us. It really is all about the Bride and Groom, don’t worry if you haven’t seen your colour scheme or theme be done before or that someone might not like it! Do it because you want to.
Also try and enjoy the planning as much as possible, you’re only engaged once! The time goes quick!
On the day, just trust your vendors, they do this every single day and whatever happens happens, from someone who does indeed sweat the small stuff and plans everything to a tee, the best advice I could give to any bride during morning prep and throughout the day is to just live in the moment, you’ve done all the planning up to that point, from then it’s out of your hands.
Also try and stay with each other as much as possible throughout the day, it’s the quickest day of your life!
● Bridesmaids dresses Jjs House https://www.jjshouse.com
Groomsmen suits Protocol, Dawson St Dublin – designer Benetti https://www.protocolmenswear.com/
● Shoes: Silvia Lago – Style Eloise (no longer stocked) https://www.silvialago.com/collections/shoes
● Accessories: Earrings, bracelet & necklace Rosie & Dott https://rosieanddott.com
● Flowers: Ríona https://riweddingsandevents.ie/
● Cake: Hotel Doolin https://www.hoteldoolin.ie/
● Makeup: Aoife Garrihy Beauty – Ennistymon https://aoifegarrihybeauty.ie/
● Hair: Chloe Cornu, The Upstyle Girl https://www.instagram.com/theupstylegirl?igsh=MTFxMGUxc2JsaDRwZQ==
● Wedding Rings: Butler & Rose, Tiernan creates bespoke jewellery for all occasions https://butlerandrose.com
● Ceremony/Reception Music: Jordan Lively https://www.instagram.com/jordanlivelyguitar?igsh=MTFncjlkbGRudHdmMA==
● Band: Flog the Dog https://www.flogthedog.com/
DJ: Hotel Doolin DJ – Mattie Kinch https://www.instagram.com/kinchy_909?igsh=Z3Z3NXlzcDhob3Ns
● Planning/Styling: Did most of the planning myself with help from the two Niamh’s in Hotel Doolin and Ríona (linked below) who sourced and styled the Decor
● Rentals/Decor: Decor was also done by Ríona https://riweddingsandevents.ie/