Pure dead brilliant … Irish – Scottish wedding in Ireland! Niamh and Lee Nailed their day in Bunratty Castle Hotel

Pure dead brilliant Irish – Scottish wedding in Ireland! Niamh and Lee Nailed their day in Bunratty Castle Hotel

Perfect from start to finish – it literally was the best day of our lives! A lot of work on the run up to it but it was worth every bit!

We wanted a very chilled day that involved all our nearest and dearest. If we had to say what our theme was it would be ‘Laughter and Love’ and that is also what we asked Olga (Mrs Redhead Photography) to capture throughout the day. We opted for a very ‘non traditional’ wedding reception and given how much of a fussy eater Niamh is we went for a BBQ meal rather than a standard wedding meal. We wanted everything to be personal and have meaning to us from the food, drinks, music and decorations. A huge amount of thought and effort went into every detail!

Walking down the aisle was Niamh’s biggest fear on the run up to the day but in the end she loved it! Lee’s speech was his biggest worry and he was so nervous however his speech was fantastic! Every part of the day was better then we could have imagined…

How and when did you first meet?

Our mother’s set us up – yes true story! Long story short, Niamh worked for Lee’s parents in a pub in Dundee called the Taybridge Bar. Niamh became very friendly with Lee’s family and one night (March 2014), long before they met their mother’s were on a night out in Dundee (with Niamh and Niamh’s aunties and cousins who were over visiting) and after several bottles of wine they came to the conclusion that Lee and Niamh would make a fantastic couple. They proceeded to facetime Lee (who lived in Australia at the time) and Karen (Lee’s Mam) advised him she had found a wife for him. There was lots of hilarity about the situation until the next morning when Niamh felt the need to send Lee a message and apologise for her and his families behaviour the previous night! Very awkward moment – which then turned into lots of texting back and forth!

Lee then came home to Dundee the following week to surprise Karen for her 50th. Lee was home for two weeks and he and Niamh spent the whole time together. Lee went back to Australia after his two week holiday and a fortnight later he was back in Dundee as a certain Limerick girl had caught his eye.. the rest is history 🙂

The proposal, when was it and what happened?

On 30 July 2016, Lee proposed to Niamh in a beautiful restaurant – Villa Tiberio in Marbella, Spain. It was a garden restaurant with beautiful surroundings. Lee suggested he and Niamh go for a walk around the garden before dinner. They did this and Niamh wanted to take a ‘selfie’ in front of a water fountain, Lee agreed and as Niamh held up the camera, Lee got down on one knee and proposed there and then. Both Lee and Niamh’s family were waiting at the table when they got back – both mother’s were crying before we even got back to the table – as was Niamh – she never got her selfie! Lee had asked Niamh’s Dad Martin for permission to marry Niamh a few months earlier. The parents were all in on the engagement arrangements and Niamh did not have a clue!

How did you go about planning your dream day?

We literally had the date set within a week! We originally wanted a beach wedding however when we started to look at the numbers of guests we wanted to invite we knew this wasn’t going to be possible. We agreed the wedding would be in Ireland so that we could be sure Niamh’s Nana, Bridie, could attend and once that decision was made there was only one hotel Niamh wanted to get married in – Bunratty Castle Hotel, Co. Clare. Niamh’s family had already had lots of special occasions at Bunratty Castle Hotel. Lee and Niamh visited Bunratty Castle hotel soon after they returned from Spain, Lee loved the location. There was only one Saturday date in 2017 available for a wedding and there and then we booked it!

Lots of the wedding planning and arrangements were done with lots of help from family members, David Shelly, Bunratty Castle Hotel General Manager and Niamh’s Aunty Marguerite Curran, Sales and Marketing Manager at Bunratty Castle Hotel.

Were there any near disasters/funny incidents?

Two days before the wedding we went for a family meal and the wine had been flowing! Lee woke up in the middle of the night (still a little drunk) and mistakenly took the walk in wardrobe to be the toilet. Niamh woke just in time as Lee was aiming right for her beautiful wedding dress which was hid away under hanging bed sheets! Thankfully the dress came to no harm – Lee on the other hand got the fright of his life from Niamh’s screams!

One other funny incident was when we were travelling into Bunratty Castle Hotel from Bruff and just as we were arriving at Bunratty Lee realised he was bursting for a pee! We knew he wouldn’t be able to run to the toilet when he got there as all our lovely guests would be waiting so we pulled over on the motorway in our beautiful wedding car and Lee (in his kilt) got out and went for a pee on the side of the road whilst his new wife remained in the car sipping champagne! As you can imagine it caught the attention of lots of cars passing by!

• Photographer: The AMAZING Mrs Redhead Photography

second shooter : Aleksandra Skibniewska

Testimonial : “AMAZING, FABULOUS, PROFESSIONAL, FUN, FRIENDLY, PATIENT AND SUPER TALENTED !!!! Just some of the word to describe Olga. Just outstanding.. From the very first meeting where we discussed what wedding photography package we would like, explained how we didn’t want standard wedding photos to finally capturing all the amazing moments from our wedding day! We weren’t your traditional bride and groom and we definitely were not having your traditional kind of day! Also neither of us like standing around for very long getting photos taken and Olga ensured this was not the case. Olga and her co worker Alex were just amazing, not only did they capture the special moments from our day but they helped and contributed in so many little ways along the way! I cannot count the amount of time both of them helped me fix my dress, chased wasps away from me � and I’m pretty sure it’s Alex who I have to thank for the men looking as well dressed as they did! Not only did she photograph my husband and his groomsmen getting ready but I’m pretty sure she helped them get suited and booted too! Olga and Alex completely went with the flow and got stuck into the madness and fun of the day. After the ceremony I decided I didn’t want to leave all my guests and go elsewhere for photos so to my husbands delight, I completely cancelled this part of the day and asked Olga if she would mind taking the photos in the beer garden (beautiful beer garden) so we could stay with our family and friends, she was 100% up for this and was not phased in the slightest about my last minute (mad) change of plans! They captured moments so beautifully. I remember saying to Olga way back at the start, please just capture the laughter and love from the day and oh my god did she deliver with this request. Cannot recommend Olga and Alex enough. Thank you so much for making everything so easy and wonderful”.

• Videographer: LM Videography

• Venue : Bunratty Castle Hotel, Ireland

• Wedding Dress: Niamh wore a Stella York Dress which she bought in Enchanted Bridal in Glasgow, Scotland. Karen and Elaine not only picked the husband but also picked the wedding dress 🙂

• Bridesmaids dresses: The bridesmaids wore dresses by designer Ronald Joyce and these were purchased from Sharon Gregory Bridal Design Studio, Mallow, Co. Cork. Sharon also made the junior bridesmaid dress. We went with a picture and she produced exactly what we wanted! Fantastic service.

• Shoes: Niamh is a big fan of shoes and and her wedding shoes were a dream come true – a pair of her very own Valentino’s! Lee also bought Niamh personalised bride converse which she put on for dancing at night time!

• Flowers: Angel Flowers in Ballycasey Craft and Design Centre, Co.Clare produced all of the bridal party flower bouquets and the men’s buttonholes – which were all stunning! Niamh, her Mam Elaine, her Aunty Mary put together all of the flower arrangements, church decorations, table centerpieces and everything in between. Niamh had an idea of what she wanted and Elaine and Mary created it with the help of family and friends!

• Groom(smen)’s suits: Lee and his groomsmen all wore kilts. The tarten we chose was ‘Hebridean Storm’

• Cake: Niamh’s cousin and Bridesmaid Eilis made the wedding cake – we opted for a cupcake theme and it was perfect!

• Wedding Favours: Instead of wedding favours we donated 500 euro to www.dogsfordisabled.ie and there was a card from the charity explaining this on each table. There was also freshen up baskets in each of the toilets for guests and flip flops available for girls to kick their heels off!

• Stationery: Our printing was done by Let’s Talk Print in Dundee and Elaine, Niamh’s Aunty Breda and junior bridesmaid Eva personalised all of the stationary. Niamh’s Aunty Ann also produced the guest book and postbox. All of which were stunning and very personal.

• Make Up & Hair: Make up was done by the very talented MakeUpByLizan based in Inglot, Limerick. Hair was done by Niamh’s good friend and super talented hairdresser Aine O’Connor who is based at Reflections Hair and Beauty Salon, Limerick

• Wedding Bands: The Pat Fitz Band – Outstanding

• Ceremony/Reception Music: Gerry Cunningham Music -beyond perfect!

All of the church and receptions decorations, table settings were made by Niamh’s family and friends. The cake was made by Niamh’s cousin and bridesmaid Eilis. Both families helped perfect every details of the entire day.

We wish we could do it all over again!

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