Vicky & Charlie

If the words 'candlelit wedding ceremony' don't make you go weak at the knees, then I don't think this wedding is for you. If you're not a fan of beautiful wedding dresses either, then you should probably look away now...this wedding has both. And gorgeous examples of both too! This atmospheric, late Autumn wedding is simply gorgeous, set in the Connemara region of Ireland, at a beautiful, remote castle, it really is a magical affair from start to finish. The whole day has been documented (and I use that word because he truly does document the day perfectly) by James Frost. And you can see more of his work right here on Rock My Wedding.

https://roostfilmco.wistia.com/medias/271vvijlhc

The Photography & Videography

Vicky The Bride: Finding the right photographer was one of the most important things for us. We wanted someone who could really capture the wild, rugged and dramatic beauty of Connemara rather than the traditional posed wedding shots. The moment I came across James’ work I was in love! Similarly we felt a lot of wedding videos were super cheesy and predictable and wanted something a bit different and again someone we felt would appreciate and make the most of the Connemara landscape. Roost Film Co. were amazing.

The Bride

I went to all the main boutiques in London and just couldn’t find anything quite right, I knew I didn’t want anything super traditional (sense a theme here!) but didn’t love any of the boho dresses I tried. I came across my dress on Pinterest months before and always had it at the back of my mind. I persuaded my Mother in Law to come on a daytrip to Berlin and it was perfect and the ladies at Kaviar Gauche were so amazing and accommodating and in sharp contrast to some of my other experiences at top London boutiques.

The Flowers

Getting married in Connemara in November meant flowers were always going to be a challenge so we went with a bit of a controversial choice - fauxs. Weighing up the cost and environmental impact of flying everything in to such a remote region just felt crazy for one day. I’d always been a huge fan of Abigail Ahern’s faux flowers and knew she’d understand the dark and decadent look we were going for. Gemma Ahern and the team were a dream to work with and translated my vision into the perfect reality – relaxed, dark burgundies, greens, foliage and gold. They were so good I don’t think most people realised they weren’t real. And the best bit – we get to keep them all and gift them to family and friends who helped us make our weekend so special!

The Venue

Ceremony Venue – St Mary’s Church, Roundstone. My grandparents had been huge supporters of this church so it meant a lot to get married here. Given we had made everyone travel we wanted to give them a chance to explore on Saturday so we didn’t have the ceremony until 5pm (we sent everyone to the nearby pub for a quick Guinness beforehand). The ceremony was all by candlelight supplemented with fairy lights which made everything so atmospheric and romantic. My grandparents have a holiday home in Connemara so like my father before me I spent all my summers there growing up. It’s the most magical and special place and definitely my spiritual home and it meant so much to be able to bring everyone we loved there for the weekend! Ballynahinch was the perfect venue – aside from the ridiculously stunning setting, it had just the right vibe, super relaxed luxury without being stuffy. Lots of roaring fires everywhere! We took over the whole hotel for the weekend so it felt like one giant house party. The staff are amazing and part of what makes Ballynahinch such a special place.

The Food

We wanted something dark and decadent to go with our theme so we went for a Chocolate Guinness Cake with caramelized white chocolate buttercream which was delicious. Suzanne created exactly what we wanted with beautiful gold gilding and fruits such as cherries and figs. Another part of why we love Ballynahinch so much is their amazing food which makes the most of local area and incredible local seafood. We wanted the menu to be seasonal and as locally sourced as possible.

Reception:

• Canapes: Wild Mushroom Arancini, Stilton and Red Onion Tart & Cleggan crab claws
• Oyster Bar with fresh Galway Bay oysters Wedding breakfast:
• Seared Cleggan scallops, black pudding crumb, cauliflower puree
• Butternut squash velouté
• Loin of Connemara lamb, parsnips and sweet potato fondant
• Pecan pie, butterscotch sauce, maple & pecan ice-cream, blackcurrants

The Stationery

We did this ourselves with the beautiful illustrations done by Rod Booth Jones, Groom’s mother’s partner who is an artist.

The Entertainment

Local Irish musicians and Charlie’s brother (one half of Chase & Status). We had a group of local traditional Irish musicians kick things off to get everyone into the spirit. We’re super lucky in that Charlie’s brother is a superstar DJ so he very kindly did an incredible 5 hour set until 4am which had everyone going crazy (especially the old school garage!) On the Friday night we wanted to mix everyone up and get people mingling so we had “Charlie’s Big Fat Irish Wedding Quiz” which got suitably raucous (especially the spaghetti and marshmallow round). This worked perfectly so that on the Saturday everyone felt like old friends already!