Sarah & Colm

There is a real sense of nostalgia and nature at this intimate Irish wedding at Hilton Park. Not to mention emotion and love. Or should I call it the wedding festival, as our gorgeous couple actually legally got married in Boston a week before this gorgeous celebration with family and friends. Proving once again that you can have your day your way. They even got ready together the morning of this elegant affair, which has made for some truly gorgeous moments captured by Igor Demba. In the most fabulous outfits I might add. Sarah's knee length, lace BHLDN dress is fabulous and matches the vintage characteristics of Hilton Park House perfectly. This wedding may be low key but it is certainly high on the style, love and general fabulousness stakes.

The Dress

Sarah the Bride: We got engaged in February and planned a private ceremony for August in Boston followed by a party with family & friends a week later in Ireland. I started dress shopping in May for our August wedding so I knew my options were limited. I started my search with off-the-rack retailers and settled on BHLDN, Anthropologie’s wedding brand.  I wanted a dress that I could wear to both occasions so I liked the idea of a knee length option. I loved the fit and delicate lace of the Barlette dress and felt very comfortable in it.

The Grooms Fashion

Colm the Groom: I typically wear more casual clothes so I wanted something sharp and stylish but not overly formal. I went for a nice slim fit navy suit from Ted Baker. I thought it's paisley purple lining gave it a nice traditional feel! I combined it with a pair of brown brogues, a white shirt and an emerald green pocket square to go with my bride’s engagement ring!

The Venue

Sarah the Bride: We wanted to find a location that could accommodate our immediate families and also cater for a small party with family & friends. We searched hidden Ireland for a historic country house that would fit our needs and discovered Hilton Park which was near our family homes. As we were planning from abroad, we relied on online reviews which were all stellar and our communication with the owners via Skype. Hilton Park couldn’t have been more perfect. The atmosphere, the food, the staff, were all top class. We stayed there for three nights in total and the whole experience far exceeded our expectations. It really is a hidden gem.

Colour Scheme/Décor

The house itself is full of character with lots of beautiful old trinkets and furniture spread throughout. So the decor was really taken care of and we just added some finishing touches with some flowers.

Flowers

Hilton Park decorated the house with flowers from their own beautiful gardens. We wanted to supplement that so the my mother lead the charge on this, gathering flowers from her own garden and from neighbours and friends. MY dad added some wild ones to the mix that were plucked from the roadside of the lovely lanes of Killeshandra!

Ceremony

We had our official ceremony in Boston the week before but we did want to incorporate some traditional things for our party so we had speeches in the drawing room from the bride & groom, father of the groom and father of the bride to add an air of formality to proceedings. We also had a cutting of the cake.

Entertainment

We created our own playlist packed full of some of our favourite songs over the years and played that in the background throughout the reception and buffet. After dinner we moved down to the servants quarter which was ideal for dancing the night away.

Food

Having quality food was important to us so we were thrilled that Hilton Park had an in house chef with brilliant reviews. We gave them a general idea of what we would like - canapés to be served on arrival, a simple seated buffet style dinner and a sponge style wedding cake for dessert. The menu included: Seared Fillet of beef wrapped in rocket & parmesan, Smoked Salmon, Dill blini & Horseradish Cream, Pea & broad bean Crostini with pecorino, Tarragon Chicken, new Potatoes, Garden Salad, Spinach, Aubergine and Chickpea Curry and Summer Lemon Sponge with Seasonal Berries to finish. The food provided was outstanding and truly up there with the best we have ever had.

Photographer

We were a little concerned about finding a photographer at relatively short notice, so when we were referred to Igor and he was available we couldn’t believe our luck. Igor was really phenomenal. He captured a really special day for us with no fuss in his cool, suave and understated way. He mingled with our guests who all loved him and his presence really added to the occasion. We were delighted with him on the day… and even more thrilled when he sent us the results. The photos are very special to us and we regularly look back at them and the slideshow he put together to remind ourselves of the day.

Special Moments

We got married at our own private ceremony and had a wedding party with families and friends as a separate event a week later. This worked well for us to really enjoy an intimate ceremony between the two of us without any stress while still being able to have a great party with our friends and families to celebrate! Since these two events were a week apart, we liked to call it our wedding festival rather than our wedding day :)