Super Cool Loved Up & Chilled Out Summer Wedding

All the laid back vibes with WWW readers Laura and David’s super cool wedding today, which was held on the 8^th June 2018 at The Millhouse, Slane in Ireland. Their vision was for a loved up, chilled and fun celebration that reflected them as a couple. Sounds pretty epic right? Well that’s because it was and with great food and music you can be sure the party come evening was a fantastic one too!

Talking of music, they subtly incorporated music into their details and décor. What with the record seating plan and table names, plus the guitar used as a guest book, which now hangs in their home. So awesome. Other brilliant touches included a popcorn and sweetie cart, an ice cream van and Instagram photo booth backdrop to name a few. I am sure their guests loved all of these fun ideas.

Laura and David along with their wedding party really looked very stylish too. I do love mismatched bridesmaid dresses not to mention braces and bow ties all round. Laura’s princess gown was a real show stopper, plus I adore her flower crown accessory, she looked gorgeous! David opted for a check suit with a tan waistcoat and I have to say it’s a really smart look.

We cannot thank Louise Scott Photography enough for sharing with us these magical and really very stunning captures. Enjoy.

The Proposal

I (Laura) decided to go backpacking in the summer 2016. My connecting flight to Nepal left minutes before the terrorist attack in Istanbul’s Ataturk airport but nobody knew if myself or my friend were safe or had even made our flight as we had initially been delayed in Dublin. David and our families alike assumed only the worst until they finally got in contact when we landed in Kathmandu. David said he wasn’t going to wait any longer after that so he picked out a ring with my best friend and flew out to meet me on the last leg of my trip in Sri Lanka. He booked a suite in this amazing 5 star hotel, took me on a walk along a secluded beach, got down on one knee with our song playing in the background (Julia Stone’s “How Sweet It Is”) and popped the question!

The Vision

We wanted something fun, inclusive and very relaxed with a few bits in between that reflected us.

The Planning Process

We essentially planned most of the major things (venue, videographer, photographer, bands) within the first two months after getting engaged which was great as we had our pick of everything as we were booking so far in advance. I took the lead with most of the styling of the day while David took over the budgeting. For a groom he was really involved and excited about the prep. We felt like two kids in a sweet shop picking things out for the day!

Budget

We did our research early, made a realistic budget that we were both happy with, picked a date that would give ourselves enough time (roughly 18 months) to save money AND ensure we still had a life in between. My advice would be to always allow for a contingency when planning a wedding, somewhere between 10% and 20% as despite your best efforts, there will always be little extras that you get carried away with that push the budget out.

The Venue

The Millhouse, Slane, Co. Meath, Ireland

Our venue was just perfect for us. We wanted somewhere that we could have both the ceremony and reception onsite, with a mixture of being inside and outside, making it comfortable and relaxing for our friends and family. The food they offered was beautiful too and young and old all commented how much they enjoyed our bbq menu, especially the pulled pork from the pig on the spit. The ceremony space we chose was inside an old mill and was so rustic, and pared back and industrial – exactly what I was looking for! The décor inside the main house was quirky, colourful and fun and a bohemian feel to the entire venue sold itself easily to us. We had very little to add to it for the big day.

The Details & Décor

The venue had twinkly lights in the garden, quirky furnishings in the house and orangery, beautiful chiavari chairs and vaulted canopy ceiling in the pavilion. I didn’t even want a runner on the aisle in the ceremony room as I felt it would take from the look of the space. Our main additions were lots of greenery and candles.

Table names were based on our favourite artists/albums on vinyl. I (Laura) studied Geology in college prior to becoming a teacher and scattered rocks gathered from my home county on the tables in between greenery and candles.

Cake was a two tier hexagonal and round marble effect cake with a Man United reveal at the back (David is a big Man U. fan!)

I painted a pallet for the running order of the day which was left outside by the picnic tables.

Flip flops and rugs were left in baskets with “A treat for your dancing feet” and “To have and to hold in case you get cold” respectively.

David’s father had passed away suddenly the Christmas after we got engaged and we wanted to invoke his dad’s playful humour and draw attention to him in a positive way on the big day rather than dwell on the sore loss so we set up a table where people could happily enjoy a toast in honour of Denis with his favourite drink, Jameson whiskey!

A guitar was used as a guestbook for people to sign (which now hangs in our house!).

A beautiful wedding post box was made by the father of the bride.

We provided our own sweet cart and popcorn machine

Instagram frame and personalised Tayto crisp sandwich packs (A big hit!) provided by S.A.S.

Ice cream van from Alan’s Ice Cream For Hire.

Your Outfits & Accessories

Dress I wanted to wear something ethereal and bohemian and had no intention of a big princess gown but the shop owner suggested to try it and I just fell head over heels in love with it immediately! “Bianca” by Maggie Sottero from Truly Bridal, Naas.

Shoes Kurt Geiger

Headpiece Floral crown to match my bouquet.

Veil “Avril” cathedral length veil from Wedding Belles.

Accessories      

Necklace: A pearl necklace that my mother had originally bought for the day went missing on the morning of the wedding unfortunately, but I had something similar from Primark in my suitcase so we used that instead!!

Rings: Fields and David’s father’s own wedding ring.

Groomswear We wanted a relaxed bohemian feel to the wedding and David wore something less formal than a tux but still smart for a groom as a result. All from Camden Square, Limerick.

Beauty

Hair Mags from Upstyle Funk, Slane                  

Makeup I did my own makeup.

Groomsmen

We again wanted something fun and relaxed and felt these would be ideal for a summer’s day.

• 6 different Game of Thrones bow ties: Mrs Bow Tie
• Shirts: Tony Connolly Menswear Limited, Crescent Shopping Centre, Limerick
• Braces: ASOS
• Chino’s: Tailor of Blue

The Readings & Music

Ceremony/Reception Music Squawkabout

Ceremony Music: “All You need is Love” by The Beatles, “Make you Feel My Love” by Bob Dylan, “How Sweet It Is” by Julia Stone and “Signed , Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder

Band/DJ Beatclub

First dance: “Higher and Higher” by Jackie Wilson

Readings:

Excerpt from “The Little Prince” by Antoine De Saint Exupery [Read by the Maid of Honour]

Making Mistakes by Neil Gaiman [Read by Laura’s Dad]

Excerpt from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott [Read by a Groomsman]

Bridesmaids

The 6 girls picked out their own dresses/jumpsuit and just sent me the bill afterwards. I didn’t want them in “uniforms” as such and preferred them to pick out an outfit they could wear again. I was however hoping they could pick something in the pinks, creams, nudes palette range and it couldn’t have worked out better, they looked fab! They were bought from a variety of shops including ASOS, Quiz and Coast.

Your Photographer

Louise Scott Photography

Your Filmmaker

Brendan Brophy of Brophy Films

The Flowers

Aster Flowers and Events

The Honeymoon

We went on a mini-moon to Rome for four days just after the wedding and in the summer we went on a 2 week cruise around Scandinavia, Russia and the Baltics. It was fabulous!

Memorable Moments

There are so many brilliant memories from the day but I think the most poignant one for me was one of the gifts David had given me on the morning of – a beautiful diamond and topaz ring. It was initially the ring he was going to propose with but he decided to get it for the wedding day to wear as my something blue! The hand-fasting by our mothers was a lovely touch too as well as our ceremony band learning and playing the same song David had proposed with in the background. It brought everything back for us!

Also, the weather was unbelievable! And in a tweed suit and a massive princess dress it was amazing that we didn’t keel over from the heat after the ceremony!! It was just such a fun day, the drink was flowing, the food was amazing, Squawkabout and Beatclub were fantastic at keeping everyone bopping during the day and filling the dancefloor at night and everyone was just in great form with the sun out!

The Cake

Cake was a tall two tier hexagonal and round marble effect cake with a Man United reveal at the back. 4 layers: Baileys and Cream cake layer, Carrot Cake layer, Chocolate Biscuit cake layer and Sponge Cake layer with cream and jam.

Amazing Cakes Bray

Advice For Other Couples

Spend more time just the two of you together. While the ceremony feels so personal and intimate, as if you’re the only people in the room, once that’s over you don’t get a moment alone and the rest flies by!

Also, probably more importantly, it’s just one day and it flies by way too quickly so really try to enjoy preparations together beforehand like we did and the suspense for what is essentially an epic big party with all your favourite people! Things will go wrong on the day, just like any other day, but if you can take those with a pinch of salt, remember that it’s just one day in the whole of your lives together and enjoy all the millions of other amazing things that ALSO happen, then you’re guaranteed to have a blast.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Oh so beautiful.

Laura and David, thank you both so very much for sharing with us you epic wedding celebrations xo Lou