You may recognize this gorgeous bouquet from our homepage slideshow. We’re so incredibly excited to finally be sharing with you this stunning fall wedding in County Clare, expertly coordinated by our own Sile in the heart of the Irish countryside.

Wedding high season in Ireland no doubt like many places includes the summer months. And we love those weddings. But we’ve been salivating at the idea of fall weddings in Ireland which can be equally as stunning.  We were so excited when Texas couple Meagan and Yates wanted a November wedding in dreamy and romantic western Ireland! “I no longer wanted the gigantic ‘fairytale wedding,'” says Meagan, an event coordinator herself. “I wanted simplicity and to go to a place that was stand-alone inspiration with the people dearest to me.”

Even more than the stunning fall color palette with sexy red tones and the whimsical cozy reception, we love so much how Meagan and Yates really embraced this part of Ireland in full force.  The rain — for some can be the uninvited guest who ruins the wedding — but for them, turned into the guest of honor, producing some absolutely stunning photos in the Irish countryside gorgeously captured once again by the uber talented Sean and Kate! This wedding is a textbook of how you can play with texture and don’t be afraid to work in the rougher, grittier elements into your photos and day — the juxtaposition between that and the softness of your flowers, dress, etc. create an irresistible contrast that make for amazing pictures.

Yates and Meagan met back in high school but didn’t actually start dating until some years later.  Their “meddling sisters” decided these two needed to be set up and the rest is history. They wanted a destination wedding with their closest family and friends and chose Ireland for its stunning natural beauty and warmth of welcome. Meagan wanted a moody, natural intimate wedding day that took inspiration from the local culture and backdrop but that still had a lot of “new” to  look at.  Her red color palette is absolutely stunning and worked just perfectly with the darker greens, pops of fall gold, slate blue in the hills, and cream tones of the tower. Her Rue de Seine dress added the right amount of softness and her burgundy shoes and earrings were the perfect pop of red to tie in the look. Yates looked smart in a suit and we love how everyone brought a little bit of Texas to Ireland — big hats and big laughs, but we’re mostly taken by the big smiles and clear love for life.

Enjoy the highlights but make sure to check the slideshow at the end for more!

“Come Away With Us”

Having a theme is always a great way to anchor your wedding day and Meagan really brought that skill in perfectly with her own wedding.  “I kept hearing ‘come away with me’ as our them,” she says. “We wanted it to be a time of refreshment and restoration — not just for us, but for all who came with us.”  And what better way to escape than to romantic and adventurous Ireland! “I wanted a moody, authentic, natural and intimate wedding day,” says Meagan.  One of the biggest challenges was actually finding a florist that would be able to execute her vision. “Because I’m involved in so many weddings myself, it was hard for me to see something and not think ‘oh, I’ve seen this a million times already,” explains Meagan. She envisioned something unique, unstructured, intentional and specific that fit that moody vibe. Juliana of Anthesis Floral came through with a stunning bouquet and reception decor that was both whimsical and intimate, inspired by the season but not a literal obvious translation that really drew on the underlying  emotions of the day. Simply brilliant work.

The Details

The traditional ceremony was held at Newtown Castle.  The couple chose Newtown for its unique architecture, lots of texture, and picturesque placement in the heart of the wild Irish countryside. There is a simple, raw organic beauty about this area and it really fit into their overall spirit of the trip as a whole.  Wanting to embrace the local culture, they chose to host an intimate reception at a local Irish pub. The quintessential Irish decor and atmosphere was a warm welcome to the fall rain.  Everyone cozied up with good ol’ fashioned Irish food and drink, and danced the night away.

Favorite Moments

“Every part of our day was an adventure,” says Meagan.  But among the moments that stood out for them, during the ceremony they held a moment of silence for those loved ones who have passed on.  Their names were read out loud and everyone gathered in the space took the moment to acknowledge them silently. It was a moving and touching moment, sweetly simple and profound in impact.  At the receptions, as you can see from the pictures the speeches went over very well. But in particular, Meagan’s dad’s: “My dad used to bea pastor and has always been a businessman so I have heard him speak, present, and lead countless times, but I have never heard him speak sweeter words than he did on this day.”

A Piece of Advice

“‘Go your own way’ was the first thing that popped into my head. And believe it or not, doing you to the fullest is difficult. Really difficult. Because it’s so important. You’ll face a lot of opposition in this but stay to your path. To me, there are a few things in life more important than being your true self — wholly and unashamedly. Sure — research to get ideas and inspiration…glean from others what they’ve done…but please for the love of everything: do what you want to do, how you want to do it, WHERE you want to and with whom you want to! I promise you will never regret it!”

Great advice, Meagan… we couldn’t agree more!