I am so incredibly excited to share this gorgeous wedding gallery with you all!! As a blogger, we get so many incredible galleries from our clients and we’re so excited to show off how incredible Ireland is, especially its color and vibrancy.  But I confess I’ve been wanting to feature an all black and white gallery for a long time, and never quite got the right one. Until now….

Tara and Jim’s intimate wedding at one of our favorite venues in Ireland is stunning in every sense possible: gorgeous backdrop, beautiful couple, perfect details, and an impeccable attitude from everyone that really shone through to create some stunning, emotive photos.  This is one of my personal favorite galleries I’ve ever seen because it really tells their story better than I could put into words and shows you without question the magic of Ireland. Please scroll through and take some time at the First Look — one of the most beautiful sequences I’ve ever seen. Well done Shane of Aspect Photography once again!  This, is their story…

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Christmas Jim and an Epic Proposal

It was an early December morning in Texas when Tara was woken up by a super excited Jimmy.  “Wake up! Wake up! I have to show you something!” He hurried a still-groggy Tara out of bed, who began to slowly put on some sweatpants with eyes slowly opening.  Jimmy grabbed her by the hand and led her downstairs and pointed outside: “LOOK! It’s snowing!!” Peering out of her glasses incredulously through the window, snow was in fact falling. In early December. In Texas! “It is!” she exclaimed!  “Let’s go outside!!!” Jimmy says, in full excitement. You see, Jimmy gets a little bit geeked up about all things Christmas. In fact, everyone begins calling him Christmas Jim after Thanksgiving. So this scene was certainly a huge deal.  They ran outside and in the middle of the backyard was a GIGANTIC wrapped present and a peculiar buzzing sound. “I thought Christmas Jim had bought one of those giant blow up snow globes for the front yard,” recalls Tara. Jimmy excitedly encouraged her to open it so she reached down and began ripping off the paper. As she did, the gift began to light up.  And there, in the middle of a snowy morning, letters twinkling like a Christmas tree spelled “Will you marry me?,” and Christmas Jim was down on one knee, the snow machine gently buzzing in the background when Tara said yes.  A surprise engagement part would celebrate the good news later with their closest family and friends, and a trip to Ireland would follow soon after.

Irish Traditions and  Heritage Celebrated

Wedding planning discussions began and the idea of doing a destination wedding came up.  “We both have always wanted to travel and we’re both part Irish,” says Tara, so hosting a destination wedding in Ireland really became a natural fit for them. They contacted Waterlily Weddings and looked through some of our BLOG posts for inspiration.  Kilruddery House immediately jumped out at them and they knew it was the perfect fit for them.  We helped them plan a stress-free intimate wedding that really focused on everyone’s experience while there, incorporating some Irish traditions and matching them up with the right vendors to bring their vision to life. “Everything was way above and beyond our expectation. We can’t get over the flowers, the venue, the music, the ceremony, our pictures (I MEAN WOW!)… we couldn’t be happier and the money was all spent in the perfect places.  The drinks at the cocktail hour — people are still telling us how much they loved those!”

The Details

The humanist/spiritual ceremony was held in the bright orangerie and featured a few Irish traditions.  Music included the hauntingly beautiful uillean pipes to set the tone perfectly. The ceremony was designed to be a bit more structured and feel more formal in order to contrast with a really relaxed, informal reception at a local pub.  The overall theme was “casual Irish” and everyone was invited to just really take in the culture, relax, and focus on having a blast. Personal details we love included a DIY sign “Shake it for our polaroid guest book” that Tara made and temporary tattoos of Tara and Jimmy and Guinness. Tara also designed the menus at the table and personalized mints greeted ever guest at their seat. A classic Irish country meal of lamb and cashel blue salad, prawn cocktail, beef and roasted salmon was served and for dessert, the classic Irish banoffi cream pie and chocolate toffee cake. Yum! Everyone danced to Irish music from the live band and just really had a blast. An impromptu suggestion from the band’s guitarist began the first dance. And we love that Tara wore Jimmy’s great grandma’s ring as her “something old.”

Our Favorites

The looks — everyone just glowed and dressed to perfection and the tone of the day.  Tara especially in that gorgeous Venus dress was an absolute vision. We’re obsessed with the personalized temporary tattoos — very clever and just adorable. The flowers, the style, everything was really easy and came together without fuss.  But most of all we love how truly happy everyone was and their attitudes and willingness to embrace the event really made for a positive, fabulous day.  And their First Look are one of the most emotive, beautifully captured sequences I’ve ever seen. Well done.

A Piece of Advice

“Get a wedding planner — it will make your day perfect and stress free. Have a First Look — it’s the only part of the day that it’s just the two of you and will be so special. I think the personalities of all the vendors is really important for the day and is often not talked about.  Everyone we had was so personable and kind. Michelle who did our hair was so sweet and fun to be around, in addition to being incredibly talented.  Shane, our photographer was funny and incredibly creative. Sile, our on day coordinator, took care of everything and even when we were short one bouquet for the bridesmaids, she was so quick and on top of it in addition to being so sweet as well.  Honestly the whole process was so smooth working with Waterlily and it made everything so… peaceful.”

Tara and Jim — we cannot get over how stunning your gallery turned out.  An absolute treasure of a glorious day that will stand the test of time without a doubt. We wish you both a life as bright as your smiles, to be filled with kindness and warmth, and more adventure!