Castle Leslie Wedding - Niamh and Patrick

Castle Leslie feels like our second home, we’ve shot so many times there. And yet, it’s always a unique experience. This was our fourth visit this year and, ten years after our first visit, our first ever outdoor ceremony.

We’d been looking forward to this wedding ever since doing engagement photos with Niamh and Patrick in Belfast. We bonded over a shared love of books and an obsession with the movie Arrival – both of which featured prominently in the ceremony and reception.

There’s always a story you hear during the wedding that illustrates how much a couple love each other. Maybe it’s a little sacrifice or going that extra mile. In Patrick’s case, it was embracing Niamh’s love of dogs despite being completely allergic to them. So even if it means gasping for breath when there are no antihistamines on hand, he dotes on their dog, Bailie, like the best dog-daddy you can imagine.

The couple got ready a stone throws away from each other in the Mews at Castle Leslie, and decided on a first look with most of their wedding photos after. Where possible, this is a great idea as it gives you more time after the ceremony to hang out with your guests. We also love that cute moment when they see each other for the first time.

I absolutely loved Niamh’s style. Her gorgeous Wona Concept dress with a stunning, colourful bouquet from The Rosehip and Berry Floral Studio was simple elegance.

Videographer: Ian Higginson Media

Makeup artist: Maid by Sinead

Hairdresser: Sinead Williams Bridal Hair

Florist: The Rosehip and Berry Floral Studio

Cake: NI Cake Design

Ceremony Music – The Cellists

Band/DJ – The Cazettes

Bride's dress: Wona Concept from Forever Bridal. Steve Madden shoes, earrings Six Stories

Bridesmaids: Rewritten Bridesmaids from Archive 12, earrings AnnaRae Jewellery

Groom/Groomsmen Suits: Ludlow Menswear

Ulster Museum & Deanes at Queens Wedding - Sarah and Andrew

We’re big fans of Queen’s quarter in Belfast and never tire of shooting around it. Particularly, we love photographing weddings in The Ulster Museum and Deanes at Queens – these two places perfectly complement each other for a ceremony and reception.

Sarah is one of those people who are just naturally warm and amenable – within minutes of meeting her, you kinda just feel like you’ve been friends forever. I loved her sweetness and thoughtfulness towards her family and friends. If there’s a word for the exact opposite of a bridezilla, that word describes Sarah. Of course, Andrew is a wee sweetheart too (he just doesn’t want you to know it, so shhhh!). We loved how excited he got when chatting with us about music – we have similar tastes.

It was wonderful meet up again with the lovely Fleur Mellor for a heartfelt humanist ceremony in the Belfast Room at the Ulster Museum. The advantage of an Ulster Museum wedding is that you have one of the most photogenic parks in NI right at your doorstep – even now, we keep finding new nooks to explore in Botanic Gardens. And while you’re off having photos, your guests can even grab a coffee and explore the museum.

During the day, Sarah promised us we’d love her wedding band, Anna’s Number. And she was absolutely right – they had such youthful energy and skill they instantly made us feel like a couple of 90-year-olds.

Makeup artist: Stephanie England

Hairdresser: Kim Annesley

Florist: Pixie & Piper Flowers (Sarah made the bridesmaid bouquets & buttonholes with materials supplied from here) but the bride bouquet is by Shauna at Pixie and Piper.

Music: Piano - Janine Kinnear, Band - Anna's number, DJ - Ted Caldwell

Bridesmaids' Dresses, Archive 12, Belfast

Groom/Groomsmen Suits: Red, Belfast

Galgorm Wedding - Emma-Rose & Ambrish

How do you manage to have a wedding this stylish and cool, yet so effortless? Maybe that’s the secret of being cool and stylish – to be totally relaxed about the whole thing. It also helps to have your whole wedding in the one location. Emma-Rose and Ambrish both got ready at the Galgorm with the ceremony and reception all taking place a short walk away. This takes so much potential drama out of the wedding day.

When talking to them before the wedding, they said they wanted the wedding to be about having a party with their friends and family rather than it being an all-day couple shoot, and we loved working to that brief – grabbing them for a few short shoots over the course of the day rather than keeping them away from their party. It obviously helps that they could just turn on the cool like a flick of a switch!

This was one of those weddings where guests were like runners at the start of a marathon, chomping at the bit to get onto the dancefloor. And of course, Emma-Rose and Ambrish right in the middle of it all, making sure it was the party they dreamed of.

And two days later… We were at the Dark Hedges photographing an engagement when we bumped in to Ambrish’s parents doing some sight-seeing. They (thankfully) gave us a glowing review and reassured the couple they were in good hands.

Brooklodge & Macreddin Village Wedding - Edel & Hugh

Whenever a last-minute enquiry comes in, they usually start with “this is going to sound a little mad, but our wedding is in a couple of months.” However, these are truly our kind of people – after all, we planned and had our own wedding with just three months’ notice (and had to answer the question “You mean, September this year?” about a million times). And in our experience, weddings organised in a few months are no less perfect than the ones that have taken years of planning. They usually feel super relaxed – a reflection of the laid back couple who have organised it.

The past few years have seen us photograph a lot of intimate weddings, and Edel and Hugh’s had the intimacy and emotion turned up to eleven! Joined by just their immediate family and their beautiful daughter, Indie, they had a gorgeous outdoor ceremony by the old chapel at Macreddin Village in Wicklow, followed with a cosy dinner in the Strawberry Tree restaurant a short walk away (and speeches that made us cry). While the adults enjoyed dinner and exchanged stories, the kids went outside and chased chickens and hammed it up for the camera.

And that dress. We really have to talk about Edel’s style… Of course, Hugh looked lovely, let’s just get that out of the way, but Edel wore one of the most beautiful dresses we’ve seen in our whole time doing this job, and she looked absolutely amazing. I think we told her this about a million times on the day, but I really cannot get over how effortlessly beautiful, timeless, and elegant she looked. It was the perfect length that allowed her to explore the grounds for photos and play and dance with little Indie.

While a lot of the traditional wedding elements were different or even absent, it never once felt like they were missing. Everything was exactly as it should’ve been.

Suppliers

Henna: Henna Designs in Dublin

Rings: Chupi

Dress: Temperly London from Leaf and Lace Bridal Boutique, Steinhausen, Switzerland

Cake: Jenny Miller

Flowers: Flore

Hair: Sandra Maher - The Powder Room Girls

Make-Up: Ashley O’Rourke

String Quartet: Simply Strings

Celebrant: Karen Dempsey