Colourful Outdoor Wedding Ceremony – Doolin Hotel – Amy & Stefano

MrsRedhead Photography Ireland

 

We wanted a fun colourful day for our friends and family and most importantly for ourselves.

I wanted people to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of being by the sea.

Having the ceremony outside was something I always wanted having originally looked at getting married in Italy but we literally got the most amazing day, one of the hottest of the year, we couldn’t have asked for a better day and it really fitted our colourful theme.

 

I always knew I didn’t want that “hotel” atmosphere, you know that typical style you see at every wedding.

I knew Limerick didn’t have anything to offer so I looked further a field between Cork Kerry and Clare.

The minute I looked at Hotel Doolin I knew we had to go for a look, even though I knew before we even got there that it was The One. Our first trip to Doolin went a little unexpectedly as we had planned,

I broke my foot a week before we were due to look at the venue so had to postpone for another week, and when we eventually got down I hardly hobbled around on crutches checking the place out,but even then after a sit down chat we knew leaving and driving back to Limerick we were gonna go with it.

The relaxed, friendly and environmentally conscious background of the hotel really influenced our decision along with the amazing barn!

The food and wine were always going to be very important to us, coming from a restaurant background people expect to eat well.

Hotel Doolin accommodated us in every aspect and the menu tasting was just amazing, so hard to choose! After the food & drink the band was also very important, we’ve been at weddings where the dancefloors have had practically tumbleweed rolling across it and we were adamant not to be like that.

We had 2 bands in mind, unfortunately one was booked so we went with the other. Top of the Popz , we had been at wedding only a year previous and we thought they were brilliant! And they didn’t leave us down, the dance floor was hopping all night,

Everytime we talk to family and friends they comment how much they enjoyed the band and how the dancefloor wasn’t empty all night long. They also did the dj set for us and the 90’s setlist went down a treat!

Such an amazing night!

 

Unfortunately our dog Milo couldn’t be there on the day so to include him we used his lead during our hand fasting ceremony and my friend Lisa read a poem called ‘How falling in love is like owning a dog’ this poem was special to us both.

Another element that meant a lot to us was to include a sand ceremony, we used sand from Lahinch (where my family would go during the Summer) and sand from Scauri in Italy where we would go to the beach went we went to see Stefs family. The symbolism of using the different sands and giving the task of this to my Aunt and Stefano’s sister really helped the idea behind he sand ceremony, linking he families together for live.

Having our families with us was so special. Having my Dad walk me down the aisle is one of the moments in life I will always treasure.

Our bridal party were so good to us as well from the get go once we got engaged, they made the day so much fun!

My dress was also very important to me, I felt it just represented me and the theme of our wedding,

I just loved it!

 

 

 

 

 

After being together 12 years at the time of getting engaged there had been a few moments over the last few years where I had thought, is this it?

I had gotten an email from Hotel Meyrick in Galway giving a discount for a 2 night stay, we had stayed here before and loved the hotel and Galway. I told Stef and he said ya cool book it so, no questions asked, a little strange but I just went with it. It was time to go to Galway a couple of weeks later and obviously I was thinking something might happen. It was all Ireland final day August 19th 2018 and Limerick were playing Galway in Galway!

Probably the only 2 people from Limerick in Galway that day! We went out to watch the match and had a great day, we won!!

We went back to the Hotel and freshened up, we went for a meal in an Italian restaurant we liked, sat outside had a nice bottle of white wine (I still have the Cork for this bottle!) We had such a lovely evening, Stef wanted to go back to the Hotel after the meal for a drink there, I was a bit put out I wanted to go to a bar! Anyway everything seemed super normal so to be honest I hadn’t really thought about a proposal since we got to Galway.

We got back to the Hotel and I said we’ll just go back to our room, we walked in and I had been bursting to go the the loo, I ran in but in the corner of my eye I spotted a wine cooler , a bottle of champagne and 2 glasses sitting on the table! It was such a sureal moment in the bathroom knowing that when I came out I was going to be engaged in a matter of minutes! I eventually walked out of the bathroom to Stef on one knee. He told me he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me and Would I marry him? Of course I said yes! And probably didn’t stop crying for about an hour! We rang our parent’s and siblings but didn’t tell anyone else until the next day.

Stef had already asked my Dad the week before and my sister had known since February! Stef had bought the ring and had it sitting in a drawer since then…. Waiting for me to book a night away because if he did it would have been too obvious, as I’m the planner! The timing wasn’t right at the beginning of the year, I had been given notice of my redundancy late January and started a new job in April.

Thankfully 2018 ended better than it had started out.

 

 

 

 

 

We met at a friends 21at in February 2006. Stef played rugby in the same team as some friends of mine. That night after the 21st the whole party moved into a nightclub called Trinity Rooms. Stef made his move and came over to me, I wasn’t sure and called over to my sister to interrupt us. Luckily she didn’t come over straight away and we had won me over by the time she did!

We met again on another night out the following week and swapped numbers. We went on our first date to Nancy Blake’s bar in Limerick on the day of my 20th birthday on 9th March 2006. On our third date on 16th March 2006 we went to see Walk the Line in the cinema, after that when Stef dropped me home he asked me to be his girlfriend and we’ve been together since! We lived our 20’s to the max, out every weekend and had a ball. Milo came into our lives December 2012 ♥️ In 2013 We eventually decided to settle down and save for a house. We bought our house in September 2016 and moved in December 28th 2016. We love the life we’ve built together, because it’s ours and we worked hard for it. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for us

 

We went to Croatia on honeymoon. We flew into Dubrovnik stayed for 4 nights, then we moved onto one of the islands called Hvar and back to Dubrovnik for the last 2 nights to relax…

it is such a beautiful country! So much to see and Do. The honeymoon had the right mix of culture, sightseeing, and chill out time.we are not a couple to sit and do nothing for days on end so we always knew we wanted a nice mix of both. Stef really enjoyed the Game of thrones experiences in Dubrovnik, a lot of the series was filmed here. I loved Hvar, the chilled atmosphere, the blue cave, the yachts, the turquoise green water, the food, it was all just amazing! We can’t wait to go back some day!

 

 

 

 

● Photographer: Mrs Redhead Photography

● Videographer: Colm O’Neill

● Ceremony: Hotel Doolin Co Clare

● Wedding Dresses/Suits: Wedding dress purchased in London in a shop called Fairy Gothmother designer was Charlotte Balbier and the suits were rented from Esquire in Limerick.

● Bridesmaids dresses/Groomsmen suits/Wedding party outfits: Bridesmaids dresses from Folkster and groomsmen from Esquire.

● Shoes: bridal shoes – Nine West from Brown Thomas and Stefs shoes from leavys in Limerick

● Flowers: Flowers by Karen

● Cake: Hotel Doolin

● Cars: friends

● Stationery: You’re Invited

● Makeup: Nichola Quinn on insta Nida_by_nichola

● Hair: Mimi’s salon in Ennistymon

● Wedding Rings: Kennellys Jewellers in Limerick (family friend)

● Ceremony/Reception Music: Ceremony : Hayley Griffin Pianist

● Band/DJ: Both were Top of the Popz

● Planning/Styling: Grace Events

● Rentals/Decor: Grace Events