They describe their wedding as a relaxed affair. There was no specific theme, but they’d call it a summer/autumn outdoor theme. The main thing that they wanted was to have their ceremony outside. Jessica’s favourite flowers are sunflowers so they based a lot of the decorations around them. They tied some of the colours in with the colour of the bridesmaids’ burgundy dresses.
Couple: Jessica & Colin Redmond
Engagement length: 2 years
Wedding date: 2018-08-30
Wedding location: Glenview Hotel, Wicklow
Photographer: Emma May Photography
Jessica and Colin met through mutual friends and a shared love of live music and film. Colin proposed on Jessica’s birthday in 2016. So under the guise of taking her out for her birthday, they went out to Glendalough for the day. Colin took her to her favourite spot out by Lough Tay and popped the question.
They describe their wedding as a relaxed affair. There was no specific theme, but they’d call it a summer/autumn outdoor theme. The main thing that they wanted was to have their ceremony outside. Jessica’s favourite flowers are sunflowers so they based a lot of the decorations around them. They tied some of the colours in with the colour of the bridesmaids’ burgundy dresses.
Jessica wore an ivory lace top and an ivory maxi length tulle skirt. She chose a top and skirt instead of a dress because she likes the style. She’s also not someone who’s comfortable in dresses so she chose a style that she would be comfortable in for the day.
“I don’t believe that anyone should be uncomfortable in their clothes especially on their wedding day!”
Colin wore a navy suit with a grey and navy check waistcoat and a gold tie.
The bridesmaids wore a maxi length burgundy dress with sequins on the top and a tulle skirt. They had a relatively easy time picking the bridesmaids dresses as Jessica’s friends are pretty easy going. Although they are three completely different people, they have similar senses of style. Jessica chose this dress as they all liked the colour and the style suited them all. Again comfort is important and it was a dress that they all felt comfortable in. The groomsmen wore navy suits and waistcoats and gold ties.
“Our ceremony was outdoors and we got really lucky to have a sunny day. We had a spiritualist ceremony and our celebrant Tom Farrell was great. He was so warm and calm and you can tell that he really loves and has a passion for what he does. We chose elements for the ceremony which gave us the opportunity to include loved ones. It was important to us that the ceremony didn’t just celebrate us getting married but also how important the people in our lives are to us. We chose hand-tying as we liked the fact that it is based on a traditional Celtic custom. We had both our fathers and bridesmaids/groomsmen do the hand-tying. We chose candle lighting as it gave us the chance to include both our mothers but also showed how important them raising us is to who we are today. We also chose the letter ceremony as we thought it would be a nice keepsake to have to open up in 10 years time and enjoy a drink together. Also the idea of having a time capsule to the thoughts we had the night before our wedding to read in the future was nice. We chose a reading each which my brother and one of Colin’s close friends read.”
“We chose the Glenview in Wicklow as it had the outdoor space that we had wanted and gave us the beautiful backdrop of the Wicklow mountains. We wanted to make sure that all our guests would have the option to either stay at the wedding or be able to go home afterwards. So the fact that it is only about 30 minutes drive back to Dublin was also great for us. The garden area where we had our ceremony was beautiful and we liked that there was also a separate garden area for us to have our reception drinks in as well. The hotel itself is beautiful and steeped in history. I also haven’t seen a bridal suite quite as impressive as the one here, it is absolutely huge! The staff in the hotel were second to none and they couldn’t do more for us. They were so attentive to us and we really felt like we could relax on the day and let them take care of everything. Something our guests commented on was how friendly and helpful the staff of the hotel were to them. The food was absolutely exceptional there as well. We have even been back to eat in the restaurant since.”
“Our photographer Emma was wonderful. She has such a warm and friendly manner in how she deals with people and it instantly put everybody at ease. She was so good at getting everybody together for the photos and making sure all the stragglers didn’t stray too far when we needed them for pictures as well. We felt really comfortable with her and she was open to any ideas we had about what we wanted to do for our photos and also had some great ones of her own. Looking back on our photos now they all seem so natural and not staged even when they were. She really managed to capture all the happiness and fun of the day.”
For their entertainment, they chose the band Afterparty, who played a mix of Soul and Pop music. Their friends and families all seemed to really enjoy them. Their DJ was a mutual friend, Thomas McCarthy, who had been performing at a Punk and Reggae DJ night in Sin E on their first date.
Jessica made the favours herself. Each guest received a little burlap bag with some sunflower seeds in them and instructions on how to plant them, with a little tag on it which said ‘plant me and watch love grow’.
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“I feel it’s hard for me to be able to offer advice as we feel very lucky to have been able to have the wedding that we had given the situation that a lot of couples are finding themselves in at the minute. My heart goes out to all of them as I can only imagine how hard things are for them right now. The only advice I could possibly give would be that at the end of the day a wedding is about celebrating you and your partner’s relationship and to try to focus on each other and what really makes you happy.”
Suppliers
Wedding venue: Glenview Hotel, Wicklow | Photographer: Emma May Photography | Planner/coordinator: Rachel O Riordan | Musician/band: Afterparty | DJ: Thomas McCarthy | Hair: Claire Finegan | Makeup: Hollywood Beauty – Lorraine Caraher | Couple’s outfits: Monsoon/Wilderness Brides, Diffeneys | Wedding party outfits: Monsoon, Diffeneys | Cake: Pat O Reilly | Celebrant/solemniser: Tom Farrell | Stationery: Emmet Connell | Jewellery: Hazel Kenny Designs | Accessories: Monsoon
