A Rustic Country Wedding With a Hint of Glamour

“The venue has a rustic country feel so I wanted to add a bit of glamour. The colours were light blue, gold and white, with lots of greenery to match the venue.”

Bride and groom: Rhianne Hill & Keith Dwyer

Length of engagement: 2 years

Wedding Date: 23rd June 2019

Wedding location: BrookLodge at Macreddin Village, Wicklow

Photographer: Couple Photography

How did you meet and get engaged?

We met at Christmas time 2014. Keith was living in Australia at the time and came to England to visit his cousin and wife who I am friends with, they introduced us over the weekend. Keith then went to Ireland to spend Christmas with his family before heading back to Australia. He messaged me from the airport and we then messaged or talked on FaceTime every day for the next few months and started our long distance relationship. I visited him in Australia for a couple of weeks in the April and then he moved to England in July.

Our proposal was on the first night of our holiday to Ibiza in 2017. Keith arranged a romantic sunset dinner at Sa Punta restaurant. We had a delicious 3 course meal and paid the bill before going for a drink on the rooftop bar overlooking the harbour. Our waitress followed us up a few minutes later and put a wooden box on the table and said it was our change from the dinner. I opened the box and there was a ring inside!

Describe your wedding:

The venue has a rustic country feel so I wanted to add a bit of glamour. The colours were light blue, gold and white, with lots of greenery to match the venue.

The bridesmaids wore light blue dresses and Keith and the groomsmen wore ties to match. I love roses and peonies with lots of green. We added splashes of gold in the table decorations and stationery. And we named our tables after all our favourite bars, clubs and restaurants in Ibiza, the top table was Sa Punta.

Tell us about your bridal look:

My dress and veil are Ian Stuart. I knew it was the one the minute I put it on. The silk fabric was so beautiful and the crystal, beaded flower details around the waist and on the veil were like nothing I’d seen before on any other dress. I found it 18 months before the wedding, some people said it was too early to buy it but I knew nothing else would top it.

My hair and make up… Kate Hennebry and her assistant did our make up and Leanne from Vow2Wow did the hair. We had to start at 6:45am as the girls had quite a job with me, 6 bridesmaids, plus my mum but they were amazing, everyone looked beautiful and we were ready with time to spare!

What did your bridal party wear?

I had 6 bridesmaids, 3 of my family members and 3 of my closest friends, their dresses were from ASOS. I loved the high necks and low backs on the dresses which complemented my dress perfectly. The 2 flower girls wore white satin dresses from Next.

What was your ceremony like?

We had a Humanist ceremony in the chapel on the grounds of the venue. Brian Whiteside was our celebrant and so many of our guests commented on how brilliant he was. Nickita McAuley sang accompanied by a flute and guitar player. We had readings from members of our family which was so nice to have them included.

We’d invited too many guests for the capacity of the chapel so Keith asked a few of his friends to join us later in the day. Little did we know they were waiting outside the chapel and made an arch with hurleys which was a great little surprise when we walked out.

Tell us about your photographer:

I’d spent hours online researching photographers and came across a real wedding at BrookLodge, captured by Couple Photography. I loved the way they’d captured this other wedding so I decided they were perfect for us. Ros was fantastic at making sure she got all the right pictures whilst keeping everyone in good spirits and enjoying the day.

Tell us about your wedding venue:

Two things really drew us to our venue, the beautiful setting, and the people. The area with the chapel is perfect, it’s stunning how it’s hidden in the trees and with the stream right next to it, when we visited for the first time it was so easy to imagine walking from the main hotel and over the bridge to the chapel. The General Manager, Joe, showed us around the whole hotel and spent so much time talking us through all the details of how our day could come together.

What was your favourite part of your wedding day?

It was our first dance. Our song is Shut Up and Dance with Me, this is because when I visited Keith in Australia it was played ALL the time so it became our song and we had to have it for our first dance. The band, Top of the Popz, slowed down the first verse and chorus for us and then got everyone on the dance floor for a boys vs girls sing-off. Everyone joined in and the dance floor was packed for the rest of the night.

Have you got any advice for other couples?

Try not to stress!!! Most people don’t notice the tiny details that you spend so much time agonising over. Just make every decision for yourselves and everything will fall into place.

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