A Quaint Irish Wedding at Darver Castle

Real Weddings

“The only theme I would say I stuck to was to make everything as personal as possible. I wanted the style and feel of the day to reflect us both as a couple and it definitely did.”

Names: Jennifer and Stephen Corri

Length of engagement:  18 months

Wedding Date: 29th June 2018

Wedding location:  St Michaels Church in Darver, Co. Louth followed by the reception in Darver Castle.

Photographer: Shane Redmond of Robert Redmond Studios

We met… On Friday 13th July 2012 at our friend Robs birthday party in Messr Maguires in Dublin and immediately clicked. We then went on our first date the following week and have been a duo ever since.

Our proposal… Stephen proposed to me on Christmas eve 2016. I was 5 months pregnant at the time and he always brought me in my morning cup of tea to try to prevent my dreaded morning sickness. He brought me in a cup of tea in bed as usual and as we made plans for our day he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. We were both very excited anyway as it was our first Christmas in our new home, and so we knew it would be a special day. The proposal, of course, made it more so and we couldn’t wait to tell all our friends and family the good news and start planning our big day.

Our wedding theme/colours… We never fully committed to a theme as such. From the female planning perspective, I saw a lot of words being thrown around like rustic, vintage, alternative etc and I never felt I could fully commit to a theme. The only theme I would say I stuck to was to make everything as personal as possible. I wanted the style and feel of the day to reflect us both as a couple and it definitely did.

Things we DIY’d/made ourselves… We both felt it was important to insert a bit of ourselves into our day and because our friends and family are so important to us we wanted to make sure they were represented on the day. Before I even got engaged my Mam had come to me with the idea of knitted bouquets and I loved it. Once I was engaged and we had the date set she was full steam ahead. She came up with a few ideas and eventually we went with the chosen design. They turned out amazing and it’s so nice to have such a personal keepsake of my day that I can hopefully pass on to my daughter one day. She also knit all the button holes for the lads and the bride and groom for the cake.

She knit bunting for the church and venue signs and for around the cake table. All of which really made the day so personal and special. My bridesmaid Selina is very artistic and she made the Unplugged sign for the church and the welcome sign for Darver Castle. Again they both brought that personal touch to the day. We also had a memory table to represent the important people in our lives that couldn’t be there on the day that included photos and props and another sign.

My dress… I got my dress in My Fair Lady Bridal in Monaghan. It’s Mori Lee and it’s called Musidora. I saw the dress online and made a booking to try it on. It was the first dress I tried on and I knew instantly that it was my wedding dress. The girls in My Fair Lady are so lovely and helpful and really made me feel special. I couldn’t recommend them enough.

My hair and makeup… Our makeup artist was Melanie Meade and we had Sinead McGoldrick do our hair. I immediately booked my makeup artist once I got engaged as I know her well and couldn’t have imagined anyone else doing my makeup on my wedding day. Melanie is amazing at what she does and has the ability to make you feel a million dollars. Her personality was such a welcome part of the morning and it was so nice to have her there on our big day.

I’m very fussy with my hair and knew this would take some research. I eventually found Sinead and knew from her photos that she was a perfectionist. She didn’t disappoint and had us all looking and feeling fabulous on the day. Again Sinead is such a lovely girl and was such a nice addition to the morning. It’s very important you chose the right duo here and I definitely did.

His suit… I was adamant I didn’t want to know anything about his suit. I wanted to have the same sense of surprise he did when I walked down the aisle and I know he is very stylish so would make amazing choices. The only thing I knew was the colour of the bow ties as we had to coordinate. Stephen went with a different suit to the groomsmen. They were all from The Formal Suite.

What our bridal party wore… The 5 girls wore grey Dresses with lilac embellishment from ASOS. I really wanted something a little bit different as I’m not a fan of typical bridesmaid dresses. And I also wanted something that would suit all five girls, a dress they liked and felt comfortable in. They all agreed on the dress and loved it and they looked spectacular on the day.

Our ceremony… We got married in St Michaels Church in Darver and the priest was Father Pat McEnroe. He was so lovely (and a little bit eccentric) which was brilliant. He made the whole experience feel personal and the church is so lovely and quaint.

We chose our photographer because… I loved his style. Shane was absolutely amazing on the day. I’ve seen so many wedding photos that looked staged and forced. And when we were planning our day we wanted a photographer that would capture moments and not just take photos. Shane did exactly what I wanted and more. I love my photos and will have them forever. And on top of him being extremely talented, he is one of the nicest guys ever!

We also had Leo from Elmotions as the videographer on the day. Leo was amazing. He knows Darver Castle well and although I haven’t got my video yet I know it’s going to be amazing. His work is fabulous and he had a drone to capture the beautiful grounds of Darver and our entry into the Castle.

We chose our venue because… My sister had told me about Darver Castle as she loved it when she viewed it. We visited Darver castle before looking at any other venue. We loved it so much that we booked our date and paid our deposit within an hour of viewing the venue.

Our menu… We had 5 courses:

Puff Pastry Case Filled With Chicken And Mushrooms

Butternut Squash & Chilli Soup

 

A choice of:

Roast Beef

Roast Fillet Of Salmon

Supreme Of Irish Chicken

Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables Baked in Puff Pastry

 

Darver Trio of Desserts

Tea and Coffee

Our honeymoon… We went to Florida for four days and from there we went on a Caribbean cruise. We visited Jamaica, Mexico and Haiti and had the most amazing time.

My favourite part of the wedding day… walking down the aisle with my Dad and seeing Stephen’s face.

My piece of advice for other couples… enjoy every last moment. Your wedding day is considered the best day of your life. You’ve planned everything to perfection and you’re paying a lot of money. Take everything in, live in the moment and appreciate every last detail.

Suppliers

Wedding venue: Darver Castle | Photographer: Shane Redmond (Robert Redmond Studios) | Videographer: Leo from Elmotions | Musician: Tropical Storm and Beat Club | DJ: Beat Club | Hair: Sinead McGoldrick | Makeup: Melanie Meade | Flowers: Made by my Mam (Tie The Knit) | Dress: Mori Lee from My Fair Lady | Suit: The Formal Suite | Bridesmaids dresses: ASOS | Groomsmen outfits: The Formal Suite | Cake: Made by a family friend | Priest: Father Pat McEnroe