Names: Erica & Ashwin
Length of engagement: 22 months
Wedding Date: 29th of November 2018
Wedding location: Tinakilly House Hotel, Rathnew Co.Wicklow
Photographer: Paul Duane Photography
We met… In the gym! We both were competitive powerlifters at the time and had competed at National level so would have seen each other at competitions. A friend of mine had convinced me (Erica) to train at a powerlifting specific gym going forward and that’s where we officially met.
Our proposal… January 1st 2017. I was pregnant with our first baby. We booked a last minute stay for NYE in Mount Juliet, Kilkenny. It was very quiet NYE for us, I think I was asleep by 10pm. But the next day, we got up for breakfast and went for a walk around the estate. It was a beautiful crisp winter’s day and the rest is history.
Our wedding theme/colours… Burgundy and Gold. What better colours to have coming into the Christmas season.
Things we DIY’d/made ourselves… The sweet table and we added some personal touches to our cake table also.
My dress… Custom made by Edel Tuite Bridal Design. From the get go- I was adamant I was not having the traditional wedding dress. I was even searching on ASOS for dresses. Because I am so petite I thought I would look like I was making my communion rather than getting married in a wedding dress. Anyway after all of this, I had saw one of Edel’s dresses on Instagram (It was like a tea party dress with fab shoes) so I reached out to her and made an appointment. My bridesmaids came with me. The first dress I tried, I thought- okay, we can definitely work with this.. then Edel brought out THE DRESS and WOW, no questions asked.
My hair and makeup… My hair was done by Rachel and Nadine from Black Amber in Rathfarnham. My makeup was done by a friend of mine Deirdre O’Halloran- Makeup By Dee
His suit… Custom made by Abu in Louis Copeland. Himself, David and the gang went above and beyond for us. Abu’s attention to detail is just superb, he hand stitched out initial’s into the breast of Ashwin’s jacket and our wedding date onto the collar.
What our bridal party wore… The Bridesmaid’s – dresses from Asos, they loved them. The groomsmen – suits were again from Louis Copeland. And, our Flower Girl, her dress was from Monsoon and her little coat was from Mama’s & Papas.
Our ceremony… Was in St Joseph’s Church, Terenure and officiating it was Fr Philip Bradley.
We chose our photographer because… Paul was the first and only photographer we looked at. His work is so candid- neither one of us are good at posing and we wanted someone who would catch moments rather than make us pose non-stop for hours on end.
We chose our venue because… We wanted something homely and romantic and that’s what Tinakilly is. The staff couldn’t have done any more for us. It is a fantastic venue and the staff are superb.
Our menu…
Starters: tomato and basil soup followed by either a warm chicken salad or a caprice salad.
Mains: Beef or Salmon served with all of the trimmings.
Dessert: Warm apple and seasonal berry crumble.
We also had a vegan/ vegetarian option of a Falafel burger & pomegranate raita served with sweet potato chimmi churri and fries. Despite our menu being a set menu, they made many exceptions for our guests who didn’t eat either mains which was brilliant.
Our honeymoon… We have yet to plan this as prior to our wedding, we moved into our forever family home so we are focusing on this for now. We are hoping to go on a family holiday in 2020.
My favourite part of the wedding day… Obviously marrying the love of my life but seeing all my work coming together.
My piece of advice for other couples… Invest in your photographer and videographer. No matter how much you try and take in on the day, unfortunately, you will always miss something. Being the bride, I never got to see my little girl – flower girl (she was 17 months at the time) walk down the aisle and being able to watch that again and just sit down and look back on our whole day is so nice.
What is it that makes your wedding unique?
Our Church, this is were I (Erica) made all of my sacraments. Our daughter Molly was christened there by Fr Bradley and I hope she will make her sacraments there also. This Church holds a lot of memories for me. Fr Bradley is one in a million, our family has a wonderful bond with him.
Suppliers
Wedding venue: Tinakilly House Hotel | Photographer: Paul Duane | Videographer: Cyril Fox | Musician: Maria Corbet et al | DJ: Pro DJ’s | Hair: Black Amber, Rathfarnham | Makeup: Makeup By Dee | Dress: Edel Tuite Bridal Design | Veil: Jill Wilde from Wilde by Design | Suits: Louis Copeland | Bridesmaids dresses: Asos | Cake: Cat from The Cake Cuppery | Florist: Gillian from Flowers by Mee | Stationery: Andreea from Save the Date | Cars: AT & T Chauffeurs | Celebrant: Fr Philip Bradley
