On a beautiful day in October, Louise and Liam wed in spectacular style at Ashley Park House. Their celebration had a vintage glamour theme with beautiful nods to the autumn season and the Irish culture of Halloween, Samhain. They were joined by 210 of their nearest and dearest and they had a craic-first policy, as they wanted all of their cherished people to have the absolute best time of their lives.
The style was timeless and sensational, where the glowing bride sparkling in a breathtaking beaded gown, her leading ladies donned sumptuous velvet gowns and the flowers were romantic and textured. From their deeply personal ceremony that was loaded with gorgeous rituals to their sparkling reception, every second was unforgettable. You will not want to miss a moment and luckily Dave of Awake and Dreaming was on hand to ensure every single joy-soaked moment was captured. Enjoy!
Louise and Liam are from the same area in Kildare and while they both went to secondary schools in Naas they did not meet or come to know each other until their first year at DCU.
While Liam thought he was being super secretive when it came to the proposal Louise reveals she was on to him. “He was acting extremely out of character like being proactive and organised the week before our annual summer trip down to Rosslare, which are rare traits for Liam to exhibit in our 11 years together.”
She continues, “When I had an idea what he was up to, I made sure to get my nails done and pack some white outfits with me, to wear for afterwards. When we arrived down to his family’s holiday home in Rosslare Co. Wexford, we decided to head out to the really cute little coastal village Kilmore Quay, which is one of my favourite places to go to in Ireland. We proceeded on our usual walk along the gorgeous stretch of beach and that’s where he proposed. We spent over an hour on that beach ringing our family and friends and we then had to rush back to get ready for dinner which he had booked in the gorgeous Sea Rooms in Kelly’s Resort. We had a fab evening there where the staff absolutely spoiled us and then went to Seafield Hotel the next day where we were able to remain in our bubble and enjoy just the two of us, before heading home to Kildare to celebrate with our families.”
“Food, music and craic were the most important things to us (and a fab dress of course),” the bride shares. “These are the things that we always remember after every wedding we’ve been too and hence why they were so important for us.”
Louise shed more light on their breathtaking aesthetic, “Our wedding day was ‘so us’. We like being a bit different and pushing the boundaries. Theme was vintage glamour with subtle tasteful nods to Autumn (my favourite season) and our Irish culture Samhain (Halloween). Which all worked so beautifully with the gorgeous aesthetic of the 18th century house and scenic grounds of our venue surrounding us.”
We could not be more in love with Louise’s bridal look which included a sparkling beaded wedding dress by Herms Bridal from The White Room in Mullingar. She accessorised exquisitely with an ethereal veil, Zara heels and bridal accessories from Everly in Naas.
Their celebrant Graham Barrett curated a deeply meaningful ceremony that not only reflected them and their love story but he also paid a beautiful homage to their culture.
“My good friend Rach read the famous excerpt from Captain Corelli’s Mandolin which encapsulates what real love is, something that really resonated with Liam and I, having been together for 11 years.” Liam’s sister read Scaffolding by Seamus Heaney and bridesmaid Maeve closed the ceremony with a gorgeous reflection poem that was personally written for them.
They included a series of wonderful ceremony rituals including a handfasting which is a symbolic unity ritual where a couple stand face to face as their hands are tied together – hence the phrase, tying the knot! Their family and friends made their ceremony as magical as can be. “In a moment we will cherish forever, Liam’s 92-year-old nanny had the honour of tying our final knot and this shot is probably one of our favourite photos from our entire wedding. When Ali sang Grace during our hand-fasting ritual – this moved me to tears. Her voice is just so incredible and again was such a profound moment.”
They symbolised stepping into married life a jumping the broom ritual and so sweetly Louise’s sisters decorated the broomstick and they baked a Bairín Breac for the couple to break together. “Tradition says whoever breaks the larger piece is ‘the boss’ – which, unsurprisingly, was me. We received so many compliments on the ceremony, particularly on how personal and authentic it felt to us. The right balance of love, humour and sincerity.”
The bridesmaids were gloriously chic wearing deep green velvet gowns with assymetrical necklines from Azazie which were styled with beaded heels from Zara.
Nestled within 76 acres of serene beech woodland with formal gardens and its very own lake, Ashley Park House provides a stunning backdrop for a wedding and it inspired the vintage glam vibes of their celebration and Louise’s wedding dress. “The rest funnily enough all just fell into place itself. I never set out wanting to get married on Halloween, I didn’t even realise the date until my family and friends started joking about wearing Halloween costumes to our wedding. But I did lean into Samhain traditions especially during our ceremony and after dinner entertainment like having props and costumes for guests to wear on the dancefloor and also a trick or treat trolley with sweets and crisps.”
The flowers by Seasons of Love focused on romantic autumnal elegance with rustic foliage and red pampas grass bringing a soft sense of ethereal drama.
Louise had seen historic, family-run wedding venue Ashley Park House on One Fab Day, it was the first placed they ever viewed and they immediately fell in love. “Anything we viewed after that just didn’t compare. We love the scenic-ness of the grounds, the gardens, the long drive in, the lake, the old house itself, the gardens and of course the peacocks. But it was the boathouse that really sold it for us. In all the weddings we had previously gone to, we had never seen anything like it. It was also the same day we met our amazing photographer Dave who had mentioned he had also gotten married there and Ashley Park was one of his favourite places to photograph in Ireland. Soon after that we set our date and paid our deposits.”
The jaw-dropping reception styling included ethereal bursts of blooms in statement tall vases and their table numbers charted featured sweet pictures of them through the years.
We adore the backdrop for their cake which was a ruched white confection by The Velvet Cakery.
They had a wonderful game teed up for the drinks reception to keep their guests more than entertained as they mingled and with their Guess the First Dance sweepstake. Guests chose from 100 possible song options and the winner took home €100. “It added a lovely bit of fun to the day,” Louise adds.
The couple sourced their wedding rings at Bespoke Diamonds.
Poplife brought the energy, style and unforgettable music for their unforgettable night which included a dazzling first dance to From Now On from The Greatest Showman.
After poring over all the details of their spectacular celebration, we were delighted when Louise shared her wedding planning words of wisdom. “Align as a couple ahead of time on what’s most important to you both, and invest in those areas – you’ll have no regrets, she says.
“Using Excel to keep track of everything was my saving grace. Try to enjoy it, because the day goes by incredibly quickly. A last-minute decision, which I am so thankful of, is deciding to get a videographer. Karl is so talented and was able to forever encapsulate the day for us through movement and sound. And worked so well with our photographer Dave to bring our vision to life.”
Straight after the wedding, the couple checked into a five-star resort in Lanzarote for a little, and oh-so-lovely, mini-moon. “It was exactly what we needed as we were so wrecked. We plan to go on our Honeymoon next June to South America where we will hike Machu Picchu, stay in the Amazon and visit Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia.
Congratulations Louise and Liam! A huge thank you to our lovely couple for allowing us to share their stunning Ashley Park House wedding and to Awake and Dreaming who captured every magical moment and delightful detail with such beauty.
Tying the knot? Get inspired by checking out more Irish Real Weddings here!
