Real wedding couple Eibhlín & Édouard’s wedding day proves that Ireland couldn’t be more perfect for a romantic and stylish celebration. The pair who live in Paris hosted an epic wedding weekend in beautiful County Monaghan—bringing all their loved ones together to share in their stylish union at Hilton Park. Ciara Cassidy of Photography by Ciara captured this wonderful celebration, filled with effortlessly cool French-Girl style, the prettiest florals, two lovebirds who are head over heels in love, and the hospitality that Ireland is known for. Scroll on to see more…
Our stylish Bride Eibhlín hails from Monaghan, Ireland and her equally stylish groom Édouard is French. They both currently live in Paris where their love story first began. Eibhlín kindly shares the story of how they came to be. “In a bar in Paris soon after I moved there, my French wasn’t good at the time so he had to speak in English, which is funny looking back now. I was going on holiday the next day so we only saw each other properly a month later after I got back… and the rest is history!”
All the stationery for the celebration was designed by the talented bride. “I studied graphic design so I did everything myself. I bought nice paper and envelopes from GF Smith and printed them on the printer in work.”
And the proposal story? “It was very low-key, no Eiffel Tower involved! We always do a Christmas dinner where we exchange gifts before we both head home to celebrate Christmas with our families. We spend the day cooking up a lovely dinner which is usual a mix of both Irish and French Christmas with good food and wine. In France, gifts are exchanged between main course and dessert, so Edouard gave me my gift, which was all lovely and then he was like, wait, there’s also this envelope under the tree… I opened it and he had written ‘veux-tu m’épouser?’ (will you marry me?). Edouard was coming to Ireland with me for Christmas so we got to announce the news in person a few days later, which was lovely.”
Eibhlín & Édouard officially tied the knot in Paris (check out the bride’s incredible Alexander McQueen suit which she donned for their French ceremony here!) in July with their two families and some close friends. In September, they had a low-key ceremony in Ireland where they exchanged wedding rings and had a super stylish country house hooley with 120 of their nearest and dearest.
And the perfect venue for their Irish celebration? The wildly romantic, beautifully restored, exclusive hire Hilton Park country house in Co. Monaghan which they found via One Fab Day.
Eibhlín tells us more about their venue choice. “We both wanted the wedding to be in Ireland. Hilton Park is near my family home which made it ideal and the fact that they were so open to us doing it the way we wanted. We had originally been thinking of spring 2023 but Hilton Park only had 2 dates left in 2022, so we went for the September date and got organizing ASAP! We hadn’t wanted a long engagement and organizing it over a few months was totally fine.”
When it came to the look and the feel they wanted to create, Eibhlín says, “Hilton Park is such a beautiful venue that it did all the work! When I think of the wedding, I think of the house. With that in mind, we wanted to keep it simple and elegant (as cliché as that is). It was about getting rid of the fuss and making it feel more like us.”
After a jolly good hooley the night before in the local pub Annie McGinn’s, the couple and their guests gathered for the ceremony at Hilton Park. Eibhlín reminices, “It was amazing to have all our guests arriving in Annie McGinn’s on Friday night, half of whom had come from France and were experiencing Ireland for the first time!”
Although the couple had already had their legal ceremony in Paris a few months prior, their Irish ceremony was also filled with meaningful moments. Eibhlín says, “Instead of an official ceremony, we did the speeches at this point which were made up of a speech by dad, poem by my mum, Edouard’s parents said a few words and his brother’s translated, the best man did a song and my sisters wrote a poem for us.”
“That was the joy of having the speeches as the ceremony, everyone did it in their own way. I did love my sisters poem, it was very funny. My mum read a wedding blessing from John O’Donohue’s Benedictus and Edouard’s best man sang All of my Life by Kevin Morby.”
After the moving speeches, poems and songs, the couple stepped up to exchange their vows, and their wedding rings from Whitebird in Paris. “Last but not least was myself and Edouard, after which we exchanged rings. The ceremony was bilingual so my friend Michael did MC, switching between English and French and myself and Edouard did our speeches switching between the 2 languages. It was a lovely way to start the day with some tears, laughs and lots of romance!”
The ceremony was followed by canapés and celebratory champagne in Hilton Park house. “It lashed rain outside, so Hilton Park was the perfect venue. Very cosy!”
No wedding could be imagined without the bride and groom’s sartorial choices for the day—and both Eibhlín’s wedding gown and Édouard’s custom suit spoke to every bit of their personality and vision. For Eibhlín, a sleek gown by Emilia Wickstead with a custom top by Leanne Keogh was her bridal choix du jour. She came across the dress via a timely search on Farfetch.”It was the last in my size so I went for it. I had looked in bridal stores in Paris but I liked the simplicity. Leanne Keogh made me a top to go with it that I wore for the ceremony.”
Eibhlín completed her bridal look with low Prada heels, a pearl Simone Rocha bag, and contemporary pearl earrings from Alighieri.
The style stakes were high, but the dapper groom was not to be outshone. Édouard wore a slick green suit which was tailor-made for the groom at L’apiéceur in Paris.
The gorgeous powder blue bridesmaid dresses were sourced from Self-Portrait.
Of what inspired their stylish, yet romantic wedding aesthetic, the bride says, “The venue was probably the biggest inspiration, I had that it mind and went from there. I also started a folder with any photography, flower etc reference images that I’d seen on Instagram, One Fab Day or Pinterest which I later shared with Ciara, the photographer and florist as a guide. They both did an amazing job. I’m usually pretty decisive about what I want things to look/feel like so I think it’s mostly about trusting your gut.”
She adds, “I’m an art director so the decoration was important to me. The venue was beautiful so it didn’t need much extra but I wanted long tables which were dotted with bunches of bright wild flowers by Amelia. I had picked up brass candle stick holders on a market in Brussels and my friend Leanne Keogh made the most amazing table runners out of Irish linen, dying them with natural dyes using avocado stones which gave them a dusty pink colour.”
Elements of a traditional Irish wedding and a French celebration were effortlessly weaved in: An Irish trad band made up of a violin, button accordion, and guitar and vocal trio entertained the guests, while we’re told “the champagne and wine from France went down very well!”
Amelia’s Garden Flowers crafted the floral arrangements for the day, the bride saying, “They were the most beautiful, natural flowers, she did such an amazing job.”
The beautiful cake was a generous gift from the Bride’s auntie Helen.
The wedding meal by Yellow Door was a mix of London cool, French favourites and Irish home comforts. “We both enjoy food and wine so that was really important, which is why we choose Hilton Park, allowing us some freedom with this. Yellow Door did an amazing job with the food. My friend Max Rocha runs a restaurant in London and he helped me with the menu, sticking with dishes that work well for big numbers but that felt Irish. We did a wine pairing for each dish, for example we had a white from Loire Valley to go with the fish starter that we had come across in a restaurant and then bought bottles direct from the vineyard. We finished with a pet nat (sparking wine) with the desert. My parents came to France in their camper and brought all the wine back on the boat!”
Looking back on the moments that made their day so special, the bride says, “Where to start! Edouard had undergone major cardiac surgery in 2020 followed by 3 weeks in ICU. It was an incredibly difficult period so being surrounded by our friends and family that had been there during that time felt like such a celebration for so many reasons. The speeches were very emotional and so full of gratitude, it was really touching.”
“A lot of friends and family played a part too which made it really lovely. My best friend from school made cakes for when people arrived the evening before at the local pub (Annie McGinn’s), my friend Leanne Keogh made my top and also did the table runners; Max, the chef, made his famous Guinness brown bread (@maxrocha__) in the kitchen of Hilton Park on the morning of the wedding to be served with the dinner which was such a treat. A friend shot video on a super 8 camera and the evening before the wedding, we gave disposable cameras to a few designated people from each group, which meant that we had pics from the whole weekend.”
How to start an Irish wedding party with a bang? With an Irish trad band, of course! “We hadn’t planned a first dance and ended up dancing to the Irish trad band and everyone joined in with us! It was so much fun.”
The final evening of their wedding weekend consisted of relaxed drinks at Hughie’s pub, before the party continued long into the night.
After the epic celebrations, the pair jetted off on honeymoon to Thailand which they would highly reccommend. “We spent 10 days on an idyllic island called Koh Mak, which is not so well known and had been recommended by my Thai friend. We had a beautiful villa literally on the beach, it’s also really affordable so zero guilt in enjoying massages and cocktails whenever we fancied it!”
As for words of wedded wisdom for other couples, Eibhlín says, “Keep it simple, you dont have to follow tradition but do what matters to you. Make sure and book a good photographer that helps you capture the day. Ciara did a beautiful job and was so lovely to work with.”
The bride adds, “A friend told me that it’s like running a marathon, you spend months putting in the hard work and getting ready for that one day. When it’s over you want to do it all again!
Congratulations Eibhlín & Édouard! Thank you for sharing your super stylish Hilton Park wedding day with us! A big Thank You also goes to Ciara Cassidy of Photography by Ciara for sharing today’s celebration. See more gorgeous moments from this celebration in the gallery below.