When Emily & Gavin’s real wedding first landed in our inbox, we couldn’t quite believe our luck – a colourful and contemporary day, chock full of drop-dead gorgeous details, in one of our favourite venues, with jaw-dropping bridal style and an impeccably-dressed groom? Throw in their outrageously brilliant ‘You Do You’ and colourful 90s-Y2K disco vibes and we’re in our element!
We love it when our couples aren’t afraid to channel bold colour in their weddings. The big day is all about celebrating love, so why not make it as cheerful as possible? Well, that’s exactly what this pair set out to do at their Martinstown House wedding weekend, and boy, did they achieve that. Every little detail from their wedding was vibrant and unforgettable!
With 165 of their loved ones celebrating right alongside them, a fun, yet comfortable event was another high priority for these guys. They brought in lots of fun special touches (like lucky bags as favours) for all to enjoy, and of course, everyone could appreciate the colour-filled stylish details throughout. Their spectacular summer celebration was captured beautifully by Nina Val and we can’t wait to share it with you below!
First things first, let’s get to know our couple a little better, shall we? Our bride Emily is from the Curragh in Kildare, and Gavin is a Dublin Northsider. They are currently based in Raheny after meeting 7 years ago. Emily had moved to Dublin during college and was looking for a new job in Dublin. She applied for a floor position in Xico on Baggot St. where Gavin was already working as a bartender. The pair immediately hit it off, and let’s say the rest is history!
We love these lovebirds proposal story! Emily fills us in, “It was the May bank holiday and we had gotten up on the Sunday and deep cleaned the apartment. I sent Gavin around to Spar to grab a pot noodle to get me through lunch and when he didn’t come back after 20 minutes, I rang him. Gavin explained that he wanted a specific ‘toothpaste’ and that he needed to walk further into town for it. I was hangry
at this point cause all I asked for was a pot noodle.”
“Anyways… 2 hours passed, and a very sweaty Gavin arrived in the door to greet a very, very hangry Emily. Apparently Gavin made a split decision on his 3 minute walk to Spar that that Sunday was going to be the day he proposed. So, he carried on into town and straight to Fields where he picked out the engagement ring, to bring home and propose on one knee in the middle of our tiny apartment on Blessington St. If you’re wondering the answer is no – I did not get my pot noodle BUT he did come home with a chopped, a house plant and a stunning ring.”
Once engaged, the couple set about planning a day that was very them. “The theme of the day was ‘You Do You’. We wanted to have a great big party with great music, lots of colour & lots of fun and surprises. Of course it was our big day but we wanted everyone to have the best day!”
And the perfect venue for their day? The wonderful Martinstown House in the Co. Kildare countryside. “We had heard of Martinstown House before, but it was only when the Google searches for wedding venues in Kildare led us back to their site each time that we saw that as a sign. We fell in love with it as soon as we drove in the gates and up the driveway. It’s such a beautiful spot but it was meeting the staff & the instant good energy you feel from them. It felt like a no brainer really! It was actually the first and only place we viewed!”
Emily adds, “We could not recommend Martinstown House enough. From the very first email to the last they were absolutely amazing to deal with. The whole team play such vital parts, and play them so well – the food & service is exceptional but we have to hand it to the main man himself – Edward. He was there when we woke up. He was there when we (didn’t) went to bed. He was there on the dancefloor. He was there with a drink in hand waiting for us as soon as the ceremony ended. He amazing & it shows through Martinstown House.”
The ceremony took place in the The Woodlands, a unique spot at the end of a magical walkway in the laurel and evergreen trees of Martinstown House. Flowers arranged by the bride added color to the ceremony space by way of a bold palette.
Emily ordered all the flowers from a wholesalers online, which were delivered the day before the wedding. Together with half of the bridesmaids – her Mother, Mother-in-Law, their officiant (yes, really!) and two of their groomsmen, the bridal squad managed to get all 12 Bouquets & 20 table displays finished in a few short hours!
Aesthetically, Emily knew she wanted a wedding that highlighted the natural beauty of the venue with nods to their personalities. “For everyone that knows Gavin & I, they know we don’t do normal. When it came to a theme I suppose we just exaggerated how we do things normally – we absolutely wanted lots of colour, big disco vibes, and a great feed! Pinterest is a great reference point when it comes to tying things together but it’s so important to work together with the venue so everyone is on the same page! Martinstown was a great help with this – they had the venue set up beautifully and all we had to do was add our little touches.”
“Everyone said we were crazy for planning and styling everything ourselves but when the bridesmaids walked out with their multicoloured dresses & bouquets we knew it was all worth it.”
Incorporating red anthurium, tropical leaves and milk churns into ceremony decor is no small feat, but Emily mix and matched each element to perfection.
The groom’s cousin Jane sang Emily down the aisle, to a remixed version of The Choir’s Kingston Town that herself & her brother Rob made a few weeks previous. “Luckily, we both come from very, very
musical families!”, Emily says. “We were extremely lucky to have Gavin’s Grandad Robert play at our ceremony along with his Cousin Daniel & Uncle Mark. We also had a special appearance from Emily Brother Alex who belted out Talking Heads Road to Nowhere for everybody, mid ceremony! We honestly could not have had a more perfect & special ceremony – and it was all thanks to our family, not many people can be as lucky!”
The service was lighthearted and sentimental performed by Gavin’s Godmother Emma. “Emma done the most amazing job, she actually done a better job than we could ever imagined and nobody at the wedding would have never known it was her first time. She made it so much more personal and she even threw in an interactive ring ceremony by hiding the rings under random chairs, and the guests had
to run around looking for them while she blasted the Benny Hill song through the speakers. A scene we will never forget!”Emily reminisces.
Other special ceremony moments the bride notes are: a bespoke spoken word piece written by their friend and custom sketches of their loved ones by her brother. “Hands down one of our favourite parts of the day has to be our great friend Leon’s spoken word piece. He had asked us previously to give him 10 things we love & 10 things we don’t love about each other, which he turned into an amazing poem for us.”
“I also to give another special mention to my brother Tommy, also a groomsman, who sketched us five portraits of my grandparents & Gavin’s two beautiful aunties who unfortunately are not with us anymore, but being able to see all their faces with us at the ceremony was so, so special to us.”
For her colourful summer disco celebration, Emily found her dress outside of the typical bridal boutiques. She ultimately chose a show-stopping green dress by Australian brand Dyspnea. “I bought it online and got it lined and altered by an amazing local dressmaker in Newbridge,” the bride explains. Fun fact, she actually hand made Emily’s Debs Dress back in the day!
She completed her unique wedding day look with a celestial headpiece and metallic orange Terry
DeHavilland platform heels. “I had my eye on a pair of shoes from Terry DeHavilland – and when it came down to ordering them for the wedding they were gone from the website. I was devastated but in the
background my mam reached out to them by email to see if by any chance they had any left, and we were incredibly lucky that they had one very last pair – in size 3 and all!”.
Her veil formed party of her ‘something old, something new’ as it was passed onto her by Gavin’s Godmother Emma – who then dip dyed it peach and added gems to the end of it to tie in with Emily’s wedding dress.
Keeping the style stakes high, Gavin went all out and had his dream suit tailormade in Louis Copeland & Sons. Funnily enough, Gavin had no clue that Emily was wearing a green dress, but somehow managed to pick suede green & leopard print Dr. Martin Loafers which complimented his bride perfectly.
Both the bridesmaids & groomsmen outfits were sourced online from various different websites, Emily telling, “ASOS played a huge role here! As you can tell, we’re not the one-size-fits-all couple (or style in this case) so we worked with our bridal team to choose outfits that everyone loved & felt they’re best in!”
While their guests enjoyed cocktail hour, the couple snuck away for portraits with their fantastic One Fab Day recommended photographer Nina Val. “I knew Nina from working with her previously on
photoshoots, and we really wouldn’t have wanted anyone else to be part of our day. We wholeheartedly trusted her with capturing the best moments of our day for us to cherish forever and give her a massive recommendation to any future couples.”
XXXX
At the entrance to the marquee, the couple displayed a ‘Love That Made Us’ table that was made by Bridesmaid Jane. The table featured 10 wedding photographs of their parents, grandparents and even
Emily’s great grandparents. “This was a beautiful moment for both our families as it greeted them at the entrance to the reception.”
Bold blooms and lush greenery and pops of pink and red filled the space with colour and character.
With a background in design, Emily created their fun tongue-in-cheek invites, table plan and table names on the Canva app.
For favours, Emily and Gavin’s guests were treated to a throwback childhood treat! We didn’t want to go the traditional route on favours (shocker) so we decided to think of something that we thought would be GAS at a wedding – old school lucky bags. We filled them with sweets & treats and they were sealed with ‘Emily & Gavin’s Lucky Dip’s stickers.”
The couple’s jaw-dropping retro Lambeth-style wedding cake was made by an incredibly talented family friend. “We had some ideas but were pretty solid on one so we went it to her in the hopes she could make something similar at least. It was IDENTICAL. 10/10 on both appearance & flavour.”
The pair opted to forgo a first dance and instead “bounced into the marquee together to I Remember by
Deadmau5!”
The pair decided to spice things up when it came to their wedding band and went with one of their personal favourite indie bands – The Wu. “They had the place on wheels with covers from the 90s, 80s and 70s, and we even had a few chimes from Gavin’s Grandad Robert again!”
To keep the party going they also hired their local DJ. “I have known him for years & years, and knew I could trust him to get everybody up and on their feet. And he did,” the bride tells.
After planning such an epic personal celebration, the couple have this stellar advice for other couples, “There’s so much you can control but there’s even more you can’t. Just let it happen. It’s really not a huge deal if something doesn’t work out how it’s meant to – it will all just become part of the story!”
The bride adds, “When it comes to choosing outfits and dresses and even themes – you’ll probably have a lot of outside interference but at the end of the day it’s YOUR day. So go with your gut!”
The happy couple celebrated even further during their honeymoon in Japan. ” It was such an amazing experience & we’re so happy we chose such a beautiful place to honeymoon! We’re already planning on going back.”
A very special thank you to Emily, Gavin and Nina Val for sharing their utterly amazing Martinstown House wedding with One Fab Day. There are also plenty more gorgeous photos from their glorious special day to check out in the gallery below!
Find more inspiration for your own summer wedding here or dive into One Fab Day’s Wedding Venue Guide and take your pick from the range of breathtaking locations for your big day.
