Ciara & Cormac had a July wedding in Kilshane House, Co. Tipperary last year and we are so excited to feature their perfect day here :) The happy couple also took the time to answer some questions about their day. Please hover your mouse over the images for more information.
We hope you enjoy this feature and if you are planning your wedding we hope you are inspired by their fabulous day. :)
Venue: Kilshane House | Church: Bansha Church of the Anunciation, Co. Tipperary | Make-up Artist: Yvonne Maher | Hair Stylist: Marie Hickey | Dress: Bella Bleu & Nell McCarthy | Shoes: The Ivory Rose | Earrings: Knightsbridge Boutique | Headpiece: Stella's Design | Groom's Suit: Tom Murphy | Groom's Shoes: Clark's, Cork | Flowers: Cashel Flowers | Wedding Stationary: Self-designed invites printed by Vistaprint | Cake: Tom Walton | Wedding band: Soul Driven (Picked them because they are excellent and you can't help yourself dancing.) | DJ: Paul Dunlea (A friend of ours who happens to be great at this | Church musicians: Stephen Parker, Karl Rooney, Trish Rooney, Laoise O'Hanlon, Mary Hegarty, Gabriela Mayer, Eva Power, Michael Heffernan, Grainne Devery, Mike O'Riordan, Marlene Enright, Johnny McCarthy, John O' Connor, Mick Marshall.
All were friends of ours who played as a gift to us.
Photography: Weddings by KARA
“I can’t tell you how many people have complimented us on the fabulous photography from our wedding. It was amazing to watch someone with such an artistic eye at work, and I knew even as you were snapping away that the images were going to be stunning. Not alone were the pictures fab, but you were such a lovely presence to have around, which I feel allowed you to catch people at their best, as they were always happy to see you. I would recommend you to anyone! xxx”
Kilshane House was such a beautiful and perfect setting, very personal service. Suited our personalities and our plans :-)”
My dress was bought as vintage in Bella Bleu, Cork and then a new top/corset was crafted by Nell McCarthy, Cormac’s grandmother.”
My shoes were by Perfect Vintage and were bought in the Ivory Rose wedding boutique, Passage West, Co. Cork”
We met when we both did the same music course at Cork School of Music and we got together at the college ball in March 2003.
The proposal? It was my birthday and we were living in Chicago at the time so Cormac planned a night away in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to celebrate. We went for dinner and afterwards back at the hotel, he asked me to check the meal receipt to see was everything right.... He had written it on the receipt :-)
My flowers were arranged by Michelle of Cashel Flowers. She was recommended by Kilshane House. I decided to book her because when I met her, she was so passionate about her job and so lovely to work with.
I looked a lot on Etsy.com and once or twice on weddingsonline but I got most of my inspiration from Etsy and from friends’ recommendations. When planning the day the only thing that concerned us was feeling happy, relaxed, comfortable and able to have fun. Everything we chose we chose because it would allow us to do this. We weren’t concerned with colour schemes or tiny details because we knew they weren’t going to make or break the day either way and we decided to choose the easy option and not worry about these things. When booking services, we kept it simple. If we liked the supplier, we booked them. Job done! Then we stood back and let them do their job well.
Our makeup artist was Yvonne Maher. She was recommended by my hair stylist and I had heard from a few others that she was excellent.
My headpiece was by Stellasdesign.com, bought via etsy.com - What can I say, I couldn’t resist it!
Marie Hickey was my hair stylist. I found her online and really liked her style. Also Kilshane house recommended her and said I’d be in good hands.
We went for a Catholic ceremony. We had both been brought up as Catholics, went our own ways with our beliefs, went against religion for years, but in maturity (relatively speaking!) we realised that spirituality has its place at the heart of all religious doctrines and we wanted spirituality to be at the heart of our marriage ceremony.
We chose Karina because we saw her at work at our friend’s wedding and also saw the photos afterwards. We knew that’s who we’d book if we ever got married!
Marriage is two people saying to one another, I’m there for you. Committing to this each and every day. And it is no effort. It is natural easy and beautiful. We love it.Of course you can do this without a wedding or a ceremony, but by dedicating a whole day to it, you allow all your loved ones to become a part of that love and commitment. This is something we didn’t understand until we got engaged.
My favourite parts of the day were the photo shoot straight after the ceremony, which was just myself and Cormac, and then the drinks reception which we were lucky enough to have outside while listening to Jazz followed by traditional Irish music. Nobody wanted to leave it, to go for dinner!”
Our cake was made by my brother Tom Walton. Because he loves baking! PS He recently appeared on the Great Irish Bake Off.
For the meal we chose Pig on a Spit for the main. Starter was a Celeriac and truffle oil soup and dessert was Tarte Tatin. We had the speeches after mains and before dessert because invariably, everyone is famished come dinner time and we wouldn’t leave them waiting! We had both fathers speak, groom, and best man.”
If you like a supplier, book them. You picked them because you like what they do, so as I said, stand back and allow them to do what they are best at. At the end of the day, they do know way more than us. This also reduces stress! Trust that your day will flow if you allow it to. Also, it’s not true that it will be the best day of your life, because there will be so many to follow. But it is the start of the best days of your life.
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