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By Amy Croffey
It’s an age old tradition that the bride and groom should not set eyes on each other before the wedding because it will result in tremendous bad luck - of course. But many couples, mostly in America, have put aside this superstition and have opted instead for the ‘first look’ photo.
This option gives the couple time before the ceremony, fuss and hullabaloo, to meet and spend some quality time together. It’s also a great chance to get some really beautiful images of the bride and groom and their reactions to each other.
Completing a ‘first look’ shoot will enable the couple to get most of the wedding images out of the way before their day begins meaning they can spend more time enjoying the wedding and their guests.
An umbrella and a flat cap - wedding fabulous - by Clayton Austin Photography
A beautiful aerial view of a first look meeting by Love is a Big Deal Photography
We love this quirky take on the first look image between a father and daughter by Bend the Light Photography
Another cute take on this trend is for the bride and/ or groom to wear a blindfold by Bethany Belle Photography.
Other options include concealing the bride or groom behind a door or a curtain. They can choose to either reveal themselves afterwards or not, but it really makes for some great images. Image by D Coleman Photography
We also just simply adore the images of the bride or groom waiting patiently for their other halves. Excitement, nervousness, eagerness and love exude from this photo by W. Scott Chester Photography.
If you’re a bride, who has always dreamt of an ‘Aisle Reveal’ (the minute the groom gets to see his beautiful bride from the top of the altar) then worry not because this tradition is even getting bigger with many couples hiring a second photographer to capture the reaction of both the bride and the groom.
However you plan to see your true love first the first time on your wedding it’s going to be beautiful, no matter what.
Here is what the ladies on the WeddingsOnline Forums think about the 'First Look' craze!
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Happy Holidays to all our Wollies!
2011 was a great year for us, like everyone else we had our ups and downs, but they were mainly ups thanks to you!
Here’s hoping that 2012 will be filled with happiness, laughter, prosperity and most importantly and aptly, love for you all.
Best wishes,
The WeddingsOnline Team x
Image: Emily Johnson Anderson
I just want you for my own
More than you could ever know
Make my wish come true
All I want for Christmas is you
Image by Sloan Photography
A very cute DIY wedding in the US, full of colour and retro charm. We heart the bride's tulle underskirt!
Love the yellow ties with light grey suits on the groomsmen, it's like instant sunshine!
The bride's tulle skirt and matching hairpiece are two very budget-friendly ways to add a big personality kick into her wedding attire.
To make similar felt buttonholes for the groomsmen, try this DIY felt buttonholes project out.
These photobooth photos are so cute, and as well as being a great keepsake from the day, you could also intergrate them into your thank you cards. Have a look here to see the wedding photobooth suppliers on this site.
If you want to add a sign to direct people to your reception, you can find lots of wedding signs on our sister site, Confetti.co.uk.
Photographed by Ben Blood Photography
See you then!
When we saw Diana and Josh’s amazing wedding, photographed by W. Scott Chester, we fell head over heels in lust!
Initially when you think of bohemian and black tie, you think of themes which are at totally opposite ends of the universe. But Diana and Josh perfectly combined these looks together to create a chic but eclectic, warm wedding!
We especially loved their seating charts - boxes with vintage bowties and scarves with illustrated directions inside. Adorable! We also loved the photobooth they setup inside their vintage VW camper bus - the same VW camper they drove all around California for their honeymoon!
Lurve this first look picture....
They even played Casablanca in the background for that extra romantic feel...
See W. Scott Chester Photography for more pictures of Diana and Josh's wedding!
To get this boho meets black tie look for your own wedding check out the WOL Suppliers Directory and Shop!
Our readers always commented on how much the loved the 'Steal her Style' section in B Magazine and so, we've decided to bring it online! First up is the gorgeous Carmel who married Chris in Dublin this year. Hers was a green and ivory themed wedding. Check out pics of her big day HERE
Images clockwise from top left: Gucci; Glitzy Secrets; Image by SOSAC Photography; Confetti.co.uk; Smashbox; The WeddingsOnline Shop; BHLDN; True Connection on Etsy; Image by SOSAC Photography.
See Chris and Carmel's beautiful Real Wedding.
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“The day was full of great moments,” said their Photographer, Grainne Flynn of Gra Photography. “Richard whisked his bride off on his much-loved 1960s Vespa from the Dublin Registry Office to the canal where they shared plenty of bubbles with their close family and friends - once they were given a rusty old bottle opener by a friendly local, that is.”
“Feeding ducks, throwing flower bombs, guests tucking into wraps from the food market and Janine stopping traffic in her exquisite John Rocha number, the vibe was relaxed, urban and really rather cool,” Grainne adds.
“After strolling along the canal to Locks restaurant, their personalised magnums of wine were popped open and it was time for me to leave them to it,” says Grainne. “A simply beautiful wedding.”
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I was in touch with the marvellous Amy French of Rubistyle Photography a few weeks ago, looking for some help with an article we were writing for B Magazine. When she sent me what I needed she also included in the mail a link to a wedding she had shot just days before. And when we saw it we knew we had to share it with you.
Emma and Nico were married in the County Arms Hotel, Birr, Co. Offaly on August 4th, and are CURRENTLY over in Zambia for their SECOND wedding -lucky lucky lucky guys having two weddings ay?
We loved this wedding not only because Emma looks amazing, her dress is gorge and the flowers are beautiful (obvs) but because the photos really show the closeness and love between Emma and Nico... It's almost palpable!
Anyway, enough from us...
Emma's gorgeous headpiece was by independent vintage Irish designers Bonzie Crotty, who are based in Waterford City.
We already know what you're thinking. The dress? Yea, thought so. We love it too. Sharon bought this stunning number from Vintage Opulance, a beautiful little boutique of handmade treasures on Etsy.com, and made some changes to it. "The dress originally had a slip style top which really didn’t suit my shape," said Sharon, "so I found Susan at The Sew Zone who modified the top of it to suit me better and give it a bit more of a bridal feel!"
Now that we've addressed that. Enjoy the photos. By the incredible Paul from Moat Hill Photography, | http://www.mhphoto.ie/
The bespoke 5* Hayfield Manor was a perfect location for Sharon and David's intimate gathering. The small luxury hotel is located in the centre of Cork, and yes, it is as beautiful as it looks in the photos!
Sharon's flowers were from Bragging Bags on Etsy.com. She wore Kurt Geiger shoes, and David wore a waistcoat from Brightwall on Etsy.com.
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Wedding Date: 4th June 2011
Wedding location: Coolbawn Quay
Photographer: David McClelland, http://www.davidmcclelland-photography.com
We met...We kind of knew each other when we were teenagers but I guess you would say that we met properly five years ago. Dave was playing a match down in the rugby club and I went with a friend to watch. After the match Dave and I recognised each other and got chatting. He denies it but he then chased me for a couple of months before I eventually succumbed to his charms and went out with him on a date. I was pretty much hooked after that.
First impressions...I thought "I know him, he's that crazy guy", and he thought "I know her, she's that messer kid".
Our proposal...It happened last August when we were island-hopping in Belize. We were lying out under the stars on a rickety old dock one evening, waves were lapping and dodgy reggae music drifted over to us from the beach-front bars. Dave caught me utterly by surprise and popped the question, I didn't believe he was serious until he produced a $50 ring he had bought from a stall a few days previously. I said yes of course but only when I realised that he wasn't joking!
My dress...From the start I knew I wanted something vintage, romantic, bohemian and unique. I only went to one bridal boutique, Myrtle Ivory, and "Yolanda" by Claire Pettibone was the second dress I tried on. The bridal cap was also from Myrtle Ivory and finished the look off perfectly. The look was part Mucha's ladies, part Great Gatsby and I loved it.
Our ceremony...We were married in Terryglass Church, Co Tipperary. It was important to us both that we made the ceremony personal, we found we could do this through the decor and music. I walked up the aisle to a piano score of Elbow's "One Day Like This", and our very talented friend Louise of Wave Acoustic Duo was fabulous singing songs like Eva Cassidy's "At Last", Florence and the Machine's "You've Got the Love", Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and the Beatles "Here Comes the Sun". We tied pink and blue gingham ribbons to the pew ends and our stunning bouquets and flower arrangements were by Stephanie at The French Touch.
Our wedding theme/colours...I guess retrospectively you would call our wedding Vintage DIY but that wasn't a conscious decision. We absolutely didn't want to be penned in with a strict theme but rather set out to create a day that would reflect our personalities and taste. We wanted to have a day full of colour, creativity and most of all fun. We filled our day with little details that made it our own mostly the wedding stationary and decor styling. We put our stamp on everything: the hand-painted entrance sign; the bunting and pom-poms; the origami curtain; the retro sweets on the tables; the little fireman groom and blonde bride cake topper; the sunglasses for the bridal party; the groomsmen's silly socks; the photo booth; the place-settings, table-names, the mass booklets; the dessert buffet table... the list goes on and on but these details added so much to our day.
My favourite part of the wedding day...I honestly loved every minute of our wedding day but the highlight has to be when I was walking up the aisle and Dave turned to see me. I was so nervous about that part of the day, much more than the actual getting married part! The thought of all those eyes on me filled me with dread. I walked in clutching my Dad's arm, trying to lift my head so that I wasn't staring at the ground. It's soppy, I know, but when Dave swung around I remember thinking "There he is, it's all going to be okay, we're going to do this and I can't wait to marry him" and all the fear just fell away.
My piece of advice for other brides...Be yourselves and make it your own. It is the one day in your life where you can surround yourself with the people you love and the things that you love. So do it! Be creative with your wedding stationary and the inexpensive little touches, it's these details that will tell your story.
Other suppliers...
Bespoke stationary and event styling : Fancies & Frills; www.fanciesandfrills.com
Flowers : The French Touch ; www.thefrenchtouch.ie
Dress and headpiece : Myrtle Ivory ; www.myrtleivory.com
Bridesmaids dresses : Julien, St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre
Groomsmen's ties : www.thetiebar.com
Groomsmen's socks : Debenhams
Cupcakes : Buttercup Pantry ; www.buttercuppantry.com
Other desserts : The Butlers Pantry ; www.thebutlerspantry.ie
Church Music : Wave Acoustic Duo ; www.wave-acousticduo.com
Band : Soul Purpose ; www.soulpurpose.ie
Click on the supplier you would like to find for your wedding:
For VENUES click HERE
For FLOWERS click HERE
For DRESSES click HERE
For DECOR HIRE and EVENT STYLING click HERE
For CEREMONY MUSIC click HERE
Wedding Date: June 3rd 2011
Wedding location: St Patricks church Knockavilla, Co. Cork followed by reception in Ballinacurra House, Kinsale, Co. Cork.
Photographer: Brian Terry, www.brianterry.ie
We met...Through friends on a night out in London in 2002. It was a “less than subtle” set up by our friends Matt and Lucy.
First impressions...He had potential!
Our proposal...We went for four days skiing in the beautiful setting of Adelboden in the Swiss Alps. Mark went down on one knee and produced a beautiful platanium diamond solitare that he had purchased 6 weeks earlier on business trip to Boston. The scenery (including the ring!) was spectacular. After first removing my ski goggles I of course said yes!
My favourite part of the wedding day...Getting ready in the morning, we were all staying at Ballinacurra house and my hair and make-up people came to the house. As I was getting ready I could hear all the other guests milling around in the grounds of the house getting ready. I even got a few sneaky peeks at the groom out the window as he left in the car to cheers from our guests. This part of the day and the cermony were very special. If I could one bit again it would definitly be the cermony.
My dress...My dress was a custom made Kathy de Stafford design that combined features from two dresses that were available in her shop on Exchequer Street in Dublin.
Our ceremony...Was in a beautiful little church in a small parish called Knockavilla Co. Cork.
Our wedding theme/colours...Our wedding was a summer garden party. Thankfully the weather cooperated in a way we could not have expected. Our colours were purple and green.
My piece of advice for other brides...If you can, don’t worry about the cost or the time it takes to do something, or how difficult it is going to be to achieve something. In the build up to the wedding you worry about all these details but after the event you are glad you put in the effort. It is one day in a whole lifetime so make the absolute most of it.
Photographer: [email protected]; www.brianterry.ie; 087 910 6909
Cake: Sue Cummins
Head piece: Matt Doody Powerscourt, Dublin
Dress: Kathy De Stafford
Hair: Powder Room Girls
Flowers: My aunt Eileen Riordan!
Groom Suit: Brown Thomas
Bridesmaid dress: BCBG Maxzaria on eBay
Cocktail band: The Darktown Strutters
When we saw this amazing real wedding on the Ruffled blog we fell head over heels in love. The couple got married in Long Beach, California. The groom, Jonathan, is a jeweller who made all of the groomsmen’s cufflinks, the centrepieces and the altar, while Amy, the beautiful bride, took on the flower arrangements.
They lined the altar with Amy’s grandmother’s quilt, which was also used in their engagement session and it was their main source of inspiration for their wedding. She wore a vintage wedding dress she found in Chile and had it altered with added flutter sleeves. Her amazing yellow birdcage veil is to die for! Incredible photographs by Chad Cress.
For more of this wedding check out the Ruffled blog.
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I don't really want to say too much about this wedding, shot by Corin Bishop, cause really the photos speak a million words. The couple are Jeanita and Conor, and the wedding was in Central Park -no friends, no family, just the two of them. (They were having a big party back home) I just think it's such a wonderful idea, and it worked for them so well, you can just sense how relaxed, content, excited and in the moment the two are in these images.
Corin: "It turned out it was just going to be Jeanita and Conor in NY. No family or friends (that’s what the party back home was for!). The wedding was to be in Central Park. Very relaxed but very intimate and personal. They were really into getting nice photo’s. They we’re up for pretty much anything and wanted to make the most of the opportunity. My head was buzzing with three billion ideas and after meeting I realised how much we were all thinking along the same lines. I also needed to be realistic and remember it’s not all about getting cool images. It’s about documenting their day, recording this moment in their life that means so much to them. Some balance was needed...
"We got to Central Park with gorgeous colours, fab light and the temperature was perfect! At this point I didn’t want to interfere too much. I gave basic tips to Jeanita and Conor and set them off. I didn’t want to make everything too posed!"
And my favourite photo! (-Ed)
You HAVE TO go to Corin's blog to see the rest of these shots, this is just a tiny snippet and it was so difficult to edit them down! His slideshow is here http://blog.corinbishop.com/wedding/new-york-wedding/
And here's Corin's site address, http://www.corinbishop.com
You can contact him on: [email protected] or ring +353 (0)90 6444 657 and tell him you saw his AMAZING shots on the WOL blog of course!
Andy & Kelly
A classic wedding was made memorable by emotional speeches, surprise videos, a beautiful setting and a ceremony celebrated by the bride’s father.
Our wedding theme/colours...
We were really unsure about what theme or colours we were going to use but we knew we wanted it to be formal and classy. We found a bridal bar in Blackrock and they showed us a pattern which was very bold black and white baroque and we both loved it. Our bridesmaids’ dresses were black and the groom and groomsmen wore black evening suits. Our table cloths were black with baroque runners. We filled the ceremony room with black and white candles. We were a little unsure of using so much black throughout but it looked amazing and so classy. To break the black we had lime rose and white lilies for the wedding party and Andrew and I had lime orchids and white lilies. For our wedding favours we had lime and white boxes, which we filled with chocolates, tied with personalised ribbons which said and had a quote from our favourite verse which we had printed on our wedding invites and our order of service; ‘ I have found the one whom my soul loves’.
We chose our venue because....
We knew we didn’t want to get married in a hotel, we looked at a few and they were beautiful but we wanted something a little different. We looked at manor houses throughout Ireland. The reason we chose Middleton Park House was for the ‘wow factor’ when you arrive, which is the amazing main staircase in the foyer. Mainly we chose it for the room we held our wedding ceremony in. It was a long narrow room with vaulted ceilings, it looked fantastic on the day filled with candles, and it made the ceremony so personal.
My dress...
I loved my wedding dress! Since we were going with black and white I chose my bridesmaids dresses before I bought mine. The bridesmaids dresses were 50s style and so I wanted to keep with that theme for my dress. My dress was lace from the top down and was a fish tail style it had a ribbon which went from the bodice up and around my neck. I loved my shoes and out photographer got some amazing photos of them too!
Our ceremony...
Our ceremony was very personal. A close member of our family took the first part of the ceremony and my father actually married us which was amazing! Both my brothers played guitar for the ceremony and my maid of honour and my eldest brother, who are both fantastic singers, sang a beautiful version of Bob Dylan’s song ‘To make you feel my love’. Andrew and I both wrote our own vows which was nerve wracking but so great and made it all very emotional. There was not a dry eye in the room by the time we both finished our vows.
My favourite part of the wedding day...
Kelly: Although the whole day was fantastic there are a few moments that stand out. The first was having our eight month old daughter there as our flower girl, it was so amazing and that she could be part of our day. Also having my father marry us was amazing and I was so proud. The wedding dinner was so much fun along with the speeches! Both our parents announced at the speeches that they had prepared a surprise for us. So after the meal we all headed into the drawing room where they had a large screen set up and played a 20 minute movie showing photographs and videos of Andrew and me throughout our childhood. It was amazing and such a nice surprise.
Andy: I loved the whole day even though it really flew in though my favourite part has to be when Kelly was walking down the aisle. I had been fine all morning, not at all nervous until I had to walk up and stand in front of everyone and the music started. I was so nervous at that point and it just got worse and worse getting closer to Kelly arriving. It was so emotional and I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through it but when I saw Kelly I was just so much in awe at how amazing she looked and so proud to be standing there. I will never forget that feeling or that moment in my life.
My advice for other brides...
If anyone offers their services to help in any way take it! And really enjoy the day as it goes so fast.
Flowers: Sheefin Flowers
Hair: Nathalie Gleeson
Make-up: Nicole McEvoy
Linens & candelabras: Gotchacovered.ie
DJ: Sam Stott.
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