It’s not every bride and groom who are brave enough to go for a rustic shabby chic approach to their wedding, but that’s exactly what Carly and Paul did with their Boutique Camping Mount Druid wedding last summer – and boy was it impressive! Huge thanks to Fergus Meneghan from Ó Muinecháin Photography for the amazing photos.
Carly and Paul were together for over nine years when they got married after originally meeting in a local bar through mutual friends.
“To keep up with tradition, we got engaged in a local bar, which was a total surprise to me! Paul had been studying for the previous couple of years and had just finished exams, I had a feeling it would be on the cards but did not think it would be so soon.
We were out with friends on a Sunday afternoon get together. Paul always slags me because I know the words to a lot of songs but I never know who sings them. In this bar this afternoon, he put his phone down on the table with the song ‘Marry Me’ by the band Train playing on it, he asked me if I knew who sang that song? As we had recently been at one of their gigs I said ‘yes I know’ and before I knew it he was down on one knee with a big flashing diamond ring from the joke shop asking me to marry him!
I couldn’t stop laughing, I totally thought it was a joke and was looking around at all my friends. They were all nodding their heads saying it was for real, I eventually said yes and needless to say the bubbles flowed in abundance that night! I loved that he did it with all our friends as we got to celebrate with everyone straight away.”
Carly and Paul absolutely loved planning their unique day and would do it all again in a heartbeat! They were clear they wanted a day unique to them, that reflected their personalities and incorporated a great big party.
“We got engaged at the end of July 2012. I honestly had no intention of even thinking of a wedding until about a year later and possibly set the date for 2014. However people were advising us to keep our eye out for venues as they book up fast and we were quite clueless! We were trying to brainstorm different venues and I told Paul to google ‘wedding in a barn’ – that’s when Mount Druid popped up, we were so intrigued by the place we said why not just go and see it, it looks so cool! We instantly fell in love with it – the tin chapel, the lake, the yurts, the rustic theme, the scenery, the organic produce, it all just sounded too good to be true. The barn area where the reception would be held was exactly everything I had imagined in my head. We were so excited by the place and we knew how amazing it would be so we booked the wedding for a year later August 6th 2013.”
To complement the stunning venue, Carly and Paul chose a rustic shabby chic theme, incorporating plenty of fun, laughter and a party atmosphere to the day.
Carly, however kept her bridal gown elegant and anything but shabby! She had always love Jenny Packham gowns but felt she couldn’t justify the expense, especially as they had brought the wedding date closer than originally planned, but she struck it lucky;
“I came across an amazing Jenny Packham ‘Anne’ dress on a website called Preloved, coincidently a girl was selling one not too far from where we live and she came to my place to let me try it on. It had never been worn and it fitted like a glove -I snapped it up and I just needed to get the length altered. I splurged on a Jenny Packham head piece and I wore navy Jenny Packham shoes, navy clutch bag & navy nails to match!”
“Our ceremony was in an unconsecrated tin chapel on the grounds. We had a spiritualist ceremony performed by Miriam Fitzgerald – we met with her months before the wedding, she interviewed us, then went off and wrote a personal piece about us as a couple – it was perfect. We both lit a candle in memory of our dads who have passed away. We brought the candle with us to the reception and kept it burning for the whole night. I made a personalised aisle runner for the chapel. It was a story of our relationship from when we first met right up until the day. I transferred photos and ironed them on and used fabric paint to explain them. It gave a very personal touch” added Carly.
“The day could not have gone any better. Our guests had never been to a boutique camping wedding before so they didn’t really know what to expect. Everyone was pleasantly surprised and I think some are still talking about it! My highlight was when Paul secretly decorated my little jeep. He sent his brother to collect myself and my bridesmaid from the house on the grounds that we were getting ready in. He drove us to the chapel with the song ‘Going To The Chapel’ blaring from the car! That definitely calmed the nerves and caused a bit of a giggle. But my biggest highlight was a personal song by Paul to me, which he performed at the reception, he changed the words to the song ‘You’re Gorgeous.'” Carly said.
“Paul’s highlight was the surprise wedding band that I had made with my finger print engraved in it. Only the solemniser and the ring bearer knew about it. Basically the price of my wedding band compared to the price of Paul’s had been the butt of all jokes for quite a while! So I decided to do a sneaky one and cancel the plain band that we had ordered for Paul and get a more personal one done. He was shocked when it was produced!” she added.
Carly’s advice for other brides
Do it the way you want – remember it’s your wedding. Don’t stress over the little things, they are so minor when you look back at it all. If there are little things that you want but are not sure about just do it, you‘ll wish you had in the end! Spend time with your guests and at the end of the day if you are both married that’s the main thing. And most importantly have fun!
Carly & Paul’s Wedding Details
Venue: Boutique Camping Mount Druid, Castletown Geoghegan, Co. Westmeath.
Wedding dress: www.preloved.com.
Grooms wear: Ted Baker.
Photographer: Fergus Meneghan from O’Muinechàin Photography.
Wedding cake: Retro treat table including mini cupcakes from Boncaire Cupcakes.
Flowers: Sheefin Florist, Mullingar.
