Jennifer & David – Mount Falcon Ballina

Nestled in the Mayo Hills just south of Ballina, you will find the stunning Mount Falcon Estate. Surrounded by lakes, rivers and forest walks, this historical venue is a photographers dream wedding location.
Spending the day with Jennifer and Dave, along with their bridal party and guests was an absolute blast of a day. Here is their wedding day.

Did you have a wedding theme/colours…
We decided to go with a ‘where in the world’ theme at the venue. This involved table names being places we had visited, with props from each location. To achieve this look and feel, while keeping in with the style of Mount Falcon, I handmade table signs which were arrows that included the distance in kilometres the place name was from the venue. I had them placed on vintage books with a unique prop from each place. I also handmade made the plans. I had a pearl theme also, as I wore pearl jewelry, therefore they popped up on invites, the cake and various props that I handmade or enhanced. I’m a big fan of personalisation and making each guest feel welcome, so I handmade individual menus for all of our guests to suit each guests own dietary preferences. On some menus I did have some extra personalised message for that person, particularly where they had helped us with our wedding. I sourced props such as vintage globes, cameras, teacup candles just to add to the effect.

Tell us about the Dress…
My dress was by the designer Madeline Gardner. I saw the dress on a wedding dress shop window (sadly the store has since closed) as I was passing by with David. I made a lame excuse to go in to have a browse, while he waited patiently outside. In that shop I tried it on and that was it, I had my mind made up. The dress was A line, with an off the shoulder neckline and very little detailing. It was exactly what I wanted. I wore a single pearl necklace which David had bought me on a trip to Halong Bay in Vietnam at the pearl farm floating on the water a few years previous. I coupled that with pearl and diamond earrings from Ernest Jones in London. My shoes were the signature blue Manolo Blahnik, and were very comfortable to wear.

His suit…
Dave’s complete suit came from multiple places. He had a custom suit from Suit Supply in London. The waistcoat came from Hanleys in Galway which was by the Irish designer Benetti
His shoes were from Aldo. He wore my wedding gift to him which was an Omega watch inscribed with our wedding date.

What the bridal party wore…
The guys wore DKNY suits from Moss Bros, bought in London. The ladies wore emerald green dresses from Ghost in London.

The ceremony…
The ceremony was held in a beautiful church in Straide, Co Mayo. A family priest did the honours which was a really beautiful personal touch as he knew us both well. I had some talented friends do the ceremony music, and they blew us all away with their music and singing. We had a rather eclectic choice of songs which really set an upbeat tone for the rest of the day. Songs included, ‘A Million Years’ from the film, The Greatest Showman. ‘When I’m 64’ by the Beatles, a flute solo of The Secret Wedding’ on Braveheart to name a few. The church was decorated by the talented Judi from Balla Florists.

The Venue….
Mount Falcon Estate was chosen because of its beautiful setting and we felt it would be the perfect size for our wedding.

We chose our photographer because…
We were lucky, David and I both had time on our sides to carefully select which photographer we wanted. We chose Paul Duane after reviewing multiple portfolios and we felt Paul suited our preferred style of photos and had the personality to suit us too. We are very glad we did as we absolutely love our photos.

Entertainment….
We had the most fun with our wedding singers ‘Tropical Storm’ whom entertained our guests during the drinks reception and during the meal. They moved around and sang to all of our guests, took so many requests and created such a party atmosphere. At one point during the meal, every guest was standing up waving their hands in their air singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ at the top of their voices! It was an absolute blast.
Our wedding band was the ‘Wondertones’. They kept the floor filled all night. Our DJ was DJ Ronan Lardner, a family friend, and he knew how to keep everyone on the floor until the early hours. As we are 90’s kids, all of the old favourites were pulled out. The night ended sometime after 5am on with a traditional sing-song.

Favourite part of the wedding day…
We really enjoyed the part between the arriving at the venue after the ceremony. It was so wonderful to see everyone enjoying themselves and be able to pop around to say to say hi. The weather cleared up beautifully and many guests were able to go outside. Dave and I shared a very early first dance outside under the sunshine surrounded by our family and friends, it was just fantastic.

Any advice you’d give to other couples?
A wedding is yours to plan and enjoy. Do what feels right for both of you and listen to your gut instincts when it comes to making decisions. There is no denying that wedding planning can be stressful, so start as early as you can so you don’t become overwhelmed on the lead up.

Any other suppliers you want to mention…
Cake – My talented friend and master baker Stephanie. She made a fruit cake, lemon drizzle, chocolate biscuit and a chocolate Guinness cake. They were absolutely outstanding.
Max Ven our videographer was fantastic. He was everywhere and totally subtle all day, he created the most wonderful 1 minute video and we can’t wait to see the rest very soon.
Judy From Balla outdid herself with her beautiful flowers, she listened to what we wanted and went over and above.