We are reminiscing about the time we had some sun and warmth on our faces. Check out a little bit of that sun in Nicole and Garys wedding, they lit up Athlone and the Radisson Blu on the shores of the Shannon.
Nicole and Gary – Radisson Blu Athlone
We met…
We met at Irish day at the races in Perth Australia in 2012.
I (Nicole) had been in Western Australia for 11 months and Gary only 8months, we both only planned on staying for the 2 years and moving back home but here we are nearly 8 years later, Australian Citizens and married, its been a crazy amazing journey.
Our proposal…
We got engaged on the 23 rd March 2018 at the amazing C Restaurant in Perth, it’s a revolving restaurant located on the 33 rd floor of one of the buildings in the middle of Perth.
I (Nicole) had my suspicions for a while and I knew we were ready for it so when Gary said he was taking me to this restaurant which happened to be the same place we had our first official date I was so sure but that Gary threw me off as he had no ring box (I looked) so I made my peace that is just wasn’t to happen that night he was just being romantic…but the little sneak had put the ring in a little velvet pouch so I was totally surprised and over the moon when he got down on one knee, such a happy beautiful night and the ring was perfect, the boy done well.
Our wedding theme/colours…
We went for soft romantic colours including blush, lilac, whites etc and then silver décor throughout for a bit of glamour. We decided to go for navy suits as a sharp contrast against the soft colours to make them stand out more.
We matched Gary’s button hole with my bouquet with the beautiful roses and then the groomsmen button holes with the baby breath to match the bridesmaid bouquets. I think this tied in all the colours well.
Our ceremony..
We had a traditional church ceremony at St Marys Church, Athlone.
The church entrance is stunning with the high arch and on the day, we had pink cherry blossom trees out the front it was fab. The florist (Dooley’s) did an amazing job also inside.
We included several family members and friends to be part of our ceremony doing readings, prayers and also my god-daughter Grace to do the communion reflection, she did such a good job. For our ceremony music we had the fabulous Aisling Connolly from Dublin, when I came
across Aisling when doing my research, I fell in love with her version of Ella Henderson – I’m yours and was so happy to walk down the aisle to her singing this on the wedding day. Aisling also provided the music at the drink’s reception back at the venue, beautiful voice and such a
good range of songs.
My dress…
I purchased my dress in a lovely bridal shop in Perth – Collezione Bridal Couture. After trying on a lot of dresses I decided to go for one of the shops own designs- The Shay dress. The dress had everything I was looking for in one dress, strapless sweet heart neckline, beaded
sheer bodice, mermaid silhouette with tiered ruffles. It was very glamorous, had the wow factor I was after.
I decided on the Ivory/champagne combination which had a blush silk under skirt which then went perfect for the wedding colours.
I then went for a beautiful pair of ivory satin Badgley Mischka open toe shoes, love them so much.
My hair and makeup…
I chose Medussa Hair Studio to create my bridal look, Roisin the owner of the salon did a great job and her outgoing personality was great fun on the morning of the wedding. As my dress was strapless, I decided to have my hair half up half down and curled and got a lovely handmade hair
clip with a bit of bling. I also had a veil which slide in perfect under the hair clip, my hairdresser done an amazing job on the day and the curls stayed in for day 2 celebrations also.
As soon as I came across Aileen Duffy, I knew I wanted her to create my bridal look. I didn’t want to go natural but soft glam, Aileens’ portfolio showed she was great at both and she did not disappoint on the day. I loved my makeup and my bridesmaids’ makeup, we all felt and looked
amazing. Also, on the morning of the wedding Aileen was a calming presence and was lovely to have her there with us.
His suit…
Gary bought his suit from M.J Bale in Perth. We got very lucky as it ticked all the boxes, so we knew it was the one straight away. He went with a 3-piece navy-blue suit which had a subtle check pattern in navy and light silver throughout. He then went for a silk silver patterned tie which went perfectly with my dress. He then finished it off with horse head cuff links, perfect for him as he is a big horse racing fan.
What our bridal party wore…
The bridesmaids wore blush full length Lipsy dresses which had a lace insert and diamante embellished neckline. The dresses where so pretty on the day the colour was perfect, and the girls looked amazing in them. We finished the look of with silver jewellery and sandals. The girls wore their hair up to show off the detail in the dress. The groomsmen wore 3-piece navy suits, we matched the colour with the navy check that went
through Gary’s suit. We also went for a silk patterned tie for the lads but in a blush pink this went well with the girl’s dresses. As a gift Gary got them the same horse head cuff links so they all matched.
We chose our photographer because…
I met Paul when I was bridesmaid for my friend, and I thought he was great fun on the day and then when I seen her photos I was sold, so when the time came for me I didn’t look any further than Paul and we were so happy he was available for our wedding date.
On our wedding day Paul did not disappoint he was fun, passionate and we where both so comfortable with him. Then the photos came wow we are blown away. We both love Pauls’ work and couldn’t think of anyone better to capture our wedding day.
We chose our venue because…
Location location location.
Planning from Australia we knew we would not have time to be traveling around the country looking at venues, so I looked at the map of Ireland and decide on Athlone as it is half way between Belfast (my home town) and Cork (Gary’s home town). Also, it is easy to get to from Dublin which is where are travelling guests would be flying into.
When we went to home to Ireland for a visit we drove to Athlone and checked out the venues in the area and we chose the Radisson Blue because of its central location in the town and because of its views over the river with the castle and cathedral in the back ground. We are very happy we chose this venue as they did a great job on the day and as we got great weather, we were able to arrive to the reception by boat and enter through the beautiful decking area.
Our honeymoon…
As we had some much time off before the wedding at home in Ireland, we only had time for a mini-moon on the way back to Australia. We stopped at Singapore for 4 nights and it was amazing, I can’t wait to go back. We fitted a lot in including universal studios on Sentosa Island, Singapore Slings Raffles hotel, Gardens by the Bay, Clarke Quay, Singapore Tuff Club (for Gary) and we finished off with a night at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, amazing.
Entertainment….
We didn’t want a standard wedding band, so we went for something different and had the Guilty Judges. They are a high energy, passionate, fun band based in Cork. They play a lot of indie pop and modern chart music, but also do all the old party favourites to keep all ages happy and on the dance floor.
Favourite part of the wedding day…
The whole day was amazing from getting ready with the girls in the morning until the sing-song in the resident’s bar in the early hours. There are 2 parts of the day that stand out for me, firstly the emotion you feel walking down the church aisle is overwhelming, all the faces of your
friends and family smiling and some crying is just amazing will never forgot this.
Secondly, we arrived at the hotel by boat across the river Shannon, we got off the boat and looked up to the decking area and all our guests we cheering at our arrival. Then on the decking as we walked along the red carpet our guests threw confetti and blew bubbles, it was such an
amazing feeling great start to the reception.
Advice . .
It can get very overwhelming planning a wedding in general never mind from a different country. My advice for all couples is…Being organised is the key to less stress, I don’t mean having everything booked for years in advanced but more organise your email folders-one for
each supplier, have a budget template (even if you only use this for suppliers-it is very helpful when you are organising the cash you need to put in envelopes to pay suppliers on the day of your wedding), create a RSVP template, buy a A4 file and start making realistic lists…
I know it can be stressful but also remember to enjoy the planning
