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Initially I wanted an all-white invitation as Jos’s surname is "White," and we thought white on white. However, our save the date was white and both my mom and I love this color of blue. TPD Design House created this set to mirror the cutwork in the gates in Killruddery and to pay homage to the citrus plants growing in the orangery where we were to hold our dinner.
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Our welcome party was held in the whiskey distillery beside Powerscourt House. I wanted to be able to move during the evening and was also mindful of the impromptu color scheme of blue and white we seemed to have created. Anny Choi from OTM styling suggested these. . . And they were perfect for this evening. The light in Ireland is gorgeous, and the evenings seem to go on forever in the early summer.
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We were very fortunate that we were permitted to tour the private casks in the distillery with our photographer. Both myself and Jos are very shy in front of the camera. When our planner, Tara Fay, suggested we meet Barry McCall who is a fashion photographer (doing maybe one wedding per year) we were intrigued. We had an immediate connection with him and giggled all the way through our meeting.
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The Whiskey in Powerscourt is matured in old Bourbon casks and there are only 397 of these individual ones.
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Each cask is intended to represent a foot (in water) from the nearby waterfall in the gardens of Powerscourt Estate.
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My mom and I sharing a quiet moment together in Killruddery before the ceremony. She is wearing the famous blue we both love.
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On the morning of the wedding ceremony, Jos’s mother loaned me the veil that she had worn for her wedding. It was also the veil worn by generations of women within her family and is so delicate, it is stored in acid-free tissue paper in the dark.
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The veil was handmade and so personal, I loved getting to wear a deeply meaningful piece of Jos’s family history.
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I spent the morning of the wedding getting ready in Powerscourt Hotel with my glam squad of David Cashman and Christine Lucignano and my closest friends. But when it came to getting dressed, it was just my mom and me in one of the bedrooms in Killruddery, which is a place so special to Jos and his family. Once all the guests were seated for the ceremony, I walked barefoot to the ceremony with my brother.
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The amphitheatre in Killruddery is normally not accessible during public tours and has been used in the past for open air operas. Ceremonies are normally held in the orangery, but when Tara and I walked the gardens a few months before the ceremony, we both looked at each other and said it’s perfect. There were umbrellas stashed everywhere for the unpredictable Irish weather, but we were so lucky.
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I walked on my brother Jack’s arm to the strains of “You and Me” being played by string quartet. It was so important to Jos and I that our friends and family were able to enjoy the surrounds so we served a glass of champagne on the way to the ceremony. I loved my dress that I picked on my first day dress shopping with my mom close to her home in Florida.
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Our florist, Mark Grehan, was very mindful of the local landscape on Wicklow where ferns abound and this is reflected in the ceremony florals. We had my sister-in-law, Alyssa, read a piece called the "Art of Marriage," and Tara welcomed everyone with a piece called “Real Love."
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We met with a few celebrants during one of our visits to Ireland, but we wanted someone who knew us to conduct the ceremony and would also be open to keeping it short. We asked Tara and were delighted when she agreed. The tying the knot phrase comes from an old Celtic tradition of when a couple's hands were bound together by rope. We used the same blue from our invitations for our hand binding (hand-fasting) ceremony.
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In Ireland, it’s not really tradition to say you may now kiss the bride. However, as we were making our own traditions we added this part to our ceremony.
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Along with the ceremony booklets designed by TPD Design House to match our stationery, we also gave all of our guests little bells tied with our blue ribbon. The tradition of ringing bells at a wedding to ward off evil spirits actually comes from Ireland. At the end of the ceremony, we walked down the aisle to the sound of our quartet playing and the sound of bells ringing.
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Of course we had to stop for another kiss just at the gates of the amphitheater which inspired the laser cut design from our invitations.
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Still no shoes on, Jos and I strolled towards the cocktail hour leading our guests to the Champagne.
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Killruddery was very accommodating to us when we had to change our date three times due to the pandemic. It was important to Jos that we were able to bring all of our guests to the place where his grandmother and all of her ancestors had spent so many happy days.
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The maze in Killruddery is just one of the incredible backdrops. Barry could have spent all day shooting images with us and the beautiful Irish summer light.
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Both Jos and I were eager to get to our cocktail reception and have fun with our friends and family.
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We had to get a photo with Tara Fay, our wedding planner and honorary celebrant. She became such a special part of the entire experience and wedding day.
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I love the glamour of a Champagne coupe and think it suits the surroundings of our venue perfectly. We did have a Champagne tower with the same champagne that Jos’s sister had at her wedding and his parents brought over from their home in France. We had London Essentials serenade our guests during the cocktails and dinner.
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The backdrop of Killruddery is the gift that keeps giving. Before going into dinner, I removed the sleeves from my dress and took the last few images of us alone together in the gorgeous soft light.
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The orangery in Kilruddery is used as a location not just for weddings but also for lots of movies and TV series, such as Camelot and the Tudors and the Winx. There are small citrus trees growing here and we worked with Mark and Tara to create an homage to our white on white theme with elements of citrus and blue. Both my mom and I wanted the table to be resplendent with fruits and florals.
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The design that TPD Design House created for all of our stationery represented the swans that live on the lake in the estate. This was important as swans mate for life. The citrus from the orangery, the blue that is one of my and my mother’s favourite colours and the florals from our day. The monogram of our initials was so soft that we felt we could use it throughout the various events over the weekend.
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The design for our cake (by Clare Ann Taylor) was inspired by the ruffles and softness of my dress.
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If you look closely you may be able to spot some of the ceramic white swans that Mark and Tara incorporated into the table design along with the fruits that were abundant on the estate.
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As the light dimmed in the orangery, the candlelight from the many hand-dipped candles just made everything more romantic and dreamy.
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The toasts and words from our nearest and dearest were so special and were interspersed with some singing and dancing from London Essentials.
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On the morning of the welcome party the groom’s group went clay pigeon shooting and to a traditional Irish pub and the bride’s group went by vintage bus to an archery competition followed by a rosé fuelled open air lunch in the grounds of the Powerscourt Hotel.
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My Sunday look for polo was bridal but casual. I wanted it to be a bit fashion-forward but also reflect the setting and event.
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For our Sunday post-wedding day brunch, we wanted to have a champagne and lobster brunch, somewhere with a sea view. Our planner, Tara Fay, found a privately owned polo club, where our guests were able to watch a warm up polo exhibition while enjoying cocktails and more entertainment from London Essentials and our DJ who eased all of our guests back into dancing mode.
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My mom especially loves a shade of blue from a club in the south of France, so we found these linens with lavender (pic 31) made in Provence to mix with our wooden table tops. Coupled with the citrus inspired crockery, it created a very different look for our guests.
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The cocktails for this day were the perfect antidote to the late night of the wedding party where our guests danced well into the early hours.
