Amy Huberman & Brian O’Driscoll

When I look at wedding photos, any wedding photos, I must confess, the first thing I look is the bridal bouquet, followed by the bridesmaids’ bouquets…..and then the wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses!! Seems like the wrong order, I know, but it’s a habit I’m not going to shake!

Such was the case with the recent wedding of Irish actress Amy Huberman and Irish rugby star Brian O’Driscoll in the Parish of Aughavas in Co. Leitrim followed by a reception in the nearby Lough Rynn Castle Hotel. Amy made a stunning bride, her dress was purchased in Myrtle Ivory Bridal Couture , Anne Lane, off Grafton Street, Dublin 2 and was designed by Welsh designer, Stephanie Allin, an ivory strapless gown in true fairytale style and her bridesmaids wore knee length dusty pink dresses in different styles by Irish designer Fiona Heaney of Fee G.

As is usual with me, I was drawn to the stunning bridal bouquets, created by local Florists Josephine & Brendan of Calla Floral Design. I have blogged before that we have seen a lot of pink bouquets this year, really one of the more popular choices with our brides this year. The Bridal bouquet was a simple, elegant hand-tied posy of sweet avalanche roses, beautiful and timeless, and complimented Amy’s dress perfectly. The Bridesmaids carried posies of white and pale pink roses, one of the most popular combinations we have seen this year – again, timeless and elegant choices.

With thanks to John Reynolds of John Reynolds Photography for letting me use his amazing photos in my blog entry today.

Filed under: Just for Fun, avalanche rose — Tags: Amy Huberman, BOD, brian O'Driscoll, john reynolds photography, Lough Rynn, myrtle ivory, wedding flowers — Sinead @ 11:28 am on July 6, 2010

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“Star Quality”

I first met with Olivia (one of our RealWedding Brides) way back in Autumn 2009, we had a lovely meeting (at my kitchen table) and decided on bouquets and flower types! Then the ideas changed, a few times and we met again in our office in April to finalise all the information! Olivia works as an editor for the Star newspaper and Shane for the Indo – hence the title!

We decided on a posy-style bouquet of mixed purple toned calla lilies with white crystal blush mixed throughout. The bridesmaids carried posies of bright purple “picture perfect” gerberas mixed with deep purple calla lillies and tied with navy satin to match their dresses. Olivia’s bouquet was finished with satin and lace ribbon and her “something blue” an ornate jewelled brooch belonging to her late nana.

Olivia and Shane were married in the picturesque St. Anne’s Church in Boharnabreena on 11th June 2010 and we provided 2 Traditional Pedestal Arrangements either side of the alter, using lots of the gorgeous purple gerberas and purple alium, we also created a unity arrangement into which Olivia’s unity candles were placed amongst the flowers and greenery! We dressed the pew ends with white duchess satin drapes and a posy of gerbera, bear grass and an alium. Outside, Bay trees guarded the entrance!

With thanks to Darren Purcell at Visionary Photography for the use of some of the images here.

Filed under: Church Arrangement, church decoration, pew end decoration, pink gerbera bouquet — Tags: bay trees, bohar, Boharnabreena, bridal bouquet, calla lily, real weddings, realweddings.ie, st. anne's church, visionary photography — Sinead @ 10:29 am on June 30, 2010

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R&R at Barberstown Castle

Sometimes our job has it’s perks, and an overnight stay in Barberstown that involved some wedding research for future RosieDays Brides has to be one of the finest perks there is!

With our 4th wedding anniversary passing uncelebrated and the hubbie’s birthday approaching, I decided a romantic getaway was in order and as I had heard so much good about Barberstown from past and present RosieBrides I decide it was the venue of choice!

Just 25 minutes from us in Kimmage, we arrived to Barberstown about 2pm (following a wedding delivery that morning!) We literally dropped our bags in our (amazing, 4 posted bed) room and legged it to the tea rooms – a bright and sunny lounge area for afternoon tea. Anyone that knows myself and Lorraine knows how much we love our food and hubbie is much the same!! Afternoon tea arrived on a 3 tier cake stand, individual sandwiches of homebaked ham, cucumber and smoked salmon, still warm homebaked crumbly scones and decadent individual desserts – chocolate mousse, mini eclairs…all divine!! We scoffed the lot and sat enjoying the relaxing live piano music in the foyer.

We had booked evening dinner for 8pm and after a relax with books in the lounge, we took a stroll around the fabulous grounds enjoying the sunny afternoon and then got ready for dinner. An amazing power shower with the l’occitane products supplied in the ensuite, (I don’t care what I dont’ get in a new house, it’s having a power shower with a head the size of a dinner plate!) we made our way to the dining room.

We were invited to take a pre-dinner drink in the bar and we sat enjoying a glass of prosecco (me) and a beer (him) in front of a blazing fire and perused the menu. The dinner was, how will I put it – wow!! An amuse Bouche arrived to our table – delicious chicken liver parfait, himself went for rabbit terrine that was delicious, perfectly textured and tasty and I opted for organic smoked salmon with zesty fresh crab salad served with pickled ginger and soy dressing – amazing.

Head Chef Bertrand Malabat, we were told by our friendly waiter, has been at Barberstown for over 10 years, and uses fresh organic, locally produced where possible ingredients with a distinct french influence. He does not disappoint! Our mains arrived with a perfect interval to allow starters to settle and I opted for grilled Halibut with a single Ravioli filled with fresh lobster and smoked haddock with a tomato consome, himself had rack of lamb, my fish was divine and his lamb (from someone who dosen’t like lamb) was fab!!

We managed to squeeze in a dessert each – a rich chocolate cake with raspberry sorbet for himself and a deliciously light fresh berry pavlova with basil sorbet for me. I can’t recall the name of the wine we had, but it was red and extremely good!! After our meal we made our way (rolled) to the cosy bar and enjoyed the truly wonderful live music by Brian Dunning (flute accompanied by piano).

I would happily recommend this venue for a break away or a larger celebration such as a wedding day, with such fine accommodation, dining and amazing function rooms you will not be disappointed!

For more information on Barberstown Castle’s Wedding packages click here

Filed under: Just for Fun — Tags: anniversary, barberstown castle, dining in barberstown, eating out — Sinead @ 2:29 pm on June 15, 2010

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Going Grecian in Marino

A chance meeting with Theresa Kelly of KellyTDesigns (Handmade invites, favours and unity candles) led to the planning and design of Aoife and Gareths’ Wedding in Marino on the 5th June. Theresa, a family friend of Aoifes’ designed the wedding stationery and together with Aoife and Gareth, came up with a Grecian theme for the Big Day. RosieDays were asked to supply the bouquets and decorate the church and we were only too happy to!

When I spoke with Aoife, she had her mind set on something traditional, but a little different, with lots of ivy!! So, with that in mind, I suggested the bridesmaids carry 3 different toned pink roses to compliment the mink grecian style dresses, Aoife requested white roses for her own bouquet so we mixed avalanche and akito roses and gave the bouquet a lush variagated ivy collar with some trailing ivy to reflect the general theme in the decor of the day. The 3 bridesmaids bouquets, one deep pink “Amalia” Rose, one bright pink “Aqua” rose and one pale pink “Barbie” Rose were all finished with ivy collars.

Perhaps the cutest flowergirl ever – Aoife’s Daughter, carried a basket filled with grapes and ivy, and wore an ivy headdress.

St. Vincent De Paul Church in Marino provided the perfect backdrop for the Grecian theme with it’s bright interior and impressive columns reflecting the stands draped with white satin! We hung bunches of grapes and draped natural ivy on the aisle stands, with luxurious white satin drapes on alternate pews.

The Grand Candelabra were filled with lush foliage and grape centrepieces and we added a unity arrangement to show off Theresa’s fab unity candles! Aoife made was a stunning bride and a pleasure to deal with and the Groom didn’t scrub up too bad either!! The weather was absolutely amazing and myself and Lorraine got to take 10 mins outside the sacristy with a cuppa while we waited for the Christenings that were being held that morning to finish! Huge thanks to the wonderful Anne who let us set up the aisle stands and arrangements in the Sacristy while the Christening Ceremonies were being carried out and who fed Lorraine with tea and biscuits during the wedding ceremony.

Filed under: Church Arrangement, aislestands, avalanche rose, button holes, candelabra, candelabra hire, candelight, church decoration, pew end decoration, pink rose bouquet — Tags: aisle stands, flowergirl, grecian themed wedding, headress, ivy, marino church, pink rose bouquets, st. vincent de paul church — Sinead @ 12:18 pm on June 7, 2010

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Classic Red Rose Bouquet

A traditional bouquet choice for Ciara Lynch on 4th June when she was married in St. Kevins in Kinsealy. Ciara organised all the wedding details from Galway and chose classic Red Roses (we used Red Naomi) for her own bouquet with bear grass and pearl detail and white roses for her 2 bridesmaids which we finished with a gysophilia collar.

We also provided 2 Grand Candelabra dressed with Ivy for the alter and pew end decoration of a red rose, ivy and ivory tulle. The weather on the 4th June was absolutely stunning, Lorraine and myself enjoyed a lovely lunch in the sunshine in Siam Thai in Malahide before returning to collect the Candelabra and Bay Trees.