On Tuesday the 9th of July, 16 wonderful people came together to create The Wedding Flock’s very first styled wedding shoot in a magical setting at Glengarriff Lodge, Glengarriff, Co. Cork. Owned and managed by Alan, the Lodge is a beautiful alternative wedding venue with stunning gardens and a private 50-acre estate. It’s a fairytale location for any couple seeking a beautiful location for a small, intimate wedding.
The shoot was organised by Sharon Thomas from Celtic Knot Weddings & Events who is a highly organised and professional Events Manager. She specializes in creating bespoke weddings and events tailored to your specific needs. The shoot was captured by Ciara Murphy Photography, an extremely talented artist as you will see from this shoot. Ciara specializes in Newborn, Family shoots, Styled shoots and Weddings.
“We were like birds of a feather flocking together”
A total of 14 Cork-based wedding suppliers plus 2 models made the magic happen and helped bring the shoot to life. What a fantastic team of people, their own wedding family now known as Flockers, and will forevermore be a part of The Wedding Flock Family. Although not all of them could be on site that day due to very busy workloads, the team still had about 10 suppliers. There was a fantastic atmosphere with excitement in the air. Each member making new connections, friends and everlasting memories.
The 2 very beautiful models were a real couple Eimear Hallahan “The Bride” and Jack Farmer “The Groom” which made the shots even more amazing as the emotion and smiles were all real. Romance and magic were most certainly in the air with those two. It was just like a real wedding. The team even joked with Jack “The Groom,” we have the celebrant and all let’s have a real wedding! Even Eimear “The Bride” was on board, although they did say that Jack’s Nanna would never forgive them if they got married without her, pity we never invited her to the shoot! Well, there is always the next one!
While Ciara did a shoot walk-through of the beautiful Glengarriff Lodge gardens, Sharon set up the essential’s, snacks, tea, coffee, a mini emergency kit containing sunscreen, cello tape, paracetamol etc. and welcomed everyone. We all helped Eimear “The Bride” get ready and poor Jack “The Groom” well he helped himself, he was a pro he really didn’t need any help! Jack was dressed by Suited Midelton run by Kieran & John. The groom’s suit was a very stylish grey and Copper toned check three-piece suit, with a double-breasted waistcoat adorned with vintage-style brown buttons. This was styled with a gold tie and a stunning patterned bronze and black pocket square. It was a Marc Darcy suit available exclusively to Suited Midelton.
Edel Horgan from Edel H Make-Up was our make-up artist for the day and just look at her stunning work. She really highlighted Eimear’s beauty giving her a touch of bridal elegance. Edel specializes in weddings and deb’s make-up.
We had Miriam McCarthy from Jessies Hair & Beauty Salon in Bantry creating some very stunning bridal hair. She created two very beautiful looks, one half up-style and a full up-style. Miriam’s attention to detail was amazing there wasn’t a hair out of place. She was fantastic on the sidelines of the shoot ready to jump in with pins or more hair spray when needed. She is a true artist. Jessie has a dedicated team of hairstylists, beauty therapists and nail technicians, they specialize in Weddings, Debs and all hair/beauty requirements.
The hair accessories were by Audrey from Azure Jewellery. Audrey specializes in handmade Jewellery and hair accessories. The first piece we used in the half up-style was their stunning Pink Rose Gold Floral Vine and the second piece we used for the up-style was the absolutely breathtaking, and my favorite, The Tanika Crown in gold.
The bridal accessories, Robe, Veil, Umbrella, earrings, bracelet and bridal shoes were by Ellen from Wedding Belles an award-winning bridal accessory and gift store. Eimear was draped in finery!
With Eimear’s hair, make-up and accessories done it was time to make our way upstairs to the stunning bridal suite in Glengarriff Lodge and dress our beautiful bride. Excitement erupted when Eimear set eyes on the dress and how could she not fall in love? it was a stunning masterpiece called Philomena from Willowby by Watters Collection. The colour was beautiful. It was ivory over nectar and was so stunningly different to your usual white wedding dress. This dress had so much detail and was 100% a show-stopping number! This dress was from Karl and is exclusive to Memories Bridal Boutique Cork the Irish bridal store of the year.
“Where there is Love there is life” – Mahatma Gandhi
So, we slipped Eimear into the dress and did her up fluffing out the dress to show every stunning detail. It really took a village to dress the bride, but it was so much fun and what a team we had. Ciara started photographing Eimear in the bridal suite. She was such a beautifully elegant bride. We even caught Jack taking a cheeky sneak peek through the suite door to catch a glimpse of his beautiful bride. He was ready and waiting, smiling from ear to ear. You could most certainly see the love in his eyes.
Eimear’s beautiful bouquet was created by Strelitzia’s Bantry. Carin specializes in Weddings and all special occasions using fresh and replica flower arrangements. The bouquet was a combination of beautiful greens, purples and dusky pinks in a waterfall type of arrangement. A truly stunning boutique by Carin. She’s a true artist at work. Jacks buttonhole was green and purple and both the bouquet and buttonhole were replica flowers and you would never know the difference! Even a few people went to smell the flowers looked so real. Carin has and art, crafts and flower shop in Bantry town.
Before we set off with the bride and groom, Ciara photographed a stunning table setting in Glengarriff lodges wedding reception room which was created by Kate from My Table Story who specializes in weddings and events. It was decorated with beautiful greenery with a touch of gold, linen napkins and extreme elegance.
The menu and invitation stationery were by Thomas from T-J Design Wedding Stationary who specialize in bespoke illustrated wedding stationery. It was a beautiful rustic theme with green accents to match the wedding décor.
We set off with Eimear through the conservatory down through the Patio and over this stunning bridge where, at the end, Jack and our very wonderful Celebrant Caroline McCarthy from Your Celebrant Ireland were waiting. Caroline is an independent celebrant working with couples to create bespoke wedding ceremonies for a truly personal and memorable occasion. On this occasion, although not a real wedding, Caroline performed just like she would at an actual wedding. She was extremely professional and very knowledgeable. She performed a Celtic Handfasting ceremony using beautifully coloured ribbons to tie the marital knot, just like Prince William and Kate Duchess of Cambridge wedding. If it’s good enough for the royals, we shall have it too!
“All you need is Love and Cake”
Love, laughter and happily ever after…and so it was! Eimear and Jack were now fake married. Now was the perfect time to take a stroll and cut the wedding cake. We strolled down the garden path with the sun at our backs, beautiful greens and trickling streams surrounding us. We were high on laughter and excitement. What a day it had been so far. We approached the beautiful old rustic shed adorned with straw, greenery and candles at the bottom of the garden. What a romantic setting and a picture-perfect place. Ciara photographed Eimear and Jack in this beautiful rustic themed shed, and from there we moved outside where the wedding cake was displayed in all its glory.
It really was a work of art. The cake was designed by Louise from The Little Love Knot Bakery. Louise creates bespoke cakes that marry exquisite taste with innovative sugar artistry. The cake was hand-painted with a stunning design of green’s, blue’s, purple’s, yellow’s and white’s adorned with sugar handcrafted flowers. It really seemed a shame to cut this piece of art but it was a wedding and it was cake cutting time.
Once the cake cutting had been done, Jack and Eimear walked hand in hand as man and wife strolling down a quaint narrow little path through the woods where Ciara got the most stunning shots. What is more romantic than a woodland wedding, surrounded by beautiful old trees and wildlife?
“Marriage is a dance between two people, to a song they hold in their hearts, whose melody may at times be a whisper yet never fades away” – Lara Harris
Eimear and Jack continued on through the beautiful old woods and back up the garden path where they approached a wooden bridge just below the lodge house, where they had their first dance, Jack twirled Eimear around like a beautiful delicate ballerina. It truly was romantic.
And so, we have come to the end of our story, this is where our beautiful day ended on a beautiful old bridge surrounded by old trees, flowers, greens and trickling streams. The Wedding Flock Family has ended here for now. I hope you enjoy the pictures.
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See you soon Flockers.
Love Sharon & Ciara The Wedding Flock
