Throw out the rule book and do what you want
Festival lovers Amanda and Gareth chose a glitz and glamour theme bang-on-trend elements such as dried flowers, hanging floral installations and metallic touches throughout their ceremony and reception at Ballymagarvey Village. As the couple are big music fans, their day was also filled to the brim with festival-style details.
Bride Amanda is from Dublin, with parents from Vietnam and Hong Kong, while groom Gareth hails from Co Tyrone.
Amanda tells us that they first met at Glastonbury in 2011. ‘Gareth was a music producer and recording artist in an electronic dance act called The Japanese Popstars. In a field full of 220,000 people, we crossed muddy paths. Gareth was flanked by his bandmates, manager and agent, when he ran into me and my best friend Maura, wearing full-length 1980s wedding dresses purchased that morning on site, complete with veils, charging in the opposite direction. We quite literally bumped head-first into the lads.’
Amanda adds, ‘If you hear this story from me, you’ll be told it was serendipity – come on, I met him while wearing a wedding dress. If you hear this story from Gareth, you’ll be told that I was out husband-hunting.’
The couple got engaged on Christmas Eve 2014 after coming home from London, where they were living, to spend time with family and friends.
When it came to planning their day, the couple’s top priorities were, ‘our wedding outfits, venue, food, photographer and videographer. We wanted the wedding to be fun, fabulous and modern. We just wanted it to scream our personalities and emulate us.’
Before joining their guests, the couple did a first look and took some portraits around the streets of Dublin, as well as at their pal’s Georgian home with photographer Caroline from Wild Things Wed.
The perfect venue for this pair was Ballymagarvey Village. Amanda says that, after attending a wedding there as guests, the couple knew they wanted it to be their venue. ‘Ballymagarvey Village is a dream venue. When we went to do our viewing almost ten years later, there were some nice changes but ultimately the feeling was still the same. The venue oozes magic, the staff are so warm and caring and the food was outstanding.’
Amanda and Gareth chose dried flowers to use throughout the day. ‘I invested in gorgeous dried flower bouquets for myself and my bridesmaids, and boutonnieres for the groomsmen and parents of the wedding party. I got to keep my bridal bouquet forever and pop it into a vase in my house.’
This couple tell us their best wedding planning advice is to ‘prioritise what is important to you as a couple and then don’t sweat the small stuff.’ They add: ‘When you plan your wedding there are a lot of things you get told you “have to do” or “have to have” at your wedding. But that’s not true. Throw out the rule book and do whatever you and your partner want. Look at your budget and allocate the bulk of it to your top five most important items, then just cut the stuff that’s not important to you.’
Amanda’s epic bridal look featured an embellished MillaNova wedding gown with a subtle, soft peach underskirt. To add in some extra personality, she accessorised with a silver sequined and ostrichfeathered cape, the dreamiest silk head-dress and to die-for-gold Dolce & Gabbana shoes. The look was finished with a showstopper bridal crown and statement earrings by Irish Designer Finu. ‘I love fashion and enjoy being fashion-forward and standing out from the crowd.
‘Anyone who knows me and my personal style will tell you I’m a sucker for sequins, sparkles, feathers, headpieces... basically everything fabulous and extra.’
Gareth also wowed in his wedding day attire, which consisted of a classic yet modern tux, an oversized velvet bowtie and a velvet turquoise blazer.
After all the festivities, the pair headed off to Zanzibar on honeymoon, which they would highly recommend. ‘We treated ourselves to first-class flights with British Airways and it was fab. We were spoiled from start to finish with endless champagne, delicious three-course meals, gorgeous Matthew Williamson goodies and PJs, it was a long-haul experience we’ll always remember – the cabin crew even gifted us a bottle of champagne and lovely card when we disembarked.’