Meet the experts: the Irish creatives organising chilled out, modern weddings

Kate O’Dowd is one-half of event styling company Love &. With her business partner Jen Power, she creates modern weddings and parties that eschew the trappings of throwaway trends, in favour of atmosphere, timeless beauty and good old fashioned craic.

The beauty crew

If you ask me, natural hair and make-up is the most important aspect of bridal styling. That’s not to say it should look undone; just real (okay, well polished real) and innately of the bride’s personality. Katie Culleton, a contemporary bridal hair maven, has reinvented the chignon, here, adding length, shape and movement (psst… this equals youth and personality). And for make-up that features your actual skin (with lots of lovely extras), look up Edwina Akano, who brings bridal glow in her make-up kit.

The florist

There are only a few florists in the country who understand the value in just letting flowers be flowers… Sylvia Abraham, the lady behind Bella Botanica, is one of them. The flowers are the plushest aspect of this minimalist event setting, and here they look like they’re sprouting through the whiteness, in blossoming magnificence. Or something like that.

“It takes skill and confidence to trust in the power of less, but when you give a few key pieces the space to shine, the result is incomparible.”

The jeweller

No one does jewellery that balances pared-back and sparkly quite like Natasha Sherling. She’ll work her metal magic to get you as thin a wedding band as you fancy – go bespoke and you’ll get your sparkle just where you want it.

The designer

Alison Conneely’s collection of bridal dresses, capes and suits are ideal for grown-up brides who don’t fit with the soft, flowy standard. Her minimalist shapes and highly crafted fabrics especially rock for city nuptials.

The baker

For wedding cakes, quite often that classic, smoothly-iced (and ostensibly minimalist) structure is actually at odds with a pared-back approach. Instead, opt for naked cakes, featuring natural elements and imperfect surfaces, all of which are The Flour Artist’s signature (most delicious, too, as it happens).

The linen maker

Embracing all things Wabi-sabi, Kathryn Davey creates handmade table textiles from the best Irish linen and natural dyes. There’s nothing better than the softness of her tablecloths, their unfinished edges making any dining table feel like a friend’s dinner party.

“Stripping your wedding palette back to white is actually considered a bit avant-garde now. It’s all about less fuss, more integrity.”

The calligrapher

We can’t get enough of Three Bullet Gate’s modern calligraphy. Sarah O’Dea has many hand-scripted styles, but our favourite has to be this graphic version on hand-torn cotton paper. Handmade signage, menus and place cards, like these, will always feel relaxed, even if you use a neon pop.

This article featured in the January edition of IMAGE magazine. 

Photographs by Into the Light. Styling by Love &. Words by Kate O’Dowd.

Flowers by Bella Botanica, bellabotanicaflowers.com. Hair by Katie Culleton, katieculleton.com. Make-up by Edwina Akano, efcreativestudios.com. Stationery by Three Bullet Gate, threebulletgate.com. Cake by The Flour Artist, theflourartist.com. Model: Vanessa at Distinct Model Management, distinctmodelmanagement.com. Photographed in the workshop space at Arran Street East, arranstreeteast.ie.

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