Photo: Mark McGuinness

Real Weddings: Aoifa and Dee’s enchanting forest wedding in West Cork

by Shayna Sappington
31st Aug 2024

We've possibly found the coolest couple in Ireland – Aoifa and Dee who recently tied the knot at Inish Beg in West Cork. With sustainable details like their charity shop decor, handpicked wildflowers, and locally sourced buffet, their creative friends and vendors truly impressed and helped pull the magical day together.

THE COUPLE
Aoifa Smyth, talent director of The Collaborations Agency, and Dee Morgan, art director, curator, and creative consultant.

THEY LIVE
in Dublin.

THE VENUE
Inish Beg, West Cork.

PHOTOGRAPHER
Mark McGuinness.

THEY MET
At All Together Now Festival 2019.

THE PROPOSAL

It was a sunny Saturday morning at home. I asked Dee what the plan was for the day while still in bed and Dee asked if I wanted to get married and produced a vintage ruby ring.

She then had a full day planned – a lunch in Library Street, a Beach House gig at The National Stadium, drinks with our pals at Note after, followed by a stay at The Merrion Hotel – the perfect day out in Dublin.

THE DRESS & THE SUIT

I wore a dress from Clio Peppiatt and Dee wore a suit from The Frankie Shop and Dries Van Noten.

THE CEREMONY
The ceremony was held at a beautiful secluded woodland pond area on Inish Beg. Considering it was in October, we got very lucky with the weather as we didn’t really have a plan B for the ceremony! Music was provided by a friend of ours, the incredible Rois, and our celebrant was Sarah Donavan.

THE RECEPTION
The post-ceremony drinks and snacks were held in Inish’s Beg’s private dining room Carpa and the reception was at the Octagon on Inish Beg. The food was family-style sharing plates provided by Mark and Sadie, formerly of Pilgrim’s restaurant in West Cork.

We worked with them to create a menu for both of our tastes, as delicious food was essential to us when planning the wedding and they really delivered. Our wine selection was provided by Cork’s natural wine shop Brian’s Wines and Neighbourhood Wine.

THE ENTERTAINMENT
A local band called The Birdmen warmed up the guests with some eclectic music from Bob Dylan, to House of Pain and our pals Mark and Kate DJ’d until the wee hours.

THE DECOR
We kept the decor pared back with long banquet tables, white linens, ridiculously tall candle sticks and mismatched vases with flowers. Our flowers were provided by our pal Ophelia from Inish Beg, picked on the land, and Aoifa’s bridesmaid Ali made her a bouquet with them. We scoured charity shops in the months leading up to the wedding for serving dishes and ended up with an array of pre-loved pieces.

Dee designed cute matchboxes and beer mats for the bar using a sketch an American tourist drew of us in the Cobblestone. Our friend Niamh made us canvas signs to dot around the land to direct our guests to each part of the day. Our friends really pitched in the day before to get the tables set up, we were very grateful to have such creative people around us.

THEIR TOP TIPS
Divide the decisions up by each month so you’re not making too many at one time, as it can get overwhelming, especially with a self-catered venue. Ask for help; people are often more than happy to be involved where they can. Oh, and live by the spreadsheet – we’ve passed ours on to many people since!

THEY WISH THEY HAD
Not forgotten to eat the crisp sandwiches.

THEIR BEST MOMENTS
There are so many, but one, in particular, was when everyone went to the reception, we sat down and took a minute to ourselves to have a glass of champagne and decompress a bit after getting our pictures taken and greeting all our guests. Our Day Two was in iconic venue Connolly’s of Leap with music from Ispini Na Heireann and John Francis Flynn, followed by a surprise DJ set by us – that was a super fun afternoon, as we were more relaxed and able to catch up with our loved ones properly.

THE FIRST DANCE SONG
We didn’t do one… but we did do a last dance to The Time is Now by Moloko.

THE CREW
Wedding Dress: Clio Peppiatt. Wedding Suit: The Frankie Shop and Dries Van Noten. Cake: Lily Pink Bakery. Hair: Molly Farrell. Catering: Mark and Sadie, formerly of Pilgrim’s. Band: The Birdmen.