Real Weddings: Nicole and Aidan’s fairytale wedding in Co Wicklow

THE COUPLE
Nicole, event florist and owner of SimplyCole, and Aidan, accountant.

THEY LIVE
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

THE VENUE
Killruddery House and Gardens.

PHOTOGRAPHER
Studio Brown.

THEY MET
Aidan is from Malahide in Dublin but moved to Philly in November 2018 for a two-year secondment in work. We met in April 2019 at a bar called Martha almost five years ago in the Fishtown neighbourhood of Philly and the rest was history!

THE CEREMONY 
The girls and I got ready in our suite at Powerscourt Hotel where we were able to enjoy the morning alongside hair stylist Shauna Lawlor and make-up artist Ailbhe Lynch. Aidan started the morning with a very early run to burn some nervous energy. He then met his groomsmen in Malahide village for a good breakfast, and from there they all made their way to the venue. They got dressed at the house and enjoyed a quick celebratory pint of Guinness.

The Orangerie at Killruddery House and Gardens is such an incredible place, very unique to Ireland, which was important to me as I work in the wedding industry in the US and I wanted somewhere completely different to the venues I have typically worked over there. As soon as we saw it via an online Facetime (still during Covid and we couldn’t leave the US) we knew it had to be there. We didn’t actually get to see the venue in person until six months later, but it was all worth it for its beauty. Our friend, Yuri officiated our wedding with a hand fasting tradition which was very special to us.

THE RECEPTION
We opted for long tables with flowing flowers and candles through the centre of the tables where I created and produced the menus and table numbers. The flowers were produced by the lovely Tina of The Wild Bunch. Killruddery specializes in farm-to-table and their chef was just remarkable. Everything they created beat our wildest expectations.

THE ENTERTAINMENT
Our main request was a female AND male vocalist so when we found Off The Wall, we knew it was meant to be! We had a pianist during the ceremony which was so elegant. Following the ceremony, we had them sing during the drinks reception as well as the dancing portion afterwards.

They sang our first dance song and the father-daughter dance song which was just exquisite. We also requested as much ABBA as they would sing, which was a great hit amongst our split guest list of Irish and Americans.

THEIR TOP TIPS

• Enjoy all these moments with your person when you can, everything goes by so fast. So taking a little moment here and there to be alone together on the day is such a great feeling.
• Hire a planner or coordinator, they really are so helpful on the day with the vendors, venue and overall timeline of the day. Shout out to Orla from Waterlily Weddings!
• Have fun with your photos being taken, we know they can feel awkward sometimes, but be yourself. Our photographer, Claire was a dream to work with and we felt so comfortable with her. When the guys were playing with the umbrellas during our wedding party photos, just being themselves… they actually became our favourite photos.