After the ceremony we spent some time wandering through the Iveagh Gardens before heading back to the Shelbourne to celebrate. Amanda and Brian live in Chicago so there was an Irish American feel to the whole day including the music which had everyone up dancing. Thanks Amanda and Brian for asking me to be a part of your day!

And for even more photos, check out Amanda and Brian’s slideshow:

OK, hold on to your hats, lots of photos heading your way:

…and you can see the rest of Niamh and Tommy’s slideshow HERE.

I only pulled the couple away from their guests for 15 minutes because it would have been mean to take any longer, thankfully we only had to go a few steps away to find a pocket of pretty light by the mill:

And as for the reception venue, well the Millhouse in Slane is more like a house in Provence, billowing lavender and everything. The House itself is modern and swish so it’s a mix of old and new. Amy and Conchuir’s details were wonderful, from the Battle of the Boyne centrepieces to the beer in the bathtub outside, I was spoilt.

Ahhh, I think I feel a bit warmer now!

The groom’s daughter and the bride’s nieces made up the bridal party and they were great fun, there was lots of laughs and gossip and buzz in the room while everyone got ready:

…and some fab shoes:

The bride rehearsed her vows to the girls and had everyone in tears including me behind the camera:

The ceremony was so simple and intimate and they incorporated traditions and readings that were very personal to them including the Jewish tradition of the breaking of the glass. A close friend of the bride and groom was ordained online just so she could officiate their wedding:

The ceremony was in the late afternoon and afterwards we had about 20 minutes to catch the sun before it set, with Central Park literally across the road we took a walk over there for a few photos:

While the guests mingled in the library I slipped in to the dining room to take some photos of the tables all laid out. I loved the books wrapped in ribbons and there were photos of their travels in Ireland on each table:

The library made me want to snuggle down in a big chair by the fire and read:

To the bride and groom: Thanks for letting me share these and thank you so much for inviting me to come over and capture your day. Your encouragement over the years has meant a lot and I can honestly say I wouldn’t be a photographer today if it wasn’t for a certain conversation down on Dublin’s Docklands about 3 years ago!

This is St Anne’s Golf Club on Bull Island, which is an accidental island that sprang up when a wall was built to try and stop silting blocking up Dublin Bay. Now it’s a Park and a Bird Sanctuary. I’m ashamed to say though I was born and raised in Dublin this was my first time setting foot on the Island. Claire and Gav were loaned a Golf Cart and we went off and had a bit of fun with it. It was the end of March so although it looks like Barbados it was actually quite chilly and they were very patient with me. I could have kept snapping all day except Claire’s teeth were starting to chatter.

OK, you know you’ve been neglecting your blog when you start to get dubious comments like “Valuable thoughts and advices, I will become your constant reader.” The thing is I have loads of posts running around in my head including 3 weddings, some painfully cute babies, my thoughts on second shooting a wedding and I’ve also been thinking about a few more Photoshop posts. So when deciding which of these to do today it had to be Alicia and Conor’s wedding. I did a little sneak peek awhile ago but they’re back from honeymooning and have kindly allowed me to blog some more so thanks guys! This wedding was fun, the bride and groom are laid back and funny and I felt more like one of the guests at times. Plus they have brilliant taste in music and I knew when I realised that the classical guitarist at the church was actually playing an Elbow song that this was going to be a great wedding. Anyway, I’ll shut up now and show you some photos:

I love Alicia’s expression in this photo, I can feel those butterflies!:

OK, there’s this wonderful moment in most Irish weddings just after the bride and groom have had communion and the priest is down giving communion to the congregation. It’s like an intermission for the bridal party and everyone relaxes and has a bit of a joke and it’s the one chance I get to stand right in front of the aisle and photograph the whole scene:

and married!

Rathsallagh House is a beautiful venue for a wedding, you wouldn’t know it from the photos but the weather was a bit patchy that day, it didn’t matter, it was still gorgeous:

The bridal party were hilarious and we had the run of the grounds to wander around and take photos:

…and of course a few of the Bride and Groom:

Phew…take a breath…ready? OK, let’s keep going. The reception had a Beatles theme (an instant hit with me!) and the speeches were epic. I think I took nearly as many shots during the speeches as I did during the ceremony:

At one point after dinner I noticed the sunset across the lawns and had to get Alicia and Conor out for a few more portraits. Conor is into photography himself so he understood the call of amazing lighting

Then it was back inside to boogie the night away to the sound of the Classic Beatles. This shot makes me very happy. It’s pretty much straight out of the camera and I did a little happy dance when I saw it in my viewfinder:

Thanks for allowing me to post these Alicia and Conor!

I took this photograph at a wedding on Saturday while I was second shooting with Christina Brosnan of Brosnan Photographic. I definitely have more to say about second shooting and this wedding but I’ll save that for another post. I’ve got a lot of images to go through first but I really like this one of the priest in the sacristy waiting for the bride to arrive. I didn’t grow up a Catholic and I have a bit of a fascination with the ceremonies and the traditions of the mass (“Smells and Bells” as my parents would say). I wish I could show you the photo I took in my head just before I took this one…does that ever happen to you? You see a scene and it’s the perfect photograph and you have it taken in your head but your hands and camera are just that tiny bit too slow? A split second before I took this one he was staring out the window with his head tilted upwards like he was praying. I really wish I could show you that photograph.

After the group ones I stole the couple a way for a few:

Just a few more from the reception…and yes, they had a pig on a spit!

Thanks so much Ian and Tonya for allowing me to share these!

Tonya bought her dress on eBay and it was amazing, the train was so long it took up half the room and she wore a beautiful Gone With The Wind style corset under it. Her waist was tiny.

It rained all morning and then just as it was time for the ceremony the sun came out and they were able to go ahead with it under the gazebo looking out at the Wicklow Mountains:

The groomsmen all wore blue runners and so did the extremely cute flowergirl:

This is the shot I took after nearly coming to a nasty end at the bottom of the steps:

Just a couple more from the ceremony and I’ll post some more tomorrow: