Wedding Claregalway Hotel Co Galway

This wedding was one that I was looking forward to for quite some time.....I met Elizabeth and Aidan last Christmas when they were making their wedding arrangements, and they were very enthusiastic about their wedding photos.
I was very happy with how this wedding turned out, great day with the weather, super couple who had great awareness, and it was one of those weddings where two clients morphed into two friends!
I met Elizabeth and Aidan on a few occasions running up to the wedding, and I had a very good understanding of what they wanted on their special day. Each time we met, 10 minutes meetings turned into hour long chats whereby we tried to solve the problems of the world....and then some!



When I arrived at Liz's home the morning of the wedding, it was great to see Caroline Coyne doing the make up.....Caroline is the best make up artist that I've come across, there's a lot less "photoshopping" to do when Caroline is in control of things.


The stunning Elizabeth. When I arrived at her home, Caroline Coyne met me and mentioned that it was one of the most "chilled out" homes that she had worked at....and she was so right!


Us men don't tend to get too excited about wedding dresses, but I really loved the detail in Liz's dress.....and her "Blue Suede Wedding Shoes" were the most retro wedding shoes that I'd come across!



Liz's mum sees her daughter in her wedding dress for the first time


Meanwhile at the church, Aidan presses the flesh with guests and shows the same tranquil peace of mind that Liz had.



Loved the colour of Grace, Lorraine and Martha's dresses



Aidan takes his last few breaths before it all kicks off!



St Joseph's church in Galway City is a great place for wedding photographers.




After the ceremony, we headed up to the grounds of NUIG to grab some photos, and Elizabeth had a nice treat for Aidan when she arranged for the other member of their family "Alfie" to be present.




After taking some images in NUIG, we let the bridal party head back to the hotel before Elizabeth and Aidan gave me a couple of minutes to get some additional shots over at the canal beside the Cathedral.












We headed back to the excellent Claregalway Hotel shortly after. Aidan manages to pull on a few heart strings during his speech!



Aidan and his mates let their hair down after the meal.


Liz and her ladies


The blue suede shoes!



This images is crying out for a caption!



Elizabeth and Aidan learned a dance for their wedding song and they did a fantastic job. I must commend their wedding band "Tightrope" who played the requested song "Be My baby" by the Bay City Rollers and made a cracking job of it.





Thanks so much Elizabeth and Aidan for a cracking day. I thoroughly enjoyed your wedding and I look forward to us crossing paths in a couple of weeks again!

Killarney Wedding _ Kay & Barry

The weather Gods looked favorably upon Kay & Barry''s wedding which took place recently in "The Kingdom"!

Having never photographed a Kerry wedding before, I was extremely lucky to have Paudi Herlihy a local videographer working alongside for Kay & Barry. Paudi was good enough to call me during the week of the wedding and give me a run down about our possible locations for bridal portraits as well as important details of how long it would take us to travel from Brides home to the church/bridal portraits and finally to the reception in The Brehon Hotel. It helps enormously when you have a fellow professional who works "with" you on the day of a wedding....and the Bride & Groom hopefully reap the benefits with treasured memories.I travelled down to Castleisland the night before the wedding (Kay's home place), the three hour drive was a bit too much to take on the morning of the wedding.....energy levels would definitely be getting low later in the evening!I was finally able to put a face to the voice on the end of the telephone when Paudi called to me at 9.30am to accompany him over to Killarney where we were going to pay Barry a visit.

Barry's supplies for later in the day were on display

After having the "Full Irish" breakfast, Barry, Niall and close friend Dave went out for a quick walk to clear the head and focus on matters ahead of them. As you can see from the image above, the "fry up" certainly didn't kill any energy that Dave had....quite the opposite in fact!

Paudi and I then travelled back to Kay's home in Castleisland to capture her preparations. Brides dresses are always entitled to an image all to themselves.....after all, the amount of time that is spent choosing one, followed by a few "fittings' etc, means it is one of the most focal items on the day of a wedding.

Dora and Pat show no signs of anxiety as the morning unfolds.

As Kay's make up and hair styling is almost ready, everyone's cameras and mobile phones start clicking....all wanting to capture the beautiful bride!

After catching Kay's preparations, I followed Paudi over to the "beautiful "Prince of Peace" church in Fossa where Barry, best man Niall and Barry's two groomsmen Dave (x2) were awaiting.

An unorthodox manner of getting the groom to the door of the church!

Kay and bridal party arriving at the church.

Canon O'Mahony (celebrant) helps everyone to relax at the start of the ceremony and get a few good reactions from Aileen Rachael and Roseanne (the beautiful bridesmaids).

The "Prince of Peace" church has a unique interior as you can see from the image above....it's almost distractingly beautiful. The rear of the alter is a large glass window that offers breathtaking views of the Killarney mountains. There's also a pond built directly outside the large glass window which reflects some beautiful lighting back onto the interior ceiling of the church....truly beautiful!

Love this "cheeky" image

The Brehon hotel awaits with plenty of refreshments!

A private moment captured of Kay and Barry just before their introduced into the function room for their reception.

It's a pretty good feeling when your introduced into the room as Mr & Mrs and to see the goodwill and happiness that's extended to the bride and groom from guests.

Magnificent speeches!

Thanks Kay & Barry for letting be part of your amazing day......I've great memories of my first wedding in The Kingdom!!