Wedding Raheen Woods Hotel Athenry Co Galway

I had the pleasure working at Helen and Colm's recent wedding in Clarinbridge followed by a reception in the Raheen Woods Hotel Athenry.
Helen and Colm are two people whose company I feel very relaxed in and from the moment I first met them last January and their wedding was a pleasure to be working at.
They were very lucky with the weather on their special day, beautiful sunshine as well as the most glorious Autumnal colors on display.







Chilled out was how everything was in Helen's home and after a brief visit there, I headed off to the church to meet up with Colm and his groomsmen Eamon, Noel and James.







After spending a brief few minutes taking shots with the lads, the beautiful bridesmaids Etna, Jane and Anita arrived shortly followed by the beautiful Helen.





Fair play to Edel and Mark for being brilliant in their roles as Flowergirl and Pageboy....two smashing and well behaved kids.




An emotional moment for quite a few "fathers".....handing your daughter over to her future husband.









A big thank you to Fr Willie Moran who was a gentleman. It's not at every wedding that a priest welcomes the photographer and offers him any help any assistance that he wants....thank you Fr Willie for being a gentleman.





The sun shone beautifully on Helen and Colm's wedding day, but it was bitter cold also....and with that in mind, we took the group shot in the heat of the church.



Helen walked up the aisle with one man and down it with another!



These are the moments that I strive to capture on a wedding day.....Colm pulls his father Leo in for a hug as opposed to the formal hand shake at the end of the ceremony.


After the ceremony and the hand shakes, we crossed the road to Clarinbride Park to get the Family Portraits as well as some Bridal Portraits in the glorious autumnal sunshine.







We finished our Bridal Shoot in Athenry before heading onto the Raheen Woods Hotel to enjoy the party.














How about this for a wedding cake? Pure class!






Helen and her friends have a bit of fun!



Edel watching a movie to pass the time




Colm gets a small bit jittery just before the speeches!


....and Helen get's in on the act too!



I thoroughly enjoyed Colm's speech.....funny, witty and spoke a lot about the important things in life....family.








....even pulling pints on his wedding day!




Well done to the wedding band "Raindance".....a class act that kept the dance floor full all night!










Thanks very much Helen and Colm for letting me play a part on your wedding day.....I'm sure your aware of how much I enjoyed it. All of our meetings have been fun and I was delighted with your reaction after you received your wedding images yesterday. I hope our paths cross again in the not too distant future!

Wedding Ardilaun House Hotel Galway

It's great being familiar with the people whose wedding you are covering and that was the case with Becky and Steven's big day.
I covered Becky's brother Ronan's wedding last summer and we would have crossed paths at that as well during our "meet up" regarding their big day. "Young, happy and great awareness" is how I'd summarize Becky and Stephen and it was a pleasure to be around them on their wedding day.






When I arrived in St Colemans Church Corofin, I must admit to being taken aback by the beautiful flower's and their arrangement. This is something that I normally don't notice too much, but for this particular wedding the church was stunning.....congrats and well done to Louise Collins and Samantha Foran who were responsible for its floral presentation.





Stephen was a treat to work with along with his best man Seamus and groomsman Benny who travelled all the way from "down under".....they were up for all kinds of fun!



"....better smile, the photographer's pointing the camera at us!".


Becky's brother Ronan (a good friend of mine) escorts Becky up the aisle.









I'm not sure why Frank has a microphone in front of him......the power of his voice is simply breathtaking.....you'd want to buckle up and have your seat belt on when going up to the gallery when he's on duty! Top drawer material and a great job Frank...well done!


The lads enjoy themselves during the ceremony....really in the moment and absorbing the whole occasion.



Of all the weddings that I've done, this is the first where I actually say releasing of doves. Beautiful creatures who gave Becky a small fright when they eventually came out of their dwellings.


We travelled into Quincentennial Park in Salthill to grab some photos en route to the Ardilaun Hotel in Taylors Hill.




The beautiful Aoife, Becky and Jenny


I was delighted when Becky and Stephen agreed to cross the road to the Prom for 5 minutes of photos....the sky was very moody and lent itself to some lovely shots.





After out brief stroll on the Prom, we headed up to Taylors Hill to the Ardilaun Hotel for a mighty reception.
Ronan always has either a pair of scissors or a microphone in his hand.....and very competent with both!


Stephen absorbs his dad's speech


Seamus shows us what he found after entering the toilet that Stephen used just before the speeches!!


Becky's mum Ger tells a few stories of Becky's youth.

Becky and Stephen wandered out the back of the hotel for some fresh air after their meal, and I availed of their few minutes there to grab a handful of shots







First dance as husband and wife!



Thanks very much Becky and Stephen for letting me play a part on your wedding day. I received your "thank you" card all the way from Australia today....thanks a million, means a lot to me. Please God our paths will cross again in the not too distant future.

Mind yourselves over there!!

Wedding Tourmakeady Co Mayo and reception in Ocean Sands Hotel Enniscrone

I had the good fortune of working with Amanda and Adrian recently in Tourmakeady Co Mayo, one of the most majestic and scenic locations you could wish to come across.
When I arrived at Amanda's home on the morning of the wedding, I was taken aback at the wonderful views that her home offered......pure class. Just look beyond the beautiful Amanda in the image below and you'll see what I mean.



Amanda's house was a jovial home on the morning of the wedding and I have to thank her chief bridesmaid Donna for her warm welcome and indeed showing me where everything was happening!

I enjoyed chatting and having the crack with Amanda's father Jerome while Amanda's other Bridesmaids Wanda and Ann were busy helping Amanda with her preparations.








Jerome studies his speech for later in the evening and was oblivious to me taking some shots of him. Shortly after this Amanda arrived and gave her father his first glimpse of her in her wedding dress.....I was in the corner of the room running off some shots and it was pretty cool to witness how proud both Jerome and Amanda's mum Julie were of how their daughter looked.....I love my job when you get to witness and capture real moments like this.

After arriving at Finney Chuch, I grabbed some shots of Adrian and his merry men (Kevin, james and Brian) and within seconds of meeting them, it was apparant that they were a shower of messers and mad for a bit of fun....my kinda guys!!




Amanda and Jerome seconds before they walk up the aisle







I often write about how I enjoy these moments when the Bride arrives up at the top of the aisle.....quite a lot of the time the bride can be emotional, struggling to hold back the tears (....which can be "happy" tears as opposed to sad ones!!) and the groom is always the man who tries to be the "alpha male" and showing no fear. I think when Jerome hands Amanda over to Adrian however, the big man does what he can to suppress some of the emotions that aren't too far away...... a good sign for my two cents worth, great awareness!!







After the ceremony, we headed back towards the forest in Tourmakeady to grab some Bridal portraits, but not before we grabbed some shots showing off the stunning country side while we were en route.







The waterfall in Tourmakeady is a beautiful setting for Bridal portraits and the colors during the summer months are so vibrant.







I forgot to mention flowergirl Elana who was such a pleasure to work with on the day....so well mannered and just a happy little girl!

You can see a rock in the background in the photo above.....well Adrian had told me earlier in the day that he planned on getting Amanda out there for a photo. I genuinely thought he was joking as there was a lot of water between the dry ground of where we were and the large rock out in the middle of the falls!! Anyway, to cut a long story short, the happy bride donned a pair of wellingtons, hacked up her dress and made the trek to dry ground through the falls.......even now writing about it, it really was such a big thing for the bride to do on her wedding day....I had visions of us being on youtube for all the wrong reasons!!





After our time in the forest, we made the journey to Enniscrone in Co Sligo. It was a sunny day but winds were high when we arrived at the coastal village and we took all of the family portraits by the pier. 

Amanda and Adrians reception was in the Ocean Sands Hotel Enniscrone and we didn't have too much time after arriving before guests were called for the evening meal. During the speeches, one of my cameras went astray.....the lady below was running off some killer shots with it!!






Proud dad Jerome looks on as his daughter gets in on the speeches too!



To Adrian, Amanda, bridal party and both families.....thank you so much for letting me be part of your wedding day. Your Bridal party were very focused on having a good time and it was great to be working in such a pleasant and joyful environment. I wish you both the very best and I hope our paths cross again in the future!