City Wedding in Merrion Hotel Dublin
Today introducing wedding of Krista and John at Merrion Hotel in Dublin City following reception at “House Dublin”. Photographing couples in the capital of Ireland always makes me so happy. There is so many places in Dublin you can use as a background during photos. Whatever I’m taking photos on the narrow old lane between local pubs in Temple Bar area or modern Dublin streets with graffiti on the walls. I always do a bit of research when coming for weddings to Dublin. It just makes my photography day much easier and of course, save time for couples during their portraits session. Have photograph so far a number of great weddings ceremonies and parties around Co. Dublin including:
- Merrion Hotel
- Smock Alley Theater
- Drury Building
- Fallon and Byrne
- Morrison Hotel
- Dublin City Hall
So you can have a look through my real weddings and find one you are interested with and perhaps contact me if you like to get more info what price and packages I offer for Wedding photography in Dublin. Our theme was a Wedding Garden Tea Party. We don’t really have tea parties in the US but I’ve fallen in love with them since I’ve come to Ireland. It was important for us that our wedding was really simple, intimate, and relaxed. Having had experience in the wedding industry before, I’ve been to a tonne of weddings and I had a pretty solid idea of what I wanted for our day.
Your venue?
Our ceremony was at The Merrion Hotel Wedding, which gave our event the touch of glam that it needed! The Wellington Room was just stunning and the perfect size for our small event. We had about 60 at the ceremony. The staff in the Merrion were also absolutely incredible.It was really important for us to get married in the city. As soon as the wedding was finished I would be moving to London where John is based so we thought that having our wedding in the city would be the perfect way to capture all our lovely Dublin memories together before moving.
I thought an outdoor wedding would be wonderful but John persuaded me to do it inside in case of rain. “This is Ireland”, he would remind me. In the end, he was right because it rained every day up to our wedding and I know the stress of thinking about a washed-out wedding would have finished me! Finding an indoor, garden-themed venue in the Dublin city proved a challenge but I eventually just Googled “Garden Party Venues in Dublin” and there was House. When I saw it I knew that there was no other option for us. It was exactly what we were looking for and the events team was incredibly helpful and accommodating. House also had a retracting roof at the back which gave our reception an outside feel without the risk of being completely outdoors. Thankfully though, the weather on our day was fab.
The max capacity of the room we used in House was 40 seated which was perfect because it forced us to keep the event small. We had only family and close friends at the reception. Guest lists get out of control so quickly! It was good for us to have a low max capacity.
Any advice would you give to another bride to be?
Find a venue that’s wonderful already. You’ll save money and a world of stress by not swimming in DIY projects. Hire a good photographer. It’s a shame to spend tonnes of money and time to make your day look stunning and then hire a photographer who doesn’t know how to capture it.
They love story is so moving.
I met John in February 2012. At the time I was working as Volunteer Manager at a soup kitchen for the homeless in Dublin. John came one day to volunteer so I showed him around and gave him a few jobs to do. The next week he came to volunteer again and I decided that I quite fancied getting to know him better. I racked my brain for things I could ask him to help me with. He ended up happily helping me with everything from buttering bread to cleaning the toilets and we had a great time talking. Before he left I told him how lovely it was to chat and he suggested that we grab a drink over the weekend to continue the conversation!
On our third date he kissed me on the corner of O’Connell Street and Abbey Street, next to the newsstand and that was me gone! We we’ve been together ever since!Opposites attract was definitely true in our case. John is a Kerryman, one of seven siblings and an Engineer. I’m an American, only child and a Graphic Designer/Photographer. We’re absolutely opposite and absolutely the same. We balance each other out in the best ways and we’re both completely mad. I can’t imagine my life without him.
Continuing serving at the soup kitchen together takes another few months until John was offered a job in London and relocated. The next year and a half we spent commuting back and forth most weekends to see each other and after our wedding I moved over to London to be with him.
I remember during the first few weeks of his new job in England he would take the ferry back on Friday nights to come see me for the weekend which meant that he’d only arrive back in Dublin at about 5:30 on Saturday morning! I’d put the kettle on and sit in the stairwell waiting to see him walk up to my door. It was completely mad but so romantic!
How did the proposal go?
John proposed on March 8th, 2015. I sent him out for milk that afternoon and he used the opportunity to pick up the ring as well!
Apparently, John had a proposal planned for later that day but when he came back with the ring (and the milk) he was too excited and just couldn’t wait to ask me. He knelt down in the middle of my kitchen and asked me to marry him. I immediately started weeping but managed to nod out a “Yes”. We spent the rest of the afternoon on cloud nine, calling our families to tell them the news. Later that night we had a nice dinner out to celebrate. It was wonderful!
Was there anything unique in the day?
We had a religious ceremony and our Pastor married us. Sandy and Dave have been very important and supportive to me since I’ve arrived in Dublin so it was lovely that Dave led our service. We had a hand-tying ceremony which was meaningful for us and communion. We also had the Seven Wedding Blessings text read. Typically, it is a Jewish tradition, but since we’re not jewish we adjusted the text to suit us. I’m not sure if that’s allowed… but we did it anyway. ;)
Did friends/family make anything for the day?
We made most things ourselves. The reception decor and cake were done by my friend Sandy. She did such an incredible job and the reception looked a million times better than I had anticipated. She also did the whole thing with a broken foot! A real soldier, that one. Having such talented friends that are willing to go the extra mile to make your wedding incredible is such a blessing. We are so thankful for the wonderful friends that I have in our life!
As well, The reception sign, invitations and favours were done by myself and my family. Only three members of my family were able to fly over from the US so it was lovely for us to be able to spend time together while making the favours and little extra bits for the day.
We also made my ‘ring pillow’ which was a little dish that I found in a charity shop in Italy a few years ago. We just taped a ribbon to the bottom and tied the rings around the top!
Your favourite moment ?
A tour bus was passing by right as we had our grand exit at The Merrion Hotel Wedding. So, as well as having our friends shower us with confetti, we also had a whole bus of tourists celebrating too!