David & Frances - Clonabreany House Wedding, Ireland

“No cheesy stuff, a little bit of time with you on our own, and lots of fun”.

This was the brief that David (a firefighter from Belfast) and Frances (a psychologist from Belfast) gave me for their Clonabreany House wedding.

Together for over 6 years having met spontaneously, David and Frances compliment each other in their personalities - and it showed in their wedding planning.

David really wanted to be a part of his own wedding, and booked a number of their vendors. He knew the movements of his day and what was going to happen. Let’s just say that not every groom knows what’s going on from the morning of his wedding, onwards! (Gents, want some tips? I’ve written a guide to being a groom on your wedding day, give it a read and tell me your thoughts!)

They looked much further than Belfast for their wedding venue, and chose Clonabreany House, County Meath, Ireland (https://www.clonabreanyhouse.ie/) for their big day. They told me that they wanted people to journey to Ireland and stay over, making a whole bank holiday weekend of the affair.

David and Francis are sociable, and from very tight-knit families. From the word ‘go’ I knew that this would be a great one to film!

Francis spent the night before her wedding in Nanny Plunkets Cottage, which is owned and operated by Clonabreany House. This gave her a modern and quaint little cottage just a 5 minute drive from the wedding venue, to get ready with her 2 bridesmaids and flower girl.

Francis chose stylish white suits for her two bridesmaids - I’ve never seen or heard of suits before, but not only did the girls pull them off, but they were “the most comfortable girls on the dancefloor!” by the end of the night!

The couple were a gift to film - laid back, relaxed, and I wanted to show exactly how enjoyable their day was. They were totally in love, and after a grand ceremony in St Brigid’s Catholic Church (where the priest not only sang his own incredible songs, but also let me and the wedding photographer move around freely). The church is beautiful, and Clonabreany House matches is exquisitely in taste and style.

The main house is separate to the accommodation. The house has a lovely bar area, a stunning courtyard and is set in the countryside. On the grounds is a beautiful lake that provides the perfect backdrop for couples portraits and is just a short walk from the main venue.

With a tight-knit family it was important to show some key guests at such a stunning location, especially ones that had travelled from as far as Australia to go to this wedding.

David and Frances chose to have their speeches outside, which also made their day different, and was made possible by the blessing of amazing summer weather, with David looking great in his suit from Freddie Hatchet.

They chose to have a cèilidh band after dinner. For those of you who don’t know what a cèilidh band is, it’s a traditional Irish/Scottish band of about 5 pieces that get the crowd up and dancing. It worked. Within 30 seconds almost all of the wedding guests were up on the dancefloor and this made for fantastic wedding film footage.

The dancing didn’t stop until well into the night thanks to a brilliant wedding band.

All in all this was a fantastic wedding, and, as always, a pleasure to film and was featured in made with love bridal, showing off photos from the day taken by Chris Copeland.

The best bit? The tears when I presented them with a wedding video that they are going to cherish forever.

Want to know more about my style of wedding videography? Take a look at some of my couple’s love stories, or get in touch for more information.