A Dublin bride has shared details of her big day after a picturesque city centre wedding.
Emma Coyle married her long term partner Conor back in 2021. The happy couple first got engaged on a trip to Australia and set their hearts on a Christmas wedding.
Emma explained that they decided to host their wedding in the city centre in order to trim down on costs and make travel easier for their guests. They eventually decided that St Stephen's Green Club was a perfect fit for their wedding.
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The bride told Dublin Live: "We honestly felt so fortunate as we knew many people who unfortunately didn't get to have the wedding they wanted or had to keep rescheduling their date due to the restrictions."
She added: "We picked out a few venues to look at and once we walked through the doors of St. Stephen's Green Club we were in love. The venue is stunning and each room has so much character and charm."
The big day took place just days after Christmas on December 29. The couple's wedding photos, taken by Aidan Beatty, included some gorgeous winter snaps of their stroll through Stephen's Green.
Here is Emma's recollections of her special day in full.
Who is your partner and how did you meet?
My partner is Conor Dunphy. He used to work with a mutual friend of ours so we had seen each other once or twice on nights out but we were both in relationships at the time. Then we ended up matching on Tinder about 8 years ago and took it from there.
Tell us about the proposal.
It was on the 1/10/2021. We were over in Australia visiting Conor's brother and sister. We decided to do a little trip ourselves to Sydney for a few nights. We arrived and Conor suggested we go for a walk through the Botanic Gardens where you can walk along the water and there's views of the Sydney Bridge and the Opera House.
Our flight was delayed but it ended up being in Conor's favour as the sun was starting to set. He then stopped and asked "Should we get a photo together?... But put this on" and when I turned around there he was on one knee with the ring. It was the last thing I was expecting so I was completely shocked.
Apparently I didn't say anything for what felt like an eternity to him and my head just kept turning from him to the ring. In my head at the time I was probably trying to figure out if it was one of his weird jokes and then realised he was serious so I gave him the answer he was hoping for.
Tell us about your wedding.
Our wedding was on 29th December 2021. We were lucky in the sense that it was our original date and didn't have to reschedule due to Covid. We had booked it just before the pandemic began in January 2020.
We both liked the idea of a wedding around Christmas but knew it can be an expensive time so we opted for a city centre wedding as we're both from Dublin so knew it would suit the majority of our friends and family as they wouldn't have to worry about accommodation etc.
We wanted to keep the guestlist on the smaller side so we planned on having around 100 guests, which worked out perfectly for us as the Covid restrictions at the time had wedding guests at a max of 100. We honestly felt so fortunate as we knew many people who unfortunately didn't get to have the wedding they wanted or had to keep rescheduling their date due to the restrictions.
We picked out a few venues to look at and once we walked through the doors of St. Stephen's Green Club we were in love. The venue is stunning and each room has so much character and charm.
The club has such a unique and interesting history which we found fascinating. The staff there are so welcoming and they all went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable. As soon as we met with their wedding coordinator we knew we were in good hands and would be well minded. Even with all the uncertainty regarding Covid during the build up, they kept us informed of the necessary changes and really pushed for us to have the best day possible.
The venue was decorated beautifully for Christmas with a gorgeous tree in the entrance hall by a roaring fire. With garlands and lights everywhere, it made us at ease that we didn't need to worry about decor for the wedding. We had a humanist ceremony with the amazing Graham Barrett.
He was extremely helpful and guided us through the whole process with various suggestions on how we could personalise the ceremony with different traditions and readings. We couldn't recommend him enough.
After the ceremony we got to have a stroll around St. Stephen's Green Park and the city centre, where the ridiculously talented Aidan Beatty captured some amazing shots for us. His work speaks for itself and we honestly loved every photo.
Me and Conor are both big whiskey drinkers so we named each table after one of our favourite Irish whiskeys with a centrepiece of a bottle ofwhiskey filled with lights and surrounded with flowers. We also had cute little bottles of whiskey for everyone as wedding favours.
After the dinner we then got to enjoy the fantastic Sax and the City and had an absolutely amazing night dancing, letting our hair down and for one night just forgetting about Covid. Words can't describe how terrific it was seeing our friends and family all together, having a great time after the tough two years we had.
What was the best thing about the build up to the big day?
It's just exciting. You start ticking off all the bits on your list and start seeing it all come together. At the start the day seems so far away and you don't know what to expect.
The support and encouragement from everyone is amazing, from your bridal party, friends, family, colleagues and even all the suppliers. Weddings are such a joyous occasion and I really felt everyone just wants the best for the both of you.
What was your outfit/ the bridesmaids dresses like?
Since it was Christmas time we were drawn to the traditional colours of green and burgundy. I got my bridesmaid dresses from ASOS and the girls found them very comfortable and got plenty of compliments. I went with a two piece from Folkster.
My dress was a long sleeve lace body suit with a white crepe skirt. As soon as I put it on I felt stunning and knew it was very much my style. Just gorgeous.
What are your tips for other brides?
Try not to get stressed over every little detail. Enjoy the process and I think it's important for you and your partner to work together and take on different things so it doesn't all fall on the one person.
Also do what you both want to do, don't feel pressured to give in to what you think other people want you to do. It's your day in the end and after all the money and hard work that goes into it, you should be entitled to enjoy every single moment.
Shop around for good deals as much as you can. A lot of different websites sell very similar wedding stuff and a lot of the time if you sign up for their newsletters you can get discount codes for your first orders. Use all the resources available to you to get inspiration or recommendations, weddingsonline.ie, onefabday.com, pinterest, even your friends or colleagues who have gotten married. It's great to get help from people who've gone through the process before.
On the day, savour every moment and just enjoy yourself. Don't worry if something doesn't go exactly to plan. It's likely it won't ever cross your mind again when you think back about your special day.
Would you do anything differently?
I don't think we would do anything differently, we were delighted with all our suppliers and felt the whole day was so enjoyable. Obviously in a perfect world the only change we would have would be if there was no pandemic and no restrictions.
We had to finish the night earlier than normal weddings and unfortunately a few important guests couldn't make it on the day due to either being close contacts or having Covid themselves.
We were both so humbled though by our guests efforts in the run up to restrict their movements and taking regular antigens to help keep everyone safe especially as it was Christmas time. We can't thank everyone enough and it really was one of the best days of our lives.
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