Skip to content

Top Navigation

Martha Stewart Martha Stewart
  • FOOD
  • HOLIDAYS
  • ENTERTAINING
  • HOME
  • GARDENING
  • CLEANING & ORGANIZING
  • WEDDINGS
  • SHOP
  • DIY
  • BEAUTY & WELLNESS
  • LIFE
  • NEWS
  • MARTHA'S BLOG

Profile Menu

Martha's Blog
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Your Content
  • Logout

More

  • Enter to Win $10,000 to Makeover Your Home!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Martha's Blog
  • Weddings
Login
Subscribe
Save Pin FB

Explore Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart Martha Stewart
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 35 One-Pan Meals Just Right for Dinner Tonight

      One pan, pot, skillet, or Instant Pot is all you need to for these no-fuss family dinners, including salmon, pasta, pot roast, chili, and so much more. Read More Next
    • The Best 2021 Bedroom Paint Colors

      Explore the best 2021 bedroom paint colors, according to paint experts. Read More Next
    • The Ultimate Guide to Household Cleaning: What You Should Be Cleaning When

      Our printable checklists will tell you what you should be doing every day, week, month, season—or every once in a while—to keep your home in ship-shape year round. Read More Next
  • FOOD

    FOOD

    See All FOOD

    Quick, Easy, and Delicious Pasta Recipes Ideal for Weeknight Dinners

    When you need a comforting meal but don't have a lot of time, whip up one of these fast pasta recipes. All can be made in 45 minutes or less.
    • Breakfast & Brunch Recipes
    • Lunch Recipes
    • Dinner Recipes
    • Appetizers & Snacks
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Drink Recipes
    • Salad Recipes
    • Side Dishes
    • Soup Recipes
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Quick & Easy Recipes
    • Vegetarian Recipes
    • Cooking How-Tos
    • Baking
    • Menu Planning
    • Food News & Trends
    • Wine
    • Mastering the Holiday Meal
    • What's for Dinner
    • All Recipes
  • HOLIDAYS

    HOLIDAYS

    See All HOLIDAYS

    19 St. Patrick's Day Crafts and Decorations

    Looking for a golden idea? You're in luck. Kick off your St. Patrick's Day celebrations with our shamrock garlands, rainbow balloons, leprechaun traps, and more.
    • Valentine's Day
    • St. Patricks Day
    • Passover
    • Easter
    • Mother's Day
    • Father's Day
    • Fourth of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Hanukkah
    • Christmas
    • New Year's Eve
  • ENTERTAINING

    ENTERTAINING

    See All ENTERTAINING

    The Best Front Porch Decorating Ideas for Every Month of the Year

    Get inspired to make your porch your new favorite living space with these ideas designed to add a refined look to any outdoor space.
    • Seasonal Entertaining & Decorating
    • Baby Shower Ideas
    • Dinner Party Ideas
    • You're Invited
  • HOME

    HOME

    See All HOME

    How to Disinfect Your Kitchen and Your Food During the Coronavirus Outbreak, According to Experts

    Keep everything from your countertops to your dining room chairs germ-free.
    • Home Design & Decor
    • Paint Colors & Palettes
    • DIY Home Projects
  • GARDENING

    GARDENING

    See All GARDENING

    How to Keep Your Houseplants Happy in the Winter

    Help them thrive even when the temperature drops.
    • Container Gardening
    • Flower Gardens
    • Houseplants
    • Landscaping
    • Vegetable Gardens
  • CLEANING & ORGANIZING

    CLEANING & ORGANIZING

    How to Wash Your Hands Properly, According to a Doctor

    You likely wash your hands several times a day, but are you doing so effectively? Learn how to minimize the spread of germs with an extra few seconds of scrubbing.
    • Cleaning
    • Storage & Organization
    • Laundry & Linens
  • WEDDINGS

    WEDDINGS

    See All WEDDINGS

    How to Plan a Beautiful, Meaningful Micro Wedding So That You Can Celebrate Your Postponed Nuptials Right Now

    • Real Weddings
    • Wedding Party
    • Wedding Planning & Advice
    • Wedding Ceremony & Reception
    • Wedding Jewelry
    • Dresses & Style
    • Wedding Beauty & Wellness
    • Wedding Registry
    • Wedding Showers & Parties
    • Love & Marriage
    • Wedding Travel
  • SHOP
  • DIY

    DIY

    See All DIY

    How to Knit: A Beginner's Step-by-Step Guide

    Learn how to knit your own mittens, hats, scarves, and more. We'll take you through the step-by-step instructions and teach you how to cast on, knit, purl, and cast off.
    • Dyeing
    • Holiday Crafts
    • Kids' Crafts
    • Knitting
    • Paper Crafts
    • Sewing
    • Rescue & Revamp
  • BEAUTY & WELLNESS

    BEAUTY & WELLNESS

    Six Ways to Take Care of Your Mental Health While You Work from Home

    Start by carving out a designated work area in your space.
    • Beauty
    • Health & Wellness
  • LIFE

    LIFE

    See All LIFE

    How to Start a Virtual Book Club

    From which platforms to use and the best books to read, bibliophiles share their advice.
    • Family
    • Pets
    • Travel
  • NEWS
  • MARTHA'S BLOG

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Martha's Blog
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Your Content
  • Logout

More

  • Enter to Win $10,000 to Makeover Your Home!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Martha's Blog
  • Weddings
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. marthastewart.com
  2. Weddings
  3. Real Weddings
  4. Wedding Styles
  5. Love Is Love
  6. Spring Weddings
  7. A Wedding Inspired by the Coast of Ireland

A Wedding Inspired by the Coast of Ireland

By Rebecca Dalzell
December 11, 2017
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
Credit: Paula O'Hara

Even the cake evoked the nearby sea.

Start Slideshow

1 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Simone and Darren

Credit: Paula O'Hara

On one of their early dates, Simone Sheils and Darren Mullane climbed to the top of a waterfall in Maui—and jumped. "I was absolutely terrified," says Simone. "It was brilliant." It was a typical outing for the two Dublin college students, who met when they were working at a beachside restaurant on the Hawaiian island in 2007. She noticed that everyone around him was always laughing. And he sensed an immediate connection: "We have similar humor and personalities. It felt very easy," he says.

During hikes through bamboo forests and afternoons of surfing, they discovered they both came from large families in the west of Ireland and shared mutual friends. That September, they moved home and found that they got along just as well in a less-sunny climate. "We went on more traditional dates in Dublin," says Simone, laughing. After college, Darren, an anesthesiologist, traveled around Ireland for work, and Simone, a speech and language pathologist, lived in London for two years. When she returned to Dublin in 2015, they moved in together and planned a December ski trip to Whistler, Canada—and it was there that he proposed, beside a frozen lake.

They knew they would marry in Doonbeg, County Clare, a village on the Atlantic Ocean close to Simone's hometown of Ennis. Growing up, she'd spent summers playing on its sand dunes; Darren, from Newcastle West, County Limerick, often joined her family there over the years, golfing at the club where they would hold their reception. The couple, who now live in Vancouver, envisioned a fun, relaxed wedding inspired by the windswept coast, with décor that incorporated its moody hues. The menu highlighted local seafood; a friend of Simone's father sourced lobsters from nearby Carrigaholt.

Over a long weekend, about 220 guests gathered in Doonbeg to witness Simone and Darren recite Catholic vows on April 29, 2017, then celebrated into the wee hours. The highlight of the night came at around 3 A.M., when a piano player led a sing-along in a fireside bar. With hands in the air and voices in unison, "everyone was in such good form," says Darren. It was a joyful moment for the couple as they leapt off into a new adventure.

Watch Simone and Darren's wedding film by Story of Eve.

1 of 17

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

The Stationery Suite

Credit: Paula O'Hara
The Loveliest Watercolor Wedding Invitations

The stationery suite and enclosed local maps were created by Sally Balt of La Happy. Vellum invitations were stitched onto a watercolor of the coast painted by Sarah Simon.

2 of 17

3 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Flower Girls

Credit: Paula O'Hara
68 Flower Crown Ideas to Complete Your Wedding Hairstyle

Donning waxflower head wreaths by The Informal Florist and custom dresses by Alexandra Grecco, young attendants posed in the ivy-and flower-draped entrance to St. Senan's Church in Kilrush, Ireland, before the wedding of their cousin Simone to Darren.

3 of 17

Advertisement

4 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

The Groomsmen

Credit: Paula O'Hara

Darren and his groomsmen, including his brother Shane (second from right), caught up outside St. Senan's Church before the ceremony. "I was a bit nervous at the start," says Darren. "But once all my friends were there and Simone started walking down the aisle with her dad, it all hit home. I was just overjoyed."

4 of 17

5 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Boutonnières for the Guys

Credit: Paula O'Hara
48 Boutonnières You Both Will Love

Men pinned boutonnières of rosemary, thistle, spray roses, and ranunculus to their lapels.

5 of 17

6 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

The Bridal Party

Credit: Paula O'Hara

Wearing Alexandra Grecco dresses, bridesmaids (including Simone's sister, Audrey, center) and flower girls beamed before the ceremony.

6 of 17

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Arriving at the Church

Credit: Paula O'Hara

Simone and her father shared a laugh when they arrived at the church. The bride wore a Monique Lhuillier wedding dress, Peter Langner veil, and Aquazzura shoes, and carried roses, peonies, hellebores, muscari, and lilacs in her bouquet.

7 of 17

8 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

The Programs

Credit: Paula O'Hara

Silver-foil monograms, drawn by Sally Balt of La Happy, topped the cover of the ceremony booklets, by Appleberry Press.

8 of 17

9 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

I Thee Wed

Credit: Paula O'Hara

The couple wed at 19th-century St. Senan's Church. "The music took everyone's breath away," says Simone.

9 of 17

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Epic Scenery

Credit: Paula O'Hara

Dramatic cliffs line the County Clare coastline, high over the churning ocean. "The sea down there is always so wild," Simone says. "We wanted those colors to come through: soft blues, dove grays, and greens." With help from event planner and designer Alise Taggart, the vision was realized.

10 of 17

11 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Postceremony Portraits

Credit: Paula O'Hara

After the ceremony, Darren and Simone took the "surfer's entrance" down to Doughmore Beach. "There's a beautiful walk through the sand and the grass," says Simone. "It was freezing and very windy—my veil was whipped off my hair."

11 of 17

12 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

The Reception

Credit: Paula O'Hara

After the ceremony, guests went to the club's bar for the cocktail reception, which featured a spread of Guinness and oysters.

12 of 17

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Please Be Seated

Credit: Paula O'Hara
25 Unique Wedding Seating Charts to Guide Guests to Their Tables

Appleberry Press designed the seating cards, with names digitally printed on cotton-feel paper with a watercolor background.

13 of 17

14 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

The Reception Tables

Credit: Paula O'Hara

Hand-dyed muslin runners rippled down linen-draped tables topped with vintage brass candlesticks and centerpieces that included roses, hellebores, and lilacs.

14 of 17

15 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Let's Dance

Credit: Paula O'Hara
6 Tips for Choosing the Perfect First Dance Song

Simone and Darren danced to Ben E. King's "Stand by Me" under twinkle lights in the tent. "I loved the styling of the marquee," says Simone. "When it got dark outside, it was gorgeous."

15 of 17

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

16 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

An Inspired Cake

Credit: Paula O'Hara
24 Wedding Details You Can Gild with Gold Foil

The vanilla, chocolate-raspberry, and chocolate biscuit cake by Cloudberry Bakery was frosted with a swirled buttercream that was flecked with gold leaf to evoke the sea.

16 of 17

17 of 17

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Sources

Credit: Paula O'Hara

Ceremony location, St. Senan's Church

Event planning and design, Alise Taggart

Flowers, The Informal Florist

Photography, Paula O'Hara

Videography, Story of Eve

Stationery and calligraphy, La Happy (invitations); Appleberry Press (day-of items)

Cake, Cloudberry Bakery

Music, Maria Fitzgerald (ceremony and cocktail hour); Bentley Boys, Sean De Burca (piano player)

Rentals, Gotcha Covered

Bride's gown, Monique Lhuillier from Browns Bride

Bride's accessories, Peter Langner veil; Aquazzura shoes

Hair, Matthew Feeney

Makeup, Aidan Corcoran

Bridesmaids' and flower-girl dresses, Alexandra Grecco

Groom's tuxedo, Canali

Groom's accessories, Charvet bow tie; Ermenegildo Zegna cuff links; Scarosso shoes

Lighting, White Events

Transportation, Diamond Limousine Service

Watercolor artist for invitation, Sarah Simon

17 of 17

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Rebecca Dalzell

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
`
View All
  • At Their Elegant Wedding in Maryland, This Couple Made Sure Their Globetrotting Guests Came First
  • Five Essential Details to Consider When Planning an At-Home Wedding
  • A Classic New York Wedding at the Bowery Hotel
  • Chrissy Teigen Just Shared a Rare Photo of Her After-Party Wedding Dress
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 17 Simone and Darren
2 of 17 The Stationery Suite
3 of 17 Flower Girls
4 of 17 The Groomsmen
5 of 17 Boutonnières for the Guys
6 of 17 The Bridal Party
7 of 17 Arriving at the Church
8 of 17 The Programs
9 of 17 I Thee Wed
10 of 17 Epic Scenery
11 of 17 Postceremony Portraits
12 of 17 The Reception
13 of 17 Please Be Seated
14 of 17 The Reception Tables
15 of 17 Let's Dance
16 of 17 An Inspired Cake
17 of 17 Sources

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Login

Martha Stewart

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Customer Service
  • Media Kit
  • Sitemap
  • Martha's Blog
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing
  • FAQ
  • Corporate
  • International

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Martha Stewart is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.marthastewart.com

View image

A Wedding Inspired by the Coast of Ireland
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.