This shoot, my firstborn wedding editorial, is a special one. It was back in 2013, when we had the first whiff that IMAGE would publish BASH, that I would be the editor… and that this was to be the launch editorial. Well, the excitement. My firstborn, Teddy, was just three months old and though I was on maternity leave, I couldn’t help but dip into work for something so magical. Looking at these pics, again, I almost forget the pain of pumping my baby’s milk, away from him for the first time, in what was the freezing cold bathroom (bathroom is a major complement for what that was) of this once-grand, now derelict, Georgian townhouse on Dublin’s North Great George’s Street.

I co-curated this shoot with my dear friend Jemma Cassidy, who, at the time, was running a very cool event planning company, called HipHip. Jemma, who’s like a high end Del Boy, taught me much about what it is to be a wheeler dealer of the luxurious… case in point: the sheer amount of gorgeousness we managed to beg, borrow (and, ahem, definitely not steal) for this faux shindig… not to mention roping in the US-based couple of visual dreams, Katie Stoops and Nazar Melconian, to do the photo and video, respectively (the link for the video is at the end of this post).

What makes me most proud, looking back, is how the event styling doesn’t feel hugely dated. We very specifically didn’t go with the trendy-trend of the time, instead taking inspiration from this gorgeous old building, bringing subtle elements of contemporary styling, but largely going for furnishings that were old and well-loved. And it makes a great case for how to style your wedding in such a way as to keep the aesthetic relevant, even when looking back on photos, a decade later.

Of course, there are elements I’d approach differently, if I was doing this shoot in 2020. Just little touches, mind; the table might be less rustic; there would be a lot more taper candles; the stationery concept would play a bigger part be shamelessly painterly. But these are the types of updates which I would hope would be required… if nothing called to me for change, the design moves from being timeless, to being a bit bland. Even in a very antique-focused event design, there has to be some connection to the contemporary.

Of course, working with Mark Grehan, of The Garden, on the florals, played a massive role in how well it has dated. Keep in mind that 2013 was when most Irish florists were still indulging in stuffy domes of tightly-packed roses… often with embellishments like (wretch) pearls, and very little of anything that felt like it might occur outdoors. Mark’s signature style has always been green and wild… and the way I feel is that nature never dates.

Well, I hope you like it. Or maybe you remember it from when it first came out? Any ex-BASHettes out there?

Photographs Katie Stoops

Video Nazar Melconian

Florals The Garden

Model Helena at 1st Option

Hair Sian Sharkey

Makeup Niamh Martin

Music (on the video) The Whileaways