Irish Castle wedding planner Ballynahich Castle — “Choosing love & gatherings was one of the best decisions we could have made.”

JAMES & BRYAN

EVENT DESIGN Love & Gatherings

WORDS Kate O’Dowd, Irish Wedding Planner

If you’re looking for wedding magic, this is it, folks. Our story begins in a woodland clearing on the banks of Ballynahinch Castle’s stretch of the Owenmore River. Bryan and James were well at home in Ballynahinch, before wedding plans were on the cards and had picked out this magical spot - then a wildly overgrown piece of scrubland - while out walking, one day. Working with the excellent onsite landscape crew, we had the space and a meandering forest walkway up to it, cleared, levelled and barked, ready for our design team to transform it into a secret, magical glen, just for our lovely couple & their 280 guests. Weddings like this, are why I became a wedding planner.

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The whimsical dress code was Black Tie Eleganza, and all twelve bridesmaids wore white, later to be dubbed the Vestal Virgins. While the ceremony was helmed by the couple’s dear friend Niall, a first time celebrant, longtime stunner. The marigold was our statement floral, linking to Ballynahinch’s past as the home of a Raj… but also because we loved its vibrant originality. I loved designing the aesthetic for this event. Working with a couple so open to (heck, insistent on!) pushing the boundaries of what a traditional wedding looks like, is what allowed me to create an event that was so unlike any of the guests had ever seen.

“Kate and her team not only got our aesthetic and aspirations, but were able to turn them into something better than we could have imagined. We were supported every step of the way and Kate’s rolodex of suppliers is unlike any of her competitors in Ireland. We had the most bombastic two days of our lives and will be eternally grateful to love & gatherings for making it all happen.”

— JAMES & BRYAN

We included an ancient Celtic Handfasting ritual within James and Bryan’s ceremony. This entails the couple’s hands being fastened together, using sacred ribbons (these weren’t so much sacred as a stunning continuation of the event palette); when the couple pull their hands free, a knot is tied - this is where “tying the knot’ originated - and audience cheers are sure to erupt.

Music, during the ceremony, came courtesy of James’ fab sister Sahra, alongside the couple’s friend, superstar Jake Shears (helps to have friends in very talented places, ay?). When James & Bryan said I do, we activated bubble machines, which in the blazing sun, was magic to the max … it kept the children entertained until the end of the ceremony, too, which is always a happy side effect.

This is me lighting the unity candles, which the couple used to signify the union of their lives… flames of love, and all that!

Post ceremony, one of the handsome groomsmen carried a ribbon banner we whipped up, leading a procession in which guests danced to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” out of the forest and through to the riverside terrace for a champagne reception.

Dinner and dancing took place in a traditional canvas pole tent - posh fact: this exact tent, called the Orangerie, was the very one used by Megan Markle and Prince Harry for their wedding reception - in Ballynahinch’s breathtaking formal gardens. It took a week to erect, furnish and style, complete with long wooden tables, crossback chairs, antique crockery and flatware, the most stunning floral garden growing from the ceiling down and one hell of a giant glitterball.

Having had the honour of being invited as a guest to this wedding, I was able to witness guests’ gleeful surprise as they entered this wonderous space… a priviledge I don’t often get to experience from behind the scenes.

Taking the event through to evening, a custom neon sign featuring lyrics that songwriter James had written for his love, lit up on stage, setting the scene for Charlotte Church and her Late Night Pop Dungeon, who raised every guest from their seat. The highlight of the night had to be James performing alongside Charlotte in a showstopping serenade to Bryan.