Limerick couple Kate & Shane embraced the design elements of their venue, like the windows and greenery-dappled exterior, with a dreamy autumn-infused aesthetic to create the most perfect setting for their seasonal celebration. Lush florals and modern stationery (created by the bride!) mixed together for an Instagram-worthy design. The pair fully embraced the season, with a gorgeous fall-toned colour palette, cosy bridal party style and relaxed dinner party setting. Cloughjordan House in Co. Tipperary made everyone feel at home for the autumn weekend, Flowers From The Secret Garden added the most magical floral touch, and Dasha Caffrey was brought on to lens every special moment. This stunner of a Cloughjordan House wedding was everything we wanted from an October celebration!
Limerick couple Kate & Shane, first shared sparks many moons ago at Icon Nightclub in Limerick city. After a few years together, Shane surprised Kate with a proposal in Kinsale on a walk to one of their favourite pubs – The Bulman. “The sun was shining and to top it off, he had arranged for my family and his family to surprise me later on in the evening and spend the night with us celebrating. It’s a weekend I’ll remember forever,” the bride reminisces.
Once engaged, the pair started planning their ‘october nineteenth’ Cloughjordan House wedding. Kate telling, “I loved using lower case when I wrote it in the lead up and it stuck. Everyone referred to the wedding as october nineteenth and it’ll always be such a special date for us.”
Telling One Fab Day what made their venue ‘the one’ for them, they say, “The fact that it felt like home from the very first day we went to visit. The staff make you feel like you are a part of the family from the weeks leading up to your wedding, not to mind the day itself. Cloughjordan will have a place in our hearts forever. We’ve already booked a stay for Valentines this year to go back and meet everyone in CJH. It honestly is the warmest, most inviting place and we are both so glad we get to call it our wedding venue forever.”
The bride adds, “The food was just exquisite. Beyond tasty and something that our guests are still raving about to this day. Weddings are expensive as we all know, so having your guests genuinely adore the food you served them was such a lovely feeling.We’ll dream of the Day 2 Patatas Bravas for a long time! I also adored the idea of the long tables in CJH. Different and unique. Romantic.”
Kate wowed us with her elegant wedding day look. Her stunning gown embroidered gown was a Rue de Seine design which she sourced at The Wedding Club in the UK.
On the day-of, the bride got ready with Fiona McNamara of FMN Studio and Limerick-based hair stylist Susan Griffin before completing her look with white slingback heels from ASOS and gold drop earrings by Amélie George bridal. “Getting ready in the Distillery Cottage (connected to Cloughjordan House) with my girls and my mom was something I longed for, for months. The morning of the wedding was everything and more. We laughed, cried, shared memories, created new ones, danced to Nora Jones, had eggs on toast and I just lapped up every single second. I remember being on my own at one point in the little kitchen and looking at myself in the mirror and letting out a little scream of excitement,” the bride tells One Fab Day.
At the other end of the property, Shane got ready in his Louis Copeland & Sons made-to-measure outfit alongside his groomsmen who also donned Louis Copeland & Sons attire.
For her best gals, Kate choose an alternative bridesmaid look featuring a jumper and skirt combo. The soft bow-back wool sweaters were handmade by Etsy designer PartOfMeDESIGN, while the satin maxi skirts came from Folkster.
On October 19th, 2024, Kate and Shane’s 165 guests gathered at St Michael’s & St Johns Church in Cloughjordan for their wedding mass. “For me, the mass was always going to be really important to me. I always dreamed of walking down the aisle with my Dad and just knew it was going to be very special,” the bride explains. The ceremony was beautifully conducted by Canon Dónal Mc Namara (along with Fr. Éamonn Fitzgibbon and Fr. Chris O’Donnell as concelebrants).
The bride made her entrance to her brother and sister singing which she fondly looks back on. “Having my brother and sister sing for me was incredible. I will never, ever get over how amazing they were. I listen to the clip daily.” Her siblings were accompanied by four other talented musicians, Maria Ryan, Annajane Ryan, Maria O’ Connor, Sarah Daly & Niamh O’ Brien. The bride says, “We had a concert in the church!”. She adds, “People had phones out recording and people have also contacted us both since to request it from our videographer. Their version of Amen by John Adams was the reason I cried for the most part of the ceremony. They sung the last verse acapella and it was hauntingly beautiful. Caoimhe, my friend read These I Can Promise, by Mark Twain and it was used as the voiceover on our wedding video. The words are very special.”
Speaking of how they landed on their aesthetic, and vibe for the day, Kate says, “years and years of wanting to be a bride since I was a little girl really! Instagram and Pinterest played a huge role but I think in the end I dreamed a vision and was glad to call it my own. I planned for hours on end, stayed up late tying bows and still to this day continue to write and print Dasha’s pictures into my wedding scrapbook of it all. I am so proud of how it all turned out. I made the most part of my wedding invitations myself. I had my art teacher from when I was a child sketch CJH and edited it into our invitation.”
The couple took on the planning themselves and bride Kate designed and styled many elements of the day. “I bought just under 500 candles myself… Sostrene Green’s shelves were cleared on many a weekend and I don’t regret a single one! They set the romantic tone for the long tables, draped with clouds of blushing pink babies breath. I secretly went about asking all out guests for a picture of their wedding day/engagement pictures/sourced pictures of myself & Shane with friends and created our seating chart which went down such a treat. Everyone really loved it when they saw it in the marquée.”
One the day, Kate says it was “pure and utter magic. The vibes were calm, romantic and emotional from early morning. The soft pinks, taupes, mochas and ivories intertwined between the hanging flower clouds, the stationary, the bouquets and the bridesmaids unique handmade jumpers and skirts. My florist Sarah of Flowers From The Secret Garden used the word ‘whimsical’ a lot when getting giddy about the visions I had for the floral arrangements, particularly the flower clouds that draped the long tables in the dining room.”
Kate says she couldn’t pick just one favourite moment from the weekend and fondly looks back on many elements including, “Giving my Dad his hankie and note on the morning of. I was the first to get married in my family and I knew mom and dad were expecting a great weekend but watching how happy and overjoyed they were together all weekend was so wonderful. My Dad also had my first babygrow in his hand for his speech which was so special.”
“All the candles on the tables. The flower clouds. The signage. The girls bow jumpers. ‘october nineteenth’ catching on with everyone that spoke about the wedding. Having my brother and sister sing for me. Shane had his own Guinness Bar at the wedding that he called ‘The Honey Pot’ which he loved. My 3 bridesmaids went above and beyond for me on the day and in the months leading up the wedding. I have never in my life felt so much love and I will be eternally grateful to them.”
“Both of us always said that we wanted everyone to be able to say that they had had a great weekend – with lots of good food & good music. Being grateful that we got to experience such love and magic. Having everyone we loved in one room, and marrying my best friend – number one of course.”
The reception unfolded beneath the tented marquee at Cloughjordan House. Long tables were set with crisp white tablecloths, blush napkins and topped with tons of taper candles of the same colour palette. Custom menus complete with bow-tied place names designed by the bride marked each place setting. Dreamy clouds of baby’s breath by their floral designer Sarah of Flowers From The Secret Garden hung over head, while arrangements in the same tones sat at the top of each of the tables.
The couple’s friend Síle Gleeson kindly made their impressive all-white wedding cake.
Toasts were given during dinner and after, dancing followed, beginning with the newlyweds first dance to This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) by Natalie Cole. “We were semi-allergic to the first dance concept so only did a few seconds and then asked everyone to join us!,” Kate says. Sax Appeal kept the dance floor full, while bubbles and nibbles sustained guests into the early hours.
As for advice for other engaged couples? The bride says, “I read online and also people told me to spend as much time with Shane as I could on the day and I stupidly thought ‘of course, sure we’ll be together all the time anyway?’ – it wasn’t the case! Carve out 15 mins where it’s just you two! No cameras, no videos, nothing!”.
After all that planning and their epic celebrations, the couple unwinded with some R&R in South Africa. “It was absolutely amazing! Would highly recommend it to anyone considering travelling there. The wine, the meat, the views! There’s already talks of going back again!”
Kate and Shane, a huge congratulations from all of us on the One Fab Day team! A very special thank you to Dasha Caffrey Photography for sharing today’s dreamy ‘october nineteenth’ Cloughjordan House wedding, you can see even more stunning photos in the gallery below!
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