It’s impossible not to be charmed by today’s real wedding which takes us to the postcard-pretty island of Inishbofin located off the coast of Connemara. It’s a place that Eva and Tom hold so dear and 140 of their loved ones joined them for their magical June wedding which had the loveliest chilled out vibe. Getting oodles of inspiration from Pinterest, they wanted a DIY celebration that felt very ‘them’.
They held their ceremony on Dumhach Beach with their marquee reception at The Dolphin Hotel. Their family and friends were very supportive and eager to help out when it came to bringing their dream day to life. In fact, the planning was half the fun! Free-spirited style, stunning seafood, romantically-hued blooms and wonderful music were focal points of this superb summer wedding which was lensed wonderfully by Aoife Herriott. Let’s dive in now!
Tom is from Blackrock and Eva is from Templeogue and they split their time between Dublin and Connemara currently. As for their love story they say, ” Something good that came out of Covid! Eva was selling homemade facemasks as a side hustle when the charming Tom wanted to buy some. Tom popped the question while hiking the Lycian Way in Turkey (after carrying the ring around in his backpack up and down several mountains).”
The bride’s sisters were the masterminds behind her breathtaking bridal hair and makeup and as for their stationery… Sisters strike again! “Eva’s sister Sally is a graphic designed who did our postcard-style invitations with a map of Inishbofin.”
Inishbofin is a place they hold very dear and it was the perfect location to whisk all their family and friends away to for a few days of sun-kissed celebrating. “Having spent our summers running our Seafood Café Little Fish in Connemara we fell in love with it, specifically Inishbofin. We wanted to share it with our friends and family in a casual setting.”
Eva looked absolutely stunning in the Odri gown by Katya Katya with gorgeous floral lace appliqué. She sourced her dreamy dress from Pearl Lane Bridal which she accessorised with gold metallic heels by Kurt Geiger and gold hoop earrings that she had originally bought for her mum but she found them too heavy. Her flower crown created from delicate bursts of baby’s breath was the perfect cherry on top.
Tom was superbly dapper in his green tweed suit from Dorian Black.
The bridesmaids wore printed dresses by SIKA which were handmade to order from Ghana. “I wanted to make sure the bridesmaids got dresses that they would enjoy wearing again – and if they matched a bit then all the better. They all decided to go for the same company and similar pattern with different designs.”
Looking for mixed gender grooms party style inspiration? The groomsmen and groomsmaid could wear whatever they pleased and stellar suiting was firmly on display!
They wanted their wedding to have a lovely casual vibe so they could spend loads of time mingling with their family and friends and making precious memories they could cherish forever.
They tied the knot in an absolutely beautiful beach ceremony lit by stunning sunshine. They enlisted the help of two local florists for their beautiful blooms with Siobhan from Cleggan Farm Flowers creating the bride’s pastel-perfect bouquet, the daisy bouquets for the bridesmaids and the vibrantly-hued display featuring peonies and Canterbury bells for the arbor that was created by Tom’s brother Hugh.
The bridal party created their fabulous flower crowns during the hen party – what a wonderful activity! “They were so much fun and I loved them so much that all the bridesmaids and I made flowery headbands to the wedding day for the bride, bridesmaids and all the flower girls. We had great fun making them and felts they fitted in with the island-vibe wedding! We bought the dried flowers from The Garden.”
We absolutely adored the bridal party entrance and the flower girls looked as cute and chic as could be in broderie anglaise dresses.
“Brother in Law Paul O’Leary has now found his new calling as he acted as our celebrant,” they say reflecting on their sunshine-soaked ceremony. “Thankfully we have talented friends! Dee, Etaoin and Lewis from Attention Bébé played our ceremony music.”
Everyone was reaching for their tissues as Eva’s 12-year-old nephew Arlo read Wedding Poem by Whitney Hanson “like a pro!”
They admit that transport was a challenge, but where there is will there is a way! “Inishbofin Ferry were exceptionally helpful. We booked a van onto the cargo ferry to help bring supplies across and they helped load all of the caterers supplies etc. under a tight time schedule!”
“We couldn’t have been happier with our photographs,” they tell us. “Aoife was an absolute dream to work with and even put us at ease for the more posed photos that we were mortified doing! She really listened to us in terms of what we wanted and she struck a lovely balance between getting the photos we wanted and making sure we didn’t miss out on any part of the day.”
After seeing their utterly fabulous celebration we asked them for their top piece of wedding advice. “Remember it’s a celebration of your love – have fun and plan it for the day YOU want to have.”
They celebrated with a fabulous marquee reception at The Dolphin Hotel, Inishbofin. “Pat at The Dolphin had recently partnered with David Lavelle and his marquee company. Venue options are few and far between for 140 guests on Inishbofin and we couldn’t believe our luck when we came across the option to have David’s marquee at The Dolphin. It was a gorgeous location, a beautiful marquee that set the tone of the casual wedding we wanted. It came with fabulous lighting. A team of pals got together the day before the wedding to put up decorations that had been handmade, bought online and borrowed – along with a heap of bunting from our restaurant Little Fish.”
Along with the bouquets for the flower girls, Inishbofin-based florist Patricia from Skylark and Wren created the delicate bunches of blooms for the jars on the tables.
Their friends had a stunning surprise planned for them as they got together in secret and rehearsed a number of songs to sing for them at the drinks reception. “They caught us off guard when they burst into song. It blew us away with both laughter and tears and set such a fun tone for the rest of the day.”
Great food was a massive priority and the newlyweds and their guests tucked into a scrumptious spread from Misunderstood Heron. “Misunderstood Heron did no disappoint and were a highlight for everyone. As we run a Seafood Café in Cleggan where you get the boat to Inishbofin, we wanted to highlight some of the amazing local seafood available. We got local oysters from DK Oysters from Letterfrack, Crab from Inishbofin and Achill Island smoked mackerel for canapes. The main by Misunderstood Heron was local fish tacos. On day two we had amazing Killary Fjord langoustines gifted from our supplier, John Joe Flaherty.”
They didn’t feel like having a fancy wedding cake and the mother of the bride created a beautiful chocolate biscuit cake for them. They also had a selection of desserts and they even built their own delectable cheese cake.
Given their busy work schedule they went on a mini-moon after the wedding first. “Getting married at the start of June aligned with us kicking off our Little Fish Restaurant for the summer so we had to get back to work quick smart – but we managed to squeeze in two nights in Delphi Lodge right after the few days on Inishbofin with a bonus night in Renvyle House Hotel.” They then waited six months for their honeymoon which saw them exploring Sri Lanka for three weeks over Christmas and they couldn’t have enjoyed it more.
Eva and Tom, we were smiling from start to finish looking at your stunning wedding photos from Aoife Herriott! Check out the gallery below for even more.
