Today's real wedding is guaranteed to spark joy. US couple Colleen and Taylor became husband and wife in a truly cinematic location. The LA-based couple exchanged vows by the medieval Dunluce Castle which is perched on the jagged cliffs along the spellbinding North Antrim coastline. It was an atmospheric day where love shone bright with 30 of their loved ones baring witness to all the magic with their reception held at the storybook-pretty farmstead estate Limepark.
It was a fairytale come to life with a breathtaking palette of ivory, dark green and rose gold. Colleen is a custom bridal designer and not only did she create her own wedding dress but she made her husband's outfit and pieces for the wedding party. With ethereal elements within the styling and lush foliage that spoke to the natural beauty of the Northern Irish landscape surrounding them, the couple wanted to curate a celebration that was as romantic and magical as the fairytales they read about in books when they were children. As you will see from the stunning imagery from Victoria Whiting Photography their wildest dreams came true!
Taylor is Jewish and they incorporated several traditions throughout their celebration including signing the ketubah before the ceremony which was lovingly hand-painted by the bride's sister.
As for their love story, the stars aligned when Colleen and Taylor met at a college house party at Taylor’s apartment which happened to be the last house party he threw there. Colleen shares, "I was waiting in line for the bathroom, and he walked by in a puffy forest green satin jumpsuit with a NASA patch on it. Naturally, I had to make fun of his fashion choices, and we ended up hanging out and talking for the rest of the night. Turns out we grew up in the same city, and many of my friends and neighbors went to his school. I also attended a few musicals and plays at his school, one of which he performed in! We somehow had never met until we were 22, despite having many mutual friends and going to many of the same events."
You will swoon over their proposal story, "About 10 years after we met, Taylor surprised me by taking me back to the apartment where we met and proposing in front of the bathroom door. His mother had set up twinkle lights and rose petals in the hallway there, and it was really transformed. After the proposal, we went outside and both our families were there to congratulate us! Then we all walked down the street for a private dinner at a local restaurant - they had put “congrats colleen & taylor nov 23 2022” on their marquee. (I still have a picture of this)."
When it came to their wedding day aesthetic the bride drew inspiration from one of her favourite childhood books, The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Ruth Sanderson. "Specifically, the illustrations of that book really emphasised the magic, romance, and nature that we wanted to incorporate in our wedding. From there I made multiple moodboards showing how we really wanted to emphasise the greenery from nature, the soft, ethereal qualities in garments from fairytales and other mythical stories, and the twinkling effect I associate with magic."
Colleen always imagined a clifftop ceremony and Dunluce Castle stole her heart. "We had visited Northern Ireland on our first trip as a couple back in April of 2019, and specifically Dunluce Castle spoke to us during that trip. I actually had Taylor sneakily take photos of me in one of my designs when we visited the castle. But afterwards, I thought how stunning it would be to marry there - little did I know how popular of a location it is for weddings! Northern Ireland itself was the most beautiful and welcoming place we’d ever visited, and honestly we would love to live there in the future. The beauty, magic, and love we felt there was so special that we couldn’t conceive of a better place to get married."
The couple exchanged vows under a Chuppah made out of fabric from Colleen's dress. It was held up by their parents and it symbolised Taylor and Colleen building a life and family together.
The bride reflects on her favourite memories of the ceremony. "Marrying Taylor of course, but incorporating several of his Jewish traditions into our ceremony was very special. My favourite part of the ceremony was saying 'I do'! But besides that, erecting the Chuppah. And at the end of the ceremony, Taylor stomped on a glass in celebration, and these glass fragments will go in a mezuzah to be nailed on our doorpost when we have a house."
That's pure joy you're witnessing folks!
Colleen creates breathtaking, multi-layered wedding dresses to give maximum versatility for her brides and she did the same for her own special day. "For the ceremony and photos, I had all layers on - my long train made of silk organza, my outer dress with hand-applied lace appliques (an Oscar de la Renta fabric I purchased) nude tulle and silk chiffon, and my base layer of silk velvet with vintage pearl beaded appliques."
Colleen also made her husband's wedding suit and she had dreamt about the suit jacket for years! "I always wanted him to wear a very dark green velvet jacket, so I made one for him. This was my first time making a men’s suit jacket, so I was very nervous - but it turned out beautifully! Taylor also added his own touch by requesting rose gold buttons on the jacket to go with our colour scheme."
Colleen's ultra-romantic bouquet was made from silk ivory flowers which were held together with copper wire along with copper, rose gold and pearl beads.
Limepark had the magical, welcome and intimate feel they dreamt of for their reception. "I also saw a few couples had done similarly to what we did with the ceremony at Dunluce and reception at Limepark which assured me this was the right choice. We actually never saw Limepark in person until the day of our wedding - which seems crazy to me now - but honestly, I didn’t have a doubt after all the research and talking to my vendors who had worked there previously - they all had nothing but glowing reviews, and they were absolutely right!"
How elegant and fun was their vintage double-decker wedding bus?
The talented designer relished the opportunity to create bespoke designs for the wedding party including the flower girl dresses made from dark green stretch velvet and pleated glitter tulle, all the ties for all the men in her and Taylor’s families and the yarmulkes for the ceremony. "As a fashion designer (and specifically a custom bridal designer) this made me feel more connected with each person in the wedding."
During the drinks reception bubbles flowed and the lawn games were a huge hit with their guests.
Colleen shares her top wedding day tip, "I would recommend taking at least 15 minutes during the wedding day to just be alone as a couple. This really helped us stay connected and live in the moment during the whirlwind of the day! I personally would also make sure to appoint someone you trust to be in charge of straightening the bride and groom's garments throughout the day - before walking down the aisle, during photos, etc."
The newlyweds made their grand entrance at their reception to Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne. "This song was played as a 'walk up to bat' song for a baseball player who played for our city’s major league team during our childhood. Taylor and I grew up going to these games, and were probably at many of the same ones growing up but never knew it."
For dinner the bride changed up her look by removing the train on her gown and to hit the dancefloor she removed the outer dress to reveal the velvet underdress in full. She added a pair of rose gold glitter sneakers for some fun!
The couple had their first dance to Reflecting Light by Sam Phillips and Colleen and her dad chose a very sentimental swing song for their father-daughter dance, Take the A Train by Duke Ellington. "My father and I won a swing dance competition during a father-daughter dance for the girl scouts when I was 10," she reminisces.
There was another musical surprise that thrilled their guests. "My dad requested we play a polka song at the reception, and our DJ delivered! My parents weren’t allowed to date until my mother was 18 so my dad would attend dancing classes my mom’s mom used to teach so they could spend time together. And my parents tore up the dance floor during that polka! It was amazing."
Colleen and Taylor, your spring wedding day was nothing short of sensational! A very special thank you to Victoria Whiting Photography for letting us dive into the absolutely dreamy imagery.
