Today's real wedding was humble in scale and mighty in style. On a perfect June day, Michelle and Conor wed in an intimate celebration that was full of love and laughter. Striking a perfect balance between casual and formal, the couple kept their ceremony local before toasting to their happily ever after at the stylish eatery Marco Pierre White in leafy Donnybrook in Dublin. You're not going to want to miss a stitch of the style from the bride's magical midi to the grooms party in deep green suits and the bridesmaids in elegant neutral shades. Their gorgeous day included vibrant florals, heartwarming first looks, an alternative confetti idea that's just so sweet, a beautiful photoshoot in the park, and absolutely scrumptious donuts. With Weddings by Jason behind the camera, you're in for a never-ending array of joy-infused images!

So how exactly did Michelle and Conor's love story begin? Michelle is from Meath and Conor is from Dublin and they first crossed paths when they worked for the same company a couple of years ago. Michelle explains all, "We were friends first for a while and even though we’ve always been complete opposites, we somehow got along really well. After our first date we made plans to meet again the very next day, and pretty much knew immediately we had something special. We decided to make it official in November 2019. We didn’t want to be apart during the lockdowns so Conor made the decision to move in temporarily with my family, which is insane in hindsight, but luckily it paid off!"

Conor popped the question during a romantic weekend break at an AirBnB in the countryside. "We were sharing a bottle of wine on the couch and Conor was trying his hardest to get me to stand up so he could say the speech he prepared but I wasn’t playing ball. He did get me to stand up eventually and managed to pop the question. I didn’t suspect anything so it was a lovely surprise. We kept it a secret from our families for a couple of days and then surprised them in person with the news."

"We didn’t put too much pressure on ourselves to stick to one particular theme, it sort of all came together for us in the end," Michelle shares. They wanted to incorporate a pop of wonderful colour throughout their styling and the grooms party firmly answered the brief. Conor and his groomsmen donned elegant deep green suits from Louis Copeland & Sons.

The kind of first looks a bride dreams of... Pure happiness!

While short wedding dresses are immensely popular for receptions, they can be the star of the show for the ceremony. Michelle was utterly stunning in the Iris Dress by Rara Avis, a structured midi wedding dress with a corseted bodice, a sheer back with a bow detail and pearl straps. She accessorised with a darling elbow-length veil, pearl drop earrings and classic court heels.

The couple live in Greystones in Co. Wicklow and while Michelle spent the wedding morning at home, Conor's brother and best man Peter very kindly offered up his place for the grooms party to get ready. "It meant our morning wasn’t rushed at all and we were all in familiar territory."

They tied the knot at St Patrick's Church in Kilquade. While the church styling included romantic white flower and foliage displays, with beautiful pillars blooming at the door, the bridal party carried bouquets brimming with bright hues.

The bride and her father only had a short journey to the aisle as the church is five minutes away from the house. One of Michelle's best friends drove them over and she had the car stocked with champagne and post-ceremony snacks which, very unsurprisingly, went down an absolute treat.

Conor's uncle Brendan was their celebrant and he put together a very personal and beautiful service for them. Michelle's brother and Conor’s sister signed as their witnesses.

The elegant sounds of piano rang through the church during their ceremony with the bride making her entrance to She’s the One by Robbie Williams and they had a medley of Coldplay songs playing during the registry signing.

For the couple, it was so important that they could spend quality time with the people they adore the most so they kept their guest list to 30. "We said to each other so many times that we just wanted to enjoy the day and we had heard from so many people who said that they had missed their own drinks receptions or didn’t get a chance to speak to all of their guests on the night and we didn’t want that to happen. We also didn’t want to spend too much time leading up to the wedding planning and worrying about the small details either, as we didn’t want it to fully take over our lives, so obviously planning a small wedding was much more manageable and less time consuming for us in that respect."

Just. So. Elegant! Neutral bridesmaids dresses look fabulous all year round as Michelle's ladies prove.

Bubbles make such a sweet, and not to mention very Instagrammable, confetti alternative and they asked their two-year-old niece to do the honours to blow them outside the church instead of throwing flowers. "We thought she’d prefer it and it would be a bit of fun. We love the pictures that we got from that and think it’ll be a funny story to tell her when she’s older."  

The couple dedicated plenty of time to choosing their photographer as they wanted their pictures to last a lifetime. The food and atmosphere were important so finding the perfect restaurant was top of the priority list too. "I think once you get the big things right, everything else falls into place."

The couple chose a sweetly sentimental spot for their photoshoot, Herbert Park. "We chose to take a few pictures in the park because obviously it’s in the vicinity of the venue, but we also lived in our first apartment together in that area for a year so we spent a lot of time in the park back then. After we were finished getting our photos taken we had a few minutes alone to catch up while we walked back over to the venue. When we made it to the main road we had strangers cheering and beeping for us at the traffic lights which was so funny."

They fill us in on their venue hunting journey. "When we decided to have a small wedding, we really struggled to find somewhere that ticked all of our boxes. We had viewed a couple of restaurants and venues but nothing was quite the right fit, and we often felt like the spaces weren’t formal enough for a wedding. In a lot of cases, we would have had to share the space with other guests that weren’t in our wedding party, and we had been hoping for something more intimate. We were beginning to lose hope but the minute we walked into Marco Pierre White, and met the wedding co-ordinator, we knew that it was the venue for us. We were so impressed with everything and sent an email to ask if we could book our date in the car on the way home!"

The couple kicked off the celebrations with a stylish drinks reception in the courtyard and they chose the sumptuous Garden Room for their reception space. "The staff are such professionals, and the food is next level. We still get compliments on the food and the venue months later. They also helped us with so many other elements of the planning process, they suggested a musician for us that they felt would work well with the overall vibe of the day and they printed all of the menus and table names for us too so we didn’t have to worry about a thing."

They admit they thought they'd "get away" without doing a first dance but one of the bridesmaids wasn't letting them off the hook and she requested Candy by Paulo Nutini as their song.

A dancefloor essential? Glow sticks! "We bought 200 for our 30 guests as a bit of a gag the week of the wedding and there wasn’t a single one left at the end of the night!"

Michelle and Conor's honeymoon began the day after their wedding where they jetted to Italy! "We visited Rome, Florence and Sorrento while we were there and we would definitely recommend it. If you’re tight for time, then our favourite place was Sorrento. It's perfect for a honeymoon."

Michelle and Conor, your special day was simply swoon-inducing! A very special thanks to Weddings by Jason for sharing today's celebration, you can see even more ideas in the gallery below.

Looking for a chic eatery to celebrate your special day? Check out the 32 Best Restaurant Wedding Venues in Ireland!