This gorgeous big day, held by effortlessly cool couple Emma & Ben seriously makes us wish we were invited. Not only did this pair luck out with their laid-back vibes (which were immaculate btw), but they had incredible Irish summer weather, gorge personalised details and camera-wielding ninja Shane O'Sullivan of SOSAC Photography on hand to document all the celebrations! Dunraven Arms hotel was a beautiful backdrop for both their ceremony and reception, which was ideal for their small, intimate summer wedding celebration with 55 guests. An enchanting location, and sentimental too for this bride who grew up nearby before moving to the UK where she met Ben (more on their pandemic lovestory below). Grab a cuppa, you’re going want to spend some time perusing their chic, cool and relaxed day...
First things first, let's get to know our lovely pair a little better, shall we? Bride Emma hails from Crecora, in County Limerick, while Groom Ben is originally from Yorkshire, England. The pair are currently based in Manchester, England.
Emma and Ben first met at the gym post Covid in 2020. We'll let our beautiful bride fill you in on their pandemic love story, "Ben is a personal trainer so I saw him first in the gym. I remember thinking he was the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid eyes on and just assuming he had a girlfriend. I followed him on Instagram and plucked up the courage to message him. Two days later he flew out to Thailand for a 3-week lads holiday and I thought I’d never hear from him again as we hadn’t even been on a date. However, Ben messaged me each and every day of his trip and arranged our first date hours after landing back in Manchester. That was early 2020. And what came next? Covid. So gone were the niceties such as dates to fancy restaurants, cocktail bars or city breaks, instead we spent multiple lockdowns together and learnt we really enjoyed each other’s company. We moved in together a year later, buying our house in June 2021 and the rest is history!"
A year later, Ben proposed in Italy while the pair were on an Italian road trip. The bride tells, "I had always wanted to visit the Amalfi Coast in Italy and in June 2022 we planned an Italian road trip finishing in the Amalfi. There’s a luxury hotel in Positano, Le Sirenuse, that I had dreamed of visiting so we booked to go for cocktails in the rooftop bar one evening. A few hours before our booking, the heavens opened. I’ve honestly never seen such rainfall certainly not in Europe! I was so worried our booking would be cancelled but when we got there, they moved us to the main restaurant whose balcony boasted the most incredible views of Positano. Ben couldn’t believe his luck and dropped to one knee at sunset. I could not have dreamed of a more picture-perfect proposal!"
Soon after their engagement, Emma and Ben decided on hosting their nuptials in Ireland, choosing The Dunraven Arms hotel as their perfect spot to say 'I do'. "I grew up down the road in the neighbouring village of Crecora so it meant a lot to me coming home to get married. Both Ben and I love Adare village although I’d never really considered The Dunraven as a potential until one summer afternoon we popped in for a wine and there was a wedding on. The guests were enjoying the reception outside in the garden basking in the sunshine, and it was just such a lovely atmosphere. Sometimes you don’t know what you want until you’re shown it!", the bride says.
She adds, "I had always wanted a conservatory/orangery for the ceremony venue and had never realised The Dunraven had a small conservatory, so we spoke to Louis, hotel Proprietor, and he was so accommodating of this type A bride. That’s when I knew I’d found our venue."
The venue fit the exact vibe they were going for—a laid-back summer celebration with good vibes. "I wasn’t keen on the idea of a ‘theme’ per se, but I’d say it was maybe ‘clean girl aesthetic’. Everything was white/ivory as I’m not a bright colour kind of girl. The vibes, on the other hand were immaculate, especially our drinks reception which was outside in the garden. We had a spritz bar, giant Jenga and a saxophonist – such a vibe!"
On the morning of 20th July 2024, Emma and her bridal party got ready with makeup artist Annina Barbosa who gave the bride a clean, glamorous beauty look." Getting married at home, and getting ready at my mom’s house in the morning with my two best friends was really special to me", she reflects.
Emma then put on her Caroline Takvorian wedding dress, a Pearl Lane find, with white embellished heels from Jimmy Choo. She completed her wedding day look with accessories from Lily & Roo and a personalised velvet bouquet ribbon from Gigi & Olive.
Ben looked looked handsome in a custom Edit Suits tuxedo paired with accessories from Moss Bros. The guys in the wedding party followed suit with coordinated tux looks.
Emma's Maid of Honour was styled in a neutral, ivory-toned dress from Maids to Measure. "I’ve always been a minimalist, so I stayed true to a clean girl aesthetic style. I wanted everything to be white/ivory including the flowers, bridesmaid dress and stationery as it just looked so classy and timeless. You can’t go wrong with simple elegance."
Then, as harpist Niamh O'Brien played, Emma walked with her father toward Ben at the head of an altar adorned with blooms by Lawless Flowers.
Celebrant Billy Mag Fhloinn performed the ceremony where Emma and Ben recited their own written vows, and their friend Susanna read Wedding Poem by Whitney Hanson - a One Fab Day reader favourite. "We adored doing personalised vows. It’s not often you are that vulnerable and intimate, and it was really special hearing Ben's beautiful vows."
After exchanging their own vows and being announced as officially married, the newlyweds hosted their cocktail hour in the gardens at The Dunraven with Solo Sax Guy providing entertainment. The couple also choose to have their speeches before dinner, a tip that whey would highly recommended, " I also loved that we done our speeches outside in the garden during our reception. It was more casual and meant the speakers could relax and enjoy their meal."
For the styling of their day, the couple opted for a clean and relaxed all-white floral look, a vintage-style Lambeth wedding cake by Laura’s Baked Creations, and tons of personalised touches such as wedding newspapers and a polaroid guest book, as well as personalised hand-written notes to every guest. "It meant the world having our favourite people there on the day, so we wrote a handwritten note to each and every one of our guests on the reverse of the place names. It was time consuming but so worthwhile."
After dinner, Emma and Ben kicked off the party with their first dance to Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. "Not being a traditional bride, I didn’t want a cheesy love song. Landslide is about life changing and growing older, so it felt right. I had my husband do dance practice on the weekends before the wedding as he’s the world’s worst dancer! On the night the dance went really well so the practice paid off."
The reception was a lively affair as the couple continued celebrating with their loved ones through the night with with their band The Mixtape.
For their honeymoon, the newlyweds jetted off on not one, but two epic trips! "Five days after the wedding we set off on our 'Mexican moon', staying in the most stunning hotel, Secrets Moxche in Playa del Carmen for a week. I couldn’t recommend the resort enough. We visited Tulum for a day too – which was just beautiful. For their second part of their honeymoon, the pair travelled around Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
Emma and Ben's sage words of wisdom to other couples? Simply, "just do what’s right for you as a couple." The bride says, "f you don’t want kids at your wedding, don’t have kids at your wedding. It really is that simple. It’s your day and you shouldn’t try to please anyone else not your family, his family, not anyone. Your wedding should be a representation of you as a couple."
"For us it was never about a big boujee venue, an open bar or a fancy wedding car. What mattered to us was good food, good music and personal touches so that our guests enjoyed the day as much as we did. There were certain things we splurged on such as our photographer and honestly Shane was the best investment we made! After all your memories and pictures are all, you’re left with."
The bride concludes, "Also, don’t sweat the small stuff too as on the day it really won’t matter. You’ll be way too busy enjoying yourself to care!"
Later in the evening, Emma changed into an embellished mini dress to dance the night away.
Thanks so much to the gorgeous Emma and Ben for sharing your day with us - and to SOSAC Photography for sending the images our way. Hit the gallery for a further look at their summer Dunraven Arms wedding.
