Team work made the dream a reality of our wonderful real wedding couple Rebecca and Mark. They wed in a festive and sumptuously stylish Mount Falcon Estate wedding. Rebecca runs her own Interior Architecture and Design business and Mark is an architect and together they worked their magic to plan and style the celebration of their dreams. From the style to their church and even the father-daughter dance, their entire day was laced with sentimentality, it's going to have you swooning non stop.

They exchanged vows between Christmas and New Year with a classical, romantic, countryside soiree and the style will leave you in awe. With beautiful imagery from Stephen Walker Photography and second shooter ARJ Photography, prepare for regal bridal style, a rich palette with pops of crimson and burgundy, luxe velvets, elegant stationery created by the bride, and sweet personal touches by the bucket load.

Our immensely talented bride drew a beautiful pencil sketch of Mount Falcon Estate which featured on their invites and throughout the stationary. For the invites she used a watercolour paper wrapped in vellum which was sealed with their own bespoke M & R stamp that the bride had made.

Rebecca is from Blackrock in Dublin but she was raised in Dubai before moving back to Ireland in her mid-teens. Mayo man Mark is from Breaffy, just outside of Castlebar. Rebecca tells us about their love story, "Mark and I met in 2011 in college. We both studied Architecture in the University of Limerick. We were friends for five years through college. Once our final year ended, we were inseparable and spent the summer meeting up, only to begin dating around the same time we graduated in August. We left Ireland shortly afterwards and moved to New York."

The proposal was "unforgettable" she says. "The two of us and our dog, Chief, climbed up Croagh Patrick on the 22nd October 2022 at 5am in the morning, hoping to catch the sunrise. Mark proposed to me once we reached the top of the mountain. He had organised a photographer to climb the mountain beforehand (in the pitch black and rain might I add!), so we have beautiful photographic memories from this day too. We didn’t catch the sunrise as we were so high up in the clouds and it was a very wet and rainy day, but to be honest the wild weather only added to the excitement of the day. The feeling of euphoria was incredible. We climbed back down the mountain and back to Mark’s home house, only to be surprised by my parents, who had travelled from Dublin. Myself, Mark and both of our parents had a lovely weekend of celebrations."

Every aspect of the wedding was meticulously planned by the duo. They wanted the celebration to epitomise them and for the whole day to flow seamlessly. "It was so thought through by both of us. The day was full of love, happiness, joy and excitement," Rebecca says.

Rebecca was spellbinding in a Pronovias ballgown which was sourced at McElhinney’s in Donegal. "My mum, Mary is from Letterkenny in Donegal so I wanted to bring a touch of Donegal in to my wedding somewhere, finding my dress there felt special. The team in the bridal suites in McElhinney’s were fabulous." She wore Christian Louboutin heels and the iconic red sole tied in perfectly into their colour scheme and the festive season and she also accessorised with a floral lace veil and a glamorous pearl headpiece.

Rebecca's romantic and moody bouquet included black baccara roses, thistles and eucalyptus.

Rebecca and Mark joined forces to bring their dream day to life, "We created a day-of-schedule which ran through the day’s events hour-by-hour, we shared this with all of our vendors in the run up to the day. We made schedules, drew plans of the function room (which we had measured out) to make sure our tables were all laid out how we envisioned. We drew sketches, made mood boards and presented other little tricks of the trade taken from our skillset in our professional life, in order to pull the day together the way we wanted, knowing we could fully enjoy the wedding once everything was taken care of!"

The couple exchanged vows at the Church of The Holy Rosary in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, where Mark’s grandparents and parents got married.

Rebecca is an only child and is extremely close to her parents and it meant the world to her to have them by her side on her happiest day. "I spent an hour in the morning with them before hair and makeup arrived and that was really special. I’ll forever cherish the drive to the ceremony with my dad as well as our father and daughter dance together."

The bride made her entrance to Can’t Help Falling in Love by Elvis Presley which was performed on harp and violin. Pure magic!

Their ceremony was conducted by Father Sean Flynn. "He was the parish priest in Tuam, Co. Galway, where my Dad’s uncle was once a monsignor, he is also originally from Castlebar, and was close to Mark’s grandmother, so it was lovely to have ties through both sides."

Their dear friend Sarah-Kate Murphy did a reading and Rebecca's cousin Andrew Scally did a reading as Gaeilge. "I found it quite emotional as it was an homage to my nana, whom I was very close to, she was an Irish speaker. Our close friend Jane Kissane, read a reflection at the end of our ceremony, a poem by Scaffolding by Seamus Heaney, which we have both loved for years and it always felt fitting, given our professions."

A moment for the newlyweds!

They travelled in elegant style in a vintage Jaguar MK2 from U2R1 Wedding Cars. "Carl drove us, he was so lovely," the bride reflects.

Rebecca's something borrowed was the pearl earrings that her mum actually wore on her wedding day.

Rebecca's leading ladies stunned in sumptuous velvet bridesmaids dresses which were so perfect for the festive season. They wore their burgundy gowns from Folkster with gold necklaces from Astrid & Miyu they were gifted. The dapper groom also sported a luxurious velvet blazer with his suit from Eddie Murphy Menswear.

Rebecca and Mark adore Irish country houses and the size, setting and interior aesthetic of Mount Falcon Estate felt like them. "We met with Alan Maloney (the owner) a year prior to our wedding and he showed us around, he spoke about the history and renovations of the house and the thoughtful details that went into every part of the renovation of the estate. This only solidified our love for the place more. The fact that Mount Falcon has real open fires was also a real seller, it’s rare to find them these days. The smells and sounds from the fires throughout, created the perfect backdrop and only added to the vibe."

"We also had falcons and birds of prey, from Mount Falcon’s falconry, brought around the lobby during the cocktail hour which was a very cool addition. The falcons tied into my childhood in Dubai, as the emblem of the U.A.E is a falcon. We loved this connection."

Their beloved dog Chief was the paw-fect guest. "We had Fetch It dog minders in Galway mind Chief, Simon in Fetch It had minded him before so we knew he was in great hands. They drove Chief up especially to get in to our photos on the day and Mount Falcon were kind enough to let Chief into the lobby to walk around for photos with us."

Flowers and candles were hugely important for the aesthetic. "We hired Feehily's Florist in Sligo and I prepared mood boards in advance of each space we were putting flowers and candles. I got in to all the details with Michael from Feehily’s and himself and the entire Feehily’s team truly delivered. As well as that, the setting of Mount Falcon and the flowers and candles really added to the overall vibe and mood of our aesthetic."

Rebecca wrote 158 personal notes for their guests on green sugar paper and these doubled up as their table settings. "Everyone loved this personal touch and it was important to me that everyone knew how grateful we were, that they were there to celebrate us both."

"Having the right person to photograph our wedding was one of the best decisions we made," she explains. "We now look back on the photographs in awe, we knew these were memories we would have forever and pass down through generations. Our photographers Stephen and Adam, felt like friends at our wedding, we could not have been luckier to have incredible photographers capturing such a special day."

"We carried as much of the 'look and feel' of the church through to Mount Falcon Estate as we wanted the day to flow from start to finish. It was perfect. It epitomised us," she says of the vibe of the decor.

Their decor also included a chic personalised neon sign from Etsy and an old Irish post box which they sourced from Kilkenny Architectural Salvage Yard. They hope to hold on to until they build their dream home!

Rebecca shares the following sage wedding planning advice, "Be as organised as you can be, but just know that not everything will go as you wish no matter how on top of things you are, so go in with an open mind. Don’t try to plan everyone else’s day, as much as you want them to have a good time, people will do what they want, focus on you and your partner. Try stick together from the moment your ceremony is over, don’t feel bad if you don’t catch everyone, the day is about YOU TWO."

Happy tears flowed endlessly during the speeches. "Both our dad’s, Mark’s brother Patrick and my best friend Michelle gave beautiful speeches. Mark’s sister Emma and cousin Sarah both Irish danced for
us after the meal – they were phenomenal and brought so much excitement to the room, right before the dancing got going."

The newlyweds dazzled their guests with their first dance and as they both love country music Amazed by Lonestar felt very fitting. "We practiced a lift in the lead up the wedding, but I knew my dress was a ballgown dress – so I was so nervous for Mark to lift me! When we arrived to Mount Falcon after the wedding ceremony, we took fifteen minutes upstairs to practice the lift, whilst I had the dress on – Mark ended up ripping his suit pants! Thank goodness my bridesmaids could sow! It all got sorted and is a funny memory to have on the day."

For her father-daughter dance they chose the song Dance with My Father by Luther Vandross which is a song they both loved since she was little.

They kept the party going with their Day Two in Westport ringing in the New Year, which included a New Year's Day swim with a group of their friends in Old Head Beach. They jetted off to the Maldives for their honeymoon where they spent two weeks on a beautiful all-inclusive island. "Everything was planned by Emma in Kilkelly Travel in Castlebar, she took care of every single detail, I could not recommend her enough! I would definitely recommend going on the honeymoon right after the wedding. It just keeps the excitement going."

Thanks so much to Rebecca and Mark for sharing their wedding day with us, and to Stephen Walker Photography and second shooter ARJ Photography for providing the beautiful imagery! There are even more gorgeous photographs to peruse in the gallery below.

Tying the knot? Check out even more fabulous Irish Real Weddings!