Classic Elegance and Autumnal Hues Set the Tone for this Opulent Adare Manor Wedding
REAL WEDDING FEATURE
“Intimate, cozy, moody and Autumnal” is how Lucy describes the theme for her destination wedding in Ireland to Paul Osetinsky.
Starting their wedding weekend with a sunrise at the wild and rugged Cliffs of Moher on a Wednesday morning in November, to an elegant dinner at Dromoland Castle with a dramatic fireworks display and finishing the weekend at the lavish Adare Manor for a spectacular wedding day. We share Lucy and Paul’s story below with images and video by Ireland Wedding Photographer Story of Eve and planning by Alise Taggart.
...Paul almost lost it when our Celtic vocalist Sharon Lyons started singing as I walked down the aisle. He says it was an out of body experience."
LUCY + PAUL
Lucy has worked in fashion wholesale in NYC for over 8+ years. She is currently the Sales Manager for Denimist, which is a recently launched brand under the R13 umbrella. Previously, she worked at Tibi and Solid & Striped.
Paul is a software engineer and is currently Cofounder/CTO at a fintech startup called Upward Accounts. He has an entrepreneurial background in art, video, games and tech and recently engineered the recently launched NFT project, 1,989 Sisters with his best friends, Hayden Williams and fashion illustrator, Blair Breitenstein.
Lucy and Paul enjoying a whiskey at the bar ~ Adare Manor
THE PROPOSAL
We had planned a cross country roadtrip to Park City, UT from Lucy’s hometown of Chattanooga, TN during the summer of 2020. Paul secretly had the ring overnighted to meet them at their B&B in Santa Fe, NM, which proved difficult to intercept without Lucy finding out…but all worked perfectly. Paul proposed in Arches National Park off the beaten path under a beautiful arch. Lucy said yes…
ENGAGEMENT
1.5+ year engagement. We got engaged during the height of the pandemic during the summer of 2020. Although a long engagement was never the plan, we wanted to be as safe as possible and push out the wedding to the following Autumn 2021. We luckily never had to reschedule our wedding and understand how lucky we got!
PLANNING
General uncertainty around planning an international wedding during a pandemic. Little did we know we chose what would become Europe’s strictest country when it came to covid restrictions. There were a couple of dicey moments where we questioned if the wedding would be able to continue.
On the eve of our wedding, Ireland walked back their 2:30am curfew to midnight. This was disappointing because we had scheduled late night music and dancing for both nights and had to cut them off early, but it worked out in the end as we were able to have intimate parties in our rooms when the clock struck midnight. Regardless, we were so fortunate that we were able to have music and a wedding at all. We were glad we rolled with the punches.
THE VENUE
When we decided we wanted to get married in Ireland, Lucy found Alise Taggart through lots of Instagram stalking. Alise is premier when it comes to “moody Autumnal aesthetic” which is what we wanted. She was the one who recommended that we look at Adare Manor, one of the top hotels in Ireland. We instantly fell in love and knew it was the place where we wanted to get married. Plus the town of Adare was beautiful and just what we wanted for our guests.
FAVOURITE DETAILS
It’s very hard to say because everything was so beautiful. Alise really nailed our vision right on the head when it came to the overall aesthetic. Something that will stay with us forever is the ceremony music. The music at the wedding was so hauntingly beautiful—Paul almost lost it when our Celtic vocalist Sharon Lyons started singing as Lucy walked down the aisle. He says it was an out of body experience.
THE DRESS
During the pandemic, we temporarily relocated from New York City to Park City, UT. Lucy had discovered the brand Daalarna on Instagram and saw that they were carried at a bridal salon called Alta Moda Bridal in SLC. She found a dress from their Folk collection that she loved but wanted to make some extensive changes which included completely changing the skirt silhouette and adding a sleeve and neck detail. Daalarna was so accommodating and easy to work with and they really nailed Lucy’s vision. Coincidentally, the brand is based out of Budapest which is where Lucy and Paul ended up taking their honeymoon after the big day!
FINDING THE CREATIVE TEAM
We really leaned on Alise’s advice when it came to wedding vendors. What we loved about Alise is that she’s an American who started her wedding business in Ireland and has so many wonderful connections within the Irish wedding industry, but still understood what we wanted as Americans getting married in Ireland.
YOUR FAVOURITE MOMENT FROM THE DAY
Paul—watching Lucy walk down the aisle to some of the most beautiful music he had ever heard. Lucy—so many, but one that comes to mind was when she first walked in to see the reception room for the first time. It was overwhelming to finally see the room come together from what had been in the works over email for months!
ANY ADVICE?
Hope for the best but expect the worst. It was really difficult planning a wedding with constantly changing restrictions and not being able to see the venue beforehand. Be flexible and accept the challenges, especially in light of the pandemic which probably will affect us for years to come. We feel lucky we were able to have the small wedding we had with our family and close friends.
FUNNY STORIES
Paul ate some (delicious) local Adare organic honey at breakfast the morning of the wedding that gave him a visible allergic reaction. His eyes noticeably swelled up. Luckily, his dad and uncle (both doctors) rushed him a concoction of medications to bring down the swelling for his big day.
Lucy’s bustle on her dress instantly broke during her first dance. Thankfully, her friend Emma Jade Morrison, who is a stylist, rushed to the scene and helped bustle it up with a handful of safety pins!
PARTING WORDS…
We’re both so glad we did everything we did. Couldn’t have asked for a better week—it was the time of our lives.
CREATIVE TEAM
PLANNER ALISE TAGGART EVENTS & DESIGN
PHOTO & VIDEO STORY OF EVE
VENUE ADARE MANOR HOTEL
MAKEUP KATHRYN O’NEILL
HAIR HAIR MAVEN
DRESS DAALARNA COUTURE
VEIL BLANCO NEW YORK
SUIT P. JOHNSTON TAILORS
CAKE MM COOKIES
FLOWERS THE GARDEN
CEREMONY & DRINKS RECEPTION MUSICIANS
MUNSTER QUARTET / SHARON LYONS / SEAN KELLY BAGPIPER
BAND & DJ THE DISTRACTIONS
AUDIO & LIGHTING LIVE PRODUCTIONS
STATIONERY PLUME CALLIGRAPHY
CEREMONY VENUE HOLY TRINITY ABBEY
TRANSPORTATION ADARE CHAFFEURS
GETAWAY CAR CLASSIC & VINTAGE WEDDING CAR HIRE