Brosnan Photographic

During the summer I had the pleasure of second shooting with Magda Lukas at Summer & Paul’s wedding at the Village at Lyons. Summer is from Taiwan and Paul is Irish and they decided to have their blessing ceremony in Ireland. With styling by The Bridal Lounge, a Vera Wang wedding dress, D&G shoes, a stunning venue, pink mushroom cake, and the fabulous Shark Pig from LA (I was a little starstruck) it was a winning combination to say the least.

I’m sure you’ll agree that this is a stunning wedding. And I just love Summer & Paul’s quirky sense of humour. It was such a pleasure tagging along for the day.

At the end of September Colin and I took a short break away to Krakow. For me it was nearing towards the end of a busy wedding season and for Colin he was finally finished with a massive project and tons of overtime at work. We were in need of a few days to recharge. So, why Krakow? No reason really other than it was cheap and cheerful. At €300 for flights and 3 nights accommodation for 2 people you couldn’t beat that. At first we thought maybe we were a bit mad going to Poland in October. Typically it would be cool and rainy, not unlike Dublin in October. But we lucked out and got 25 degrees and sunshine everyday. Krakow turned out to be a little gem and a perfect spot for a short break away. It’s a place steeped in history and an overload of sweet treats around every corner. Ice cream was on every menu! Colin and I stayed at Aparthotel Stare Miasto for anyone considering a break to Krakow. It’s central, very clean, and affordable.

Poland was never a place I had high on my list of places to visit, but now I’d love to go back and spend more time driving around the country and learning the history. There were a few humbling moments especially walking around south Krakow. Overall we had a relaxing break in a beautiful city and the people are very friendly. But I do recommend learning a few polish words and phrases if you plan to venture outside the city centre or you may just end up taking the bus when you really wanted to take the train! How we did that I’ll never understand!

Favourite food eaten in Krakow: Buckwheat with Polish sausages
Favourite moment in Krakow: Sitting outside under St. Mary’s Basilica listening to the trumpeter that plays every hour around the clock.

Some of you may already be familiar with Pretty as a Picture, but if not and you’re a bride-to-be you should definitely check them out. Ailbhe is a super talented artist who has focused her talents on weddings and creates stunning unique invitations and illustrations for couples. You should also check out her super cute engagement diary! Her latest post on bridesmaid invitations really is fantastic.

But this post is about Ailbhe and Aiden, a beautiful couple that both have such intriguing life stories. Ailbhe was born and raised in the middle east by her Irish parents, living in exotic places like Dubai and Qatar. She came back to Ireland for university. Aiden went to the states to get scouted for pro basketball and spent a few years in the midwest attending highschool. But it was just another day at the office when they met in Dublin.

We decided to have their engagement shoot in the Botanic Gardens in Dublin. We knew if it rained we had the greenhouses to fall back on. And of course it did rain. A lot! But by the end of the shoot they didn’t care and embraced the wet weather. After all this is Ireland. Who are we kidding, it rains here a lot! But I’m still crossing my fingers for sunshine on their wedding day.

Engagement sessions are the perfect combination of location, light, and love. Why? With an engagement session you have more control over your photos than on your wedding day. You can chose any location that reflects you as a couple. You can also chose the time of day to photograph, such as mornings or evenings which are usually the best time of day. And you have more time and less distraction to spend taking photos of yourself as a couple.

Shauna and Kieran chose the marina in Dun Laoghaire for their engagement session. It’s a place they would often visit together. The marina offers some fabulous views. The evening of their session the weather was very calm, the sun was setting and there was a lovely misty like quality to the sky, almost as if it was going to rain but it never did. The sky and water was so blue and created the perfect backdrop. For me their photos feel very serene and peaceful. Towards the end of their shoot I could really feel the passion between them. I told them just to go for it and they did!

Kieran has recently relocated to Dubai and Shauna will be joining him after the wedding. I can’t wait for the wedding and to capture them together again!

I always know a wedding is going to be special when I hear one of the vendors is Pearl & Godiva. So when I had the opportunity to photograph the wedding of the lady behind Pearl & Godiva I was over the moon. Pearl & Godiva began as Sarah started planning and collecting vintage and DIY pieces for her own wedding. The business took off immediately and she is now travelling around the world styling shoots. Sarah, or Pearl as many of you know her, is a natural beauty inside and out.

Sarah and Michael decided to celebrate their marriage in two parts. I photographed their first ceremony which was intimate and more of a day for themselves, their children, and a few close family members. Sarah and Michael got ready at the quaint but stunning Glengarriff Lodge in Cork. We then took a ferry boat to Garinish Island for some photos. They were married in the civil registry office in Cork ciy and then headed back to Glengarriff for more photos and cake! We finished shooting at nearly 9pm and the light was just magnificent. Though I highly recommend using bug spray if you plan to be out late in the middle of the forest. I can still feel those midges biting! They looked amazing in the shots though!

Sarah sourced most of the details on Etsy and Ebay and are also available to hire through Pearl & Godiva. The cake was made by cake-a-licious, a lovely red velvet! Sarah did her own hair and make up and kept it simple, a girl after my own heart! But seriously look at these two, they don’t need any styling!

This was a very hard post to put together as there were so many beautiful photos and so much great styling by Sarah. But alas, every blog post must have an end. Enjoy. To Sarah and Michael, truly thank you for letting me be part of your wedding day. Be sure to check out their super 8 wedding video of both days by Rodolphe of Best Day Productions!