The couple at the centre of this real wedding, Kate and Neil, show how fabulous an intimate part one of a two-part wedding can be. Featuring magical city portraits by Brosnan Photographic and heart-stopping style, including both our bride and her mum dressed in designs by Irish designer Helen Cody, and fabulous mix-and-match bridesmaid style that you'll want to pin stat - this is one that will leave you swooning!

Kate first met Neil at the wedding of a mutual family friend - in fact, they were seated next to each other at dinner! "Myself and my sister were accompanying my mom, as my dad had passed away suddenly just a few months beforehand. I remember being so moved at the wedding cermony that I cried - I don’t think it was until that point that it hit me what it means to be in love and how serious the commitment of marriage is. We didn’t hit it off immediately at all, but we did talk intensely for almost the whole night, riling each other up about everything from careers to food. A week later, I messaged him and apologised for our argument, but it didn't go anywhere for a few more days, then he asked me out on a date!"

Neil popped the question during an amazing trip to Polignano e Mare, Italy. "We had booked to go to this incredible restaurant, which is located inside a cave in a cliff edge, called Grottapalazzese," Kate recalls. "Before heading to the restaurant, we went up to the cliff edge at the end of the town, and sat on the bench as the sun was going down. Neil had given me a signet ring the previous Christmas with both our initials on it. He proposed and took the singet ring off my right hand finger and put it on my left hand finger. We tried to send a picture to both our family Whatsapp groups but unfortunately we had zero reception in the restaurant. Everyone was confused for a few hours until we finally got through to them!"

The couple were all set to wed at Adare Manor on New Year's Eve 2020, but had to change their plans when the pandemic hit. They decided on a civil ceremony, followed by a bigger celebration. "When envisoning our wedding, we wanted our guests to be able to hug, kiss each other and dance without any concernsbut we didn’t want to wait any longer to be married, so we decided to just go for it! A civil cermony with just our family and closest friends seemed like the perfect path forward."

Knowing that their wedding was going to be part one of two made the couple more relaxed about the whole day, Kate says. "We wanted this smaller wedding to be more intimate and not eclipse or take away from the bigger wedding we’d originally planned. We stripped everything back and just focused on the most important elements, being us as the couple, our immediate families and close friends. We wanted everyone who was able to come and celebrate with us to be able to forget about what was going on in the outside world for the day and relax."

The couple decided to tie the knot in Dublin, the city that they and their closest family members and friends call home. "The Merrion was a natural choice for our wedding, the location is perfect, right in the centre of town, and they have an entirely private residence with a ceremony room and function room so everything could take place in the one spot. Merrion Hotel events planner Laura McGinn couldn’t have been more helpful. The service is just second to none and the food and cockatils were delicious!"

The couple were beyond grateful that their lockdown wedding was allowed to go ahead. "In the back of our minds, we just didn’t think it was going to happen and were prepared to have to call everything off. When we got the go ahead with our 25 guests, it was such a relief. It didn’t hit us really until the night before that we were actually getting married. I was crying from start to finish on the day, it was incredibly emotional—I never thought I’d be that bride who cries walking down the aisle but once the music started playing, the tears were streaming!"

Kate's got some really sensible advice to pass on to engaged couples planning a wedding. "Looking back, I think that too much emphasis is put on finding the perfect dress and venue, etc. No matter what dress you’re wearing, or where it happens, as long as you’re marrying the person you love, surrounded by the people you love, everything else on top of that is a bonus. The feeling of being married is electric and the atmosphere on the day that comes with that is infectious - there is nothing like it!"

She also advises doing an engagement shoot with your photographer before the big day. "This really helped us as neither of us really knew what to do or how to act in front of the camera. Christina Brosnan is incredible and really makes you feel at ease. The practice run meant that we weren’t awkward or nervous on the day and everything was effortless."

Kate describes her wedding-day look as "an amalgamation of timeless elegance and romance with a modern twist," and we couldn't agree more! "For the smaller wedding, I didn’t want a traditional wedding dress or anything white, as I felt this was something I wanted to keep for the bigger day. I’d heard from a friend that Irish designer Helen Cody made bespoke pieces, the next thing, I was on her Instagram feed and I was obsessed. I reached out to her by direct message and I was in her studio the following week."

Kate continues, "I tried on a few pieces and then Helen combined the Irish crochet lace blouse covered with Swarovski crystals with a tulle skirt. The two pieces just paired together beautifully and were just so unique, compared to anything I’d seen anywhere else. To complete the look, Helen brought out an antique lace veil. I decided to wear the veil in a different way, and on the day, my hair stylist, Lucasz Batik, tied it into a bow and sewed it into place. What’s amazing about the Helen Cody pieces I wore is that they can be worn separately, time and time again!" Our groom Neil's look from Magee 1866 was the perfect pairing with Kate's vintage-inspired look.

One of the couple's favourite details from the day was their vintage car. "Neil got it this summer, after much searching," Kate says. "In my family, we have my grandad’s vintage gold Mercedes, which we are planning on using for the next wedding. All my aunties and uncles as well as my married siblings have used this car as part of their weddings. It would be my hope that the car Neil bought could become something as sentimental and precious."

How gorgeous are these bridesmaids? Each look is so unique and yet they work beautifully together!

What we love about this wedding is that it looks and feels just as special as a party for 150 people! "On the day, neither of us felt like it was only 25 guests," Kate says. "We just had the best day."

Perfectly penned placed names by calligraphy artist Laura Chacon O'Neill of Calligraphy by Laura.

For their honeymoon, the couple spent a few days at the Merrion Hotel. "The only people staying in the hotel were couples who had been married there! We loved sitting in front of the fire in the drawing room and being able to hear couples and families talk about their weddings. We almost formed a club, and everyone was wishing each other well!"

Have you ever seen a lovelier wedding cake?! This beauty is by the talented team at Camerino.

Thanks so much to Kate and Neil for sharing part one of their two-part wedding with us, and to Christina Brosnan for providing the beautiful imagery! Be sure to click on the gallery below to see more from this incredible celebration. And if you haven't already seen the couple's wedding video by Story of Eve, click here to watch!