Our Wedding Day: Hair and Makeup

As promised, I am currently writing a blog series on our wedding day in the hope that if you are presently planning/looking for suppliers you might discover some of the fabulous people involved in our day. 

Today is the turn of hair and makeup, how could I not start here. It's everyone's dream to look their best on there big day and you can't go wrong with the two people who did that for me: 

Make up - Kathryn O'Neill:

There will never be enough good things I could say about Kathryn, she is a dream. We bonded over our love of makeup and skincare during the makeup trial. On the wedding day she could not have been any more amazing. She was so calming that morning, chatting to her and listening to her stories kept me sane, it was only after she left that the nerves began to kick in and I haven’t even got to how talented she is yet... 

I had picture upon picture ready to show her of what I wanted but I needn't have worried, Kathryn created a look that was perfect for me. "The best version of you" is what she called it and she more than achieved that. She is a makeup guru and her recommendations are necessary, at least that's what I tell my husband each time I make a new purchase and tick another product off a mental list of her mentions. 

Hair - Cathriona Rohan:

Lets be honest who doesn’t know that Cathriona is the hair goddess of Kerry! I emailed her straight away when we got engaged to make sure she was available and thankfully she was. Local, full of creativity and to top it all off she's a fricken hair genius. 

The morning of the wedding the whole of Kerry had a power cut, I had wet hair probably up until an hour before we had planning to leave but, Cathriona was as cool as a cucumber. Ringing around to find out if we could pop into one of her salons if needed and tackling the bridesmaids hair without any heat styling. Luckily she had the tongs ready for when it came back on and got me church ready in no time. She is also opening a new salon in Dingle on July 1st, so we all know where I'm going to be visiting when I'm next home!

So there we have it, I wouldn't hesitate in recommending either of these lovely ladies. I've linked their names above to their website if you would like to check out anymore of their work!

Our Wedding Day

The time has come when I can finally share my wedding photos with you all. Our families have seen them, they are up on our walls and now it's your turn. At this point it feels like it never happened. To quote the oldest phrase in the book, the day really does fly by. But, I think we made the most of it. It was an incredible day, one I will never forget and the best fun I've ever had! 

 

Our photographs were taken by the best, Into The Light, they did an amazing job. I will fill you in on all our suppliers in my next post, as I would highly recommend every single one, each contributed to make our day special.

From the very beginning we knew the wedding style we wanted. It was important to us to focus on having fun and spending time with our friends and family. Although there were traditional elements to the day we stayed true to ourselves, which made it even more special. I didn't wear a veil, we didn't rent a car ( I decorated our own) and drove ourselves to the venue. We walked bare foot along the beach, into the sea and climbed over rocks for the photographs. I also walked to the church with my bridesmaids and my father. We both loved every minute of the little things that added up to make our day unique to us. 

Choosing our wedding colours wasn't hard. I was very decisive in all my choices, luckily my husband agreed with my vision, pitching in where he could. He especially enjoyed the cake and menu tastings (for obvious reasons). Being from the area I headed straight for my local priest and onto our lovely friends at the Skellig Hotel. It wasn't hard to find the rest from there, with so many amazing local businesses to choose from we were spoiled for choice. 

Being creative I undertook a lot of DIY; from the seating plan board, to the centerpieces, to sewing bows for the pew ends, to even designing our invites (I knew that art degree would come in handy one day). Doing so much DIY did get stressful at times, but I prepared as much as I could in advance. This meant that by the wedding day I was relaxed knowing all my planning had paid off. Which was lucky, considering the morning of the wedding we had a power cut! 

One of my favourite parts of the day was after the drinks reception (before the meal). Our wonderful wedding coordinators at the Skellig had scheduled in time to whisk us away to the wedding suite, where they had drinks and some treats waiting for us. This was something we really appreciated as it gave us some time alone (just the two of us) in the madness of the day to reflect on what had happened so far, before the real partying kicked off.

There were too many to choose from but getting ready with my beautiful bridesmaids and MOH; Reminiscing, spending time together, cracking open the Moet and listening to the talented and calming influence of Kathryn O'Neil (our fabulous makeup artist - more on Kathryn in my next post) was definitely a highlight. I lastly have to mention the speeches, heartfelt and meaningful they will never be forgotten! 

We were so lucky, with the fabulous weather (I got sunburnt) and the amazing people. I really believe we milked the day for all its amazing-ness and enjoyed every second. I wouldn't change one thing, it was the best day! 

Afternoon Delight: Afternoon Tea in Seafield Golf and Spa Hotel

Being a foodie over the years I have tried many afternoon tea offerings however, until now it hadn't occurred to me to review my experiences. Therefore, I've decided to create a series (Afternoon Delight) reviewing and sharing my thoughts so that you too might indulge in yumminess.

The trip to Seafeild Hotel and Spa was a treat for my husband's birthday, he loves it there. I had organised the afternoon tea as an extra treat. It is something we can enjoy together, being a food blogger he also likes to compare the teas we have sampled. So here are our scores: 

Sandwiches 

Cucumber sandwich: 

Shane 2/5 Hannah 3/5 

Smoked salmon: 

Shane 3/5 Hannah 4/5 

Egg: 

Shane 4/5 Hannah 4/5

Ham and relish: 

Shane 4/5 Hannah 2/5 

I'm not ashamed to admit (however boring this may sound) that sandwiches are my favourite part of the tea. Although the smoked salmon tasted delicious, even that didn't quite make this offering live up to my expectations. Everything was pleasant however, something was missing to liven up the offering. Unusually, egg was my favourite (a filling which would have filled mewing dread as a child) but the fresh, quality ingredients made this really tasty! 

Cakes and sweets 

Lemon tart: 

Shane 5/5 Hannah 3/5 

Pistachio and chocolate macaroon: 

Shane 4/5 Hannah 4/5 

Pink meringue and a white chocolate mouse with berries: 

Shane 3/5 Hannah 2/5 

Chocolate biscuit cake: 

Shane 1/5 Hannah 2/5 

Scone: 

Shane 5/5 Hannah 5/5 

The cakes although appetising were not really my thing. The good old traditional scone was by far the best, although modernised with what I could taste as an addition of some lemon. The only other sweet that sparked my interest was another surprise, in that I'm not usually a fan of macaroons; but this nutty, chocolatey, treat was chewy and delicious! 

Overall: 

Shane 4/5 Hannah 4/5 

Overall Average: 

3.3/5 

My scores together with Shane's made a respectable average of 3.3. I couldn't fault the ingredients, which from the taste seemed to be top notch! Not only that but in the beautiful setting of Seafeild you also have the option to enjoy this delicious stand of goodies in the calming spa, what a bonus! 

Lastly I'll mention the price, at €29.95 for two people it is pretty good value for money. There was just the right amount of food. And, as mentioned I really can't fault the food, it just might not have been to my taste. Compared to others I've tried it's definitely up there with the best of them for both quantity and quality ingredients.