Real Bride Blog- Orla & Christophers July Wedding

Hello!  

Welcome back to our real bride blog, the first of 2024 for us and stay tuned...we have so many gorgeous weddings in our inbox that we will be posting over the next few weeks. And what a great wedding we have to begin with for you, the gorgeous Orla marrying her Fiance Christopher in the stunning Harvey's Point hotel. We had the pleasure of helping Orla find her dream dress with us and we loved having her and her lovely mum, godmother, mother in law and her sister in law Brid in the boutique. Orla leaves us with a wealth of tips for brides to be and we thought it was perfect timing as we are now in full wedding planning season. 

Trisha was Orla's bridal consultant and she helped her choose our gorgeous 'Poppy' dress from Essense of Australia.  Poppy features a bodice covered with rich lace patterns and glittering sequin details, with sheer elements showing off the intricate details and exposed boning. Orla customised her dress to widen the strap adding a vintage feel to the straight-across neckline. 

Let's hear all about it... 

Orla, firstly tell us about your dress?

After visiting 2 shops before Pearls and Lace I knew exactly what I wanted. I saw my dress on Pearls and Lace Instagram page the night before my appointment and sent it to my mum. When we arrived to the store, Patricia was amazing from the get go. She listened to exactly what I had in mind. The first dress she pulled from the store was the dress I had seen on Instagram the night before and I was so excited to try it on. Words cannot describe how amazing the dress made me feel. I loved the square neckline so much and the gorgeous train. I can’t forget about the stunning lace and sparkle layer throughout. I knew straight away it was the one and even more so when I showed my entourage. The reaction from them was the best I had received from all the dresses I had previously tried on. Patricia could not believe that I was about to say yes after one dress. She made sure that my heart was set by allowing me to try on different dresses in the same style. We all knew that they were not as gorgeous as the first dress. I was dying to try it on again. My mother-in-law wasn’t with us at the appointment so we video called her to show her. Only then did we add a vail and I felt like a real-life princess. It was then I was asked “Are you saying yes to the dress” and with tears in my eyes I said yes! My amazing dress was Essence of Australia, #D3386 Poppy. 

How did you style your dress? 

I styled my dress with a veil from Pearls and Lace as well as a gorgeous pearl headband. I also purchased my wedding earrings from Pearls and Lace (Simone Earrings). I wore a simple, but elegant bracelet that my best friends gifted me from Swarovski. My shoes where Ruby Shoo. I opted for foam flowers for the entire Bridal Party. Let’s Face It Foam Creations was my amazing flower lady. I changed my mind a few times and she was always happy to help me pick the best colour and style of flowers.  

Tell us about your bridal party?

I knew from the beginning I wanted my Bridesmaids in sage green. The first dress I ordered ending up being the one for them! They were from the Maya Deluxe range and New Look stocked them which was so handy. All 4 ladies wore the same style of dress. The girls picked beautiful pearl heels from Quiz which tied in well with my hairband and they also wore simple pearl earrings. I gifted them elegant white silver bracelets from Argento so they could use them again. In their bridesmaid box I had bridal pyjamas from Primark, personalised robes from Etsy, Charlotte Tilbury Lipstick (to wear on the day) personalised mini travel perfume bottles, personalised hangers, personalised bedroom slippers and a champagne flute. I did the same for my mum and Christopher’s mum.  

I had 3 flower girls and again, their dress was the first one I picked. I ordered them from Monsoon. I was very adamant that they needed to be ivory to match the colour of my dress. Their dresses had a green ribbon and when they arrived they were the exact colour of the bridesmaid dresses. 

I had 2 page boys who stole the show! The pair of them wore Next shirts, braces and shoes. I got their navy suit trousers and sage green dicky bows in Mark James Menswear in Strabane. I also ordered them personalised sun glasses to wear on the day.  

My Groom, Groomsmen, Father of the Bride and Father of the Groom were all styled by Catherine in Wilsons in Co Monaghan. They all wore suits by Remos Uomo in the colour Navy. Christopher wore a different patterned waistcoat from everyone else to make him stand out. The Bridal Party wore sage green dicky bows (matching the bridesmaids) and the Father of the Bride and Groom wore patterned sage green and navy ties. Wilsons sorted all the men with alterations as well as their shoes.  

My beautiful mummy found her dress in The Fashion House in Magherafelt. She went looking for a specific dress (on her own) and when she got there and tried it on she didn’t like it. The lady in the shop pulled another one from the rail and mummy didn’t like it on the hanger. She then agreed to try it on and it was the one! She video called me all the way in Qatar and I couldn’t believe that she had found the dress and she was by herself. Mummy wore a stunning blush pink dress by Veni Infantino with a gorgeous hat to match. Her shoes and bag were Capollini from West Midland Shoe Company.  

My Mother-in-Law purchased her dress from a boutique in Spain. Her beautiful navy dress was by Gabriela Sanchez and she paired it with shoes by Nero Giardini and had a custom made hat by Marian McKiterick.  

What would your advice be for other brides to be?

1. Listen to your photographer – if the ground is wet and it’s not raining, go and get your photos! Our photographer told me and I quote – “You can get your dress cleaned but you can’t take your photos again.” 
2. Get foam flowers! We didn’t have to worry about not squashing them or water dripping down our dresses on the morning of the wedding.  
3. Child of Prague doesn’t work.  
4. Pick your Maid of Honour and Bridesmaids well. I couldn’t have done it without them. They especially kept me calm and assured me that everything would be okay. 
5. Don’t purchase expensive wedding shoes – they will hurt and you wont wear them all day. 
6. Get flip flops and Tayto sandwiches.  
7. Wedding breakfast is KEY. 
8. If it’s not done a few days before, don’t worry about it – it wasn’t important enough.  

What was your most memorable moment of your special day? 

Walking down the aisle in my beautiful dress, with my daddy, to see Christopher standing at the bottom looking so happy.  

Awe, I'm not crying you're crying! This gives us all the feels. A huge congratulations Orla & Christopher- wishing you both a happily ever after. 

xx