A wedding at the Garryvoe Hotel. Strange, usually when I’m in east Cork for a wedding it’s in Ballycotton.

This was my first wedding of the year between Oisín and Rachel. It was still winter, in the middle of February, so too cold for cliff backgrounds or beach photos, but we did have the lovely, cozy warm ambiance of the Garryvoe Hotel.

I always like to highlight three things that stood out to me at a wedding.

1) An Indoor Couple Shoot

I have done partial couple shoots indoors or unexpected ones indoors because the weather changed suddenly but this was a couple shoot I planned from the get go to be inside. With the Garryvoe Hotel having this lovely library that I could set up as a photography studio with my lighting equipment was amazing! As always, I had to move some furniture out of the way with the help of some strong waiters but the effort was worth it and I love how these photos came out!

Before every wedding, I get in do a video call with the couple to get to know them and to understand what’s important to them on their big day. Oisín and Rachel had mentioned that as much as they wanted to have a couple shoot, it wasn’t something that was that important to them. This isn’t uncommon and those couples often find it more important to be around friends and family. And I absolutely understand that, so this couple shoot actually just took 10 minutes. They were delighted. They had some beautiful shots of them as a newly wed couple and didn’t miss a thing.

2) The ‘Friends’ Ceremony

Oisín and Rachel had such a laid back and funny ceremony, no doubt because of the celebrant who did a fantastic job on the day. But amazingly, it turned out that the celebrant was the uncle. Because of that he was able to create such a unique ceremony for them and part of that was reading out Joey’s (from Friends) best man speech:

“We are gathered here today on this joyous occasion to celebrate the special love that Oisín and Rachel share.

It is a love based on giving and receiving as well as having and sharing. And the love that they give and have is shared and received. And through this having and giving and sharing and receiving, we too can share and love and have... and receive…”

It had everyone in stitches!

3) The Entrance Song

This was just a small element of the day, but it stood out to me. When entering the dinner hall for the speeches and the dinner, couples will often have a special entrance for that moment, sometimes accompanied by music. On this day, Oisín and Rachel chose a very untypical song for a wedding; “The Next Episode” by Dr Dre featuring Snoop Dogg.

They came dancing out, absolutely loving it. They really made their big day uniquely theirs, and I love to see that!

5-star Google Review

Rachel left us a lovely review, I thought I’d share it here.

“We would highly recommend Jan and Nikki to anyone looking for a wedding photographer.
They were very professional and attentive and truly made us feel at ease. The photos are brilliant and we got them back very fast.
Thanks again Jan and Nikki”

— Rachel

If you would like to tempt me away from Ballycotton and shoot at the Garryvoe or somewhere else in east Cork, say hi to me here for wedding packages and the chance to book in for a video call with me.