It’s not often that I leave the rebel county behind! Surprisingly all of my photo shoots so far have been within County Cork. It is the biggest county after all, although I did get close to the border of Kerry several times, just a stone’s throw away. But this was officially my first time leaving the safety of Cork behind me. Save the Journey is now branching out into neighbouring counties!
Kilkenny. What a place!
I had previously met Anthony and Mairead as guests at this beautiful Sea Church wedding of Ann and David that I had photographed. So when they asked me if I could photograph their wedding, I just had to say yes. Anthony was surprised that I immediately agreed, thinking he was just chancing his arm by asking, but I was up for the travel, treating the whole wedding as a little weekend getaway. Plus it would be great to see Ann and David again - Ann this time a bridesmaid. Also, as a lovely surprise on the day, Noreen, who I did this newborn shoot with, was also a bridesmaid. What a coincidence!
We start this wedding day at Mairead’s family home. With the ‘Child of Prague’ having kept a watchful eye on the weather, we were set for a beautiful day. He really put in his overtime for this wedding as it was absolutely pouring rain the day before and would again the day after the wedding, but on the actual wedding day it was sunny and warm. Last minute preparations included hair, make-up and some prosecco. Oh yes, and some quick mechanical work to attach the ribbons to the cars.
The wedding ceremony took place just a short drive away at St Patrick’s church in Kilkenny city centre. I thought it was quite a pretty church, very striking. And was it full! Coming in at 180 guests it was the largest wedding I had ever photographed. Although I learned later on that this is considered intimate in Kilkenny. A normal sized wedding in Cork would be considered to be between 80-120 guests, so 180 was huge! I still find it funny how you don’t have to travel far in this small country for cultures and accents to change so much. I was informed later on that 250 guests is a normal size in the Marble City.
5-star Google Review
“Jannik and Nic were amazing!! They were so accommodating, enthusiastic and made the whole experience so relaxed. I couldn’t recommend them highly enough. The quality of their work is fantastic! Amazing work and an amazing couple! 10/10!”
After the ceremony, Anthony and Mairead had requested that we go to St Kieran’s College for the couple shoot and the group photos of bridesmaids, groomsmen and all the important family members.
The stairs provided a beautiful setting with the incredible architecture of the college. I love photographing groups on these large staircases as there are so many different arrangements one can implement and it’s great to have people of different heights perfectly visible.
I also really enjoyed doing the couple shoot with these two. The setting under the tree just worked so well on such a sunny day. I feel like so many of my shoots lately have been in overcast conditions, so to have some actual summer sun was amazing. The leaves almost glowing in the background. The two were also so smitten with each other that getting these candid moments was such a breeze, and it was just so beautiful to be a part of!
The next stop for the reception was the Newpark Hotel. The Newpark Hotel is absolutely no stranger to weddings and it shows. I think this was the most organized and efficient, yet completely stress-free wedding venue that I have ever photographed at.
After some mingling and ice-cream, I took the two into the gardens for just a handful more couple photos. And before I knew it, it was time for the speeches! With these many tears and so much laughter, it was clearly a good set of speeches.
Another cultural difference that I experienced was that each table had a bet of how long the speeches would be, they were then timed and the winner of each table got a free drink I believe. This must be a Kilkenny thing because I’ve never come across this before. My bet was embarrassingly low, which I will put down as benefit for the quality of the photos. No drink for me.
If you are interested in booking me for your wedding day, be it in the county of Cork or elsewhere, say hi to me here. I’d love to hear from you! I only do a limited amount of weddings per year so make sure you get one of the final spots in my calendar.
