Tying the knot at the top of Croagh Patrick Mountain, Aoife and Robbie had a lovely intimate ceremony before their big reception a few days later in Westport, Co Mayo. With lovely Irish touches and the support of local suppliers, their wedding was all DIY and turned out beautifully.
THE COUPLE
Aoife Mulvenna, interior architectural designer & art director, Robbie Jamison, business advisor.
THEY LIVE
in North Belfast, Co Antrim.
THE VENUE
Ceremony: At the top of Croagh Patrick mountain.
Reception: Killadangan House, Westport, Co Mayo.
PHOTOGRAPHY
India Hobson.
THEY MET
We met at a city-wide music festival in Belfast through a mutual friend, Mark, who I studied architecture with and Robbie had known since his school days. Robbie turned up late, sporting a new experimental, patchy beard and a colourful array of clothing, which for a monotoned palette lover was jarring. Robbie would later realise that evening that his card was also blocked by his bank after returning from his recent travels in Morocco… overall, not an ideal start when trying to make a first impression.
Despite the mistakable red flags we hit it off instantly and bonded over music, all things deep and meaningful and I soon realised he wasn’t a complete eejit but in fact a warm, gentle, generous soul. We’ve been inseparable ever since. But yes, he is still late for absolutely everything!
THE PROPOSAL
It was my birthday and as always we were down on the West Coast in Westport, Co Mayo. As was tradition, we got a Chinese with my mum and dad to eat down at the pier. Robbie was acting oddly, shovelling his food into him and getting more and more impatient when Dad was taking his time over a bag of spring rolls. He said he’d planned a birthday picnic on Keem Bay, Achill Island (my favourite beach) and we needed to get going before we lost the light.
At that point, I was obviously clueless and with the beach over an hour away I kept insisting we could always do it tomorrow. I think at that point Robbie more or less lifted me into the car and sped off, leaving Dad with a spring roll hanging out of his mouth and my mum wondering if this was it. The drive was a blur, literally. Robbie was laser-eyed, fixed on the road ahead. I’d had two glasses of Prosecco and spent the next hour laughing at signs like, “Turn left in 500m for some of Ireland’s biggest goats.”
We finally arrived at Keen Bay just as the night’s sky had settled in and the rain started, typical. The picnic stayed put in the boot and instead, we took a walk down the beach. We made awkward chit-chat like we were two teenagers meeting for the first time again. We got to the end of the beach, Robbie asked me to sit on a rock and handed me a bundle of photographs. Each photo had a line written on the back relating to the picture.
A photograph from the very early days of me holding drippy ice cream with some quip about me, the ice queen, finally melting and opening up to him. I got to the end of the deck and there was Robbie down on one knee asking me to marry him. It was pitch black and with a small torch to lead the way, I had to fumble around to see his face and say yes. It was messy, awkward and hilarious… perfectly imperfect. A bit of us!
THE WEDDING ATTIRE
I wore a Cecilie Bahnsen wedding dress with Jil Sander shoes and an old mother-of-pearl shell bag from a family member. Robbie wore a suit from Universal Works with Kleman shoes and a pocket square that was knitted by my mum.
THE CEREMONY
The legal ceremony took place in St. Patrick’s Oratory on the reek of Croagh Patrick mountain a few days before the bigger wedding day. Splitting the ceremony day from the big wedding day was one of the best decisions we made. It meant we could fully focus on each other and what it meant to get married.
We climbed up the 764m mountain with 26 family and friends on a mild, mizzly morning and crammed into the small church at the top. Father John Kenny, somewhat of a local legend, climbed up with us and performed the ceremony. We wore our hiking gear, a cream Patagonia fleece for me and a North Face ensemble for Rob, and I brought a small bouquet of flowers up with me in my backpack.
My dad walked me down the short church aisle and I was greeted by Robbie’s warm eyes and the faces of our wonderful family and friends. After the ceremony, we walked out to a guard of honour made out of hiking sticks while Ain’t No Mountain High Enough played in the background. We all danced in the rain and chatted to fellow hikers who wanted to pass on their well wishes and stories. It was truly the most magical, spiritual and emotional day.
THE RECEPTION
The reception was two days later in the grounds of Killadangan House, just around the corner from Croagh Patrick. We organised the entire wedding ourselves, a total labour of love and admittedly the cause of many sleepless nights. Robbie’s dad, Roly, held a short, personal ceremony given only a small number could make it up the mountain. I walked down the aisle with my dad to Avril 14th by Aphex Twin. Robbie’s brother Scott, a poet, read a poem written just for us about marriage. My brother, Patrick, read Seamus Heaney’s poem “Scaffolding”, a subtle nod to my architectural background and our close friend Travis sang an array of Mac DeMarco and Big Thief songs.
There was fizz and nibbles post-ceremony while India took us to Croagh Patrick for some mountain shots. My cousin Martha Greer played more of our favourite songs while everyone chatted. When we returned, we danced our way into a buzzing marquee to the sound of Khruangbin’s song People Everywhere (Still Alive). We had spent several days setting up the marquee, decorating, stocking the bar, hanging bunting and lights, the works.
I’ll honestly never forget the feeling of walking into the space we’d meticulously planned for a year, filled to the brim with the smiling faces of our loved ones. The atmosphere was electric! We got straight into the speeches before everyone got stuck into the Spitting Pigs BBQ-style feast. We wanted to ensure everything was fairly laid back and our guests could eat as much or as little as possible. The weather was on our side (thanks to the infamous Child of Prague) so everyone moseyed about inside and outside in the sun. It was perfect!
THE ENTERTAINMENT
We had a wonderful group of local trad players play during the meal so the atmosphere was nice and lively. We cut our minimalistic inspired daisy cake by local bakery Becca’s Bakery and served homemade Eton mess, tray bakes and coffee from Neighbourhood Cafe and Lucid Coffee Roasters before the first dance. Then our wonderful friends, Travis, Danny, Rory and Robbie’s brother, Scott, DJ’d until the wee hours of the morning. It was very much a family and friends affair which made the day all the more special!
THE DECOR
The decor was my area of expertise and boy, did I obsess over every detail for the guts of a year! I won’t lie, there were days when I thought I’d bitten off more than I could chew. Juggling a busy job on top of a full DIY wedding was hard but it was so worth it on the day. I split the decor into zones: ceremony, fizz & canapés, and the marquee. There was bunting hung everywhere thanks to the magic sewing hands of my mum!
We hung rice shade lanterns from the ceremony tent (a late addition due to the temperamental weather). We pulled in favours from local friends who dropped down straw bales, and we borrowed literal props from my father-in-law’s school’s drama department. I kid you not, the gruel bucket from Belfast Royal Academy’s production of Oliver Twist made an appearance as a BYOB ice bucket!
The marquee itself was from MJM Marquees, the vintage plates, cutlery and glassware were hired from Belfast-based prop hire studio, A Quiet Life. There were copious amounts of decorations sourced from Etsy, the aisle runner, balloon arches, helium balloons, biodegradable Jasmin confetti and garden games. I designed the printed items like the table plan, table name tags and the run of the ceremony. The tablecloths were from Shaw’s Hire Services in Belfast, pint glassware was hired from Castlebar-based All Affairs – we even hired portaloos and a huge generator. It was a full operation!
Lastly, and arguably most importantly, Mark Grehan of The Garden did our beautiful Connemara-inspired flowers, assisted by his lovely mum. We had moody, wild west coast inspired bouquets, simple boutonnières for the men, aisle flowers, table flowers in tiny glass vessels, candles and the pièce de résistance, our floral hanging centre piece complete with disco ball of course.
THEY WISH THEY HAD…
We had to compromise somewhere and unfortunately, that compromise was a videographer. If our budget was endless we would have loved to have had a professional photographer and videographer capture the Croagh Patrick day. We also looked at hiring a wonderful chef who had a passion for art direction and Irish-made produce but again unfortunately we had to be realistic with our budget.
THEIR BEST MOMENTS
There are too many to list! We’re both so, so glad we took an entire week for the wedding. Those days spent at Killadangan House with family and friends setting up the venue were equally as wonderful as the wedding days. We were completely blown away by the help, generosity and love shown by our support network. It set such a beautiful tone for the rest of the week and made every moment from there a special one.
THE FIRST DANCE SONG
You Send Me by Aretha Franklin – I can’t listen to it now without smiling.
THE CREW
Wedding Dress: Cecilie Bahnsen. Bride’s Shoes: Jil Sander via Vestiaire. Bride’s Cardigan: Aran Woollen Mills. Groom’s Suit: Universal Works. Groom’s Shirt: Olive. Groom’s Shoes: Kleman. Cake: Becca’s Bakery. Decor: Etsy. Rentals: MJM Marquees, A Quiet Life, Shaw’s Hire Services and All Affairs. Florist: The Garden. Food: Spitting Pigs & The Pizza Pod Mayo. Music & DJs: Martha Greer, Travi The Native, Daniel Ball, Scott Hunter-Jamison, and Rory Millar.
See more photographs from Aoife and Robbie’s wedding in the gallery below.
Photography by India Hobson.
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This article was published in the IMAGE Weddings 2024 Ultimate Venue Guide, read the issue here.
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