A breathtaking 300-year-old Georgian estate nestled at the foot of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, Gloster House was the utterly fabulous venue for the wedding of Eavan Agnew, the founder of Luxe Library, to the managing director of Navan Hire & Hardware, Keith Donegan, on the 30th of August 2025. Photographed by Ivana Patarcic Photography, every detail, from the calla-lily bouquets to Eavan's two-piece wedding ensemble, made this a dream day for fashion lovers!
Keith and Eavan met in their first year of Trinity. A ski trip solidified the friendship, and from that point onwards, most stories started with ‘Keith and Eavan…’. However, it wasn’t until their second year of college that the pair made it official. Since then, the two have graduated, done long-distance twice, started businesses, travelled the world and bought a house (There was even a little breakup in there!) over the course of a busy, but exciting nine years!
"Keith proposed to me in my favourite place in the world- Ballymoney Beach. A place I have been going to since childhood and have always loved. Going down to Wexford was our first time away together, and we had a date on the beach, which Keith recreated for the proposal. I was very surprised and absolutely thrilled!"
As soon as she got engaged, Eavan's Instagram feed changed to all things weddings and with that, all the facials and skin treatments to get “wedding ready”. As someone who hadn’t had a facial before, it was totally overwhelming! She kept her skincare simple but consistent and did some facials in the lead up to the wedding "My wedding scent was Parade by Celine, which I loved. I found it in London when dress shopping with my Mum and sister. I hadn’t smelled Celine perfumes before, and it was a real treat that now brings me back to our big day."
Eavan travelled with her mum and sister from Dublin to visit the Halfpenny boutique in London. "We were lucky to have Kate Halfpenny at the appointment, who made it such a joy. I loved that in Halfpenny you could create your own perfect dress using different elements, and we had so much fun playing with veils and accessories. Kate made sure it was an afternoon to remember, and it is one that I will always look back at fondly."
For her wedding dress, it was always going to have long sleeves with lace in homage to Eavan's grandmother's own gown. But being a fashion lover, she wanted wear something different and with personality on her big day. She eventually tried on the Amy top, matching Amy skirt, and Ada lace body, with classic lace long sleeves and a high neck that contrasted with the modern silhouette of a crop top and skirt, and the group knew immediately that it was the one!
"I own a luxury bag rental business, so instead of a bouquet, I wore a handbag, which I just adored and will keep forever. A Chanel ivory handbag with a gold top handle, which complemented the ivory colour of my dress."
"For Keith’s suit, we went with a custom Louis Copeland & Sons suit. I wanted Keith to be a bit different from the groomsmen, so we went with a double-breasted suit, which really suited him, while the groomsmen were in traditional black tie suits."
For her bridal party, Eavan had four of her closest girls by her side. Her sister Izzy was the maid of honour, and for her bridesmaids she asked her two best friends, Rebecca and Jade and Keith’s sister, Eimear. "For their dresses, I wanted something that didn’t feel too traditional ‘bridesmaid’, but they were comfortable in and felt fabulous in. We went with a Dessy dress from Starla that was in a sage floral print. I felt the dresses' cut and style were modern yet timeless, and the girls all looked stunning. I wanted to continue the nod to handbags, so the amazing Tina from the Wild Bunch constructed the bouquets to look like handbags. Definitely not an easy request from me, but Tina was so receptive to my ideas and was a pleasure to work with. I adored how they turned out!"
"We loved our ceremony. Shona Weymes was our celebrant, and she was absolutely brilliant. We did the ceremony in the Chapel in Gloster House, with the D Strings string quartet playing throughout, which is beautiful. The ceremony was both personal and fun, yet still felt ceremonious and momentous. "
For their venue, the couple chose Gloster House in Birr, a Georgian-Palladian country house surrounded by expansive landscaped gardens. "The Alexander family owns and lives in the house, and they were amazing in the lead-up and throughout the weekend. Gloster House, while grand, is still a family home, and we loved the contrast between the house's elegance and a relaxed, warm atmosphere."
"For our reception, we had the Victory Dolls, who were so fabulous. Our guests loved them! They are amazing singers and sang modern songs in a vintage style. For our band, we had the Bentley Boys. The music was important to me because I love to dance, and I was thrilled when the dance floor was packed all night!"
"We were so thrilled with our day and wouldn’t change a thing! Our two best decisions were choosing the venue, as we just loved everything about Gloster House, and our photography/videography team. We had Ivana Pataric as our photographer and Kevin Caffrey (Little Bear Film) as our videographer. Neither Keith nor I love getting our photos taken, and both Kevin and Ivana made it so easy for us that we couldn’t be happier with the pictures and videos from the day."
- Gráinne