An elegant 18th-century manor House nestled at the heart of sprawling woods, courtyards, walled gardens and parkland, Tankardstown House was the stunning location for the wedding of teacher, Megan Carolan, to trading, Eoin Leech, on the 30th of May 2025. Captured by Pawel Bebenca, from the lemon bridesmaid dresses to the vinyl record touches, this celebration hits all the right notes!
The pair met as teenagers in a surprise meet-cute arranged by friends. "We instantly clicked. From there on, we went from strength to strength, but also faced some of our own challenges, including different colleges, summers away from each other for J1S and Charity work, and long-distance with Paris and Ireland for two years. Yet still, we always managed to make it work as we knew what we wanted."
"I was on a career break and travelled over to my family in Australia for a few months. Eoin had planned to join me on my travels to New Zealand. On our last leg in Queenstown, Eoin had planned a gorgeous wine tasting trip at the vineyards. There, on Wilson Bay, Eoin took out a blanket, red wine and glasses, and after a few sweet words reflecting on our relationship, he bent the knee and pulled out a promise ring. We spent the night in our own company, danced the night and a few nights later in Sydney in front of the Sydney Opera House on St Patrick's Day, we phoned friends and family to fill them in on the news. Sadly, though, since I had planned this trip before I knew what it would involve, we had to go our separate ways, which was exceptionally brutal at the time. I went off to Abu Dhabi and Dubai to meet with friends while Eoin went back to Ireland."
"However, the surprises didn't end there. On one of my last days in Dubai, my friend had convinced me to visit the famous jeweller "Cara" to look at a few rings and get an idea of what I would like for the engagement ring and band. On the journey there, I was dreading it because I was feeling quite sad about missing out on such a special moment with Eoin. However, he had already made his own secret plans, and when I got out of the taxi, there in the distance he was standing. After multiple utterances of, "it can't be!", and the closer I got, I realised he had, in fact, travelled over to be there for picking out the ring. We spent the weekend together before travelling back to celebrate with family. It was an incredibly special few weeks."
Since the couple decided to wait two years before getting married, Megan had a long time to refine her beauty routine, enlisting the help of her friend Lynn from Divinity Aesthetics. "After the intensity of the Australian and New Zealand sun, my skin barrier had taken a turn for the worse, and I had lost hope of getting it back to where it was. But with Lynn's skilled hands, my skin was back to glowing and looking better than ever through microneedling sessions and facials." The two-year wait also brought about a multitude of hair changes—from fringes to blonde highlights to finally going back to her natural colour.
In a not-so-unexpected twist, while Megan had a good idea in mind of what she wanted, the dress she walked down the aisle in was totally different. "Full credit to my mother, who picked it out in MK Bridal, where my initial response was "Absolutely Not!!". To which she responded, "Just entertain me". It turned out to be the first dress I tried on, and even though I went to many other bridal shops across the country, I couldn't get it out of my mind. So when I went back to try it on again, I said the very daunting yet thrilling "yes" to the dress."
"We spent a day out in Dublin after receiving our Green Book, and after a few drinks with parents-in-law, we decided on the tuxedos in Protocol in the city centre. Eoin, of course, went back with his groomsmen to make a mighty affair of actually getting suited and booted!"
For her bridal party, Megan had four of her dear friends — Abbie, Shauna, Ciara, and Kim — by her side. "Funnily enough, I had decided to go with lemon before it became so popular. I found them on Coast Debenhams and fell in love. They were on sale, too, which was terrific. I bought one to try on myself and see if it was a nice style before buying. I loved them, and with two of my dear bridesmaids expecting, I knew they would be flattering to all, and they really were."
"I had kept saying before the day that it was so important to me that we were so present for it all. Walking down and seeing my family and friends was so lovely and comforting. It was so special walking down with my dad, too, and although he admits he wouldn't get emotional easily, I saw him shed a few tears when he finally turned around to see Eoin's reaction and when he passed me over to him. Eoin and I couldn't take our eyes off each other and were like two giddy teenagers during the ceremony. (Which I am sure could have annoyed our amazing celebrant, Miriam Fitzgerald.) She wrote a beautiful, personal poem about us that everyone loved, and she just summed us and the relationship up perfectly.
Another clutch move by Megan's mum, years before the engagement, she mentioned Tankardstown House to her daughter, who, after being treated to lunch, saw the appeal. "When Eoin and I decided on a summer wedding, we knew we wanted somewhere with a beautiful option for an indoor and outdoor ceremony. In my opinion, there is nowhere better than the Orangery for an indoor ceremony."
"For the ceremony and reception, we had the fabulous Avoca String Quartet, and my dear friend Sarah Ferguson sang too. We had Men in Black for our band, and they were INCREDIBLE! The dance floor was filled for the entire night! Whenever anyone was missing from the dance floor, you would find them over in the Prop PhotoBooth supplied by Carolyn's Sweets or using their lottery tickets I created for some extra beverages. Those extra beverages led to some funny video messages left on our audio guestbook."
"So many decisions we were happy about. I suppose the ones that stand out are the lottery tickets I made with Kim and our table plan, which was designed with Vinyls with my dad and dear friend Siobhán. We used Vinyls as the table names, each with our favourite songs from every year we have been together. I loved it; it was so special and lovely hearing people discuss their songs."
"My worst moment was forgetting to bring the marker for people to sign the Vinyl Guest Books!! I was gutted I forgot it because I planned to use them as a design in our home, and my poor Bridesmaid Ciara tried her best to source a pen that would work on Vinyl. But there was no joy. A small mistake, though, that really didn't bother me. The day was too magical to care about such a minor detail."
- Gráinne