A beautifully restored private Georgian house and courtyard set amid breathtaking Meath countryside, Clonabreany House was the gorgeous venue for the wedding of Niamh and David O’Sullivan on August 9th 2024. Capture by Sarah Gray Photography, planned primarily from abroad, the celebration was marked by elegant style, a personal humanist ceremony, and a party that buzzed long into the night.
The pair met almost a decade ago, in 2017, introduced at a house party by their best friends Rose and Kev. For five of those eight years, the two lived in beautiful sunny Abu Dhabi.
"We were in Bordeaux, France, attending a wedding, and David suggested extending our trip. He organised to change our flights and book a train to Paris for a few days, which was quite unlike him, as I am usually the planner in the relationship, so I was a little bit suspicious. While we were visiting the Eiffel Tower, we saw three separate proposals, and I mentioned offhandedly that I would be so embarrassed to get engaged in front of all these strangers. Little did I know David had the ring in his pocket and was planning to do the exact same thing! His plan was ruined. The next morning, he surprised me with an upgrade to a bigger hotel room and proposed there. It was perfect and such a surprise."
While still in Dubai, Niamh and her friends visited a few bridal boutiques to get an idea of the silhouette and details she was looking for in a wedding dress. She then waited until she was back in Ireland for the summer to go shopping with her mum and bridal party and find the one. Having already done some research online, Niamh was certain she wanted a Suzanne Neville dress, but it wasn't until her third boutique, Sharon Hoey on Merrion Square, that she tried on the Kaia dress and fell in love.
"We knew we wanted David and the groomsmen in black tuxes, so it was very straightforward. David picked his suit from the first shop we went to—Collar and Cuff in Phibsborough—and it was the first suit he tried on, too."
Niamh's bridal party consisted of her sister Orla and two best friends, Rose and Rebecca. As she was still living abroad for the majority of her wedding planning, Niamh was fortunate to have a fantastic mum and sister who took the reins and searched high and low for bridesmaid dresses. "The girls' dresses, from Quiz, were found by chance on mum and Orla’s trip to Blanch. The three girls are stunning, and anything would have looked beautiful on them, but my main priority was to make sure they felt great in whatever we went for, and they looked absolutely amazing in these navy dresses."
"The first humanist wedding I attended had the most amazing celebrant, Moya Corcoran. Once we had booked our venue, we got straight onto Moya and booked her for our own day! We got married onsite in Clonabreany in their beautiful Orchard Room. We each wrote three things we love about each other and one thing we think each other should work on in secret. With so much planning going into the day and the ceremony, I was particularly looking forward to hearing this part for the first time during the ceremony, and it turned out to be my favourite part."
As the two were living in the UAE in the lead-up to the wedding, Niamh and David couldn't actually attend any open days. Thankfully, it was Niamh's parents to the rescue, and they attended a showcase at Clonabreany House—a venue that had been highly recommended by the couple's friends and extensive online research—and left with rave reviews.
"Clonabreany is impressive, and our wedding exceeded our expectations. Kelly was our coordinator, and she was just fabulous and couldn't have done enough for us. Pauline and Avril also looked after us on the day. Everyone commented on how excellent the staff were."
"We chose the band Pink Champagne, whose tag line is ‘We fill dancefloors’, and they most definitely do. They were fantastic. We also booked their DJ and Sax for after they finished, both of whom were brilliant and brought tremendous energy to the night."
"Our best decision would have to be choosing Clonabreany for our wedding. It was all we ever wanted, and we couldn't have imagined a more perfect day. The set-up is incredible, and having the place to yourself for the whole day is invaluable. Having our ceremony and reception all in the one place allowed the day to flow really well. Our guests gathered in the sheebeen before the ceremony for a drink, and once the ceremony was over, they only had a short walk through the beautiful grounds to our drinks reception. We were blessed with amazing weather, so everyone enjoyed mingling outdoors in the courtyard in the sun."
- Gráinne