Originally built in 1862 as a busy railway junction, The Station House Hotel in County Meath served as the perfect moody venue for the wedding of claims assistant, Nicola Gordon, to principal executive recruiter, Aoife Murtagh, on April 11th 2024. Captured by Sarah Gray Photography, we love the moody charm of this wedding day. And we think you will, too!
Nicola and Aoife had actually been in each other's company on more than one occasion throughout their teens, but had barely ever spoken. It took a few years, but eventually, fate would have it that they would both be on the same app at the same time, within the right radius. One swipe right was all it took. They arranged a casual hangout to spend time together, Nicola again barely spoke to Aoife - instead spent time chatting amongst everyone else. What else was Aoife to assume, other than she didn’t like her? Nicola, however, a very socially awkward soul, communicates quite well over text, so she sent an apology to Aoife and asked to see her again, alone, and promised to speak more than five words to her. They met the following night after work, drove to the beach and sat and talked for hours. They’ve rarely spent a night apart since!
"I had known from the get-go that I had found my person in Aoife. I can still remember the music playing the moment I decided that I wanted to propose. Aoife, however, went by the rule of threes. No official girlfriend title until at least three months of seeing each other, and most definitely no proposal until at least three years together." The more time Nicola spent thinking of how to propose, the more she questioned herself. Nothing seemed quite right, but seven years in, amidst a COVID lockdown and a very last-minute Airbnb cancellation, the moment came. However, things didn't quite go to plan. "The Airbnb I had booked was not at all like it looked in the photos. There were holes in the doors, dirty handprints on the walls, crumbs everywhere, and an overgrown garden! But, with the help of my best man, Stephen, we managed to do the best we could in a difficult situation." They erected a bell tent, strung with fairy lights, in the back garden and gave the house a hasty scrub with what little time they had left. All that was missing was Aoife.
"I scrambled around outside getting everything ready, and returned to find Aoife basically sitting in thin air, too afraid to sit on the couch that looked in need of a steam cleaning. With a very deep breath, I led her outside, praying that what we had done with the garden was enough to make Aoife forget the inside of the house - and it was. She said YES, and we spent the next day and evening in the garden, enjoying the weather, barbecuing and admiring the ring on Aoife's finger that she had waited far too long to get!"
For their wedding, Nicola wore Paradoxe Intense by Prada. With notes of jasmine, bourbon vanilla and ambroxide, it was a suitably earthy and light pairing for the venue. To complement the sweet jasmine notes, Aoife wore the ever classic Mademoiselle by Chanel.
"I (Nicola) hadn’t had any particular type of dress in mind, I was scrolling, saw it at My Fair Lady Bridal in Monaghan and loved it. It was three sizes too big and end of line, so it was the last one, but my seamstress was great and made it work! I was honestly so happy I didn’t have to go to any more shops!"
From the beginning of her dress shopping journey, Aoife was certain about the type of dress she wanted, so on a visit to White & Gold, she picked out a handful of gowns in that style and LOVED the third. "Unfortunately, I was too hungover on the morning to make any decisions - it was the morning after Pride and I’d had one or two more than intended - so I went for food and coffee, sat for two hours and then went back to put a deposit down." She knew it was meant to be when her consultant revealed the dress was called 'Archie' (The same name as the couple's labrador)! "Neither of us had seen the other's dress, but we both showed them to our bridesmaid, Shauna, so she could check we hadn’t gone and picked dresses too similar to each other. We were polar opposites in the end."
Aoife knew she wanted green dresses for the bridesmaids and found gorgeous Olive Green ones on Rewritten Bridesmaids. They each had a different style in the same colours. The couple had agreed that they wanted the men in fitted tuxedos, so that’s what they went with. To the boys' credit, not one complaint was made about the early Saturday morning fittings! "My side was the Bridesmen (Stephen (Best Man), Adam & Stuart) and Aoife had her Bridesmaids (Fiona (Maid of Honour), Shauna & Karen). Granted, Fiona, Shauna and Karen spent their time in the morning running over and back to check if I needed anything the lads couldn’t assist me with."
"The ceremony was our favourite part of the day. Moya was fantastic, and the outdoor area for the ceremony was gorgeous! We’d written our own vows, which was one of our favourite parts - BUT, Archie bringing the rings made our day! Nicole Lonergan played us up the aisle & throughout the ceremony, and I still talk about the music to this day! I walked first to her rendition of Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift, and Aoife walked up to Turning Page by Sleeping at Last. It felt magical, and the music was such a significant part of that."
"Our friend Amanda had recommended The Station House after viewing it for her own wedding. It’s not even that far from us, and when we saw it, we couldn’t believe we hadn’t come across the venue ourselves. We fell in love immediately, and nothing seemed like too big a task for Caroline and the team." One sticking point for Aoife and Nicola was the need for two separate bridal areas so they could get ready on site but not risk crossing paths before they met at the altar. While not a typical request, the team at the Station House made it work, and the girls were able to get glammed in separate spaces. "The outdoor area for the ceremony was what sold it to us. The forest path walk up to The Turntable is stunning. We always knew we wanted to get married outside, rain, hail or snow. We love to be outdoors, whether it’s hiking, wild camping, or just exploring, so having the ceremony outside just fits. It actually started to drizzle for a couple of minutes during the ceremony, and umbrellas were brought out for everyone."
"The Enemies were our band & Ronan (the lead singer) stayed on as our DJ then. I had seen them playing a couple of times and reached out to them as soon as we set the date."
"The best decision was only having ourselves at the top table. It was the only time we got to ourselves alone where we could talk, and it was lovely to be able to go over how our mornings had gone, the nerves, and then breathe at the fact that we both sat there as wives. I’d be remiss not to mention our photographer, Sarah, here too. It’s not easy trying to be two places at once when you have two brides to photograph getting ready! She was fantastic and put everyone at ease."
"The worst decision was probably not having entertainment during the meal. We’ve seen this at a wedding recently, and both of us said we wished we’d considered that. The train of my dress was also so HEAVY, and while it did tie up, not enough that I didn’t have to carry it, so I do wish I’d made sure it could fully come up at the back so I wasn’t dragging it around until I changed."
- Gráinne