For anyone looking for modern bridal glamour, minimal lines and that kind of effortless chic vibe, you’re in the right place today.
Executive assistant Lottie and accountant Stephen, who chose The Millhouse in Slane, Co. Meath, Ireland for their spring celebration on 20 April 2019. Kudos to photographer Tony Hart for this beautiful photography.
Tony Hart Photo + Follow
The couple wanted to plan a small and intimate wedding that was simple, elegant and relaxed, with glamorous black, fresh spring green and romantic white blooms as accents.
“We initially started looking at venues in the UK, close to my hometown of Brighton, but decided we would prefer to find a venue in Ireland where we were living and building our lives together.”
“The Millhouse was the first venue we visited and it really was love at first sight, taking our breath away the moment we walked in.”
“The Millhouse is situated in the Meath countryside, along the banks of The River Boyne. We fell in love with it, as it is simply stunning, charming, full of elegance and character.”
“We loved the idea of everything all being on-site in the grounds, including accommodation for our guests and the natural flow of the venue; from getting ready in the dedicated bridal dressing room to being married in the converted corn mill ceremony room, walking across to the Georgian Manor House for reception drinks and speeches outside and finally into the Pavilion for our wedding breakfast and to dance the night away.”
“The Millhouse team were fantastic to deal with from word go and they have created a beautiful venue with a relaxed feel, that is yours for the day.”
Stephen and Lottie first met each other in Dublin on a night out back in 2016 when Lottie was visiting Dublin for the weekend with friends.
“A month after we first met we caught up in London. We then spent the next year doing a long distance relationship, flying back and forth between Brighton and Ireland. I took the plunge and moved to Ireland to live with Stephen. He proposed in 2017 whilst we were on holiday in Mauritius. He arranged for a private hike up Le Morne Mountain and got down on one knee when we reached the summit.”
“We were engaged for two years before tying the knot in April 2019.”
“Early in the planning, we identified what for us were the most important elements of the day and then focused on these, putting our budget towards them. Venue, entertainment, food, and our guests were the top priorities and we built our day from there.”
The bride chose to wear her hair in her everyday hair style of a sleek bob, styled by Hair Stylist, Sian Sharkey.
“This is the style I am known for so didn’t want to change it for my wedding day. I love the classic look and this fitted in perfectly with my vision for the day. I was lucky to have the very talented Sian do our wedding hair and she was so easy to deal with.”
“My make-up artist was Grainne Kaneswaran. Grainne was an absolute dream to work with and is a true professional, extremely talented and makes you feel so calm.”
We went for a natural look for my wedding make-up and she made me and my bridal party feel a million dollars. It was a pleasure to have her as a part of my wedding morning.”
The bride visited Tunbridge Wells bridal boutique, The Pantiles Bride, to select her Atelier Pronovias ‘Relato’ gown.
We adore this luxe bridal boutique and you can find more about them here on their Love My Dress wedding directory.
“The Pantiles Bride is a beautiful bridal boutique with the most amazing selection of wedding dresses – there is so much choice.”
“I loved every interaction with the team in Pantiles, they are full of knowledge and made you feel so welcome and relaxed the minute you stepped in the door.”
“They made the whole experience a delight an I could not recommend them highly enough.”
“I didn’t have a particular style in mind and was open to trying different styles on but as I was walking into the bridal boutique, one particular dress caught my eye through the window – a dress I had previously sent a picture of to my bridal group and I knew then that I had to try it on.”
It was called Relato by Atelier Pronovias. I loved its simplicity and elegance but also that it made a statement with its embellished sleeves. It was the first dress I tried on and I instantly fell in love with it and knew it was the dress for me.”
Lottie slipped on a pair of pink blush, slingback court shoes from Topshop to add a pop of colour to the overall look. Her wedding day fragrance was Jo Malone Honeysuckle and Davana.
“They also tied in with my bouquet. My diamond earrings were from Appleby Jewellery. These were a wedding day present from Stephen.”
The bridesmaids made a statement in their black, floor-length gowns from TFNC London. The girls’ bouquets, and the rest of the wedding flowers, were created by Theresa at Petite Fleurs.
“My bridesmaids chose their own shoes to wear and also wore a silver bracelet, a gift from me on the morning of the wedding. My bridesmaids went for an elegant up-do.”
“I and my bridesmaids carried hand-tied bouquets filled with pale pink roses, white spray roses, white ranunculus, white bouvardia and olive eucalyptus all tied with a long blush ribbon.”
“Stephen went for a classic look with his suit and wore a three-piece Tuxedo from Remus Uomo. His Frederique Constant watch was a wedding present from me.”
“The groom and groomsmen had cream roses for their buttonholes.”
The former corn mill made an elegant and spacious venue for the humanist ceremony.
Lottie’s dad walked her down the aisle, behind the two bridesmaids, as Pachelbel’s Canon In D’ was played by Avorca String Quartet.
“During our ceremony and reception drinks we had Avoca String Quartet playing. It was one of my must-haves to have a string quartet playing me down the aisle and during the ceremony/ reception. It was incredibly beautiful and moving.”
“Our ceremony took place in The Old Mill and was a humanist ceremony – our celebrant was called Terry and we found him on the Humanism website. We had two readings in our ceremony.”
“We each picked a reading that was meaningful to us and then asked a family member on either side of the families to read them. My reading was read by my uncle, Nick and Stephen’s reading was read by his sister, Marlena.”
Stephen and Lottie exchanged rings from Appleby Jewellers.
“It’s a beautiful, family run jewellers in Dublin and the same place Stephen brought my engagement ring.”
“I picked my veil from The Pantiles Bride too and it was simply stunning.”
“The intricacy of the feathers and tiny diamantes finished off the look perfectly.”
The couple asked the bride’s uncle, Tony Hart Photo, to capture their celebration.
“This was always going to be an easy choice for me. My uncle, Tony Hart, is an incredible wedding photographer and I knew that when my time came to get married, he was always going to be the one to document it.”
“I LOVE Tony’s style of photography – his pictures have a strong story-telling vibe and he has a real flair for quietly capturing authentic moments without disturbing the flow of things.”
“It’s all very low-key and relaxed but the outcome is exactly as we imagined it.”
“It was extremely special and rather emotional having my uncle as our wedding photographer and I am grateful and humbled that he agreed to shoot our day.”
“The pictures tell the story perfectly. They capture all the joy and drama of this wonderful celebration and I will forever cherish those memories. I can’t recommend Tony enough.”
Outside, the newly-weds and their guests gathered for photos, speeches and their reception. The couple added a few DIY elements to personalise the already-beautiful venue.
“The venue didn’t need a huge amount of decorating, as it was already so beautiful, so keeping the flowers simple and classic was key. In the ceremony room we chose to have a green foliage garland filled with cream roses as our altar piece, and then bunches of eucalyptus on the pew ends; we loved the simplicity. Table centrepieces in the pavilion were an array of white and dusky pink flowers and a single sprig of eucalyptus for each place setting.”
“The wooden welcome sign was from Etsy and we made the order of the day sign using a chalkboard sign sourced from Amazon and a stencil sourced from Etsy. The seating plan was made by us with gold frames sourced from Amazon.”
“Our table centrepieces were glass tealight votives sourced from The Wedding of my Dreams and gold frames sourced from Amazon.”
“The gold and black lanterns were from home and the various signage was by The Printed Image. Flipflops were from Primark.”
The day was elegant and minimal, with the tone set through the clean, modern wedding stationery suite.
“All our wedding stationery was designed and printed by The Printed Image. We didn’t feel we needed to add a huge amount to the venue, as it was already so beautiful.”
“We added small details on the décor front ourselves and we kept it within our theme of simple and classic, adding touches of golds and natural colours.”
The couple chose a traditional three-tiered wedding cake from Helen McCann at Primrose Lane Bakery.
“Each tier had a different filling; Victoria sponge with chocolate and raspberry and a lemon drizzle. The cake was finished in buttercream, topped with cream roses and green foliage.”
“Our catering was looked after by the team at The Millhouse. Our wedding favours included a ‘love is sweet’ chocolate from The Wedding Of My Dreams and a lottery scratch card.”
Later on, the tipi turned into a dance venue for the evening party.
“We chose The Pearly Whites, a 7-piece swing band, as our wedding band. We saw them locally and decided we had to have them for our wedding.”
“They had the dance floor hopping and it was amazing to see everyone having so much fun – they made it a night to remember and were truly fabulous.”
“They are a fantastic wedding band and our guests raved about them.”
“For our first dance we knew we didn’t want a slow dance and wanted something fun, a song that would get everyone up and join us on the dance floor. We ended up choosing ‘You and Me’ by The Wannadies.”
“The whole day was everything and more than we could have ever dreamed of, surrounded by our family and friends.”
“It truly was magical and the happiest day of our lives. Seeing everyone relaxed, laughing, having fun and some pretty spectacular moves on the dance floor, was the perfect day for us.”
“We were incredibly lucky with the weather too (which is rare in Ireland!).”
Words of Wedded Wisdom
“The day goes so quickly so enjoy every single moment and soak it all in.”
“Make sure you and your partner take some time together on the day, just the two of you.”
Find recommended venues and suppliers in our directory
“Enjoy the planning stage and try not to get too caught up on the smaller details as it’s easy to end up driving yourself crazy if you focus on the small stuff.”
See more brides in Pronovias here.
Eleanor Crossland
View all Eleanor’s articles
Ele lives in the Lincolnshire countryside, close to the beautiful coast. A qualified Pilates teacher, she loves fitness, yoga, Pilates and has a healthy addiction to baking, writing and travel.