A stunning period house set on its own 16 acres of gardens and woodland, Newbay House has been lovingly restored to blend its historic past with a dash of contemporary elegance. Emily Crotty married Ryan Little in the country house on the 8th of August, 2024. Photographed by Iriana Duane, if you're a fan of delicate florals, this is the wedding for you!
Emily moved to the UK in 2013 from a small seaside town in Co. Waterford. "I lived and worked in North London for a few years before moving to Hertfordshire (where Ryan is from) in November 2016. It was a Friday night on the 24th of February 2017 when we met in Hertford town in a small pub called the Snug. We got talking, and the rest is history."
"We had always planned to drive to Ireland for the summer of 2022, and during this trip, we agreed we would go on a small road trip to see other parts of Ireland. We rented a small Airbnb in Doolin, near the Aran Islands, and the original plan was to propose one sunset evening on the Cliffs of Moher. Unfortunately, in true Irish fashion, the weather was probably the worst I have ever experienced in Ireland; mist and horizontal rain were relentless for around two consecutive days. We had already pre-booked to go to Inishmore; as fate had it, the weather was clear and beautiful. We got the boat to the Island, rented some bikes and started cycling around the island. Eventually, we went to Kilmurvey Beach, a pretty quiet, sun-beaming, clear water. I thought this was the perfect opportunity, so I dropped down on one knee and popped the question. In true Emily's style, all she did was laugh at my face, but eventually said yes!"
In the run-up to the wedding day, Emily put a significant focus on her skin tone and ensuring a flawless glow. "I have some redness and wanted to be sure that it didn’t come through on the day, so I booked an appointment for a skin consultation with Jess in Opulence Beauty from January to July. I had facials every few weeks, taking advanced nutrition vitamins and skin care she recommended, and my skin was flawless. I had so many compliments on it in the lead-up and the day itself. I’m still using the products." Emily wore her old-reliable and signature fragrance Bon Bon by Viktor & Rolf for her scent on the day. "For months, I over-thought and over-analysed the whole finding your wedding scent thing, and I just didn’t find one I loved enough, and in the end, I thought to myself that I’m just trying to find a wedding scent because that’s what I’ve seen online, but I just wanted to wear my favourite perfume on the day."
"I had seen one dress in particular that I loved and found a shop that stocked it in a nearby town, but as I wanted to go shopping with my mother, I had to wait until the summer holidays. I went to one shop on a Friday afternoon and tried on about 8 or 9 dresses, all similar styles to what I wanted, and a few others I liked, or the girls in the shop picked for me. I had narrowed it down to two dresses there and went away to think about it. The next day, I went to My Dress in Carrick on Suir again with my mother and godmother; I knew the deep v-neckline suited me, and sleeves were a must, so any dresses that didn’t have those were an immediate no. Eventually, I tried on THE dress; it was very similar to the one I found in a shop in the UK but with a couple of extra details. When I tried it on, it had all the elements I was looking for and had the addition of a slit which I had never considered but liked. Everyone said I looked comfortable in the dress, and my mother said that if there was ever a dress made for me, it was this one as it was true to my style and what I had said I wanted."
Not long after the engagement, Emily spotted her bridesmaid's dresses on the TH & TH Instagram page. "However, with five bridesmaids, they were a little over the budget we set, so I looked at other dresses, but none of them compared to these, so the girls went and tried the dresses on, and they suited everyone. I loved both colours and couldn’t decide which one to choose, so we went with both!"
"We decided to get married to a Celebrant, Anu Celebrancy and Niamh, who conducted our ceremony, which was magical. We had a few Zoom calls with her prior to the day, and she got to know us and understand what made us ‘us’. She put so much work into the research and background, and the ceremony was simply stunning; she had so many personal stories about each of us and really incorporated the guests to ensure they were also part of the ceremony. Our personal favourite was the hand fasting element, we were really keen to put something different in to our ceremony and decided on hand fasting. We selected colours based on their meanings and allowed our parents and Ryan’s grandad to select a colour for each before selecting the final colour ourselves. After the ceremony, we had endless guests come up to us to say how beautiful the ceremony was and how it connected with each and every one of them."
The couple picked Newbay House as their venue upon recommendation from Emily’s brother, Rian. "We saw Newbay House on 7th August 2022, almost exactly 2 years to the day before getting married on the 8th August 2024 and instantly fell in love. The light airiness of the ballroom stood out as soon as we walked in and we just knew this was the venue we wanted to get married in, the gardens were stunning, full of colour and brightness and Maria the Manager was just so accommodating and was so flexible in everything we wanted. The bridal suite was stunning; there was so much room, and the facilities were magical. The beauty of having a private venue just to ourselves was something we wanted, and the bonus of having The Talbot (Sister Hotel) 5 minutes down the road also sold it, knowing we would have several guests travelling from the UK to be with us on our special day."
"We wanted to ensure the day flowed seamlessly and decided on several things throughout the day. Most notably, we had arranged for singing waiters to come in, who performed for 1 hour straight after our desserts. They arrived at the perfect time, got all the guests on their feet, and started the party. They were so interactive and were just perfect. After they finished, we arranged for a selfie mirror to come on-site, and again, the timings meant that guests were going from dancing and singing to straight in the selfie mirror to give us endless memories. We saw the night out with All Talk Wedding Band. We knew they had previously played at the venue. After seeing their showcase videos online, we instantly knew that they would be a band that would ensure the dance floor was never empty, and they certainly delivered. They played a range of genres of music to appeal to everyone, and the 7-piece band were super friendly."
Regarding the best decision, Emily had to say, "We hired an event décor company called All About Weddings who decorated the entire venue. We originally discussed doing the décor ourselves. However, we are glad we decided to go with All About Weddings. We picked a package and went to the showroom to discuss the theme of the wedding and pick out all of the décor. On the wedding morning, the team dressed the entire venue exactly as we wanted. We had no stress, and everything was perfect. The other best decision we made was hiring Newbay House the day before the wedding. Given we had several guests travelling from the UK and the bride's family from Dungarvan in Co. Waterford, we wanted to host a BBQ at the venue the night before. This meant our families and friends could attend, feel comfortable in the surroundings and enjoy themselves. Most importantly, it meant we could relax the morning of the wedding, not having to worry about travelling to the venue, and instead, we could take it easy knowing we were only upstairs. This put the wedding party at ease and meant it was all a breeze."
- Gráinne