With its elegant eighteenth-century architecture, Dublin City Hall is one of the most popular wedding locations in Ireland. Nestled in the heart of the city, a stone's throw from bustling nightlife, a rich shopping district and luxe restaurants; it's no wonder Jen Ridge and Johnny Cowhig chose it to be the venue for their wedding ceremony on the 22nd of July 2024. After saying their vows and toasting to their future together, the wedding party took a dander through Dublin’s creative quarter (Stopping for a pint of course) to the 19th-century heritage building that houses Fallon & Byrne for their reception. Captured by Wonder and Magic, this stunning city celebration is packed with dreamy shots that will leave you itching to say 'I Do'!

The couple met in April 2017 in Bundaberg, Australia. For their second-year working visa in Australia, Jen and Johnny had to do regional work, and both ended up at East Bundy Backpackers, a hostel in the middle of Bundaberg. The two arrived within three days of each other, but to say they hit it off straight away would be a lie! He first tried his luck at a fancy dress party the weekend after they had first met, although Jen initially rejected him. "I did have my reasons - he was dressed as the cowboy from the Village People! He was persistent though, despite the fact I was constantly covered in red dirt, and asked me out on a date. There aren’t many romantic spots for a first date in Bundaberg, so we ended up in a slightly dingy cafe in the middle of the city - two cappuccinos and two eggs benedict. I paid. It may not have been the most romantic of settings, but we didn't stop chatting and laughing and both felt immediately at home with each other."

As the couple had been together for around 6 years, Johnny had been getting some pressure from everyone for a while to pop the question. Jen had two stipulations for her perfect proposal - she wanted to be completely surprised and wanted to be proposed to with her late grandma’s engagement ring; it is safe to say he delivered on both parts! "We were on holiday in Greece with my parents, so it didn’t even enter my head that he would propose there. He asked my mum and dad if he could marry me as I was drying my hair that evening. They, of course, said yes and he asked me as we watched the sunset. We’re both criers so there were a few tears involved! Then we went out for a few cocktails to celebrate."

Jen has always been fairly into skincare, so she just carried on with her usual routine and hoped to god that her skin played ball on the big day. Apart from that, she stuck to the usual list of eyelash extensions, eyebrows manicuring, BIAB nails, a bit of gradual tan and hoping for the best! "We did the Jo Malone wedding scent experience - Johnny was a bit sceptical but ended up loving it. He ended up with Cypress and Grapevine, and I chose English Pear and Sweet Pea. It's lovely because I associate those smells with the day now, they bring back such amazing memories."

"I always thought that it would take me forever to pick a dress - I am known for being terrible at making decisions, but I actually found it really easy!" She took her mum and sister to Dotty Bridal in Holmfirth (the second shop she visited) as her dress selection squad. Having always thought she wanted a very plain strapless dress with a leg slit, Jen was pretty set on a certain selection of gowns; thankfully her sister threw in a few curveballs and ended up finding the perfect dress that was nothing like she had planned. "I knew it was the right one when I tried on a veil and could imagine walking up the aisle to Johnny in it and getting a bit emotional. I ended up with a fully beaded, sparkly, fitted dress, usually very unlike me but it was perfect! My Grandma Myf couldn’t make it to our wedding, but one of my favourite days leading up to the wedding was when I went to pick up my dress and we took her along to see it. Such a lovely day, it meant she was in on the secret of what I was wearing and she could envision the day."

Because of their venue, Johnny knew that a tuxedo would look amazing so the choice was very easy. "Our issue was that the best man and two groomsmen live in Cork and Dublin, and we live in York, so getting the suits to fit was a bit of a challenge. Thankfully, the boys were brilliant and flew over to get fitted and they all looked very smart on the day!"

"Even though we are all English and live in the UK, they, along with my incredible Mum, managed to pull off a huge surprise the day before the wedding in Dublin. They had all of my girlfriends surprise me with prosecco and cocktails in the afternoon to start the celebrations early, complete with Johnny masks and a book full of letters with them all wishing me luck." For her bridal party, Jen had my sister Kate as maid of honour, and two friends from school Mollie and Rachael as bridesmaids. Initially, she was dead set on a tiny wedding with just one member of a bridal party each, but was convinced to have the big day with bridesmaids! The bridesmaid dresses were a million times harder than finding my dress. "If you had asked me before we got engaged, I would always have said I would have black bridesmaid dresses. But in true indecisive fashion, I went through about 17 different coloured dresses over the months leading up to the wedding, at one point they were burnt orange, then they were in pink, only to end up back in black. So the moral of the story is to stick to your guns and trust your instinct, because the black dresses looked incredible on the girls, next to the boys in their tuxes. I was also adamant that I wanted the girls to feel amazing and comfortable, and to not be in matching dresses. So they each ended up in dresses they chose that were right for their figures and looked unreal!"

Johnny and Jen wanted a ceremony that felt personal to them as a couple, relaxed and not too formal, but still really special, so decided to have a Humanist ceremony. "Our Celebrant, Shona Weymes was perfect from the beginning, she got us involved with writing bits for the ceremony so that on the day it felt personal. We had one of our good friends do a reading that my Grandad, who recently passed, did at my mum and dad’s wedding 34 years previous. I loved that part because it was a quick nod to him and would be a lovely tradition to continue. We also did the hand-tying ceremony, and the musicians (The Ratzingers) we had at the ceremony performed a version of Simply the Best during this, it was very emotional."

The couple struggled to find the perfect venue for their wedding since Jen's family live in England and all of Johnny’s are in Cork. "I had always really wanted a city wedding, so we went in search of which city. When I Instagrammed Dublin City Hall I immediately knew it had to be there. It is such a stunning building!" The pair got engaged in September 2023 and didn't want to wait very long to get married, but the city hall was almost fully booked for 2024, so Jen started to look towards other venues. "I’m not sure what made me email them again to check on dates a few weeks later, but I'm so glad I did because they'd had a cancellation so we got our names down sharpish!" Because the food was also one of the most important things to the couple, they decided on a restaurant venue for their reception, setting on Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer Street. "Cheska, our event planner was 10/10, she helped so much with making decisions on everything, including the menu. The porchetta was amazing. It was important to us that it was a relaxed and fun day, so we could just walk between the two venues, stop for a pint halfway, and not worry about anything else."

Music was a massive decision for the two, especially for Johnny, so he chose all of the entertainment and did not disappoint! The couple hired Cuisle for the night before. For the Ceremony and drinks reception, they had Casey and Matthew from the Ratzingers. "They learnt four songs for us and each one made me cry, Casey has such an unbelievable voice." Finally, for the night they hired The Mixtape band with the added brass section. "The dance floor was not empty for a second. We would wholeheartedly recommend every single one."

Regarding the best decision, Jen had to say, "We were both so unorganised as wedding planners, but we ended up making so many decisions that I wouldn’t change. Firstly, the night before the wedding we had everyone meet at the venue room upstairs in the Stags Head and hired Cusile, a musical duo that was unbelievably good. To begin with, I thought it was a bit risky to do a night-before event, it could easily have gotten out of hand with too much drink and excitement, especially with the all-Ireland final, but it ended up being one of the best things we did. It meant that we were far less nervous on the actual day of the wedding because we had seen most people before and got to chat with everyone, it also meant that we could introduce people to each other so that everyone knew more people. It also was just so exciting - we had the best time. Would recommend it. The other great decision was our photographer, Emmylie. I went back and forth on photographers because I am obsessed with having photos all over the walls so it was an important decision. I knew from our first video call that Emmylie was special, her enthusiasm and passion for not only photography & videography but for weddings and relationships was so clear that there was no other choice for us as soon as we spoke to her. Emmylie’s photos are unbelievable and more than I could ever have hoped. Johnny and I are not the kind of people who love being in the spotlight and usually feel ridiculous having our photo taken, but Emmylie made us feel so comfortable that I ended up enjoying the experience! She felt like someone I had known forever from the second she walked into the room and helped with so many little bits, like pinning my hair back during the evening. You spend so much of your wedding day with your photographer and she just made the day so amazing. We both just loved being around her, and now we have so many incredible photos to look back on! Also, my makeup artist, Sarah, was incredible and it was like having a great friend there in the morning."

Regarding the worst decision, Jen had to say, "I don’t think we made any terrible decisions. I potentially wish I had bought a second, short dress for the evening for dancing. I don't think either of us left the dancefloor for four hours because the band and DJ were exceptional, so by the end, my dress was so heavy and hot. I wish I just had something else to change into so I could dance badly with more ease. But there isn’t anything else I would change, just had the most amazing day!"

- Gráinne