A picturesque and enchanting venue nestled in the Carlow countryside, Ballykealey House was the romantic venue for Lisa Doyle and Seán Miskella's wedding on the 26th of April 2024. Capture by Berit Alits, their spring wedding was filled to bursting with love and personality!
The two met in secondary school. "We were in the same English class for 5th and 6th years. We lost touch after school but bumped into each other again in 2011 and started chatting, and it all went from there."
"It was Christmas Eve 2021, and we were sorting the house so the family could come over for drinks and prepare for Santa. I walked into the kitchen in my pyjamas, ready to tackle the housework, but found Seán on one knee, and our son Noah stood beside him with a t-shirt that said, “Mammy, will you marry Daddy?”. Even though I had given numerous hints over our ten years together, I was still shocked. I walked out of the room crying before coming back in to say yes!"
On the journey to her wedding day, Lisa Azure, in Gorey regular facials, also incorporated Kiehls and Image products into her skincare routine upon her esthetician's recommendation. The result after months of hard work was positively glowing skin! "I am lucky to have a talented best friend, Jennie, who has been doing my hair for the last few years. She had my colour perfect and my hair in great condition. She was a superstar on the wedding day, as she did my hair and my bridal party." Lisa wore Born in Roma from Valentino for her wedding fragrance, a classically feminine but slightly smokey floral, with notes of jasmine sambac, cashmeran and vanilla.
Lisa fell pregnant with the couple's second baby, their gorgeous daughter Emma, in August 2022, so dress shopping was put on hold for a bit longer. Thankfully, her sister-in-law works in a bridal shop in Arklow and sent Lisa photos of a dress she had spotted at a buying show in September 2022. As soon as she saw the shots, Lisa was in love! Come August 2023, she booked an appointment at BCouture to see her dream dress in person. "That dress was the first one I tried on, and before Aoife had even closed it up, I had tears in my eyes and knew it was the one. I probably tried on 11/12 dresses, and I liked a few, but I put the first dress back on at the end, and none of the others compared to it; my mind was 100% made up! Luckily, that very sample dress was about to be sold off the rail, so if I had left it any later, it wouldn’t have been there for me to have even tried on any more, so it was meant to be!"
Seán made an appointment at Jack Dunne & Son in Gorey to find his perfect suit. "Seán tried a few on and then chose to try on a Tuxedo, and he quickly decided on that. He said it is not often that you get to wear a Tuxedo, and it also felt fitting for our venue. His jacket was velvet and gorgeous, and his shirt had a lovely silver button detail."
Lisa's bridal party of three was made up of her sister Rebecca and best friends Lorna and Brianna. "I wanted a moody gem colour theme, so I was happy for them to try a few different colours, but the girls all liked the idea of the dark green dresses." The group visited Folkster, and Lisa gave the girls carte blanche to try on any style of dress they fancied. "They tried on all dark green dresses until they found a style they all liked. I wanted them to feel comfortable, so I didn’t mind what they chose; Rebecca and Lorna opted for the same dress, and Brianna’s was a different style. On the day the flowers popped against the darker dress, what I had envisioned came to life!"
"Our ceremony was so beautiful! We were so lucky, and the new barn extension in Ballykealey had just been finished, so we got to use that on the day, even though I was already sold on the old barn anyway! Andrea Hall was our celebrant, and I cannot recommend her enough. She made it so personal and also used my favourite quote from Harry Potter; “Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.” Andrea made it funny, thoughtful and perfect; it felt like she had known us for years! When I look at the ceremony photos, I love that you can see in her face that it’s not just a job; she cares and loves what she does. So many people commented on the gorgeous ceremony, and loads said it was the nicest one they had ever been to."
The pair picked three venues to view on their hunt for a wedding location, and, lucky for them, Ballykealey House was the third venue they saw. "We both loved it the minute we saw it. The entrance to the house is just stunning; every time I walked into it, I fell in love with it more and more. The house has so much character and detail in every corner, and the barn is gorgeous. The staff was welcoming and helpful during our viewing, which stood out. They went above and beyond on the wedding day; I cannot praise them enough. The staff, the grounds, the food, everything exceeded our expectations."
Regarding the best decision, Lisa said, "The best decision was definitely choosing Ballykealey House, but also getting ready at the venue the day of the wedding. It made the whole day run so smoothly and was so chilled."
Regarding the worst decision, Lisa said, "The worst decision was probably not doing our day 2 in Ballykealey, as we would have loved more time there, and I didn’t want to leave!"
- Gráinne