An 800-year-old French-style manor house set in the lush countryside of North Tipperary. Cloughjordan House is at heart a place of wholesome home-grown food, warm, welcoming rooms, gardens to explore and the location of Lisa Turner and Stephen Roberts' wedding on the 3rd of July 2023. Captured by Kyrstin Healy, this summer wedding is warm, welcoming and filled to the brim with love!
The couple met in UCD when they both went back to study for a master's degree in Education. "We are both Science Teachers and the cohort we were in was very small so we all became really close friends. Our friendship blossomed and we realised there was something more there than friendship."
Stephen had bought the ring about a month before and had planned on proposing on Killiney Hill. However, one sunny August morning, Lisa’s sisters were all home and the family was going to Glendalough for a picnic and a walk. Stephen had a strong feeling that it was the perfect day to propose so he packed the ring in his backpack just in case the moment presented itself. "We all had a lovely picnic together and the others decided to go for a walk around the lake. Tetley isn’t much of a walker so Stephen and I stayed with him and said goodbye to everyone. "Stephen insisted we go back down towards the lake for another little stroll before we went and walked to a rock area near the lake which we call “our spot”. I was distracted taking photos of the handsome Tetley (the family dog) sitting perfectly on the rock and then turned to notice Stephen down on one knee. I was in total shock and can’t remember a word he said to me! But saw the ring and realised it was all real and burst into tears!"
Being quite low maintenance, Lisa didn’t have an extensive beauty journey on the road to her wedding day, focusing on growing out her hair and taking care of his complexion. "I wanted my wedding look to be very natural and wanted to look like myself. I don’t normally wear much makeup so wanted a very simple and light coverage so you could still see some of my freckles and the wonderful Anita Conroy did just that." For her hair on the day, Lisa wanted a soft loose curl as that is how she would normally style it and on the day her stylist, Elaine, suggested a half-up style. "I didn’t normally get my nails done but decided to start a few months before the wedding to get an idea of what I like and after my first visit with Joyce Myler I was hooked – I still visit her monthly now!"
From the beginning of her search for the perfect wedding dress, Lisa was set on something simple and elegant. This however proved to be more of a process than she originally anticipated; initially hoping to find the perfect gown in Monsoon she ordered three contenders but found that all three were simply too plain. While visiting her sister in Manchester Lisa decided to book into Wilderness Bride for a last-minute appointment to have a look. "I fell in love with a Designer she had in store called Willowby by Watters. I saw their Coco and Tommie dresses online but she didn’t have them in store when I was there and we were returning back to Ireland the next day. She gave me a list of their stockists in Ireland and that’s where I found Alice May Bridal in Foxrock. My wonderful step-sisters came with me to look at the dress in Foxrock. I tried on a range of dresses but as soon as I tried on the Tommie dress I started to tear up which I didn’t think would happen. I instantly knew it was my wedding dress. Some of the guests mentioned how that dress was made for me and suited my personality so well which made it feel even more perfect."
Not one for browsing around shops in general Stephen was unexpenciantly excited to choose his wedding suit. The couple visited Jack Dunne Menswear in Gorey and tried on a range of different suits. With Stephen liking the look of a lighter jacket paired with dark trousers; for his final wedding ensemble he settled on a stone-coloured jacket and waistcoat and navy trousers.
Lisa's two sisters were her bridesmaids. "It was challenging having all of us in different countries (one in Manchester and one in Australia) but the girls managed to help and give support from afar." This also made the process of choosing bridesmaid dresses incredibly difficult as the girls weren’t home to try them on. "Three weeks before the wedding both sisters were home for my hen and we had ordered four different style dresses from ASOS in the hope one would suit both. The girls ended up choosing the flutter sleeve sage green dress by TFNC."
The ceremony was one of the parts of the wedding day that the couple said they were most looking forward to. "I was truly smiling from ear to ear for the entire ceremony – I was filled with so much happiness and could feel the love from our guests radiating up to us. The Munster String Quartet played our favourite songs throughout the ceremony which added to the atmosphere is the Woodshed as the rain hit the galvanised roof."
The couple had only been engaged for about 2 weeks when their friend Sarah attended a wedding at Cloughjordan House; "she texted immediately saying “This is where you are going to get married!”." The couple did their research and were sold straight away. "We both have special dietary requirements and knew that Cloughjordan House made accommodations for this. We wanted to be able to eat everything on our wedding day as we are often restricted when we go to other people’s weddings." Claire, the talented chef in CJH tailored the menu to suit the pair's needs. "We fell in love with CJH when we went to view it. Its setting makes it feel like a home away from home. The house is so cosy and having exclusive access was a bonus. We loved the wildflower garden and knew we wanted to get some photos there on the day."
Over the years Lisa and Stephen had been at weddings that had string quartets and loved the atmosphere it set so booked the Munster String Quartet for the ceremony. "Their repertoire of songs is incredible and it was difficult to narrow down our favourites. We went with Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift for my entrance down the aisle. We are big Coldplay fans and chose Sky Full of Stars for the vows, rings, first kiss, and lighting of the unity candle. They were so good to learn another Coldplay favourite for us for our recessional." For their reception, the couple chose the lovely lads from The Suitcase Trio; having previously watched their videos online. As an extra cherry on top, the band learned Coldplay’s 'Something Just Like This' for the first dance! Stephen’s Dad, Brother and Sister played the song acoustically and then the band joined in at the chorus.
Regarding the best decision, Lisa had to say "The best decision was choosing Cloughjordan House as our venue. They made the planning so simple and stress-free and we were able to enjoy the day as they sorted all from behind the scenes. Our guests still talk about all the food they had at the venue and the presentation and attention to detail."
- Gráinne