Emma and Gerry married in the small town of Gradil, just outside Lisbon. Their venue, an award winning vineyard Quinta de Sant'Ana, the gown from Suzanne Neville and the brightest, loveliest bridesmaid dresses you've ever seen. Perfect for a summer wedding in wonderful Portugal. Also, I think everyone should make their way to their wedding reception accompanied by a band with megaphones!

Emma The Bride: I love shopping, I will shop any time, anywhere and will always try to buy something to come home with me. But, and I may be a bit unique in this, I didn't love wedding dress shopping. Some shops rushed you, or couldn't believe you didn't like any of their dresses! I always found it so hard to picture myself in a dress that was too big, too small or too long! I had decided on one dress in November but my sister objected saying it just wasn't me, "it wasn't fun enough". Of course this went down like a lead balloon to a bride in waiting! But when I found my " Cherish " dress I knew she was right! It ticked all the boxes of what I wanted from a dress and most especially, for me, how I felt in it. However, in my experience it wasn't until the moment I tried on my dress after all the alterations were made, that I got that true 'Bridal feeling' that so many girls talk about... the stuff you see in movies. I loved my dress so much. It now hangs on the wardrobe in our spare room and keeps me company everyday as I get ready for work!

Hair & Makeup

Vania Oliveria and Cristina Leal. Words cannot describe how happy I was with these two ladies. My sister had used them for her wedding last year and I was so excited to see what they could create for me on my big day. I was so confident in their abilities that, unlike some brides, I did not give a second thought to the look I wanted for hair and makeup. I knew that Vania and Cristina could make me look my best. I only wish I lived in Portugal or they in Ireland so they could be my "go-to" hair and make up artists.

The Jewellery

For my "something borrowed" I was fortunate enough to be able to wear my sister's earrings. They had been hand made for her by Carole Shaw last year. I had decided against wearing a bracelet, given how detailed my dress was already. But Gerry surprised me on the morning of the wedding with a Tiffany bracelet to match the ring he proposed with last year. I love it and wore it on our wedding day. It is also subtle enough to wear as an everyday piece, which makes it even more special.

Orange

We were very lucky with our bridesmaids; two beautiful, fun loving girls who were always there to help out or
enjoy a glass of wine during the wedding preparations! They were also very easy going when it came to dresses. I did not restrict the choice to colour or style when we went looking for dresses, my only hope was to find a fun dress that the girls were happy with. The colour caused a few panic moments when I looked at it in the grey light of Ireland or if anyone asked me "what colour are your bridesmaids dresses?" When I replied "Orange" I got a few funny looks! I was thrilled with it on the day and just love how it photographed.

The Boys

Gerry's suit was from Louis Copeland, Dublin. We walked in one Sunday afternoon hoping to perhaps browse for a nice, timeless suit - an investment piece! Geoff, the wedding specialist in there, had us sorted in an hour. He was extremely helpful in advising us on colours and cuts. The groomsmen suits were purchased in a department store in Emma's home town in Donegal with the help of Paddy, a man who will always rig you out for any occasion!

The Ceremony

We decided to fly a priest who is a friend of ours over to Portugal to conduct the ceremony. Father Donal was an amazing help to us in the lead up to and of course on the day itself, helping Gerry stay relaxed when I was 30 minutes late. It was so great to have someone we knew so well greeting us at the alter. We knew we were in safe hands. He made the church part of our wedding very, very special.

The Venue

Quinta de Sant'Ana (QSA), Gradil, Portugal. Unusual in that it is still a working vineyard and also a wonderful wedding venue. My cousin Mary and my sister Tara got married in Gradil and QSA in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Obviously this is a very special place for us and our families. So when we got engaged in October 2013, we knew Gradil was the venue for us. We could trust the weather, the food is lovely, the wine is exquisite, the team are fantastic and most of all the venue in the summer time is breathtaking.

When we visited in April, we gave Anne (from QSA) a few ideas and photos of what we had in mind. As we had orange as our colour theme we had to be careful in what we chose for decoration. Anne captured our ideas and recreated them perfectly. A lot of the little signs and details around the vineyard were put there by the QSA team and were lovely surprises for us when we arrived. We especially loved the "three times a charm" chalk board sign, giving tribute to the fact that it was our third family wedding in QSA.

I hadn't given much thought to flowers but I knew it would be difficult to get it right with orange being our colour! Anne totally 'got' what I was after!

The Stationery

Suzanne Nolan of AngelEye design. Suzanne was amazing, so helpful and most of all patient with our many thoughts on design and layout of our invitations and mass booklets. She even came up with the idea of having the mass booklets designed as a fan so people didn't over heat in the church!

Entertainment

Cottas Club; what can we say about these guys? They hid in the bar across the road from the church until the ceremony was over and then surprised all of guests by marching over to us to the tune of Dixieland music. Their energy and songs ensured that the party was started immediately. QSA helped this along by serving a Rosé cocktail outside the church. Cottas club then led all of the guests to the reception venue (which was a 5 minute walk away) to the tune of "You scream, I scream, We all scream for ice-cream" and even allowed us to play their instruments (Badly, we may add!). In the evening we had music from Bombazine Boulevard, who are made up of members of Cottas Club legends. They kicked off the evening party nicely and we all danced the night away.

Photography

The amazing duo of Matt and Lena. We were so thrilled with our photos, we cannot stop looking at them. Their professionalism started with our engagement shoot in April. We got to see another part of Portugal and to see how we reacted to "being natural" in front of a camera lens. The engagement shoot photos are fabulous and we would definitely recommend it! As they are a couple, it means that Matt can capture the groom getting ready and Lena moments with the girls. This is so special as we do not get to see one another on the morning of the wedding. They also gave us a special slide show for sneak peek at our photos on our one month anniversary. This was such a nice gesture, well timed as the anti-climax of it all being over begun to creep in! As we said to Matt and Lena in an email, it is amazing how as photographers, they remain in the background of the day for so long. But when the big day has come and gone the moments captured by the photographers are one of the most important things you treasure.