November Romance: Lorraine + Daniel at Ballyseede Castle Hotel

Just when we thought castle weddings couldn’t get any more mesmerizing…

Lorraine and Daniel, together since secondary school, tied the knot at one of Ireland’s most romantic castles. The lovely pair chose Ballyseede Castle Hotel as the dreamy location for their wedding day festivities… and we couldn’t be happier that they did because their photos by Tomas Kornas are to die for!

The late November nuptials began with a traditional church ceremony followed by a glowing reception at Kerry’s only castle hotel. Complete with a donut wall and Prosecco Van the bride and groom created a day full of delightful personal touches and lots of love. Take a look at Lorraine and Daniels romantic wedding day that has us swooning from start to finish…

The Beginning

“Daniel and I are together 15 years, we met when we were in secondary school! I think because we are together so long it made the wedding planning process so easy, we knew what kind of a wedding we wanted to have for a long time!”

The Proposal

“We got engaged in Rome in December 2016, our wedding date was the anniversary of our engagement. I am more of an introvert and had always talked about getting engaged at home, just the two of us! Instead, Daniel decided to propose in Rome in front of a lot of people at the Trevi Fountain. Apart from the shock that I got, we have lovely memories from our engagement in Rome. We even ended up meeting by first cousin and her husband there by total coincidence so we had family to celebrate with.”

The Attire

“I got my dress from Finesse Bridal wear in Listowel. Liz and Mags couldn’t have been any more helpful to me when selecting my dress. Liz even came out to my house on the morning of the wedding to help me get ready and ended up doing the dishwasher. I would recommend any bride to visit Finesse.”

“My veil was made my Hazel Comyn from Caherciveen and she hand embroidered the birds and initials detail. Aoife Hannon from Listowel made my headpiece, my grandmother who I was very close to passed away in 2016 and she had given me a swallow broach, this was the inspiration for my headpiece.”

“I had two wedding jackets, for the church I wore a vintage beaded jacket and for night time I had a navy feather jacket from Coco Boutique in Listowel.”

“Daniel and the groomsmen suits were from Willy Ryle’s in Tralee. Jess and all the staff were really helpful in selecting and altering the suits.”

“The bridesmaid and flower girls dresses were all from Monsoon.”

The Venue

“We both had decided that we wanted somewhere a bit different for our wedding venue. We had decided to hold off on the planning for a little while until new years eve (4 weeks later) we were walking in Ballyseede Woods. We decided to call into the castle to have a look and we decided there and then that we were going to have our wedding there. The Christmas decorations were up and there was something really special about it. There is a real uniqueness and quaintness about Ballyseede Castle and I love vintage style so it suited perfect.

The entrance up to Ballyseede is really special but when you step inside it really is like stepping into another world. The old part of the castle is so special, we decided to take our wedding photos in there. The new building, with the drinks reception area is a really lovely room. The function room is really wow, it was lovely seeing it all come together on the day. The food was absolutely fab, all of the guests were really impressed. For us, what wowed us was the staff, they were so attentive to us and made us feel like we were the only couple to get married there, and that’s all that you want!”

The Photographer

“Tomasz Kornas is such a talented photographer, he has the ability to document the day without you really knowing it and he is brilliant at capturing all of the emotions of the day. We wanted a documentary style photographer who would allow us to enjoy our wedding day, and that’s what we got. Tomasz was the first wedding vendor that we booked after getting engaged. He fit in really well throughout the whole day, and he got amazing photos. Looking back at them is like looking at the entire story of the day.”

Trends & Themes

“We wanted our wedding to be personal to us, so we added in as many touches as we could. I love birds and I had them incorporated throughout the day. On my veil I had our initials embroidered with the date of our wedding with two swallows surrounding it.

We personalised our wedding menus to have “Lorraine’s Choice” or “Daniel’s choice”, this was an idea that we had from the start.

I love old photos and I had a display of family weddings of past, I had our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and our siblings included. Most of them didn’t know we were doing it and got a nice surprise on the way into the drinks reception.

We had a prosecco wall and a doughnut wall for our drinks reception which went down a treat with our guests.”

“We also had a sparkler send off after our meal, this was a wedding trend that I wanted to follow for our photos.

I was very mindful of supporting local wedding vendors. As a business owner, I am mindful of supporting local businesses. It was also a really big help with the wedding planning process, I was able to meet people face to face.

My mother and I did the flowers for the church, the day before our sitting room looked like a jungle but we pulled it together in the end. We were able to put our own unique style into the flowers and all of the hard work paid off. My mother also made one of our wedding cakes, which was fruit cake.”

Memorable Moments

“The church ceremony was really special and we both talked about after how we really enjoyed it. Our priest, Fr. Brick had everyone laughing throughout and he really put us at ease.

Another highlight was my wedding present to Daniel- I surprised him with a video from comedian Bernard Casey. The DJ announced that a first cousin who couldn’t make the wedding had sent a video message, and Daniel’s face was priceless when he saw Bernard. No one in the bridal party escaped without some comment or dig and it really was very enjoyable. The funny thing is, that Daniel had tried to arrange the same present for me a few weeks before the wedding, but I had got there before him.”

Special Thoughts

“We had the most amazing day and looking back we have no regrets. Our families and friends made such an effort to make the day special for us and we have fabulous memories. The day absolutely flew! Everyone says that but we enjoyed it well into the next morning.”

Supplier Information

• Venue:

  Ballyseede Castle Hotel

• Photographer:

  Tomasz Kornas  

• Drinks Reception Band :

  Spailpín

• Bridal Shop/Designer:

  Finesse Bridal Wear Listowel

• Florist:

  Maura’s Cottage Flowers

• Hair Stylist:

  Catriona Rohan from Catriona’s Hair Salon

• Makeup Artist:

  Jessica Griffin from Park Avenue Hair and Makeup Limerick

• Band:

  The Buachaills

• DJ:

  Donal Clifford- Video DJ Kerry

• Cake :

  Mom’s Porter Cakes

• Videography:

  S.E.S Digital Video

• Stationery:

  Listowel Printing Works

• Table Plan display and doughnut wall:

  Very Vintage Occasions

• Prosecco Van and Beer Bike:

  Premium Vintage