Louise & James' Wedding in the Ardilaun House Hotel Salthill Galway

Louise and James were recently married in St Mary’s Church the Claddagh with a wedding reception in the Ardilaun House Hotel Taylors Hill.

Louise is a gem of a person to work with! I’m not saying James isn’t, but most of my communication prior to the big day was with Louise and I was bowled over with her attention to detail for all things wedding related! I must confess that at times, I was wondering if Louise would be able to enjoy her big day such was the attention she was giving her wedding, but after calling to her on wedding day, I quickly realized that she is special in that she can do all her homework prior to the big day, and had the ability then to hand it over, let the handbrake off and simply “live” the big day! I would strongly suggest to any of Louise’s friends getting married, touch base with her prior to your big day, you’ll learn a lot from her, and in particular the perfect attitude when the day arrives!

John Murphy of Avalon Video arrived at Louise’s home just before me on wedding morning. We work quite a lot together and indeed bounce of each regularly on wedding days (not literally lol), and this helps us both as well as our couples!

A bright and bubbly house full of energetic bridesmaids is the best way to describe Louise’s preparations! Claire, Aoife and Shakira were Louise’s bridesmaids, good people to have around you on a big day and thanks also to Anne and Gerry for their warm welcome, and indeed Anne’s motherly instincts of always offering something to eat or drink….truly appreciated!

Well done to Avril & Aoife from Barry’s Hair Studio for having the girls looking stunning, and in plenty of time too! I can’t underestimate to brides the importance of being in your dress and ready to go in plenty of time on wedding morning. On occasion when I see some brides getting stressed on wedding morning, it’s normally as a result of getting into her dress to late and the realization that she has a lot to get done and little time for doing it…and the stress then filters through to others. Louise’s home was quite the opposite, we had plenty of time to get images of the bridesmaids chilling before getting into their dresses, and again plenty more time for capturing more memories when they were in them…it’s a win win situation for eberyone. I’m grateful to Louise for absorbing the chats we had prior to the big day and she was certainly reaping the benefits (seriously Louise buddies, if your getting married, get in touch with her!!)

Gerry from Flower Haven in Oranmore was another familiar face on the big day, a good guy too, Louise’s flowers and indeed floral displays looked truly awesome.
With everything going swimmingly at Louise’s home, we were able to leave in plenty of time to get into James and his groomsmen James (Kiely), Patrick and John. They were good guys and when I introduced myself to them at the church, they couldn’t have been more accommodating with regards giving themselves to some photos for a few minutes, it was truly appreciated. It was also good to meet the James parents Marguerite and Pat, a lot of the time I’m arriving at the church moments before the bride and you don’t get the opportunity to “press the flesh” and shake hands with people until the family portraits!
After the ceremony, we availed of the shelter of the church for some family portraits before nipping across the road to the banks of the corrib for some more images….a lovely spot that offers some lovely views of “Old Galway”.
It didn’t rain for our photo shoot although it was “fresh” and I’m grateful to the bridal party for their positive frame of mind during out short time here. They were conscious that we were creating Life memories for Louise and James and I appreciate their efforts with regards to same.
We arrived back at the Ardilaun in plenty of time for Louise and James’ to enjoy their wedding day. Indeed the welcome they received and indeed the sing song that developed on their arrival was indicative of the good spirits that everyone was in.
This party atmosphere escalated to new levels when when the singing waitresses did their party piece and had guests standing on chairs and waving anything they could get their hands on, and all of this before the meal!
I’m also grateful to Louise and James for nipping out the back of the hotel after the meal for a “night time” shot. On occasion it can be difficult to cajole couples into more images after a meal, in particular when thy are in party mode, but being consistent with how they were all day, they were giving of their time!

The Favours were the excellent band that were full of energy and had the place hopping all night! Great bunch of lads that very much interact with their audience and create a super atmosphere!
Thanks so much Louise and James for being the people you were on your big day. I enjoyed your company as well as that of your bridal party and families! You were a dream couple for any photographer to work with and I’m grateful that it was me.
Looking forward to crossing paths in the near future again guys!
Photos from the day below and a photo slideshow can be viewed at the bottom of the page

More weddings blogs from the Ardilaun Hotel by clicking this link