Wedding Photography at Lismore Castle, Ireland ~ Ant & Rossa's Civil Ceremony
It's not often I get to shoot such a glamorously dressed wedding party but Ant and Rossa pulled out the stops with their wedding at Lismore Castle, the home of their close friends. I don't normally go into such detail about the outfits but I feel I need to do this one justice....! The 12 adorable flower children were dressed in custom Erdem designed outfits made by the royal dressmaker, Nicki MacFarlane and the 6 very glamorous bridesmaids included Veronica Heilbrunner in Giambattista Valli Couture, Kate Naughton in Valentino Couture, Michelle Jank in Custom Lanvin, Lady Laura Burlington in Custom Erdem, Laura Brown and Natalie Kendal in Valentino. Groom Anthony was wearing the first Brioni custom designed suit by Justin O'Shea and Rossa was wearing a vintage Helmut Lang Tuxedo from the 1990's. Jimmy Choo delivered bespoke shoes for both grooms.
Lismore Castle itself has an impressive history from 1170 and has been owned by the Duke of Devonshire's family since 1773 and has a leading public gallery of art as well as an impressive private art collection and beautiful grounds.
They had specifically requested Annie Leibowitz style group photographs so I embraced the challenge and we had a wonderful pre-wedding photoshoot capturing close family and friends in all of their finery.
Dancing went on til late with music from Mike Skinner and DJ Mimi Xu. A truly fabulous day and night and despite having flown overnight from Cognac in order to get to the wedding in time the adrenaline was more than enough to keep me going until the small hours.
Flowers: Picked from the garden that morning // Venue: Lismore Castle in Ireland // Bridesmaids dresses: Giambattista Valli, Valentino, Lanvin, Erdem // Flower children: Custom designed Erdem outfits by Nicki MacFarlane // Groom's outfits: Jimmy Choo shoes, Brioni by Justin O'Shea and Helmut Lang // Entertainment: Mike Skinner & DJ Mimi Xu // Lighting assistant for group portraits: Malcolm McGettigan // Food: Tom Collins
When Getty contacted me literally weeks before Ant & Rossa's wedding I was anxious to make it fit into my schedule even though it meant travelling through the night to get from the Grey Goose chateau in Cognac to near Cork where the wedding was to be held at their friend's home, Lismore Castle.
With both Ant and Rossa working in the fashion world the sartorial turnout to this wedding was impressive. The bridesmaids all wore black couture and the 12 flower girls and page boys in custom designed Erdem outfits. Ant wore some pretty spectacular hand made bejewelled shoes by Jimmy Choo.
Ant and Rossa had requested more formal photographs than I would usually choreograph but with the help of a local friend we created a suitable set up in the drawing room of the castle to fully do justice to the amazing outfits.
The ceremony took place in the main hall and the reception in the art gallery space in the gardens before returning to the hall for the main feast. Dancing was announced by a couple of huge gold glitter canons launched from the balcony followed by music from Mike Skinner of the Streets into the early hours.
Despite the grandiose location, this felt like one of the most intimate weddings I did all year and it was a huge pleasure to photograph for Ant and Rossa who were so kind and thoughtful towards me throughout - and I'm delighted to continue working for them through Ant's company.
