With 2021 the weddings in Ireland were still going. They might have been smaller and shorter, but that didnt mean there was less love or fun!
A few of my highlights were the pre-wedding shoot in Achill (an amazing location with amazing people with amazing weather), a summer Dublin city wedding (Wandering around Stephens green with yet again great weather and great people), a garden wedding in Clare (chilled out countryside vibes!) and an Irish-Italian wedding in the scorching heat of Limerick City.
Here’s a selection of my best documentary wedding photography images from 2021
Aimée and Robert’s wedding day at Cashel Palace in Tipperary, Ireland was a joyous and unforgettable occasion. The bride got ready surrounded by her bridesmaids…
Roisin & Owen came together with friends and family at the amazing Langtons Hotel in Kilkenny. It’s a venue like no other with the ceremony taking place in the stunning theatre attached to the hotel! The day was full of fun and laughter along with the added fun of Roisin & Owen’s 1920s theme.
Documentary wedding photography meant Roisin & Owen were able to fully enjoy their day with friends and family and without the fuss of stopping and posing for photos.
Aimée and Robert’s wedding day at Cashel Palace in Tipperary, Ireland was a joyous and unforgettable occasion. The bride got ready surrounded by her bridesmaids…
Aisling & Richard celebrated their wedding at the stunning Cloughjordan House in Tipperary, Ireland. Richard’s English and had his family and friends come over to enjoy their big day. Having lovely weather made the day even better as everyone enjoyed being outside, great live music, games to play and the resident dogs integrating themselves with the guests!
Documentary wedding photography meant Aisling & Richard were able to fully enjoy their day with friends and family and without the fuss of stopping and posing for photos.
CLOUGHJORDAN HOUSE // TIPPERARY // IRELAND // AISLING & RICHARD
Aimée and Robert’s wedding day at Cashel Palace in Tipperary, Ireland was a joyous and unforgettable occasion. The bride got ready surrounded by her bridesmaids…
Annie & Niall had a nice and relaxed morning getting ready at the Wilder Townhouse, popped in a cab over to the Dublin Unitarian Church next to St Stephens Green, a few drinks at the Stag’s head and then to Fallon & Byrne for some amazing food, speeches and dancing.
Documentary wedding photography meant Annie & Niall were able to fully enjoy their day with friends and family and without the fuss of stopping and posing for photos.
Aimée and Robert’s wedding day at Cashel Palace in Tipperary, Ireland was a joyous and unforgettable occasion. The bride got ready surrounded by her bridesmaids…
David wanted to propose to Olivia, and where better to do it than to fly from America to Ashford Caslte In Galway, Ireland! The grounds at Ashford Castle are beautiful and combined with some amazing weather, it was worth the effort! Here’s 10 photos from that session.
Aimée and Robert’s wedding day at Cashel Palace in Tipperary, Ireland was a joyous and unforgettable occasion. The bride got ready surrounded by her bridesmaids…
Laura & Brian got married at the lovely Anglers Rest in Dublin, Ireland. It was all about family for Laura & Brian with their 2 kids enjoying the day. It was perfect for their friends and family to all be together to celebrate the wedding in beautiful and cosy surroundings. Also, the food and music were fantastic!
THE ANGLERS REST WEDDING // DUBLIN // LAURA & BRIAN
Aimée and Robert’s wedding day at Cashel Palace in Tipperary, Ireland was a joyous and unforgettable occasion. The bride got ready surrounded by her bridesmaids…
STUNNING ACHILL ISLAND ENGAGEMENT SHOOT // ASHLING & KYRAN
Even though they’d both grown up in Ireland, Ashling & Kyran met in Dubai after moving their for work. Over ten years later they wanted to come back to Ireland to start a new chapter in life together. Kyran had spent all his summers growing up on the beautiful Achill Island, Co. Mayo and had taken Ashling to visit whenever they’d come over to Ireland. When they mentioned they wanted to get some engagement pictures there, straight away I was up for it! We visited a few different locations on and around the island.
First of all was Keem Bay, which is a extremely popular place for tourists. Not only does it have a great beach looking over to the Mayo mountains, but also some amazing cliffs that are a short, but steep, walk up. Ashling & Kyran wanted to head up to the top of the cliffs, so that’s what we did! We then also visited a small harbour at Purteen and then onto Mulranny Beach which has some amazing large pink rocks!
Aimée and Robert’s wedding day at Cashel Palace in Tipperary, Ireland was a joyous and unforgettable occasion. The bride got ready surrounded by her bridesmaids…
THE WESTBURY HOTEL WEDDING // DUBLIN // NICOLA & ANDY
Nicola & Andy wanted to get married in Dublin, Ireland, the city the had spent working, wandering and getting to know each other in. After getting married at St Joseph’s Church in Tenure, Dublin, they wanted to relive memories of wandering around St. Stephens Green, Grafton street, stopping by their favourite pub the John Kehoe, as they made their way towards their reception at the Westbury Hotel.
Bridal Prep is always a nice chance to capture the fun moments in the build up to the ceremony. Here’s Nicolas sister and mother relaxing and having fun.
Always enjoy capturing moments like this. Interactions between family members are fleeting but mean so much.
This was a real small, subtle and blink and you miss it moment. So glad I managed to capture this as Nicola was gently comforted by her sister as she puts her dress on. You don’t have to see faces to see the nerves and anxiety of the bride.
Always love catching the reactions of the family as the Bride is seen for the first time.
Groom Prep
The Groom prep is never a let down when it comes to the fun the Groom, best man, family and ushers have as they get ready.
Every image is a small story from the day. I love to add context so whoever looks at the images instantly can read that part of the story.
Whatever room I go into there’s always elements I can use to try and elevate an image. Here using the mirrors and then waiting for Andy to smile, laugh or cry, I’m ready and waiting!
Sometimes though its more fun to remove context! Andy’s nephew had buttoned up his shirt wrong and everyone was having a good laugh about it. But with this shot I thought it added more curiosity and fun for those who weren’t there as to what was going on!
Ceremony at St. Josephs Church Dublin
Due to restrictions, there wasn’t many at the church. But that didn’t stop a few passers by trying to pop in!
Always a classic shot, that long walk down the aisle with the father of the bride. It can be scary but smiles always shine through.
I’m always looking for a different perspective from the norm. Here I was able to go right around the other side of the alter and get this great composition and moment together to really elevate the image.
Some classic shots like this are never tiring to shoot! Love Love Love the smiles and joy couples have as they walk back down the aisle.
Speeches
Speeches are one of my favourite parts to capture from a wedding day, there’s always such great emotions from everyone! Here the Father of the Bride was embarrassing his daughter whilst her brother, behind her to the left, looks completely unimpressed!
Andy’s brother also couldn’t hold back from making fun of the Groom!
Nicola’s sister couldn’t stop smiling all day and was giving even bigger smiles during her words.
I always love to capture the Brides face during the Grooms speech. There’s always the biggest smiles!
Moments
I love catching groups of people together. At the time it can be a throw away moment in time. But years later these become amazing moments to look back on.
For the Bride & Groom the day flies by. Capturing what’s going on around them really helps them take in what they missed. It’s also the favourite part of the day for me.
Couple Portraits
For their couple portraits Nicola & Andy wanted to walk through St. James Park and along down Grafton Street. I kept out of their way and captured moments as they reminisced and interacted with people.
We took a few classic couple portrait shots, capturing their natural laughs as they chatted with each other.
Heading into the Dublin City was great fun to capture as people congratulated them as they walked by.
The John Kehoe was their local when they lived in the city. They asked to get some pictures by it and it was great fun to capture.
Walking around holding hands and laughing always leads to great moments between couples.
The Manager at the John Kehoe was amazing as he offered Nicola & Andy the chance to get a picture behind the bar
The Manager also gave them a free pint of Guinness, put chairs out the front and they got to enjoy a small moment being alone as I took a few pictures from across the street to capture these moments for them.
THE WESTBURY HOTEL WEDDING // DUBLIN // NICOLA & ANDY
Aimée and Robert’s wedding day at Cashel Palace in Tipperary, Ireland was a joyous and unforgettable occasion. The bride got ready surrounded by her bridesmaids…
KINNITTY CASTLE HOTEL WEDDING // BIRR // OFFALY // GRACE & JOHNNY
Myself and my husband asked Jamie to be our photographer for our big day and it’s safe to say it was the best decision we made in capturing every single aspect of our day!! He did exactly what was on the tin- every photo came out amazing which is a statement and a half! He captured the beauty of the venue, the joy our guests experienced sharing the day with us and the love my now husband and I share.
Jamie didn’t miss a beat on the day and I would highly recommend him for capturing the happiest day of your lives. He went above and beyond in every aspect!! Dedicated to the job is an understatement!! A top notch guy!!
– Grace & Johnny
Bride prep for Grace was at her parents home with the ones she loves.
I took this one as a bit of a laugh, as if Grace’s father and brother in law where part of the “Bride Squad”
I purposely stood here waiting for Grace to walk past all these pictures of her and her siblings and also her parents wedding photos. I Thought it was a nice way of showing alot of past as she walks towards her future!
Always love catching the reactions of the family as the Bride is seen for the first time.
Groom Prep
I didn’t realise till I turned up that Johnny was getting ready on his own at his flat. This was a moment he was trying to process everything before he started getting ready.
Johnny was wearing crocs all morning and I really wanted to get them in a shot whilst he was putting his new wedding shoes on.
It’s a bit of a cliche shot this one, but anytime you have nice natural light coming through a window, the classic looking out shot isn’t a bad one to have. This was probably the only time I asked Johnny to do anything throughout the day.
Ceremony at Kinnity Castle
Johnny really was finding the whole ceremony hard, he really struggled to smile and even look at anyone.
Grace on the other hand couldn’t stop smiling. I took an opportunity to nip in and get a close up here.
I do love getting in close to faces, but sometimes they need context and this shot was a way of showing Johnny’s stern nerves as Grace walked in.
Kinnity Castle was a great venue and always a classic shot to get the couple out the front of a venue. Just after the ceremony is great for reactions between the couples like this moment.
Walking back down the aisle hand in hand is always another classic shot for the couple, but not always easy as you need to focus and compose whilst walking backwards!
Speeches
Speeches are one of my favourite parts to capture from a wedding day, there’s always such great emotions from everyone!
I always like to include more than just those at the head table in a few shots.
Sometimes reactions can be very subtle but show alot. You could see the love from Johnny’s mother in this fleeting moment.
Catching Grace in a full on laugh was great, but i was trying to add something to the picture here by shooting through some fairy lights that were on a balcony.
This picture might not mean much to most people, but to Grace and Johnny it means alot. This was the end of a silly anecdote Johnny was retelling about their relationship together.
People
I love catching groups of people together.
At the time it can be a throw away moment in time.
But these are the kind of pictures that years down the road are so interesting.
I love this one in particular from the day. It was inbetween some formal family pictures that there was some great moments.
I shot this one as to make it feel as if you’re there at the table congratulating Grace & Johnny.
Then there’s fun moments when there’s alot going on that are so fun to capture.
Portrait Session
If you had seen me taking this picture you wouldn’t think this would come from it. This was a stylistic choice where I wanted to highlight the interaction between Grace & Johnny.
A short walk from Kinnity Castle are some great woods. The sun was beaming in and creating some lovely light.
There was alot more captured than the few pictures you see here. This one was just a nice moment as they walked around exploring.
Party
First dance is easy to focus on the couple dancing, but I love catching peoples reactions also.
This was a fun cake cutting, they were given this sword to cut with!
This was a fun game where Grace was behind the curtain using her hands to control Johnny. I got in close to show the confusion on Johnny’s face while his brothers laugh their heads off in the background!
The stage lighting was causing some crazy colours on Johnny’s brother as he held up the curtain. I used this to frame the guests laughing at the entertainment.
Reliving some funny moments really made this guest laugh!
Here I stood behind the band to give some context to what the guests are singing and dancing to.
Wedding // Kinnitty Castle Hotel // Birr // Offaly // Grace & Johnny
Aimée and Robert’s wedding day at Cashel Palace in Tipperary, Ireland was a joyous and unforgettable occasion. The bride got ready surrounded by her bridesmaids…
Delightful Wedding at Fernhill House Hotel // Clonakilty // Cork // Fini & Harley
What a great photographer. He truly cared to make our Wedding Special. We got some stunning photos and he was even willing to stay past sunset and get some awesome night shots. He really knows how to capture natural moments. He really knows how to frame a shot and gives clear direction at times and other times he let’s you forget he’s even there. Thank you for everything you did for us to make the occasion one we can remember for a lifetime – Harley & Fini
Bride prep for Fini was happening in her hotel room at the venue at Fernhill House Hotel.
Her sisters were coming and going. They were all enjoying the build up to the day.
It isn’t often I ask anyone to do anything, but the way Fini happened to be standing, talking to her family with the beautiful soft light coming through the window, it was too much to pass up a great portrait shot. All it took from me was to ask her to turn her head!
After a while everyone forgets I’m there. They become themselves and this is when I love capturing these small moments
Groom Prep at Fernhill House Hotel
Harley is someone who likes to joke around, so it was great to capture him doing some random things!
To me the most mundane things can be really interesting when you look back on them. Even a bit of ironing can bring back some memories!
Wedding of Fini & Harley. Ceremony at Fernhill House,,Clonakilty,Cork,Ireland,.
Reception at
,,,Cork,,
The energy started to change the nearer Harley got to seeing Fini. It wasn’t going to be long before they met for the big reveal..
Reveal & Portrait Session at Fernhill House Hotel Gardens
There was a lovely bamboo corridor that Harley waited for Fini along….
Fini excitedly headed down…
Even though the reveal is something set-up, the reactions you get are sooo real!
Even after the initial reveal, the energy and moments don’t stop.
Simple things like holding hands and just walking can be a joy to capture.
Fini & Harley were real naturals when it came to just showing affection to each other. I didn’t do anything to make this happen other than to just tell them to face each other.
It’s the moments inbetween that are really worth capturing, I can’t let my guard drop for any moment!
The gardens at the Fernhill House Hotel provided alot of variety and beautiful places to take images.
Getting in really close can help convey those moments
The gardens are set lower down the hill than the hotel, so I headed back up to really show the beauty of Clonakilty. Because everything is so green, Fini & Harley really stood out even being so small in the photo, add in an exaggerated kiss and voila!
Pre Ceremony at Fernhill House Hotel
Being that Fini & Harley did a reveal before the Ceremony, they wanted to just hang out before they tied the knot
It might look staged but all I did was be patient and let this moment happen naturally.
I love taking pictures of people taking pictures, especially when they’re messing around having fun. It’s great because they’re going to have 2 photos of this moment. This one and the one they were taking on the phone. 2 perspectives of the same moment.
I think it helps to show context to an image. I could have just taken a picture of Fini & Harley without anyone in the image, but that doesn’t show the full story. The fact they were in their own world with others around them shows how much love they have.
Ceremony & First Dance at Fernhill House Hotel
There was only one bridesmaid and she had to be told what to do!
The ceremony is all about the tiny interactions. Those tiny moments of eye contact…
Also the caring moments…
Don’t forget about the laughs!
Fini & Harley weren’t having a big party later in the evening, so they wanted to do the first dance straight after the ceremony.
There’s no rules to how you plan your wedding day. Fini & Harley definitely didn’t go “conventional” and that made it so much more fun!
Looking over peoples shoulders is one of my favourite ways to take a shot. It makes you feel like you’re actually there with everyone enjoying the moment.
I wouldn’t be a fan of the selfie stick myself, but Harley is and it was good fun to use!
People
Taking pictures of guests is part of what I love. Particularly scenes when there’s just people conversing in different groups and different things going on. I think these are great ones to look back on years down the line.
I’m proud to say I won an award for this one from Ninedots which is awarded by top wedding photographers. A quick moment that was a blink and you miss it where the bridesmaid was jumping and the guest joined in. I managed to capture this with them both in mid-air and a great expression on the young girl.
This was just before the ceremony whilst waiting to go down to the marquee. I love how Harley and Fini are so happy whilst their friends are quite the opposite.
After the ceremony and everyone’s mingling, there’s always different things going on.
Love this one. A great smile by Fini’s sister whilst the bridesmaid gets taken for a ride.
I wouldn’t consider this anything special, but it’s a moment in time that later down the years will bring back memories from a point later in the day as things were winding down.
Evening Portrait Session at Fernhill House Hotel Gardens
Even though it was raining and cold outside, Fini & Harley wanted some evening portraits taken.
Using the lampost for the only source of light I just asked them to lean against it and look at each other. Love does the rest!
Even though I did bring out my flash and we took some other shots, using the lampost were my favourite shots. It wasn’t a picture I had in mind to take before we went down there, I just saw it and thought it had to be used.
Wedding // Fernhill House Hotel // Clonakilty // Cork // Fini & Harley
Aimée and Robert’s wedding day at Cashel Palace in Tipperary, Ireland was a joyous and unforgettable occasion. The bride got ready surrounded by her bridesmaids…
- My Real Name Is James - Award Winning Documentary Wedding Photography Limerick Ireland -
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