Our destination wedding couple today, Joan and Paul, hail from Ireland but they met in France, got engaged in London and married in Barcelona! They chose Spain because of the great choice of venues available and the ease of travel for guests with so many flight routes available through Barcelona. We adore the couple's final venue pick, Casa Felix, as well as the fact that the talented bride designed her own dress. Last but certainly not least, we love the amazing photography- as usual- from Gabby of En Route Photography. Feast your eyes!

HOW THEY MET

"We met while both living and working in Lyon, France. We actually met in an Irish bar (of course!)- I thought Paul was a handsome French man. I started chatting to him in terrible French but it turned out he was actually Irish too, from Kerry- a short distance from my home county of Cork.. so that was the beginning. A year after we met we both moved back to Ireland, I to Sligo and Paul to Kerry but we managed to meet up every weekend. Another year later we both moved to Cork. I set up a business partnership which Paul joined three years later as co-director. The story of our engagement started when I was due to work in London for a few days. The evening I was due to fly home to Ireland I had one last client meeting, but what I didn't know was that Paul secretly flew to London and had planned with the hotel manager to create a surprise. I had checked out earlier in the day so went back to the hotel to get my suitcase... The concierge apologetically explained that they had accidentally checked my luggage into my old room with another guest's luggage and would I mind returning to the room to identify which one was mine. When I entered the room there was soft lighting, champagne and a ring box- I presumed it was for the couple who were due to check in, and as I turned to rush out of the room Paul appeared. I couldn't believe he was in London and had planned such an amazing surprise- conspiring with the hotel staff- even my client whom I was due to meet was in on the whole thing! He also changed my flights and booked an extra night in London, where we then celebrated with friends.

DECIDING ON THE DESTINATION

We work a lot in Spain so it was an easy choice for us to go to Barcelona. There so many amazing venues to choose from plus we had a lot of friends travelling from Australia, U.S.A, Sweden, Italy, the UK, France and of course Ireland and Barcelona had excellent flight links for all of our guests. We wanted to have the entire day in one location including the ceremony, dinner and evening celebrations. Casa Felix ticked all these boxes, each part of the wedding was celebrated in a different part of the venue- from the ceremony in a secret garden and dinner outside to watch the sunset to dancing the night away downstairs in a special dance area. We did it all in under nine months but the pressure of getting everything done on time kept us focused which was great. We also used Weddings via Val as our planner.

STYLE

We wanted a rustic, relaxed and fun vibe for our day and to have the entire day in one location, including the ceremony. We did not want the wedding to be too formal, or to have it in a restaurant or hotel and to have the styling natural and rustic. In summary: fun, relaxed, rustic. I wanted to create my own wedding dress so went to the renowned Ernest Perryman in Cork who was absolutely amazing. My idea was to have a natural fabric in either blush pink or powder blue. I also wanted a two-in-one dress that was classical in style but with a modern edge. Ernest was fantastic and it was so much fun designing this dress. Our next adventure is to restyle it so I can wear it again!

ADVICE

Forget the rules and do your own thing. Don't be overly worried about anything- it's supposed to be an enjoyable time and everything will come together in the end. Try and stick to your to-do list and scheduling planner. It's only one day so don't go too crazy on the budget. We have no regrets and were honestly delighted with everything from start to finish- the whole weekend was so much fun!"

Photography: En Route Photography | Wedding Planner: Weddings via Val | Styling: Farfala BCN Events | Bride's Dress: Designed by Bride from Ernest Perryman | Bride's Shoes: Custom made Christian Louboutins | Bridesmaids' Dresses: Ivory Rose | Flowers: Local Florist | Groomsmen's Suits: Saville Menswear | BBQ Catering: Yellowjack Catering | Accessories: Kilkenny Shop | Cake: Local Spanish Cheeses | Wedding Favors: Vibes & Scribes | Stationery: Lots of Love Invitations | Make Up & Hair: Michael Mawson & Co | Wedding Bands: Funk Boss Bros | Ceremony/Reception Music: Spanish Guitarist Daniel de Silva | Wedding Day Catering: Gau Catering | DJ: John Stiges