Lex had studied Victorian literature for many years and therefore, has dreamed of having a gothic inspired wedding day for almost as long. When her and partner Marc booked a holiday to Ireland, they decided it would be the perfect time to get married, and so planned the whole thing in just three months! Joined by some of their closest friends with their families Skyping in for the ceremony, they planned a simple day that was relaxing and fun.

Held at Farrier & Draper, a suitably dark and moody cocktail bar in Dublin, the couple relied on the beautiful decor to accessorise their day . In fact, the only props they brought with them were two skull candles to light during the ceremony. As Lex wears black “98% of the time”, a black dress was an obvious choice for her – and she saved a pretty penny as she was able to get a beautiful dress without adding the price of ‘bridal’ to it! Marc wore a black velvet suit jacket and tuxedo pants, and their few guests stuck to the dress-code of wearing dark colours too. 

They met with a florist the week before the wedding and requested a dark, coloured bouquet with lots of greenery and thistles, had black and white thank you cards for everyone involved, and relied on their photographers to help bring a vintage feel to their day.

Marc and Lex wrote their ceremony together, being given an outline of the legalities it was required to include and then filling in the blanks with vows that they collaborated on together. As literature is a big part of their lives, they wanted to incorporate readings from some of their favourite writers; their introduction included a quote from Carl Jung, describing their love love in relation to each other as being transformative. 

They had guests read a poem by WB Yeats and a piece by Plato. Marc and Lex then read love letters to one another, TS Eliot’s A Letter to My Wife and Kafka’s The Castle, stated their promises to one another and exchanged rings. They finished off their celebrations by walking around the streets of Dublin with their closest friends laughing, listening to music and seeing all the hidden beauty of the city.

Lex and Marc’s favourite thing about their wedding day was having almost total freedom to make the day whatever they wanted it to be. In retrospect, they would’ve liked to have had the ceremony at the beginning of their two-week trip as they were all very tired by the end of it, but unfortunately the legalities of meeting the Irish registrar had to dictate the date, which they advice future couples to bare in mind if they too plan to get married while on holiday in Ireland.

Most of all, Lex advises the following; “Let go of any preconceived notions you might carry, make this day about yourselves and do whatever you think will make you happy. There are only a few ‘musts’ to make the marriage legally binding, but apart from that go with whatever feels authentic to you.”