Wedding | Siobhán & Lorcan

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We're both Irish, met while at university in Dublin then moved over to London after we graduated. We'd probably describe ourselves as playful, easy-going and well matched. We love travelling, good food and music and a lot of our favourite memories together are tied to those things. A few highlights include getting engaged in West Cork, going to see David Byrne on Broadway in New York and eating some of our favourite meals in Early June in Paris and St John in London.

We both love music and our tastes overlap around artists like Talking Heads, Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell. We're also both quite nostalgic and love films with brilliant soundtracks, 90s movies and anything that feels a little imperfect and full of character.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

We wanted somewhere where we could bring everyone together for more than just the wedding day and really settle in for the weekend. Château Laborde Saint-Martin in the Loire Valley felt grand without feeling overly formal, and we loved that the house and gardens had so much character already.

It meant we didn't have to transform the venue into something it wasn't. We could work with the beautiful dusky sage dining room, antique mirrors, gardens and huge old trees and let those become part of the wedding.

France also felt right for the kind of weekend we wanted: long lunches, local wine, music outside and everyone spending proper time together. The owners Nicholas and Valerie are such generous, warm people and made the whole experience feel really personal which we loved.

How many guests did you have?

93 guests, including us.

What was your budget?

It evolved over the course of process!

Tell us about your outfits.

Siobhán wore a structured lace corset and bubble-hem silk dupion skirt with gathered detailing by a small independent UK bridal designer, Bibi Luxe Studio, paired with vintage pink Gucci shoes that brought a little colour and personality to the look. House of Prose created a soft peony bouquet that picked up the pink beautifully without feeling too coordinated or overly bridal.

Lorcan's suit was from Scott Fraser Collection, paired with a vintage silk tie. At the last minute, he decided to go for a more noticeable patterned option, which brought some of the 90s character of the wedding into his look and perfectly complemented the suit's slick tailoring.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

We wanted the day to have a relaxed flow to it which is why we chose to go abroad and have that easy, holiday feeling with our guests. Little things throughout the day helped create that, we had the speeches outside during cocktail hour, which kept things feeling informal. We also put bottles of wine and drinks on ice around the space so people could help themselves rather than waiting at the bar, which added to that relaxed, easy atmosphere.

Music was a big part of our day and we thought carefully about including each song throughout the day. We had our first dance to Talking Heads' This Must Be The Place outdoors on the terrace beside one of the many beautiful trees in the gardens. We had live jazz during the cocktail hour, then moved things a bit more upbeat with 70s disco hits on the outdoor dance floor after dinner, before turning it up again for a French house DJ set inside the Chateau.

We wanted to be able to actually enjoy the day ourselves rather than worrying about logistics or whether everyone else was having a good time. Working with 11.11 Weddings meant we could be very involved creatively while having someone else hold all of those moving parts together. By the time the weekend arrived, we could just be present in it.

One of our friends told us afterwards that they'd never been to a wedding that ran to such good timing, and it was lovely to hear that, so much of what we wanted from the beginning was for everything to feel easy and seamless, without our guests ever seeing how much was happening behind the scenes.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

We wanted the wedding to feel personal without filling it with obvious or tending details for the sake of it. Our Irish upbringing came through particularly in the ceremony, melding our own Irish traditions with the beautiful French scenery.

Lorcan's godmother Johanna was our celebrant and made the ceremony incredibly personal. Her husband Kevin Doherty is a musician and played an acoustic version of Van Morrison's Sweet Thing as Siobhán walked down the aisle with her parents, which ended up being one of the most emotional moments of the weekend. The ceremony involved the Celtic traditions of hand fasting and reading our vows as we both held an oathing stone, as well as beautiful words and poetry read by family and friends.

Visually, we were inspired by things outside of weddings: Slim Aarons photographs, Sofia Coppola, Nancy Meyers and 90s rom-coms, Impressionism, vintage fashion and old European interiors. We wanted everything to feel collected and a little nostalgic rather than too polished.

Siobhán designed all of the stationery herself. Having something handwritten was really important, so those elements brought a more human, imperfect quality to the design and made it feel even more personal.

A lot of the styling was intentionally quite simple. At dinner, for example, we kept the tablescapes paired back so the room itself could shine, with its dusky sage walls, ivory moiré panels and antique mirrors. We used white linens, vintage silver vessels, seasonal flowers and hand-embellished menus rather than trying to compete with the château.

And then there were little moments that were simple a bit of fun! Driving away from the ceremony together in a golf buggy with a handpainted Just Married sign and tin cans hanging off the back was one of our favourites.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Try and work out together what is authentic to you and not get distracted by everything you're told a wedding is supposed to have. For us, this was relaxed guests, good food and drinks with great music in a beautiful setting. Once we knew that, it became much easier to decide what was worth investing time and energy into and what we could skip.

Also, if you're planning a destination wedding, there are so many more logistics involved than you initially realise. Having people around you who understand what you're trying to create and can translate that into something that actually works on the day makes a huge difference. Our wedding involved a lot of moving parts behind the scenes, but we barely felt any of that on the weekend, which was exactly what we wanted.

Finally, try as much as you can to be a guest at your own wedding. It's not just about making sure everyone else is having a good time. It's important that you get to savour all the details and soak up all the fun for yourselves too!

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

We worked with 11.11 Weddings for over a year and they became such an important part of bringing the weekend together. We had quite a clear feeling for what we wanted but didn't necessarily always know how to actualise it.. Elizabeth was brilliant at understanding those references, turning them into a cohesive creative direction and communicating it to all of our suppliers, while also managing a pretty complicated set of logistics behind the scenes. Everything flowed incredibly smoothly on the day, which meant we could completely switch off and enjoy the day.

Our photographer, Sundari Photo, brought a quiet warmth to the atmosphere of the wedding which translated into our guests being relaxed in front of the camera and allowed her to capture all of the little interactions, movements and emotion around us both.. We wanted photographs that captured how the weekend felt, rather than simply documenting how everything looked, and that's exactly what she gave us.

Nicholas and Valerie, the owners of the stunning Château Laborde Saint Martin were incredibly accommodating and even flew Irish flag beneath the French Tricolore to welcome all our guests! They gave us local knowledge that we might have missed elsewhere and seemed genuinely interested in us enjoying each moment.

House of Prose, our florist, created the most beautiful flowers. We wanted florals that felt sculptural and romantic without overwhelming the château, and they understood that balance perfectly. Siobhán's peony bouquet was particularly special and looked incredible with her vintage pink Gucci shoes.

It took us a while to find our DJ, Sheldon, but we knew he was the one after we heard him play in a bar in Glasgow just a couple of weeks before the wedding!

Finally, Siobhán is the founder of Irish knitwear label Moss and Cable, so fashion, textiles and craftsmanship naturally became part of the visual language of the wedding. Siobhán' worked with London-based embroidery artist Cressida Jamieson to personalise her brand's signature 'Forever Cardigan' with the initials S & L and the date of the wedding on the cuffs which felt really special.

More than anything, we were lucky to have suppliers who understood that we weren't trying to create a very formal wedding. We wanted something beautiful and considered, but warm, relaxed and genuinely fun. Everyone really understood that.

Photographer: Sundari Photo @bysundariphoto | Design & Planning: 11.11 Weddings @11.11_ wed dings | Flora: House of Prose @house.of.prose | Venue: Château Laborde Saint Martin @chateaulabordesaintmartin | Hair & Makeup: Sarah Fekir @sarah_fekir | Catering & Beverages: MG Réception @mgreception | Cake: Sucre et Papilles @sucre_et_papilles | Jazz Band: Groove Garden Orchestra @groovegardenorchestra | DJ: Dj casual look @strongbowdarkfruitofficial | Production & AV: Fête24 @fete24france | Dress: Bibi Luxe Studio @bibiluxestudio | Suit: Scott Fraser Collection @scottfraser collection | Veil: Vintage | Shoes: Vintage Gucci @gucci (Siobhan) & (Lorcan) Crockett & Jones @crockettandjones_official | Engagement Ring: Custom Antique Re-Work | Wedding Rings: Sinclair Jewellery