If you're planning a wedding in Kinsale and want your day photographed without turning it into a photoshoot, you're in the right place. Sinéad and Roly's wedding took us from Ballinspittle to Old Head and back to Actons Hotel Kinsale, with plenty of laughter, a little Irish rain and mighty craic along the way.
Explore JOD PhotographySinéad & Roly’s Wedding at Actons Hotel Kinsale
There are weddings that feel like a wedding day, and then there are weddings that feel like half the world has come home for one massive gathering.
Sinéad and Roly’s was definitely the second one.
They’re both now Australian citizens and, just a few weeks after their wedding, they’ll be heading back to the land down under. So this wasn’t only about getting married. Friends had travelled from Australia, Canada and elsewhere to be there, along with a huge gang from the North who brought enough energy with them to power Kinsale for the weekend.
It felt like a homecoming.
A gathering of brilliant people, old friends, new friends and family who had travelled a very long way to be together on one little island for Sinéad and Roly.
And the craic was mighty from the minute I arrived.
Starting the Morning With Roly at Actons Hotel
I started the day at Actons Hotel Kinsale, where Roly and the lads were getting ready.
Put a group of lads together on a wedding morning and there’s always going to be someone getting slagged.
On this particular morning, poor Stevey was getting his fair share.
It was brilliant.
No heavy nerves. No walking around staring at watches. Just lads having the craic, taking the piss out of each other and enjoying the morning.
They were nearly skipping along at one stage.
You could tell very early that this wasn’t going to be a difficult wedding to photograph.
That Proper Irish Welcome in Ballinspittle
From Actons I headed out to Ballinspittle, where Sinéad was getting ready at her family home.
And this is one of those things I absolutely love about photographing weddings in Ireland.
You walk through the door and immediately it’s:
“Will you have a cup of tea?”
“Coffee?”
“Have you eaten?”
“Go on, sure have something.”
That warmth and generosity is just Ireland.
Sinéad’s house was full of it that morning. People coming and going, conversations everywhere and plenty of laughter.
And Sinéad herself?
She was just Sinéad.
Relaxed, great craic and surrounded by the people closest to her.
Holy Trinity Church, Ballinspittle
The ceremony took place at Holy Trinity Church in Ballinspittle, and there was one particularly important moment during it.
Sinéad and Roly lit a candle for Sinéad’s late father.
There are parts of a wedding day where you don’t need to manufacture emotion or tell anybody what to do. You just need to recognise what’s happening and photograph it.
This was one of them.
The priest was also fantastic.
He’s a family priest who has known Sinéad’s family for years, which made the ceremony that little bit more personal.
Afterwards, he gave myself and Brendan one of the nicest compliments you can give a photographer or videographer.
He said he hadn’t even known we were there.
For me, that’s pretty much job done.
We photographed the ceremony, got what we needed, and never became part of it.
A Wedding Full of People From Around the World
One of the things I’ll remember most about this wedding was the mix of people.
Sinéad and Roly’s life in Australia meant friendships had been made thousands of miles from Ballinspittle, and some of those friends had made the journey all the way to Ireland to watch them get married.
There were people over from Australia and Canada, and then we had our brothers and sisters from the North.
What a gang.
Proper entertainment from start to finish.
This was one of those weddings where I could just slide in amongst everybody. Within no time you’re talking, laughing and getting abuse from people you’ve never met before.
That’s exactly the kind of wedding I love photographing.
Sinéad & Roly
How do I describe these two?
They’re the kind of couple where, if they asked you to come out for a few drinks, I’d give you one piece of advice:
Don’t bring extra cash.
Bring your passport.
Because there’s every chance the night could finish in another country.
That’s Sinéad and Roly.
They’re just up for it.
Good fun. Easy company. No drama.
And together they’re absolutely brilliant.
You don’t have to spend half an hour trying to manufacture something between two people like that. Put them together, give them a little direction when it’s needed and let them be themselves.
That’s where the photographs are.
Photographs Around Kinsale and Old Head
We had originally talked about a few different possibilities for photographs after the ceremony, including Garretstown Beach, where Sinéad and Roly got engaged.
Wedding days have their own ideas though, and plans change.
Instead, we ended up around Old Head, including the Speckled Door, only a short distance from Old Head Golf Links. It was particularly fitting because Sinéad had worked there herself.
And then Ireland decided to throw a bit of weather at us.
Rain.
I asked them if they’d go outside for a photograph.
They went.
No debate.
No worrying about the dress or waiting twenty minutes to see whether the shower would pass.
Out we went.
And that’s probably the photograph that sums these two up for me.
Standing together in the rain, absolutely soaked around them, illuminated between the lamps with Kinsale behind them.
They trusted me.
And we made something out of it.
That’s why I never panic when the weather changes at a wedding. Sometimes the photograph you wouldn’t have made on a perfect sunny evening becomes the one you remember.
One of My Favourite Photographs Happened in the Church
Strangely enough, though, my favourite photograph from the entire day isn’t one of the big dramatic portraits.
It’s Sinéad in the church.
She looks across towards the flower girls and page boys…
and sticks her tongue out at them.
That’s it.
A fraction of a second.
Nobody arranged it. Nobody asked for it.
It’s simply Sinéad being Sinéad in the middle of her wedding ceremony.
Those are the photographs I’m constantly watching for.
The huge landscape portraits are brilliant. I love making them.
But sometimes one little expression tells you far more about somebody than anything I could ever pose.
Working Alongside Brendan Reidy Videography
I was delighted to be working alongside Brendan Reidy Videography again.
Brendan is just chilled.
He knows what he needs, I know what I need, nobody is turning the wedding into a film set and nothing becomes stressful.
We just run with the day.
When photographers and videographers work that way together, it’s better for everybody, particularly the couple.
And it’s always a pleasure teaming up with him.
Back to Actons Hotel Kinsale
Then it was back to Actons Hotel Kinsale for the rest of the celebrations.
I’ve photographed weddings at Actons plenty of times and it’s always an excellent place to come back to.
But ultimately a venue can only give you the setting.
The people make the wedding.
And this gang certainly did that.
Family, friends from home, friends from Australia and Canada, the crew from the North and friendships being made between people who may have arrived in Ireland not knowing one another.
By the end, it felt like everyone knew everyone.
That’s what I’ll remember about this one.
A Homecoming Before Heading Back to Australia
In a few weeks, Sinéad and Roly will head back to Australia.
But before they did, they brought everybody together in Ireland.
They got married in the church in Ballinspittle surrounded by family and friends. They remembered Sinéad’s dad. They laughed. They took the slagging. They stood outside in the rain when their photographer had another one of his ideas.
And people travelled from the four corners of the world to be there with them.
It didn’t feel overly formal.
It didn’t feel staged.
It felt like a homecoming gathering of awesome people, awesome friends and an unbelievable amount of craic.
And that’s Sinéad and Roly all over.
Planning Your Own Wedding in Kinsale?
If you're getting married in Kinsale, Ballinspittle or anywhere around West Cork, and want your wedding photographed without spending half the day posing for the camera, I'd love to hear what you're planning. Real moments, a few beautiful portraits when the opportunity appears, plenty of craic, and then I'll get you straight back to your wedding.
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