A Romantic Wedding at The Clarence Hotel: 1 of Dublin City’s unique wedding venues

Introduction to a wedding at The Clarence Hotel

As a wedding photographer, I’ve had the privilege of capturing beautiful moments at various venues, each with its unique charm. However, there’s one venue in Dublin that stands out from the rest: The Clarence Hotel.

This iconic hotel has become a favourite destination for couples seeking a unique and unforgettable Dublin city wedding experience. In this article, we’ll explore why people are drawn to The Clarence Hotel for their special day, from its rich history and stunning architecture to its impeccable service and amenities. Let’s dive into what makes The Clarence the perfect place to say “I do” and take a closer look at the Clarence Hotel wedding experience.

Discover the Charm of The Clarence Hotel

The Clarence Hotel, situated in the heart of Dublin City, is a historic gem that boasts stunning architecture and rich history. This former 18th-century grain store has been lovingly transformed into a 4-star hotel that marries old-world charm with modern elegance.

• Architectural Splendour: The hotel’s exposed brick walls and arched doorways provide a picturesque backdrop for your wedding, making it an ideal setting for a romantic celebration.
• Versatility: The Clever East Rose Room at The Clarence is a versatile space that can host an intimate gathering of 20-100 guests. It can be configured for ceremonies, drinks receptions, and dinner, offering flexibility to cater to your unique wedding vision.

Capture Timeless Photos

One of the joys of having your wedding at The Clarence Hotel is its prime location in the heart of Dublin City. From the front entrance facing the Liffey River to the stylish Liffey Bar at the back, there is no shortage of beautiful photo opportunities. Even if the weather doesn’t cooperate, the hotel’s interiors provide a contemporary and elegant backdrop for your wedding photos.

Tips for a Picture-Perfect Wedding at The Clarence

Here are some tips to ensure your wedding day at The Clarence Hotel is truly exceptional:

1. Choose the Right Photographer: Select a photographer experienced in capturing the beauty of The Clarence Hotel and the contemporary essence of weddings. A photographer with an eye for modern elegance will be a perfect fit.
2. Consider a First Look: A “first look” session, where the couple sees each other before the ceremony, can be a wonderful way to maximise portrait time without sacrificing time with your guests. This is a great opportunity to explore Dublin’s streets and capture some beautiful shots both inside and outside The Clarence.
3. Leverage the Venue’s Amenities: The Clarence Hotel offers a range of unique and stylish spaces for photography, allowing you to capture modern, fun, and fashion-forward images.

Plan the Perfect Intimate Wedding at The Clarence

The Clarence Hotel goes above and beyond to ensure your special day goes smoothly. They provide you with a dedicated Wedding Planner who will assist in coordinating every aspect of your wedding, from choosing the best vendors to overseeing the entire event, from the ceremony to the last dance of the night.

Conclusion

The Clarence Hotel is the ideal setting for small to medium-sized weddings, offering a perfect blend of old-world charm and modern elegance. Located in the heart of Dublin City, it provides a picturesque backdrop for your special day. With its dedicated Wedding Planner and stunning spaces, The Clarence Hotel is a top choice for couples seeking a unique and unforgettable wedding experience.

If you’re looking for a Clarence Hotel wedding experience in one of Dublin’s trendiest wedding venues, it’s clear that this iconic hotel is the perfect place to exchange your vows, creating memories that will last a lifetime. Make your special day truly special at The Clarence Hotel in Dublin, one of the city’s most unique and cherished wedding venues.

Cami and Zach’s urban elopement in Dublin

Cami and Zach chose their love story elopement in Dublin. A wedding at The Clarence Hotel was the perfect choice for them as it blended the urban chic of the city with fun, class and sophistication. The Rose Room was the ideal size for their wedding guests who had travelled all the way from the USA to be with them not only on this special day but on a holiday around Ireland that they will all cherish forever. I am an in awe of the trip they planned out for their loved ones.

Their original wedding date was the end of last December but unfortunately they had to postpone their trip due to Zach not being able to leave his post just yet. Thankfully I was free for their postponed date in April of this year, all be it 8 months pregnant but I wasn’t going to miss this one!

Cami and I had liaised back and forth for some months and I knew there was a special connection between us. I really wanted to meet these two sweethearts and give them the photo’s they wished for.

I had photographed a wedding a few years previous; very similar intimate Clarence Hotel wedding and immediately fell in love with what the hotel had to offer in terms of variety of backdrops. It became one of my favourite Dublin wedding venues. I knew that I could give Cami and Zach super special pics PLUS take them around Dublin for some fun urban images.

Walking in to meet them was like walking into a mate’s house. I was greeted with a massive hug and loads of lovely gifts, my favourite being, my baby’s future little baby grow! I cannot wait to pop her in it!!

The day was flawless. Everything I had imagined and more. I really felt as if the angels from heaven were shining down and giving this couple the best day and holiday of their lives.

Words can’t express how grateful we are for the photos. They are everything and more than we hoped for. You made us feel on top of the world and so happy and the entire experience was just SO FUN and that’s what we hoped for!!!! We couldn’t have dreamed up better photos. We can’t decide which to send to our extended family and friends and that’s the best problem to have! We also love the range between fun, romantic, silly, calm, relaxed, more posed, and the variation in backgrounds/colours. It truly highlights how we are as a couple and the pictures all look like we are 2 best friends (as we are) together hanging out “
Cami & Zach

This is a story of how Cami and Zach made their dream elopement in Dublin come true and how they managed to do things so well and their way! All of which was done remotely. Nobody better to tell it to you than the bride and groom themselves…

How did you two meet? Tell us a bit about you as a couple and the story of how you met, any cute or funny memories, who made the first move and how your relationship blossomed etc

We met in 2012 at our high school in Arizona. We were lucky enough to be assigned the same pre-calculus course and even luckier to be seated next to each other. Any excuse we could find to chat in that class, we took advantage of! We probably caused each other way too much distraction forcing us to have to work extra hard to keep up our streak of good grades on exams and assignments.

It was love at first sight but neither of us knew how the other felt for a very long time! We ended forming a close friendship over the years (albeit a flirty one) and eventually we acknowledged our feelings for each other in college and made our relationship official after we graduated. I think our friends and family collectively sighed and said “finally” when we made it official. They all knew we were meant to be together! 

Having known each other for so long before dating has been such an incredible foundation for our relationship. As close friends, we supported each other through life’s ups and downs, made each other laugh, and gave the other a safe place to be themselves. As a married couple, it is the same! 

How did you get engaged? Please tell us your proposal/engagement story! How long where you together when you got engaged, who popped the question, where and when did it happen and how did it feel (please include year) 

We got engaged in 2021 and Zach worked closely with my mom to make the entire thing a big surprise. I knew we’d be getting engaged sometime soon because we talked about our future often, but I didn’t know exactly how or when. Before flying out to Arizona (where I lived) to help move me to Virginia (where Zach lived), Zach suddenly started playing it super cool like moving in together was no big deal. My mom also started pretending to be annoyed with Zach for not caring enough that I am leaving the only home I’ve ever known for him. I have to say…the two of them deserve an Oscar for their acting performance because I was actually in tears a few nights before Zach flew out to Arizona.

I was confused all of the sudden that maybe Zach no longer cares about this big step or our future and I was nervous that my mom now no longer approved of my relationship! My mom quickly realised that they took their acting too far and told Zach they had to dial it back. Later, I found out this was all a ruse to make Zach seem like an engagement was the LAST thing on his mind and therefor the last thing on my mind. Their plan worked! 

When Zach arrived in Arizona, we spent a few days with my family before he said he wanted to have a little stay-cation at The Scottsdale Princess, a really nice local resort, a few nights before we started our road trip to Virginia. Before checking in to the hotel, he took me to get sushi where we had our first date. Looking back, I should’ve known something big was up, but he played it off like this was a last minute plan. Either way, I was just enjoying the walk down memory lane with him and ready for a relaxing evening after all the emotional and physical stress that comes with packing and planning a move!

After lunch, we arrived at the hotel and were directed to check-in in an exclusive area with a different concierge. “That’s weird,” I thought. “Maybe because he’s in the military he got a room upgrade?” Again, I can’t believe I didn’t catch on. We checked into our suite where there were rose petals, champagne, and chocolate covered strawberries. I still didn’t realise what was going on until he handed me the most special love letter I would ever receive. By the time I finished reading the letter, Zach was on one knee! Of course I immediately said yes. He proposed exactly how I hoped he would – in an intimate setting just between the two of us! We went to an incredible dinner afterwards that overlooked Camelback Mountain and laughed about how I was completely fooled by him and my mom. 

The surprises didn’t end with the engagement. The next day when we went back to my family’s house, we walked into an engagement party! Zach of course knew about it, but I was surprised again! All of our friends and family were there to celebrate with us. It was truly the most special way to kick off our road trip to begin our new life living together AND engaged. On our road trip we stayed in Amarillo, Little Rock, and Nashville having the best time together singing, eating junk food, and being giddy with engaged excitement along the way.

How did the planning process go? What were your steps into finding your vendors and planning your big day abroad?

Destination/Location: Planning our wedding was really fun for us because we were essentially planning the vacation of our dreams!  Traveling is an important part of our lives as we were both fortunate enough to be shown the world by our parents starting at a young age. With that, we decided almost right away that we wanted an intimate wedding abroad.

It was actually my mom who suggested Ireland! We had a European family vacation a few years prior with an unplanned stop in Ireland that wound up being the best part of our trip. She thought the enchanting landscape and fun atmosphere perfectly fit the romantic, whimsical, and easy-going vibe we wanted our wedding to be. Not to mention, Zach has family ties to Ireland and it is a very special place to his dad.  

The Clarence Hotel truly catered to all of our wishes. They worked to help us plan a casual welcome dinner at the Giddy Dolphin next door, a private evening at a nearby speakeasy called The Vintage Cocktail Club, a cocktail master class at The Curious Mister, a lovely rehearsal dinner at Roberta’s, and a small wedding ceremony + mini-reception in their beautiful Rose Room that overlooks the River Liffey.

They also helped coordinate accommodations for all of us and were wonderful hosts. It was the perfect place that had everything we were looking for! Our family and friends had the best time lounging at the lobby bar between activities and having close access to other restaurants, bars, and shops.

Tours: Having the foundation of our wedding set, we shifted our focus to planning a few day tours. We couldn’t all be in Ireland without seeing some of the beautiful countryside, castles, and Cliffs! My family and I used Paddywagon Tours on our last visit to Ireland and had a great experience, so I reached out them to enquire about private tours to Blarney Castle and The Cliffs of Moher. They replied right away to coordinate a custom experience that fit our wishes and itinerary. Our tour guide on both days was Dominic and he made our journey around Ireland fun, educational, and very memorable! 
Private Hire

Flowers: Precious Petals in Dublin provided our beautiful bouquets, buttonholes, flower crown, and chair ends for our wedding ceremony. We worked with Conor who was able to make everything we asked for and at a great price. Working with him was so easy and we were so happy with how our flowers turned out. We found them with a simple Google search online! Precious Petals | Florists Dublin | Flowers Ireland

When in Ireland, The Guinness Storehouse is also a must! We booked a large group tour with them for one of our free mornings and our guests had a blast! We were also able to add on “The Stoutie” to our tour which allowed us to put a “selfie”on top of our pints of Guinness! So fun! Guinness Storehouse

Harpist: To add some Irish charm to our ceremony, we found Clara Booth through a Google search. Like all of our other vendors, she was such a joy to work with and allowed us to create a custom booking from her music selection. When I walked down the aisle to her music, I felt like I was in a dream. She played so beautifully and set the tone for a lovely and romantic ceremony! 
Clara Booth Harpist

Celebrant: Sorry brides….our celebrant is not for hire! Our celebrant was Zach’s bonus sister…who is now my bonus sister too! When we saw her officiate her dad’s wedding to Zach’s mom, we knew we wanted her to play that special role in our wedding too. We definitely recommend having a close friend or family member performing your ceremony abroad to make it all the more special…especially if you are already legally married and/or it is just a symbolic ceremony. 

Decor: At the very last minute, we decided we wanted to add some decor to our ceremony/reception space to really tie everything together. We found Polka Dot Events via a Google search. They offer such a wide range of packages for weddings big and small, plus can customise and create almost anything! If you can dream it, they can do it!

We did not have high hopes that they would be available for our day on such short notice, but to our surprise, they were! Right away, Sinead contacted us to create a tentative package with options galore.

We ended up selecting a wooden arch with artificial baby’s breath and roses, a custom mirrored welcome sign, candles to line the aisle, a custom balloon hoop with “Better Together” neon sign, custom framed signage to be placed throughout the reception space, artificial baby’s breath garland, and her really fun guest book alternative – a rotary phone for guests to leave us a message!

Polka Dot Events made our ceremony/reception dreams come true. (p.s. all of their artificial flowers look SO real! You couldn’t tell the difference between the artificial flowers on our arch and the real flowers we had for our bouquets, etc)
Wedding Decor Services and Hire – Polka Dot Events

Photographer: We found our photographer, Dena Shearer, through Instagram! When scrolling through tagged photos of The Clarence Hotel, we found a wedding photographed by Dena and fell in love with her easy-going, intimate, and natural photos.

We emailed her right away and were so pleased she was available for our special day. She offered suggestions for photo locations within the hotel and around the city and made sure she noted our photo wish-list too! On the day of, she captured everything PERFECTLY!

After our ceremony, she took us on a walk around Dublin and we felt on top of the world with her behind the lens! Picking a photographer is a big decision and we knew we made the right one from our first conversation.

She cares about her clients beyond their wedding day and made us feel like family. We had our photo gallery within a week and a new friendship with her for a lifetime! 

Could you recommend useful recourses or anything else to future brides planning a similar wedding in Dublin from abroad?

The internet will be your best friend! A quick Google search can go a long way. I also found Instagram to be a really helpful tool to find vendors and also see posts/pictures by other people for inspiration. 

Feel free to ask any vendors you do have for their recommendations too! Wedding/event vendors often work together and can help you find whatever pieces you’re still missing. Our photographer sent us a vendor list without us even asking :) 

What did you wear? Here please tell us about the suit and wedding wardrobe – name and designer and where you got it from.

I found my dress from David’s Bridal! It’s a popular chain bridal store in the USA with a really wide range of dress styles and pricing. I wanted a romantic, classic, and somewhat understated dress that would be easy to carry overseas and looked appropriate in the streets of Dublin for photos.

David’s Bridal was where I first looked because I knew I’d find something lovely without breaking the bank! I found my dress right away and I never looked anywhere else. It was very easy! 

Zach’s suit is from Brooks Brothers. We actually went in to the store hoping to buy a few nice shirts for wedding festivities and ended up leaving with his suit too! 

Why did you choose your wardrobes and what you loved about it. Also lease provide details of the grooms suit and where this was from and if by any designer and what style/colour.

What I loved most about my dress was that it was mostly a creamy white colour but had a blush colour underneath the lace on the bodice. To add some sparkle, I found a rhinestoned belt that matched the same blush colour on the bodice to tie it all together. Because my dress was mostly backless with a touch of lace, I opted to not wear a veil so it could be shown! I worked with Precious Petals to have a romantic, whimsical flower crown made instead.

I wore a red rose flower crown at my parent’s wedding when I was 4 years old, so wearing a pink rose flower crown at my own wedding 24 years later was really nostalgic! I think it all ended up looking perfect in The Rose Room and also outside in the city.For our wedding colours, we picked emerald green for Ireland and pink because why not? We were getting married in The Rose Room so pink made sense and looks great with green!

For the bridal party, I found a wide variety of velvet green dresses from Baltic Born that they could chose from. My brother, who is somewhat of an aficionado for the finer things in life and knows everything about everything, recommended we check out OTAA for the ties and pocket squares for Zach and his groomsmen. OTAA is a really trendy, fun tie company based in Australia with clever packaging that we even used in the groomsmen proposal boxes.

We found an emerald green option and they perfectly matched the bridal party dresses! As for the suits, we just asked they all wear black suits with a white shirt and black shoes. Despite everyone’s suit being from different places, they all looked great together! 

What was your favourite moment from the day? You can both include your favourite moment or moments from the day and any cute/funny memories.

Zach says his favourite moment of the day was seeing me come down the aisle (awww)! He also noted that the entire ceremony was perfect because it was relaxed, intimate, and exactly how we wanted it. I can’t help but agree with him! I loved how sweet our ceremony was and that we incorporated some Irish traditions. Our photographer gave us some inspiration for this by sharing some unique traditions she captured at previous weddings. We had our celebrant initiate a ring blessing while our harpist played a beautiful solo and at the end, we “tied the knot” during a hand-fasting ceremony. It was lovely! 

A shared favorite moment happened while we were taking photos around Dublin after our ceremony. Dena, our photographer, had us sitting on a bench for photos outside of The Rag Trader – a local pub. The manager saw us and invited us inside to pour a pint of Guinness behind the bar! It was such a fun, spur of the moment addition to our day that we will remember forever. For the rest of our photos, locals and various tour groups cheered us on as we walked around. It felt like the entire city was celebrating with us! 

Last, but not least, our absolute favourite part of the whole thing was being in Ireland with our closest loved ones! We are beyond lucky to have been surrounded by so much love and support during our wedding week. We can’t thank everyone enough for helping us create memories that will last a lifetime. 

Do you have any advice for other brides or grooms-to-be planning during this time?

Our best advice is to make your wedding exactly the way you want it…not how you think it is has to be. I am not sure if it is the same in Ireland, but in America, large weddings with 100+ people are extremely common and costs on average $30,000 for just one afternoon/evening. We decided that we’d rather be able to do more with less people and had a guest list primarily made up of our immediately family and/or the wedding party. Because it was a small group, we were able to make it a week-long affair with different activities each day including day trips to The Cliffs of Moher and Blarney Castle, a tour of the Guinness Storehouse, a cocktail master class at The Curious Mister, and a visit to a nearby, romantic speakeasy called The Vintage Cocktail Club. It was truly just a big, fun trip with our closest loved ones and that is exactly the way we wanted it! 

I think if you want a traditional wedding DO IT! If you want to have a planned “elopement” somewhere unique and private either alone or with your parents, DO IT! If you want to have a “micro-wedding” local or overseas, DO IT! There are no rules, truly. Once you get it the mindset that this is YOUR day and it can be however you dream it, the planning process becomes really fun and easy. However your wedding looks, it’ll be the best day of your lives as long as you stay true to what you want as a couple and have an amazing photographer (like we did).

Venue: The Clarence Hotel

Dress: David’s Bridal

Suit: Brooks Brothers

Bridal party dresses: Baltic Born

MUA: Cami (The Bride)

Hair: Cami (The Bride)

Flowers: Precious Petals Florists

Fake flowers for décor: Polka Dot Events

Shoes: Rag & Co

Décor and fun props: Polka Dot events

Music: Clara Booth Harpist

Cake and Cup-cakes: Queen of Tarts

Invitations: The Knot