Today on Marry Me Ink is this stunning wedding full of vintage trinkets and heirlooms and of course a gorgeous tattooed bride named Claire and her new husband James from Karen McGowran Photography.

“James and I met in our local gym. I caught him eyeing up my bum and we both couldn’t help giggling!”

I went over to him and offered him the 1kg dumbbells, I don’t think he was expecting such cheek! We went on our first date a few days later where he thrashed me at pool, bowling and “bop-it” – no letting the lady win!! After that first date he kind of never left and officially moved in three months later! One of the first few times he met my mam, she was at my house with her friends having dinner. My mam (a sweet innocent lady), tripped over and face planted James’s crotch, much to the amusement of everyone! It has been a running joke since that she has a crush on him and James delighted in bringing this up in his speech.

James and I love hosting our close friends and family so when we found our venue, we were thrilled to find out it had a 20 berth cottage at the back. We invited our friends and family to stay for the two nights before the wedding where we hosted a big party and a pamper day for the ladies. It was fantastic to be able to make a full weekend of it and have our nearest and dearest there in the lead up to our big day.

James and I are very competitive so we wanted to incorporate that into our wedding day– hence the limbo competition. We also hired a boxing machine, where the pad comes down and you punch it as hard as you can to reveal your score. There were some very competitive guests and it was only at the last hour that someone beat James! Along the competitive line we also had a “guess how many sweets in the jar” competition and the winner won the massive jar of sweets.

We love playing pranks on each other and on each table we hid a whoopee cushion on a seat. We also wanted to capture lots of silly photographs which our wonderful photographer Karen McGowran did perfectly.

The highlight of our wedding was most definitely the speeches. James arranged for my 4 bridesmaids and brother to do a short speech about me which was a total surprise, it was the first time I cried that day! My sister in law also read an amazing poem about me and James which captured our life together and was both very funny and very emotional – more tears! Then James’ had written out his speech about me and to my surprise asked me to read it out! It was all about reasons why he loved me “I love you because you make me put fake tan on your back and the bits you can’t reach!”

We also had a limbo game made by my brother Chris comprising two frames and a long stick, decorated in a Hawaiian theme. Once everyone had loosened up after a few drinks, the DJ coordinated a limbo competition where loads of our guests joined in, old and young.

As a “guest book”, guests were invited to type a note on my Mam’s first typewriter – it was amusing trying to read them all afterwards! For the table plan and card box I used my Granparents old suitcases – they still had their name and address tags on them!

We made our own sweetie table using vintage cut glass crystal vases and our kind friends Sunita and Kash donated all of the sweets.

I think my favourite heirloom piece was the Cake Topper which was the one my parents had at their wedding, our friend Tom made our fruit cake and we had a cheese cake to satisfy my love of cheese! We cut the cakes with my granddads bayonet from WW2 – I was assured it had been well cleaned!

Thanks to our fabulous florist, Floral Charm, who provided our bouquets and bulk flowers, my friends and I set up the table center pieces the day before. I sourced most of the centerpieces from flea markets, charity shops and my own stash of family heirlooms!

I always knew I wanted a vintage cream lace wedding dress with high neck and full length sleeves. Finding one proved impossible and I ended up buying the 2nd one I tried on which was a strapless number – something I said I never wanted! I am glad it showed off my tattoos but that wasn’t the reason I chose it. It did however encourage me to get a couple of extra tattoos before the big day. 

How gorgeous does Claire look? I love how she’s showing her tattoos off but I also love her bolero, and James looks awesome in his suit & bow tie from Odermark – I love the colours! Thank you to them both for sharing their special day with Marry Me Ink today! Be sure to leave them both and the wonderful Karen McGowran Photography some love!