Saturday, April 14, 2012

Norman & Jessica's Destination Wedding + Photography Adventure (Part 7)

As we were busy getting ready for The Original Wedding Soiree bridal show tomorrow, I was thinking what better way to get prepared for talking to excited engaged couples than to think back to our own wedding last spring, and the adventure honeymoon road trip that followed.. {For you late-comers: we decided to take the wedding dress and all the camera gear with us to do our own wedding photos as we drove around Ireland! Here's Part 1 - The Proposal, Part 2 - The Wardrobe, Part 3 - The Adventure Begins, Part 4 - The Ceremony, Part 5 - The Awesome Place We Went for Lunch After the Ceremony, Part 6 - Dublin - The Honeymoon Begins}

So - after kissing Dublin goodbye, we were on our way..

Part 7 - Cork to Killarney


In Cork we stayed above the Bru Bar Pub, which happened to be hosting a very lively stag party when we arrived at about 7pm. Once we fought our way through the crowd and up the stairs we were amazed to find how quiet our room was. After making a quick dinner of chicken penne and a salad, we went for a lovely walk out in the rain through downtown Cork. After all the driving, it was nice to get out and stretch our legs.. but of course it wasn't long until we found ourselves seated once again - this time in the greatest little pub I've ever been in. There was nothing special about it, which was part of what made it so awesome. Just a place full of old tables and chairs where friends had gathered for a drink and a laugh. We sat at the very back wall and enjoyed the fact that we were there, in that weird way where you anticipate something for so long that you can barely believe it once you are finally doing it :)

The next morning, Norman wrote our initials in the condensation on the window in our room (which later became part of our wall art canvas)..


After breakfast, we went for another walk around the town - this time with daylight and no rain - it is exactly as lovely as you imagine :)




This is the best road sign I have seen in my whole life!


Down by the river there were these huge inflatable, tire-covered fenders (bumpers for big ships)



Our next stop was Clonakilty beach, which had these amazing rocks (actually, pretty much the whole of Ireland has amazing rocks - Norman still can't believe I need so many pictures of them ;)


Our rings, hanging out with some barnacles..



Here's the thing about beaches in Ireland - they are empty. Stunningly beautiful, and empty. (Also a bit cold and windy, but perfect for walking along..)


We drove down to Mizen head, which I think must be the windiest place in the world. There was only one other person there when we got to the end - a Croatian guy who was touring around Ireland on his motorcycle - we spoke to him for a while about the great things we had all been seeing, and then wished each other happy journeys and were back on our way to Killarney..


Killarney, if you ever get the chance to go, has one of the most magical national parks ever invented by nature :) We found a place to pull the car over for some wedding pictures near this picturesque bridge - the tricky part was that it was so windy that the clouds were flying by and the light kept changing from the time I would click the shutter (on timer) to the time it actually took the picture! Norman took a few shots of me with the most beautiful light in the world, and then we set up the tripod to do one together..




It started to pour rain not long after this shot, so we were back in the car and on our way to the next adventure!

Stayed tuned for our visit to the stunning "Ladies View" lookout.. {click here!}

xo Jessica + Norman

{Getting married? We don't only shoot our own wedding in Ireland - we would love to photograph yours too... wherever it is! Email us now to set up a consultation :)  }

Headband: Oh Dina!