Loughcrew Wedding - Crystal and Will's Destination Wedding in Ireland
Crystal Dyer and Will Janowitz chose Loughcrew Estate for their very special destination wedding in Ireland. Inspired by the beauty and magic of the location; a site of megalithic burial grounds dating back to approximately 3500BC and full of legends and tales of folklore, their day was nothing short of an old Irish fairytale!
They met at Will's childhood friend, Jordan Wolfson's art show. Jordan and Will grew up on the same street on the Upper West Side in NYC. Jordan is a well-known artist. Dragged by her own sister Maria, Crystal attended an exhibition of Jordan's, which had a small dinner afterwards. Will & Crystal sat next to each other at dinner and talked the whole night. Will never asked for Crystal's number, (he thought that he would find Crystal on facebook [Crystal didn't have a facebook]). He asked Jordan for Crystal's number and was teased accordingly. When he finally got her email, he asked if she would like to get coffee sometime when he returns from LA. Will stayed in LA for almost a month and they emailed back and forth. Crystal picked him up from the airport and the rest is art history.
The couple flew over to visit Ireland in 2016 and fell in love with the history and beauty of Loughcrew. “ We chose to get married on September 22nd which happened to be the Autumnal Equinox. Passage tombs on the site are aligned with the Equinox sunrise. In Cairn T at Loughcrew the back stone of the chamber is illuminated by a beam of light at sunrise on the Spring and Autumnal Equinoxes. The Irish name for the site is Sliabh na Cailli, which means "mountain of the hag". Legend has it that the monuments were created when a giant hag, striding across the land, dropped her cargo of large stones from her apron. Another of the cailleach's (cailleach Irish hag or witch) wonders is the Hag's chair. A massive chair-shaped stone that faces north, it is part of the kerb of Cairn T. Local tradition has it that a wish you make while sitting in it will come true”.
Other Irish storytellers have described her as a superhuman woman who could harvest a field faster than any man, a crone lamenting her youth, a banshee announcing a death, or a Christian nun. She is best known as Cailleach Bhearra. She is the subject of the ninth-century lament, "the Old Woman of Beare", and may be a later version of the ancient pagan sovereignty queens whose consent was required for kings to rule. Some scholars think she represented wild nature, as a prehistoric earth goddess.”
Crystal wore a unique Carolina Herrera couture gown, a vintage pearl tiara from More and More antiques in New York and finished off the look with the most stunning cascading bouquet of greenery by Fernwood Flowers. She was every bit the Irish Godess Queen! Her bridesmaids wore their own black dresses and matching black lace veils, they accompanied Crystal through the woods with white candles instead of flowers following behind the Uillean piper. A conjuring romance in a fairytale setting!
The dress - A Carolina Herrera couture piece.
Accessories - Pearl tiara from More & More Antiques UWS New York. www.MoreAndMoreAntiques.com
Hair -my bridesmaid, Aurora, braided my hair.
Make-up - I used MILK make-up products (I love the eye vinyl). www.MilkMakeUp.com
The flowers - Brigid Riley of Fernwood Flowers. She went above and beyond!
Bridesmaids - They chose their own black dress. They wore matching silk lace veils and held matching candles.
The highlight - Will: Seeing everyone we love who loves and supports us in one room. Crystal: Listening to all of the speeches at dinner. It was much more emotional than I ever imagined.
The Honeymoon - We went to the West Coast of Ireland. We love the Burren. We stayed at Gregans Castle Hotel.
Any advise for couples getting married soon- Remember to have fun! Whatever will be will be- you can't control everything.
Special mention - Our wedding planner, Daragh, is incredible! He stayed hours (until 2:30 am) after he was scheduled to leave (10:00 pm) to make sure all of the guests left on the correct buses. www.RainbowWeddings.ie
The Food - We didn't do a food tasting, and everything worked out. It was delicious! Andrew Holmes Catering: www.AndrewHolmesCatering.ie
The cake - Our friend, Lori Stern made the most amazing cake. I had an engraved sword stuck in the center of the cake that we pulled out and cut the cake with. Lori made some of her famous cookies that have pressed flowers in them. Then she made some special cookies that had symbols taken from the carvings on the stones from the Loughcrew Cairns. https://loriastern.com/
Second Shooter for Michelle Prunty - Hannah Jayne Rowe