WHEN REBECCA O’NEILL and her fiance Greg were searching for their dream wedding venue, they didn’t look to Pinterest for inspiration.
No, Rebecca simply chose the place she’d worked for five years.
Dublin’s Natural History Museum, or the ‘Dead Zoo’ as it’s fondly known, became their dream nuptial surroundings.
The couple were the first to ever use it as their wedding venue, which truly made for some extremely unique wedding photographs.
Rebecca told DailyEdge.ie that she spent five years working in the museum on an inventory project.
I catalogued everything. Those labels you see on everything, that was me.
She explained that the OPW detail a load of historic sites approved by the HSE for hire for weddings.
They include Dublin Castle, The Casino at Marino, and Collins Barracks.
Getting married at such unusual sites planted the idea in Rebecca’s head.
A few people had inquired [at the museum], but no one followed through before us. We got it all oked and signed off, and just happened to be the first.
The venue made for some amazing photographs in the truly unique surroundings
The most unusual part of the untraditional ceremony was definitely the photos, Rebecca adds.
Their photographer Emma Russell certainly had no shortage of creative backdrops
“People just amused themselves”, Rebecca added. “We didn’t have any kind of reception, they just buzzed around”.
She said the nicest part of it all was letting her family and friends enjoy the quiet museum like she had back when she worked on the cataloguing project.
I worked there back in 2008 when it was closed to the public (a staircase collapsed). It was lovely to show my family and friends this wonderful thing the way I saw it. They could meander around in peace.
The museum is closed to the public on Mondays, but sees up to 300,000 people pass through it every year.
The happy couple hired a vintage London bus to take their guests to the evening celebrations at the Morrison hotel, which is a lot more traditional.
Yeah, we did our mad stuff at the museum.
Truly a way to do it in top style
Have you had an unconventional wedding in Ireland? Hit me up at nicola@dailyedge.ie.
