Real bride story: Rebecca Smyth

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 30 seconds

---

Our next RD bride, the beautiful Rebecca Smyth happily married her high school sweetheart in an intimate Coronavirus free ceremony on a beautiful Country Estate in Ireland. Rebecca walked down the aisle wearing our Ariel gown.
Being a bride is full of exciting moments and joyful memories!
This is her story, telling us about her magical forest wedding & perfect mermaid dress. After all, love always wins!
 
 

Where or how did you discover Riki Dalal?

I had spent a lot of time researching dress styles online, particularly through Pinterest and Instagram. I came across Riki Dalal during my search online and just loved her designs. I couldn’t stop swooning over her dresses so I decided to check if any bridal stores in Ireland stocked their designs and I found a lovely little store just over an hour away from me! 

 
How was your experience in the boutique?

I bought my wedding dress in a lovely little Riki Dalal Stockist in Ireland called Marie Therese Bridal. The bridal shop was just beautiful and the staff was so helpful. I loved so many Riki Dalal dresses that I had seen online but just adored the Ariel gown from their Shakespeare collection. I showed a picture of it to the lady in the store hoping that she could find something similar and couldn’t believe it when she told me that she had that very dress held in her stockroom. I also thought it was so romantic that my dress was from the Shakespeare collection given that I studied English Literature at University and just love Shakespeare. It was definitely meant to be!

What made you choose your dress? What was your favorite thing about it?

I had always wanted a lace, off shoulder style wedding gown. I absolutely love wearing off-shoulder style dresses and have always found sweetheart necklines so flattering. I knew from both my pins online and my own shopping search that this was the style I suited and loved. As soon as the lady brought out my dress I honestly just knew. I couldn’t stop staring at it. It was the most stunning and unique dress I had seen. I particularly loved the top of my dress as it was made from the most beautiful and delicate lace and had a nude underlay which made its intricate design really stand out. I had always wanted a long train and I just loved how this dress fitted and fell into such a naturally beautiful, long train too. I had my off-shoulder sleeves altered a little to make finer straps and it was just perfect. It was like something from a dream and everything I could have hoped for!

How did you know it was the one?

Looking back, I knew from the moment I saw my dress and couldn’t stop staring at it that it was the one. I completely forgot about all the other dresses hanging beside it! I knew I had fallen in love with my dress but decided to go home and sleep on it as I knew it was a big decision and had an appointment to visit another store the following day. I went to my next appointment but I just kept comparing each dress to my Ariel gown and couldn’t get it out of my head. I just knew then that I wouldn’t be able to wear any other dress on my wedding day.

 
Tell us all about your wedding day!

Adam and I got married in a forest on a beautiful Country Estate in Ireland. 
We were originally due to marry in April but our wedding was canceled due to the virus. Adam and I have been together since school and were just so excited to get married so we decided to have an intimate ceremony with our closest family and friends a few months later on the 26th of August instead. 

 
Our wedding was held at Drenagh Estate- a beautiful Irish venue set on the most breathtaking grounds. We married in their ‘Moon Garden’ nestled among the flowers and trees of their woodland area. Our wedding style was very relaxed and botanical, made up of foliage and soft florals in whites, pale blush and peach. I walked through the forest and down the cobbled aisle of the moon garden with my father to beautiful Irish music played by our harpist. I thought I would be really nervous, but I was just so excited and couldn’t stop smiling! We married under a floral arch that I made myself (growing up, I had worked in a flower shop so flowers were very important to me) of foliage, hydrangea, stock and roses – my favorite flowers! We had afternoon tea in the beautiful Georgian house after our ceremony and were so lucky to have our incredible photographer and videographer capture our day. I danced all night with my family and best friends, and we ended our night with tea and toast (made by the lovely little housekeeper) by the fire in the beautiful drawing room of Drenagh House. It was the happiest, most wonderful day and still feels like a dream. I cannot thank Riki Dalal enough for the special part you played in our day. Thank you, thank you!

Rebecca wore our Ariel gown from the Shakespeare Collection. Ariel is the stunning reinvention of a classic strapless mermaid gown made with symmetrical lace and ends with a long and marvelous train.