Twin Sisters Share Joint Wedding with Complementary Vintage-Inspired Gowns
Orlagh and Gemma McCloskey, twin sisters based in London, decided to share their wedding day after Orlagh started planning her wedding to Brook Lomas and realized that Gemma and her partner Remko Snel might also want to join in. Seven months later, Remko proposed, and the idea of a shared wedding felt like a natural decision.
The brides, both with a love of vintage and a shared artistic aesthetic, easily navigated any style decisions together. However, what mattered most to them was having their loved ones together in one place and time. Gemma explains that the wedding wasn’t about them, the brides, or what they were wearing, but about having a great time with everyone they loved.
The grooms were also on board with the idea and happy to share the day. The sisters’ joint wedding was a beautiful celebration of love and family, with both brides wearing complementary vintage-inspired gowns.
The wedding ceremony took place in Gloucester House, Birr, County Offaly, the sisters’ hometown in Ireland, in September of last year. For most of their Irish guests, it was their first time attending a civil service, let alone a twin wedding. Initially, the sisters kept the idea to themselves, fearing that people might find it strange. However, they realized that doing their wedding their own way, rather than complying with expectations, was the best approach. They also wanted to avoid the typical big Catholic wedding that everyone in their hometown usually has.
During the ceremony, the sisters walked down the aisle together, each accompanied by their father, Dermot McCloskey. The grooms had to switch position when they realized they were in the wrong place, resulting in a funny moment that made the sisters laugh and created a great photo opportunity. While Gemma and Remko exchanged vows, Orlagh and Brook watched from the front, and vice versa. Orlagh fondly remembers the moment when they hugged each other outside the ceremony, with tears in their eyes, after saying their vows.
The grooms entrusted most of the wedding planning to Orlagh and Gemma, who chose a relaxed and charming theme with fairy lights, white and green garden flowers, and personalized hand-painted menus and signs featuring Irish emblems. The dominant fashion theme was Rixo dresses, with bridesmaids donning custom soft blue and green dresses, and guests and even the celebrant wearing Orlagh’s designs.
Although Orlagh and Gemma’s wedding dresses were both custom-made Rixo designs, they did not intentionally coordinate their looks. They share a similar taste, and neither wanted a traditional “princess” wedding gown. The result was a beautiful and unique wedding celebration that perfectly reflected the sisters’ personalities and style.
Gemma chose a jacquard fabric based on an existing Rixo fabric and a silhouette that flattered her figure. She opted for a deep V-neckline, a slinky fit with a low back, bell sleeves, and a slight train. Her dress was not a traditional or princess style. However, she left it too late and only tried on the finished wedding dress on the day of the wedding. The sleeves were not even attached when she left for Ireland.
On the other hand, Orlagh researched silhouettes from the 1930s to create her dress. She added vintage touches to make it more personal, such as restoring delicate lace from an old dress she purchased in Portobello and adding it as a trim to her gown. She drew a design by hand for the front of the dress, inspired by an old vintage dress she loved, and they appliquéd it as a patch on the front. Orlagh also wanted to incorporate lace, but she preferred vintage-looking lace, reminiscent of old vintage slips.
She couldn’t find a silk that had the same buttery texture as vintage silk, but her supplier had a contact who could wash silk to make it look old. Although it was not vintage silk, it almost looked like it. Orlagh and her team were still stitching lace onto the dress days before the wedding. The result was a beautiful gown that combined vintage-inspired details and modern elements, perfectly reflecting Orlagh’s style and personality.
Both brides then wore vintage lace-adorned veils: Orlagh sourced hers from Jane Bourvis in Portobello, and Gemma found her very delicate veil on eBay. “I found a veil on eBay that was 100 years old,” she says. “The seller told me, ‘I can’t tell you how fragile this veil is, if you sneeze it’ll fall apart.’ She sent it over and it had the most gorgeous embroidery and was the perfect colour for the dress, but the lace on it was so, so fragile and so it’s destroyed now. Even the box was totally falling apart!”
