Harley Weir Worked With Dilara Findikoglu On Her Fairytale Irish Wedding Dresses
Dilara Findikoglu made Harley Weir’s wedding dress the night before the bride flew to Ireland to marry John Kelleher in Lismore Castle. Crafted using Look 26 from the Turkish designer’s autumn/winter 2023 collection as the template, Weir trawled Etsy for “bits and bobs” to soup up the already exquisite corsetry that Findikoglu had deemed not quite ornate enough for her photographer friend’s wedding. “Let’s take it to the next level,” said Dilara, who kept in cahoots with the vintage-loving bride as Harley truffled out 100-year-old fabrics, while the designer herself was in the throes of finishing her spring/summer 2026 collection.
Vogue Runway readers will know that Weir modelled in Findikoglu’s autumn/winter 2025 show, in which models were invited to play moody but ethereal medieval rockstars who didn’t give a f*ck, and subsequently had the audience spellbound. It was heaven for Harley, who says she would live in period dress if she could. “I felt like a princess I must say,” she reflects of wearing her wedding dress: a couture-adjacent gown festooned with bows and decorated with a pre-Raphaelite-meets-Princess Leia veil, again imagined by Dilara. “It was this beautiful, ephemeral thing,” shares Harley, who delighted in seeing mud creeping onto its delicate lengths as she took a post-ceremony turn around the gardens in a pair of Manolos she found on Vestiaire and bleached in her bathtub. “I like clothes that have a story.”
There were more tales to come. Harley’s bridesmaids, who all wore pretty pink Simone Rocha dresses, helped Weir to de-corset and slip into one of Jaimee Callon McKenna’s crochet confections for the wedding dinner of pea soup, roast beef and crème brûlée. “I sent Jaimee some ancient stone circle patterns from Scotland,” notes the bride, who took the bewitching aesthetic to the next level with a chain crochet necklace by Arielle de Pinto, a pair of wooden shoes whittled by Callon McKenna’s boyfriend, Paspaley pearl earrings, and a vintage YSL bag scored, again, when the Vestiaire gods were smiling on her.
“I wish I got more pictures of the third look,” laments Weir from Bordeaux, where she is honeymooning. That last dress – another deconstructed Dilara number cinched to high heaven – was the cherry on top of the cake for a bride, who never thought she’d get married, but started a “wedding” folder on her phone (just in case!) that comprised a single Findikoglu runway look (yep, you guessed it: AW23 look 26). Any sceptics who raised an eyebrow at the prospect of Dilara’s elaborate creations surviving the dancefloor were proven wrong when Weir defied tradition by opting for a first cèilidh over a first dance. “There’s something about spinning around,” she smiles, remembering the 40 guests who gave it their all in the hauntingly beautiful castle.
The gothic setting befitted two romantics, who met at a house party nine months ago and got engaged in May while holed up in Botany Bay during a heatwave. (John later got down on one knee in the walled gardens of Brockwell Park, holding a ring dotted with a “jardin” of emeralds.) Weir’s speech, meanwhile, touched on the Valentine’s Day encounter that cemented John as her soulmate: each unknowingly bought their new lover a pack of matches hiding a little heart inside. “I met my match(box),” Harley laughs now. In keeping with their whirlwind courtship, Weir celebrated her hen party the night before the wedding by belting out karaoke classics in Lismore, while wandering around the hallowed halls sipping drinks accessorised with naughty straws. John went fishing nearby with the stags.
“It was a pretty traditional wedding,” claims Harley, who did her own natural make-up, save for a slick of 24-hour lipstick: a TikTok phenomenon she stole to “avoid smudging while snogging”. Still, a flick through the photographs she entrusted Alexander Ingham Brooke with taking – of the pair exchanging vows with rings made by melting down old jewellery, being sung out of the church by John’s opera-singer sister, or dancing to folk music in Findikoglu’s fallen-angel attire – shows this wedding was anything but run of the mill. “I felt excited and honoured,” says Harley of wearing the work of her contemporary fashion hero on her wedding day. “Her work is like a fairytale.”
Alexander Ingham Brooke1/43“I’m a vintage girl. If it was up to me, I’d wear period dress every day.”
Alexander Ingham Brooke2/43Harley walked in the Dilara Findikoglu show last season when, she says, she was in the throes of passion with her now-husband: “As soon as we decided to get married, I asked Dilara if she would make me something.”
Alexander Ingham Brooke3/43“You can’t wear this, it’s not a wedding dress,” decreed Dilara, who went above and beyond to create a fairytale version of the AW23 look Harley had saved in her “wedding” folder, despite rushing to finalise her own SS26 collection during London Fashion Week.
Alexander Ingham Brooke4/43“She was up until 2.40am finishing it,” says the bride of her Dilara Findikoglu wedding gown: a wildly romantic adaptation of a sheer AW23 look, made church-appropriate with vintage lace sourced by Harley herself from Etsy.
Alexander Ingham Brooke5/43“It felt like wearing a cloud, it was so beautiful,” says Harley of the veil sourced from just one of the vintage fairs she visited.
Alexander Ingham Brooke6/43No hairstylist was needed owing to Harley’s natural mermaid waves and that gorgeous gloss with Tash Spencer at Josh Wood.
Alexander Ingham Brooke7/43Weir had three bridesmaids, who all wore adorable pink Simone Rocha dresses she likened to “good churchwear”.
Alexander Ingham Brooke8/43“There’s a purity to Simone’s work,” shares Harley, who had visited the designer’s Lismore Castle exhibition displaying one of Weir’s photographs. “I thought it would be nice to have Simone’s pieces back there again.”
Alexander Ingham Brooke9/43Good churchwear, indeed.
Alexander Ingham Brooke10/43Harley eschewed bridal make-up in favour of natural skin, made easy by a healthy gua-sha stone routine prior to the wedding and a liberal dose of moisturiser on the day.
11/43The moment Harley and John both realised they had met their match.
George Eyres12/43The groom wore a suit fashioned by his friend Cypress Rollins and a tie belonging to Harley’s father, who couldn’t be there on the day.
Yulia Zinshtein13/43Pinned to the groom’s lapel? A thistle made exquisite by Rebekah Kosonen Bide.
Alexander Ingham Brooke14/43Harley and John met at the altar at 2pm – “I was a little late, but not too late!” says the bride, who walked down the aisle with her mother.
George Eyres15/43It was important to John to get married in a church, and the service was made all the more memorable by the groom’s sister, Rita who played the traditional wedding march on the organ.
16/43Lois, John’s other opera-singing sister, sang Bach’s “Ave Maria” and “Ombra Mai Fu” by Handel while Harley’s cousin, Siannie, played the harp.
Alexander Ingham Brooke17/43The bride carried a bouquet of dried flowers wrapped in tulle, while the bridesmaids picked fresh foliage from the garden to accent their Simone Rocha dresses.
Alexander Ingham Brooke18/43The bride walked down the aisle to the “Wedding March” as John’s sister played the organ.
Alexander Ingham Brooke19/43Harley and John made their own wedding rings out of wax, then used gold melted down from the bride’s old earrings and a necklace belonging to the groom.
Alexander Ingham Brooke20/43Dominic Jones, the creative director of 886 by The Royal Mint, found the black diamond set that would form Harley’s final engagement ring and marry perfectly with her wedding band.
Alexander Ingham Brooke21/43“It’s a funny story,” says Harley when asked who she entrusted to do the photography. When her cousin was forced to cancel the day before, she looked to Alexander Ingham Brooke: “He’s a really romantic guy with quite a biblical, soulful aesthetic”.
George Eyres22/43Although Ingham Brooke originally couldn’t initially make the small wedding, when Weir was left in the lurch on the photography front, he moved mountains to get to Ireland.
Alexander Ingham Brooke23/43The couple originally used Lismore Castle as the template to find a wedding venue in Scotland, where Weir’s father resides, but when the beloved Irish venue was available at short notice, they booked the original.
Alexander Ingham Brooke24/43After the ceremony, the bridal party mooched around the gardens afterwards. Harley loved that her dress got all muddy and her 100-year-old veil started to fall apart.
Alexander Ingham Brooke25/43The creative couple, who picked “probably the most traditional wedding menu of all time: pea soup, roast beef and crème brûlée with rhubarb”.
Alexander Ingham Brooke26/43In the end, natural wine was their only modern concession to the menu.
Alexander Ingham Brooke27/43Weir chose to keep her own camera in its case to stay present and “stop fussing”.
Alexander Ingham Brooke28/43The couple chose a wedding party of 40 to ensure they could spend time with everyone.
Alexander Ingham Brooke29/43When the back of the wedding gown is just as devastatingly pretty as the front…
Alexander Ingham Brooke30/43The night before the wedding, Harley’s bridesmaids gave her “the works” – a hen do with all the props and the requisite game of “Mr and Mrs”.
Alexander Ingham Brooke31/43Weir’s one concession to bridal make-up was a 24h-hour lipstick by Sheglam – the only non-toxic brand she could find that did the whole “viral peel-off TikTok phenomenon”: “I couldn’t have lipstick all over my face like I was eating spaghetti!”
Alexander Ingham Brooke32/43Visual proof it was worth every minute scrawling on Etsy et al to find the perfect accents for Harley’s wedding dress.
Alexander Ingham Brooke33/43The morning after the night before, the married couple travelled from Ireland to Paris, where they continued their journey to Bordeaux for the honeymoon.
Alexander Ingham Brooke34/43Lismore gave seriously good background for the myriad photo opportunities.
Alexander Ingham Brooke35/43Harley’s Manolos were originally bright purple, but she bleached the princessy heels in her bathtub. “I wouldn’t have done it with a brand new pair,” she admits of the week-long process it took to tone down the diamanté-flecked pair found on Vestiaire Collective.
Alexander Ingham Brooke36/43Weir fell for Jaimee Callon McKenna’s textile work a while ago owing to its delicate, spidery quality, and sent the designer ancient stone circle references for her own dinner dress look.
Alexander Ingham Brooke37/43Harley and Jaimee decided that her diaphanous evening dress demanded a pair of wooden shoes to complement its artisanal, tactile quality, and so, the designer’s boyfriend whittled her a pair that were surprisingly comfortable.
Alexander Ingham Brooke38/43The self-professed vintage girl also scored a YSL bag on Vestiaire with an ornamental handle to chime with her heavy Arielle de Pinto crochet chains.
Alexander Ingham Brooke39/43A highlight of the day was decorating the cake, made by April at Apple Dee, which comprised a coffee layer, a gluten-free Venetian carrot sponge middle (thank you Nigella) and a sticky toffee base, with an added rice crispie insert to boot.
Alexander Ingham Brooke40/43“John loves wood and metal references,” shares the bride of the inspiration, while the kids on the guest list gave the bake some extra creative flourishes on the morning of the wedding.
Alexander Ingham Brooke41/43A ceilidh was the perfect celebration of Weir’s Scottish heritage and Kelleher’s Irish lineage. Plus, says Harley, “there’s something about spinning around…”
42/43The photographer had packed away his camera by the time the second Dilara dress hit the dancefloor, but merry guests managed to capture the deconstructed corsetry for posterity.
43/43Friends of the newlyweds took it in turns to DJ. The brief from Harley and John? “Music to please a crowd aged from one to 90!”
