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THE COUPLE
Catherine, accountant, and Chris, engineer.
THEY LIVE
in Belfast.
THE VENUE
Tankardstown House, Co Meath.
PHOTOGRAPHY
The wonderful Sylvia at Spellbound Photography. Sylvia made me feel completely at ease throughout the entire day, which made me that much more excited for the photos. When they did arrive, we were blown away. Our unreserved happiness is shining through the entire gallery.
THEY MET
The old reliable – Tinder.
THE PROPOSAL
Christmas time in New York City was the perfect backdrop for Chris’ proposal plans. After a couple of days sightseeing and taking in the NYC holiday spirit, Chris had planned the proposal on a trip to the Statue of Liberty. In the crisp morning sunshine, a quiet spot was the scene for the proposal moment. After a few nervous and heartfelt words, Chris popped the question and I was completely shocked – it was a resounding yes! A cocktail in the Dead Rabbit Bar kicked off the celebrations and we ended the day ice skating below the beautifully decorated Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Centre.
THE WEDDING ATTIRE
My dress was bespoke Sassi Holford from Petticoat Lane Bridal in Hillsborough. I had my heart set on a dress with sleeves, but none I’d tried on before then seemed to suit. However, Sassi Halford was able to add sleeves to a bodice that suited perfectly. The hairpiece and veil were also purchased from Petticoat Lane, as we were just wowed when we tried the whole thing on together.
The real conversation piece was the green shoes. My sister had worn the Loeffler Randall shoes for her wedding and gone on about how comfortable they were. I tried on some other colours but my heart was set on the green. The suits were classic Herbie Frogg tuxes from Collar & Tie in Lisburn; once we decided on a classic tux look the Herbie Frogg was the clear winner. The Mother of the Groom sourced green bow ties that matched the bridesmaids perfectly. The bridesmaids’ dresses were Folkster – it has such a great selection (although the bridesmaids all ended up picking the same dress).
THE CEREMONY
One of the main reasons we chose Tankardstown for our venue was the beautiful orangery, where we had our ceremony. We chose Amy Browne as our celebrant and she guided us through the whole process of personalising our humanist ceremony. Although we did not go for a religious wedding, we knew we wanted it to be fairly traditional and were able to accomplish that. We selected three readings for our brothers and sisters to do, a mix of traditional and pieces that were personal to us. Amy made us feel at ease throughout the whole process, which allowed us to totally relax on the day and really take in the ceremony as it was happening.
THE RECEPTION
The cocktail reception was held in the beautiful reception rooms of Tankardstown House. The weather wasn’t great, but the fires were lit and there was plenty of Guinness to go around so everyone was happy. The ceremony room was transformed and felt like a different venue once the sun had gone down. The staff at Tankardstown House are second to none, and we were so looked after the whole day.
THE ENTERTAINMENT
For the ceremony, we chose Appassionata String Quartet. They had a great repertoire which included some songs personal to us that we were delighted to be able to include. They also played the cocktail reception and had the kids dancing away. The Bentley Boys were the wedding band; they’d played at my best friend’s wedding and I remember the dance floor being packed all night – which is exactly what they delivered for us.