The Proposal… we had been in Dunfanaghy, Donegal to see the New Year in with some friends. On New Years Day Andrew insisted we went to the beach for a walk before setting off for home and I agreed it would be good to blow away the cobwebs. When we got to the beach there were about 100 crazy people taking part in a New Years Day dip, we walked
about 3/4 of the beach and Andrew suddenly stopped and got down on one knee. It was a massive shock, I think it was about 10 seconds before I could manage to say anything! He told me after that he wanted to ask much sooner on the walk but didn’t want the audience of swimmers! He had asked my Dad for my hand in marriage on Boxing Day which was lovely.

The Vision for the day... Marquee, hog roast, Pimms, bunting, flowers from the garden, luggage tags, brown paper, vintage tea cups, Eton Mess, fiddle and squeeze-box, beer bath, tea lights. We wanted a country wedding in Donegal sunshine..exactly what we got!

The Planning process… Andrew is very organised and loves spreadsheets. I am disorganised and read a lot of wedding magazines. It seemed to work! We had a lot of help from friends and family throughout the process, and the wedding day itself was the collective effort of so many wonderful people.

The Venue… my best friend Katie Magowan’s family are close friends and her Dad is my Godfather. They offered to hold the reception at their house at Ballagh in Malin, Donegal. My family had been holidaying with them in Malin since I was a baby so it really meant a lot to me that we were having our wedding at their beautiful house where I had spent so many summers. For the past few years Andrew and I had been going to Donegal, we both love the place and were so lucky to have our wedding in Malin. The little church in the village is my Mothers family church so it was really special to get married there.

The Dress + Accesories… the dress was Essense of Australia, from Angel Star in Carrickfergus. I had an incredible dressmaker who tailored the dress to fit me perfectly and made some little changes to enhance the beautiful detail. My shoes were from Kurt Geiger, they got kicked off once the first dance was over! A good friend had made beautiful pearl jewellery for me and my bridesmaids, and Andrew had bought me a gorgeous Tiffany necklace which was given to me as I was getting ready in the morning.

Finding the dress… I knew that for some people dress shopping could turn out to be a long process, so I wasn’t expecting to find my dress in the first place I looked! I went to Angel Star with  Katie M just to have a bit of a look, I hadn’t even considered styles or budgets. Katie cried when I tried the first dress on saying ‘that’s it, that’s your dress’! The second dress I tried on Katie cried again and said ‘no, that’s it, that’s the one’! I was thinking I’m going to be one of those brides that tries on 500 dresses, and Katie will cry at every one. But when I saw it in the mirror I absolutely loved it decided that was the one I wanted. I went to a few more dress shops but kept coming back to the second dress.

Groom’s attire… we went traditional with the boys clothes, they all wore morning suits from Bellinghams, Ballymena. They all looked so smart. The photos of them getting ready in the morning are great, Andrew must have pinned everyone’s buttonholes and helped with all the cufflinks!

The Readings + Music… my uncle read a verse from the Bible and we sang Be Thou My Vision and One More Step Along The World I Go. At the Pimms reception we had beautiful traditional Irish music from local musicians on the flute, fiddle and squeeze-box. Our first dance was To Make You Feel My Love, performed by Andrews sisters– a truly special moment. Our band A Little Bitter were brilliant, they kept the dance floor filled all night. At one point the Best Man was having an air guitar battle with someone, next thing the guitarist is in the crowd playing his cordless guitar behind his head, class!

The Flowers… I had no idea what I wanted for the flowers. Just about a year before the wedding I got a photo message from Katie M saying what about this– she had mocked up a bridal bouquet from the flowers in the garden at Ballagh. It was beautiful! Katie was up at the crack of dawn on the morning of the wedding to make the wedding bouquets, and had arranged the table flowers the night before. I’m sure her creativity was a burden to her around the time of the wedding..I really took advantage!

The Cake… there are so many shapes, sizes and flavours, the possibilities are literally endless for the wedding cake. Some cakes
we looked at were so intricate and ornate but I really just wanted something relatively plain and unfussy, Andrews only  stipulation was that one cake had to be chocolate. We eventually decided on a 3 tier square white cake, with ivory ribbon and bead detail around the base of each cake, and my Mum decorated it with Ivy trails. The cake itself was polystyrene (which was quite hard to cut!) and we had a lemon, a chocolate with chocolate fudge icing, and a fruit cake which were with the
caterers cut and ready to go with tea and coffee.

The Details + Décor… its the small details that make a wedding your own. A friend knocked up about a mile of bunting which looked brilliant. The jar centrepieces were decorated with brown paper and jute twine. The lovely badge favours were made by a friend. The bud vase on top of the cake had been on my Mother’s and Grandmother’s wedding cakes. We tried not to over decorate or get too twee, the house with its beautiful orangerie, garden, stable bar, boathouse deck and its amazing location were in themselves enough.

Memorable moments… I had arrived at the church about 15 minutes late, feeling a bit flustered and nervous. Mum travelled with my Bridesmaids and arrived a minute before myself and Dad. We were getting into the procession formation outside the church and just about to walk to the door when Mum says ‘Oh God I’m supposed to be in there already’. She galloped over the gravel in her heels and the guests wolf whistled and cheered as she jogged down the aisle! We could hear all this outside, and I burst out laughing. All the nerves and anxiety melted away and I was ready to get married!

Advice for other couples… It will be stressful at times. Bridemaidzilla used to say to me when I got a bit stressed..at the end
of the day, as long as there is a place to get married and someone to marry you both– anything else is a bonus.

Credit where credit’s due…

caterers- Janes Kitchen

dresses- Angel Star, Carrickfergus angelstarbrides.com

wedding cars– R J Fleck, Ballymena 028 2587 1686

cake- Cakes of Gold

hair– Raymond Doherty, Carndonagh 074 9374235