Andy and Mary were married on Saturday, August 13, 2011 in St Patrick’s Church, Newport, with reception afterwards in Mulranny Park Hotel, Co Mayo.
After wooing Mary with his Scottish accent in a Dublin pub on St Patrick’s Day, Andy got down on one knee on a snowy night outside Edinburgh Castle and popped the question.
Their wedding theme was a classic mixture of cultures that included Andy’s Scottish roots and Mary’s Irish background. Think: kilts, bag-pipes and Irish music.
Their photographer, Gary Barrett, captured every moment, down to the beautiful shades of purple in the flowers, decor and bridesmaid’s dresses that complemented their romantic country venue.
Here is their love story…
We met… Six and a half years ago in the Barge Pub in Dublin. It was St Patricks Day and we were both out all day with friends. I met Andy while trying to order a drink across him at the bar near the end of the night. We kept in touch and the next week we had a slightly quieter follow-up date in town.
First impressions of Andy… I thought that he was gorgeous with a fabulous Scottish accent and very different to other guys. He treated me so well on our dates and still does!
Andy’s first impressions of Mary… Mary was beautiful and funny and within a couple of minutes we were chatting away like we’d known each other for years.
Our proposal… Andy proposed on bended knee on December 30, 2009 on a snowy night in the foreground of Edinburgh Castle. It came as a complete surprise and took a while to sink in. We bought the ring the next day from jewellers on Princes Street.
Our ceremony… We had a lovely personal ceremony conducted by Fr Declan Carroll my parish priest. He put everyone at ease and made the ceremony feel very relaxed. The Corrib String Quartet played beautifully during the Mass and even performed the Braveheart theme for us.
Our wedding/ theme colours… We had a Scottish/ Irish theme which was reflected in the music, flowers, stationary and kilts. My favourite colour purple was prominent throughout the flowers, bridesmaid’s dresses, candles, invitations and Mass booklets.
Our favourite part of the wedding… Greeting everyone in the receiving line outside the church and being piped into our evening reception by Andy’s friend Fergus McLeod.
My dress… was an ivory lace dress by Geraldine Tulloch who owns Forget me Not Designs in the Isle of Wight. I purchased it in the Town Bride in the Powerscourt Centre, South William Street. The owner there, Colm, was fantastic to work with and went above and beyond to tailor it to my needs. He dropped the neckline into a sweetheart for me, made lace straps to accompany it and sewed my mother’s brooch into the ribbon around the waist.
Our Photographer… was Gary Barrett. He was a pleasure to work with and kept things very relaxed on the day. We hardly knew he was in the house in the morning and he came prepared with an array of emergency items – most of which we ended up using! He captured wonderful facial expressions and everyone was very impressed with his photos.
Our venue… We always planned on having our wedding in the Mulranny Park Hotel due to the fabulous views of Clew Bay and the great food and service. Alison was extremely helpful in planning the day and we only had to meet her once to get everything organised.
Advice for other brides… Make sure you take time to do what you want to do on your day. I never left the dance floor!