How did you meet and get engaged?
We first met when I worked in a gym. Tommy came in as a guest with a member. I was instantly attracted to him (he just had that “something” people often talk about.) That weekend out on the town I saw him in a bar I was at. The chances of me being there that night were very high (bit of a habit for me) but for Tommy the chances were slim to none, so I took that as a “sign” and went for it. A mutual friend introduced us and we talked over the phone for a few weeks before Tommy plucked up the courage to finally ask me out. We got engaged Christmas morning of 2013. I kind of had a feeling Tommy was going to ask (Tommy is not great at keeping surprises…he thinks he is but I can read him like a book) and was expecting it. However, I wasn’t expecting Cillian (our 4 year old son) to snatch the ring from the box and hide in the corner with it. All while Tommy was still down on one knee! I guess he wasn’t ready to let his mammy get married.
Describe your wedding:
We based our theme and colours around the venue and decided to go for a rusty and romantic theme. We also incorporated the “tying of the knot” on our Save the Dates and in our ceremony by actually tying a piece of rope that we now display in our home.
The venue has so much character and natural beauty that we really didn’t need to add much to create this vibe. I’ve always loved soft subtle colours… whites, dusty pinks etc, but I also knew that this colour scheme had been done so many times before. We decided to add another colour that was still on the same spectrum but a little bolder. We achieved this with the vibrant plum colour we chose for the bridesmaids dresses and groomsmen’s dickie bows. Plum is such a tricky colour and needs to be done right so we kept it simple. The dickie bows were velvet to bring a nice richness to the plum and the bridesmaid accessories were kept minimal. On all other aspects, we stuck with the soft neutral colours as not to overdo it.
Tell us about your bridal look:
My dress was from an Australian designer called Karen Willis Holmes and I absolutely loved it. It was perfect for a wedding in such a warm climate. It was romantic, elegant and so comfortable to wear.
I’ve got naturally curl hair that does not mix well with humidity or heat. It’s also quite long so I decided to keep it simple with a neat wave. I kept in mind too that I didn’t want to take from the detail of my dress so I wore it to the side with a sheer tulle veil.
I suffer very badly with Rosacea so I decided to do my own make up. I know this was a risk but I wanted minimal make up in the heat and wanted to avoid a flare up. My niece Jasmine, who was one of the bridesmaids, is a make up artist and she kindly did the make up on my mam and bridesmaids. She also applied my eye make up so all in all it turned out great! I got the benefit of knowing my skin would be ok and pain free but still got the professional touch in certain areas.
What did your bridesmaids wear?
The bridesmaids wore a simple plum dress that I purchased from Pretty Little Thing. To be honest the girls were so easy to dress. There was no drama and they were a dream to work around. Anything I suggested they were up for it. As the dresses were such a statement colour and had a split showing off some leg we just added some rose gold shoes, bags and pearl earrings. The colour really complimented the simplicity of everything else.
What was your ceremony like?
We had the ceremony in a little private garden at the same venue as the reception. It was so intimate and beautiful. We are not religious so we agreed we would have a symbolic ceremony. It was important to have it centred around our relationship and children and the journey we have been on since we met.
We really wanted it to be personal and include our family and friends. With this in mind we prepared each detail ourselves with the help of Lucy Fox, our celebrant. Lucy left no stone unturned! She sent me endless questionnaires asking for every single detail of our relationship. She really got to know us on such a personal level that the ceremony so was heartfelt and genuine. She included heartfelt words from family and friends she has contacted without us knowing and the whole ceremony flowed like a little personal story. We added personal touches such as this poem our son read out..
“She is the girl he never saw coming,
The unexpected one who calms him and centres him.
She is the surprise love of his life.
She gets him, really gets him like no one ever has.
She is his best friend and soulmate all wrapped up in a beautiful package.
She is unforgettable,
She is like no one,
Which is why he adores her,
Her mind,
Her soul.
She never leaves him no matter what,
Because she too, knows how rare the connection is.
She has never had anyone stick to her like that before.
He is her safe place.
He is soft for her no matter how hard life gets.
He is there for her and his feelings never change.
He instils her with confidence and tells her she is beautiful.
He buys her flowers even when it’s not her birthday.
He loves her fiercely and she feels his love deep in her bones and soul.
She is my mam.
He is my dad.”
We also bought some thick rope to use in our ceremony to “tie the knot”. It was nice to put all of these little touches to things and see them on the day, it made it a little more personal.
Tell us about your wedding venue:
Our venue, for us, literally blew us away. I had seen it online in pictures and loved it so it was on our list to view when we visited. When we got there and saw it in real life it was simply wow!! It has so much natural character and beauty. It is set on old farmland and was home to an olive press house. There are so many areas of this venue to enjoy… the pool, the private garden, the marquee and a cellar. It’s an amazing backdrop for photos.
What is your favourite memory from your wedding day?
My favourite memory would have to be the times that we didn’t plan. One especially was this…
It had been a long morning for our four year old daughter as the ceremony didn’t begin until 3.30pm. She was full of mixed emotions and missed her dad. She walked up the aisle before me and when she saw her dad the emotions just took over and she cried in his arms. I could hear her crying but wasn’t too sure why but when I got to the aisle myself I could see she was fine and that she had just got overwhelmed.
Our 10 year old son couldn’t help but get emotional also. He wrapped his arms around all of us and we just stood there for a moment all four of us while our family and friends clapped and cheered. This was special and gorgeous and the ceremony hadn’t even started.
Have you got any advice for other couples?
I was told by many previous brides to enjoy the run up to the day because it goes so quick but I never grasped how quick it goes until my own wedding day. It was over in a heartbeat and a part of me wishes I could relive it. My advice would be to take a moment during the day to just sit with your husband/wife and soak all of the atmosphere up. We didn’t get a videographer either and wish we did…. it would be nice to look back on some of the action.
Suppliers
Wedding venue: OsAgostos | Photographer: Visual Stories | Planner/coordinator: Forever Events Portugal | Musician: Swithas Band | DJ: Silvio Switha | Hair: André Spinola | Makeup: Jasmine Fahey | Dress: Karen Willis Holmes | Suits: Zara | Bridesmaids dresses: Pretty Little Thing | Celebrant: Lucy Fox | Stationery: Ginger Ray | Jewellery: Carrig Donn | Flowers: Xeli Florist
