Names: Emer McGowan and Sean Mullin
Length of engagement: 2 years
Wedding Date: 29/7/17
Wedding location: Bellingham Castle
Photographer: David Maury Photography
We met waiting for the Chemical Brothers to start at Electric Picnic in 2007.
Our proposal happened after Sean disappeared for the afternoon to tell my parents that he was going to propose. We went for a walk up Knockmany Hill which is near where Sean grew up. Sean got down on one knee at the top as I took in the view. Afterwards, we had a picnic with champagne to celebrate at Sean’s parents’ house.
My dress came from McElhinneys, Ballybofey.
My hair and makeup – Hair was by Gloss Hairdressing, Newry. My sister-in-law, Penelope, did the make-up.
His suit was a Magee suit.
What our bridal party wore Magee suits and Monsoon dresses.
Our ceremony was at St Oliver Plunkett Church in Blackrock, Co. Louth.
We chose our photographer because I liked previous work he’d done at our wedding venue and he really put me at ease when we first met for coffee.
We chose our venue because we thought that Bellingham Castle was really beautiful both inside and outside. There were plenty of great photo opportunities. We also really liked John and Ciara when we met them and they showed us around. Plus we really loved the bedrooms for our guests and particularly the bridal suite with the free-standing bath!
Our menu was great. The food in Bellingham Castle was really delicious. My uncles are still talking about how good the beef was!
Our honeymoon – We waited until Christmas to go on honeymoon so that we didn’t use up all our holidays in one go. We went to Zanzibar, it was brilliant.
My favourite part of the wedding day was our first dance. My little brother, Jack, sang the song for us.
My piece of advice for other couples – it’s worth the effort to research and go see different bands because they really provide the energy for the party. Our band was fantastic and the dancefloor was full all night.
What is it that makes your wedding unique? It was a real family effort. My dad painted the picture for our wedding invitations. Mum and Dad grew flowers for the big day and then my mum and sister did the flower arranging. My mum also baked the wedding cakes. And my brother and cousins did the music both at the ceremony and the afters.
Suppliers
Wedding venue: Bellingham Castle | Photographer: David Maury | Videographer: Donal Jennings | Musician and DJ: The Rubix Band | Hair: Gloss Hairdressing Newry | Makeup: Penelope Bolton | Dress: Pronovias from McElhinneys | Suit: Magee | Bridesmaids dresses: Monsoon | Groomsmen outfits: Magee | Cake: My mum! | Celebrant: Fr Padraig Keenan
