“A wave of calm washed over me and I couldn’t wait to get to him and start our married life together.”
The couple: Elizabeth Fahy & Nigel Ruane
Length of engagement: 17 Months | Wedding date: 13th August 2016
Wedding venue: Kilronan Castle, Roscommon
Photographer: David Maury Photography
We met… In Toast Rathmines. It was a Friday night and I’d met my friend after work for drinks and we were catching up with some friends of hers that I hadn’t met before. Nigel walked into Toast later on in the night and he caught my eye immediately! It didn’t take long for us to start catching eyes across the table and that was it, we spent the rest of the night talking and here we are 8 years later.
Our proposal… We got engaged in Dubai in March 2015. We were flying home from Perth to celebrate my 30th birthday and had stopped over in Dubai for three nights to break up the trip. We stayed at the stunning Jumeirah Al Qasr and after dinner on our second night, we were going for drinks at the breathtaking PierChic, we walked the candelit boardwalk leading out into the Persian Gulf and I remember thinking how magical it was especially with the Burj Al Arab twinkling in the night sky beside us. Halfway down the boardwalk, Nigel got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!! It was one of the happiest moments of my life and of course I said yes!
My dress… My Enzoani dress was bought in a boutique in Perth, Dion for brides. It was the first dress I tried on in the only boutique I went to. When you know, you know! The whole process took me about 5-10 minutes much to the amusement/horror of the shop assistant. It was everything I had imagined and when I put it on, I knew it was the one for me!
My hair and makeup… My hair was by Laila from Laila Valentino Hairdressing in Carrick on Shannon and my make up was by Ciara from Enhance Health and Beauty in Carrick on Shannon. Both Lalia and Ciara came to Kilronan for around 8am the morning of the wedding and worked their magic on Carla and I, we had a great laugh along the way.
What our bridal party wore… Carla, my maid of honour, wore a beautiful blush pink gown with sparkles that I bought for her in Perth, the same day I bought my wedding dress. Dressing my sister-in-law was an easy task as I knew she would look stunning in anything but I know she’s partial to a sparkle or two so the dress I knew would be perfect for her.
His suit… We only flew in from Perth two weeks before the wedding so finding tuxes to suit Nigel, his five groomsmen, his father and his two nephews wasn’t going to be an easy task but Dublin Formal Wear in Tallaght were brilliant! Nothing was too much trouble and they handled everything with such ease, it was one less thing to worry about.
Our ceremony… We had a church ceremony at a very special church St Michael’s in Cootehall Co. Roscommon. Nigel’s parents, sister and cousins all married at St. Michael’s so it was a natural choice for us and a tradition which we wanted to keep. Fr Brian Conlon and Fr Brendan McDonagh celebrated our union and had both us and our congregation in fits of laughter throughout the mass.
We chose our photographer because… We chose David (David Maury Photography) without even meeting him because his relaxed photography style really appealed to us and we wanted somebody who would capture every aspect of our day and the emotion of it without being too obtrusive. I loved his flair and knew he was perfect for us! We finally met face to face three days before our wedding and got on like a house on fire, he showed us some more of his work and we really started to get excited for our pictures as we knew we had made the right choice.
We chose our venue because… Both myself and Nigel are from Dublin but decided early on that we wanted to have our wedding in Roscommon where his mother is from and where Nigel spent every summer as a child. Kilronan Castle is a place that holds sentimental value to us for a few different reasons and felt like a natural choice. Nigel’s sister and brother-in-law were one of the first couples to have a wedding at Kilronan Castle over seven years ago and it was absolutely exquisite so we knew we could trust the venue to deliver everything we envisioned for our day.
We chose our wedding coordinator because… Well we didn’t so much as choose him as he chose us! And we are so thankful that he did! We called to make an appointment to come down and see the venue back in March 2015 and Simon was waiting for us when we arrived. We knew instantly that we were in good hands and planning our wedding from Perth would be a piece of cake with Simon’s help! Simon went above and beyond for us from the moment we booked Kilronan and we are so thankful for all his help.
Our wedding theme/colours… We didn’t really have a theme as such, just more of a vision of what we wanted our day to be. We both agreed that with having a castle wedding we wanted it to be elegant and timeless and to reflect our personal style. I wanted to make a visual impact with our wedding flowers and add a beautiful pop of colour and Chantelle from Pure Flowers certainly achieved that!
Our honeymoon… We decided to stay down in Roscommon for a week post wedding with family and friends and kept the celebrations going in true Irish style. We then flew to Bangkok for 3 nights, spent 7 nights in Koh Samui and finally we finished our epic 6-week wedding trip off with 2 nights in Phuket before landing back in Perth.
Our menu… The food at Kilronan is absolutely exquisite and was one of the main factors that helped us decide on our venue. From the canapes at the drinks reception to our 5 course meal to the evening buffet, every aspect of the food was perfection and we are still receiving compliments about it to this day! The mash potato bar was a hit at the evening buffet and something which we thought was a fantastic idea and something a little bit different.
My favourite part of the wedding day… It’s hard to pick just one but a few moments really stand out for us. Arriving at the church and seeing Nigel waiting for me at the top of the altar is quite a special one for me, a wave of calm washed over me and I couldn’t wait to get to him and start our married life together. Being announced into the ballroom as Mr and Mrs Ruane is another special one for us, having our nearest and dearest in one room to celebrate our love was a very powerful feeling and another highlight for us.
My piece of advice for other couples… Relax and remember what the day is really about, it’s about your love for each other and I think once you keep that in mind it puts everything else in perspective.
Suppliers
Photographer: David Maury Photography | Venue: Kilronan Castle | Band: Blacktye Wedding Band | Church Music: Fergus Harmen | Venue Entertainment: Rakish Trad Band | Wines: O’Briens | Suit Hire: Dublin Formal Wear Tallaght | Cake: Cannaboe Confectionery | Hair & Makeup: Laila Valentino Hairdressing and Enhance Hair and Beauty | Flowers: Pure Flowers of Distinction | Wedding Dress: Dion for Brides, Perth, Western Australia | Car Hire: Classic and Vintage Wedding Hire
