“Our photographer Trish did a slideshow of the day’s pictures before the first dance, we loved it! Our friends and family are still talking about it.”
The couple: Ailish Clancy & Vinny Whelan
Length of engagement: 1 year – to the day! | Wedding Date: 27th June 2014
Wedding location: Fota Island Resort, Cork
Photographer: Insight Photography – Trish Fitzpatrick
We met… through mutual friends who set us up! Our mutual friends Muireann and Dermot (who were part of our bridal party – what better way to say thank you!) brought Vinny out for my birthday night out on the 27th June 2008. What a birthday present!
Our proposal… was on the 27th June 2013, exactly 5 years since we met… it happened in our kitchen at home, having pizza and wine! It was Ailish’s 30th birthday on the 30th June, and that weekend we were having a 30th birthday bash which then happily turned into an engagement party! We then went to Morocco that Sunday for a week of celebrations – engagement, 5 year anniversary and 30th birthday!! Vinny proposed with my grandmother’s engagement ring, which we had restored by Askoy Jewellers in Cork city. The staff here were very helpful and acknowledged the sentimental value of the ring.
My hair and make-up… my hair was by Marie Hickey from Clonmel and my make-up was by Laura Kay also from Clonmel. I could not recommend either of these ladies highly enough. They are experts in what they do, an absolute pleasure to have in the house the morning of the wedding. They really listened to what I and the bridal party wanted and everyone was delighted with their look straight away – no stress at all – preparation bliss!
My dress… was ‘Lucy’ by designer Lizzie Agnew in Belfast. I bought it in Say I Do in Midleton, Cork. My headpiece was bought from Azure in Cork city.
His suit… he wore a charcoal grey suit from Tom Murphy’s in Cork City. We dealt with Eoin in there who was very professional and easy going which made for a hassle free experience!
Our ceremony… took place in Tallow church, Co. Waterford, where I grew up and my family live. My uncle Tony was the celebrant which made the ceremony very personal and special. The flowers in the church and for the bridal party were created by Kay Murphy Flowers in Tallow – Kay has years experience doing weddings and it showed as she knew exactly what we wanted probably before we did!
Our wedding colours… were green and cream.
What our bridal party wore… the three bridesmaids; Lucy, Danielle and Muireann wore Dessy dresses – short, ivy green dresses with navy shoes. We bought these in Diamond Bridal, Cork city. The men; Conor, James and Dermot, wore the same suit as Vinny, they wore sliver ties while Vinny wore a striped tie! Ben, our usher, was kitted out by Murphy’s as well. Our beautiful flower girls, Eve and Grace wore dresses from Debenhams and their shoes are from Accessorize.
We chose our photographer because… where do we start! Our friends had Trish from Insight Photography for their wedding when we were part of their bridal party so we saw how professional and brilliant she was – her photography is flawless! She managed to capture the whole day, every little detail, without us even knowing where she was. We wanted our pictures taken at my parents house so Trish called there some weeks before the wedding to see the garden etc and we were able to chat about what photos we wanted. Our photos are more than we ever expected, looking through them feels like watching a video of the day as everything is captured beautifully. She also did a slideshow of the day’s pictures before the first dance, we loved this! Our friends and family are still talking about it, it really is a special part of the day!
We chose our venue because… we felt Fota Island Resort was beautiful, inside and out, the food has a great reputation and we knew we would have no fears or worries on the day. All the staff were extremely helpful and professional and couldn’t have done any more for us, both leading up to the wedding and the day of. Our guests spoke about how friendly the staff were and how fantastic the food was, so all were happy!
We chose our wedding coordinator because… Susan and Hazel were our wedding coordinators in Fota Island Resort. We got to meet them a few times before the wedding which was great because all our questions were answered! Both Hazel and Susan were really helpful and friendly to work with during our preparations.
My favourite part of the wedding day… very hard to choose!! I loved getting ready with the girls and my mother… Loved walking up the aisle with Dad, even though I dreaded it! Loved the ceremony and seeing Vinny! Loved the photos and the drive to the venue.. Loved the meal, speeches, dancing, Residents bar!!! Loved it all! Sorry not a very good answer!
Our menu… was very hard to pick because after our tasting we loved everything! But we decided to go with butternut squash and pumpkin soup -the assortment of breads were delicious! Then we enjoyed a mozzarella and sundried tomato tartlet with red onion chutney, our main was a choice of beef or hake and to finish a selection of yummy desserts! And plenty of wine!
Our honeymoon... we went to Cuba for 17 nights. We spent the first half relaxing with cocktails in a 5* all inclusive, exactly what we wanted as we were pretty wrecked after the wedding parties! Then we went to Havana which was absolutely brilliant – great food, live music, walking, sightseeing and of course lots of mojitos! We booked our honeymoon with GoHop.ie.
My piece of advice for other brides… 1. Try and have all the small bits organised a few days before the wedding day as it’s really nice to have a pamper day, meet friends, lunch etc before the wedding. 2. Make sure and have a trial for hair and make-up, then you all know what you want therefore no stress on the morning! 3. On the morning, enjoy the whole experience of getting ready and forget about time, leave the professionals to it and let your bridal party make sure things are on time. 4. Take a couple of moments throughout the day and night with your husband, look around and take it all in – it’s your wedding day and it really does go too fast! 5. Even though you’re wrecked the next day, get up and have breakfast with your guests. And finally even though everyone says it – Enjoy the day and remember what it’s about. Whatever goes right or wrong on the day, you are getting married to the man you love and who loves you. That makes the day perfect! X