MARQUEE WEDDING
Ever dreamed of having your wedding reception at home? It was very pretty. With fashionable bunting, pastel colours and Chiavari chairs. There are few marquee weddings in Ireland set in private houses. If you looking for some ideas you should check this wedding. Cinian and Orlaith have their marquee wedding at home, complete with impressive DIYs and underlying woodland theme. Luckily Orlaith’s family have a beautiful house with castle ruins near Sligo, with an incredible location for a personalised celebration.
Planning the wedding
We got married quite quickly, in just under eight months. We were fortunate in that Orlaith’s parents home at Manorhamilton Castle is a perfect venue for a marquee wedding. In fact, been used for her sister’s wedding the previous summer. This meant that we had a bit of experience of what was necessary in order to make a big event at the location work. From that point of view, we had incredible support from both our families. Particularly Orlaith’s parents and sisters who performed Trojan work in order to have the grounds looking immaculate for that August. There was a lot of donkey work involved in order to get everything ready but everything went really well from the beginning. In holding a wedding at the castle we were fortunate in that we were able to pick our date as a Saturday wedding. In an Irish summer is not normally an easy thing to arrange at short notice. We were so fortunate to have an incredible wedding party – our bridesmaids, groomsmen, friends and so many of our friends all worked their socks off, particularly in the days just prior to the wedding, to help us get everything ready for the big day. We had to arrange our own caterer, bar and marquee, but from that point of view the experience gained during the previous wedding proved invaluable. In many ways having such a short period of time to prepare (we really wanted to marry as soon as possible once we were engaged) is a blessing as there’s no time to overthink things – we would heartily recommend it! Orlaith had a very clear vision for the sort of theme she wanted. Woodland with a hint of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream was the choice. By working hard and consistently, we were able to achieve a huge amount in a short amount of time.
How did the day go?
We were a little unlucky with the weather which was overcast and rainy but that aside the day went like a dream. There were a couple of funny moments during the ceremony. Our priest is Cianan’s uncle who turned 89 that week – during the homily he drew a blank on our names and called us Olga and Ciaran! All we could do was laugh, but if anything it just served to make the ceremony a bit more memorable. Afterwards, the photographer was unable to access the overhead balcony. Someone had locked the access stairs which was also amusing. Apart from that, and the weather making the photographs a little more problematic. It really all went as well and as calmly as we could have possibly wished for. There were lots of highlights, from the place looking truly magical, to the dancefloor hopping from the moment the party started to the wonderful feeling when we were holding hands and exchanging rings. Orlaith looked absolutely amazing, and the whole wedding party looked the part. It was a genuinely wonderful occasion.
how did you meet?
We first met in Keogh’s pub off Grafton Street, Dublin on a snowy Christmas Friday. Cianan was on his work Christmas party and Orlaith was having a drink with a friend. It was certainly smitten at first sight for Cianan (who was sporting a beard and a bright red Christmas jumper that day!). He couldn’t believe his luck when he managed to strike up a conversation with the beautiful girl he’d noticed earlier in the evening. After some trials and tribulations we became an official item. Was it love at first sight? Cianan had never had such a strong impression made on him by any girl before. She was tall and gorgeous and had mischief in her eyes. Orlaith thought Cianan was a little boy in a grown-up’s body with his beard and jumper and happy eyes. While it may not have been love at first sight, it’s safe to say we made a strong impression on each other, one that stood us in good stead when we became serious a little later.When we started dating properly we both knew quite quickly that we were going to end up together. Spending time with each other was just so much fun. Orlaith did travell shortly after we started going steady, when she returned we were just delighted to be together. We went on a summer break to Croatia that August and knew after two weeks of blissful sunshine that we had what it takes to go the distance. The most stressful thing was the time pressure, and the need to source and coordinate with so many different vendors. Securing a wedding band at such short notice for instance was a bit problematic, but thankfully all our suppliers were first rate.
What is the advice you can give to couples planning their wedding?
The best advice we could give to another couple is that having a firm idea of what you want from the start and working as a team can make the whole experience a really memorable one. Above all, enjoy your engagement because you only get to do it once. And try and keep the stress levels as low as possible – it’s your day after all and once the hard work is put in it should be an occasion to be savoured for one and all.
The details
Dress The White Room, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, thewhiteroom.ie. Headpiece The White Room. Menswear Suit by Burberry, Brown Thomas. Makeup Sinéad Hynes. Flowers Leitrim Flowers leitrimflowers.ie, 086 3881532. We couldn’t recommend these guys highly enough, they did a truly amazing job and worked brilliantly with Orlaith to have both the church and marquee looking truly stunning for the big day. Rings Our rings were designed by local ring smith Soraya Ricalde Stationery We designed our own stationery using some French art nouveau prints that Orlaith had bought some time before the wedding. These were used for the menus, the invitations, and the table names. Music The Enemies Reception Marquee by Carnival Marquees, Sligo, marquee-hire.ie