A Perfect Day at The Village at Lyons

Real Weddings

“Clichéd though it may be, it truly was the happiest day of our lives.”

The couple: Nicola Bucke & Christopher Busby
Length of engagement: 14 months | Wedding date: 29th May 2015
Wedding ceremony: Church of Our Lady & St Joseph, Prosperous, Kildare
Wedding venue: The Village at Lyons, Celbridge

Photographer: Couple Photography

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We met… I’m from Newbridge in Co. Kildare and Chris is English but was living in Dublin for 18 years. We met in Dublin while working for Britvic Ireland. We both transferred to England five years ago where we have been living in Cambridge, but in August this year (2015) we’ll return to Dublin.

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Our proposal… Chris surprised me by proposing on a trip to Australia where we had spent Christmas with his family. His sister Sarah and her family live in Australia and his brother, Mike, lives in Japan. We had all spent Christmas together and then Chris and I went travelling for a few days on our own after the New Year. He got down on one knee in a beautiful vineyard early in the morning when there was nobody else there and completely surprised me – I actually thought he was picking some grapes! He did buy a ring to propose with but not the official engagement ring, as he wanted me to choose that myself. We went to Perth on the way back to his family to shop for a ring but I couldn’t decide on one so we ended up buying the ring in London when we got back.

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My dress… My dress was Jenny Packham “Nicole” which I bought in Colchester in England in the Wedding Dress Shop.

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My hair and makeup… my hair was styled by an old school friend; Sarah Buckley. My makeup was done by Roisin Moylan and Niamh Corcoran. Sarah, Niamh and Roisin all helped to make the morning of the wedding very relaxed and a fun morning of pampering!

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Our ceremony… We got married in a church in Prosperous, Co. Kildare, celebrated by Fr. Joe O’Neill who really made the ceremony special. An old family friend Lorraine Nolan sang for us and we had lots of family and friends involved in the ceremony doing readings or playing the role of usher. We asked my brother Ken and Chris’s sister Sarah to be our witnesses, breaking the tradition of the bridal party playing that role, as we wanted all of our siblings to be part of the ceremony in some way.

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We chose our venue because… we explored getting married in Ireland or in Chamonix, France as Chamonix is a place we hold many happy memories of. Once we made a decision not to marry in France however, the Village at Lyons was the only choice for us. It was the first and only venue we went to see in Ireland as we loved the setting, the décor, the waterfall outside the window of the dining room and the size of the venue was perfect for us.

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We chose our photographer because… we wanted more natural shots than posed photographs. When I met Ros of Couple Photography at the Wedding Show in the RDS, she was so warm and immediately made me feel at ease, I knew that she would be the perfect fit for the day.

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Our menu… The food was amazing, lots of guests have been complimenting the food since the wedding day. Our menu was:

Starter
Warm Cured Duck Salad, Poached Pears, Rocket, Pomegranate Seeds

Entree
Champagne & Elderflower Sorbet

Main
Dry Aged Beef Fillet, Fondant Potato, Red Onion Marmalade, Celeriac Puree Roast Vegetables, Red Wine Jus or Baked Sea Bass, Asparagus & Bacon Salad, Tomato & Caper Salad

Dessert
Lyons Assiette

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My favourite part of the wedding day… It’s so hard to choose a single moment as there were so many, having all of our friends and family in one room celebrating with us was so special, my memories from the day are lots of laughter and a few happy tears. Specific moments that stand out are the laughter and excitement as the ladies got ready together in the morning, the moment we were pronounced husband and wife and the speeches, all of which made me laugh and cry! My flower girl and the best man’s two daughters prepared a dance routine for me as a surprise which they performed just before the band started to play, a moment I wasn’t expecting but will cherish.

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My piece of advice for other brides… The usual advice to enjoy the day and not to worry about things going wrong is so true. Just smile and enjoy it, there is so much planning that goes into a wedding, so many people involved, it’s so important to enjoy every minute because the hard work is worth every second on the day. I didn’t thrive on wedding planning the way some brides do, at times it felt like another list of jobs to do after a busy day in work! It was worth it however, I would have the day again every day if we could (maybe if somebody else planned it for us!). Clichéd though it may be, it truly was the happiest day of our lives. I got up early the morning of the wedding and took an hour to myself before the chaos began. I used that time to write cards to my parents, Chris and bridal party. If I had been better organised, I would have written the cards earlier that week but actually it was nice to capture how I was feeling that day, and to start the day telling those closest to me how much they mean to me. I would also advise taking a moment with your groom, just the two of you during the day at some point as it all goes by so quickly. Oh and delegate! Take the offers of help and spend more time relaxing in the run up to the big day!