A Romantic Wedding All About Love and Time and Everything White

Articles, Real Weddings

The theme for the wedding was all about love and time and everything white. This included Amanda’s dress and matching bouquet and their cake!

 

Couple: Amanda & David McCarthy

Engagement length: Exactly 2 years

Wedding date: 2021-08-06

Wedding location: Muckross Park Hotel Killarney

Photographer: Laura & Benny Photography

Amanda and David always joke when people ask how they met, and sometimes feel they need to create a different story. But now 11 years on and it’s a good story and worth it all!

“I first met David on the night of my friend’s 18th on the 20th May 2010. He had been going out with one of my best friends at the time for a couple of months. They ended shortly after but he still went with my best friend to our Debs. Let’s just say a little romance kicked off that night and the rest is history. 11 years on we are still those kids that fell in love all those years ago.”

 

We got engaged on the 6th August 2019, exactly 2 years to the date when we would tie the knot. Everyone said to me were you not expecting it when we had been together 9 years at that stage but I really wasn’t. I had booked our holiday in Malta that year and would never have expected David would’ve used that to his advantage. David had gone and bought my ring in Askoy Jewellers that week and I still love that he picked it out himself and he did a very good job. I get compliments all the time it is very me.”

“We had gone out for dinner that night as normal and I could see he was being a little weird but didn’t take much notice really. The night before, we had stopped in this beautiful little park with dim lighting with benches scattered all around the lake. It was so quaint, quiet and peaceful. The night after, on our way home from dinner, we stopped in there again and we sat on the bench. David told me to close my eyes and when he told me to open them, there he was on one knee with the most beautiful ring. I just couldn’t stop crying, he was a while waiting for that yes. People then started to gather just outside the park and started clapping. A beautiful moment I will treasure forever and I can’t wait to return there and relive that moment. The most surprising part was the Sunday before we flew to Malta, David had visited my parents and told my parents his plan and there they were waiting by the phone for the news. They were so excited and thrilled for us.”

 

The theme for the wedding was all about love and time and everything white. This included Amanda’s dress and matching bouquet and their cake!

“It was important to us to celebrate all the years we had been together at our wedding. We were together for almost 11 years on our wedding date. In our drinks reception, I included photos of each of the 11 years we had been together with the year so guests could see us in our younger years. We also included a timeline of all our life events with the exact dates and we received so many compliments on the day from guests.”

“As love was a big part of our day, we had a question on every wedding invite sent out (things like: “What’s your favourite love song?”). We picked our favourites and these were our table names on the day. We also made a Spotify playlist of everyone’s songs when we couldn’t have our band on the day.”

 

 

The beautiful bridesmaids wore dresses from Sarah in the Princess Rooms Cobh. Their shoes were from Carvela BT, earrings, bracelet and clutch from Next. The groomsmen wore suits from Simply Suits in Cork. The lovely flower girl dresses were from JJs house.

 

“Our ceremony took place in my home church in St Patrick’s Church Dunmanway. The ceremony was one of our favourite parts of the day. The flowers were absolutely stunning and I am still receiving compliments on how amazing the church was. For me, the flowers were very important as the church is very big and I felt this was somewhere I wanted to spend money on. We had the most beautiful arch just inside the door as the wind did not go our way on the day but was stunning and a great photo op for all our guests.”

“Our celebrant, Fr. Ted Collins, was outstanding on the day and made us feel so comfortable. He went through everything in detail with us during the dress rehearsal mass the evening before. He flew through the mass and made up for the time we had lost with me being late (lol).”

 

 

“I don’t think I have words to describe how amazing Muckross Park Hotel was. I was extremely fussy when it came to choosing my wedding venue. David will tell you we went to a lot of wedding fairs haha. I had excel sheets comparing each venue and I wanted the WOW factor. When I saw Muckross, I knew I wanted my wedding there. Killarney is just such a beautiful part of the country and I knew all my guests would love it and the 1 hour drive from Dunmanway was manageable for everyone.”

“On the day I cannot thank Niall (the hotel manager) enough. everything ran so smoothly and everyone was so relaxed. He even got us relaxed before the speeches as I was a ball of nerves before mine. I couldn’t eat my soup but I wasn’t alone, the best man was the same.”

“I know we hate mentioning the Covid word now, but planning a wedding was extremely difficult during this time as we were pending on announcements. Gov told us to plan for 100 in May and so I sent out my wedding invites for a 100. It was so tough only weeks to go and there was a possibility of just 50. The hotel was so understanding during this time, checking in and having everything planned for all scenarios. I cannot thank them enough and I would recommend this venue to anyone. they could not do enough for us on the day and made our day a Fairy Tale Wedding. I literally felt like a princess.”

 

 

When it came to my suppliers, I did a lot of research. When choosing my photographers, I did research between the style of photography, their types of packages, etc. Laura & Benny are husband and wife and when I say photographers, their title should really be ‘wedding coordinator’. Benny was dropped off at David’s house on the morning and Laura came to my house. David says and I quote “I would not have been at the church on time only for Benny, he was fantastic”. He kept everything on track and made sure all those moments were captured. He added so much to just being there in the house with the lads.”

“When Laura arrived at my house it was like I had known her for years. She has such a caring personality and just loves what she does. Everyone thought I knew the photographers and were friends for years. My train in my dress in every photo is perfectly placed each time, thanks to Laura. The most amazing thing of all was receiving a slide show of photos the following morning before I was even up for breakfast.”

“These guys are amazing at what they do and are so much fun on the day. It’s easy to see why they are booked out years in advance because they are simply one of the best. My parents are hard critics so when they say they were unreal, they were.”

 

 

Amanda and David tried to pack as much entertainment as they were allowed, with the restrictions at the time. Outside the church after the ceremony they had an ice cream cart – it went down a real treat! At the drinks reception, they had Pic a Magnet who went around taking photos and made them into a magnet for all the guests. The guests were blown away by the amazing magician, Ger Kearney. People just could not get over how amazing he was! At the drinks reception, they had a donut wall from Sensational Events, which everybody loved. For the evening, they had a selfie mirror and a ferris wheel filled with candy. Went down a real treat, not just with the kids but the adults too.

 

 

“We had a few wedding favours! I personally made my own happy tears tissue packs which were placed at the back of the church. At the tables, we had a scratch ticket in a beautiful holder from Etsy. We also had a tiny little box with a sweet at everyone’s table and all the kids under 8 received an activity pack filled with sweets, colouring books, crayons, stickers and masks to decorate during the meal.”

 

 

“My one piece of advice is to try and enjoy yourself on the day and forget about everyone else. If something goes wrong, no one will know it went wrong. On the day, you are so in love and in your own little bubble with each other, it really doesn’t matter. Remember this might be the only time in your life when that amount of people are coming together to see you and that is a very special moment.”

 

 

Suppliers

Ceremony venue: St Patrick’s Church Dunmanway | Reception venue: Muckross Park Hotel Killarney | Planner/Coordinator: Orla O’ Driscoll & Niall Tagney | Photographer: Laura & Benny Photography | Videographer: Gordan from Wedfilms | Ceremony music: Aoife O’Neill | Band/DJ: Spotify Playlist | Hair: Lynsey O’ Leary | Makeup: Cocorouge Makeup | Couple’s outfits: Bride’s Dress & veil – Brides of Eire Clonakilty, Groom Suit – Simply Suits Cork | Wedding party outfits: Groomsmen suits – Simply Suits Cork, Bridesmaids – Princess Rooms Cobh | Cake: Baker Boy Cakes | Celebrant/Solemniser: Fr. Ted Collins Dunmanway | Stationery: Save the date.ie | Rings: Askoy Jewellers | Accessories: Headpiece and bracelet – Azure Jewellery Cork, earrings – Keanes Jewellers, shoes – Jimmy Choo BT, clutch – Rosie & Dott, PJ’s and robes – Smarteesdesigns Bandon, Co.Cork | Flowers: Floral Sculpture Innishannon, Co. Cork | Transport: Tom Horans Wedding Cars | Favours: Pic a Magnet | Entertainment: Ger Kearney Magician | Ice Cream cart: Clonakilty Homemade Ice Cream | Donut wall and selfie mirror: Sensational Events | Dancefloor: LED Dancefloors | Banners: Wogansecrets