Siri and Dan tied the knot in Norway’s City Hall before travelling to Ireland for a beautifully rustic wedding in Ballymagarvey Village, Co. Meath. Siri’s ‘something borrowed’ was her romantic ruffled gown, generously given to her by her close friend Nina. The couple included plenty of sentiment in their decor, knowing that their guest book and best wishes would mean even more to them as they leave to start their married life together in China. They trusted their precious memories to Tanya of Eden Photography, who ensured that every detail, and every emotion, was captured perfectly.
The Couple: Siri Borgen and Dan Carbery
Length of engagement: Almost two years
Wedding date: Saturday 30th June 2012
Wedding location: Ballymagarvey Village
Photographer: Tanya Colclough, Eden Photography
Edited by Karen Birney
We met… at a pub in Fremantle, outside Perth in Western Australia.
First impressions of your husband… tall, dark and handsome as well as charming and funny. I thought he was out of my league.
His first impressions of you… I was busy being chatted up by his friend!
Our proposal… We lived in Norway and owned a cabin in the mountains. In late September we spent a weekend up there. After we had our dinner, Dan suggested we go up onto the roof of our mountain cabin to view the beautiful mountain range on the other side of the valley lit up by the full moon and the stars. It was a freezing night, and we got all wrapped up in wintercoats before going outside. When I came up the ladder onto the roof, Dan had blankets, champagne and the ring there.
My dress… I borrowed from my dear friend Nina. It is from House of Brides in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Our ceremony… we had already gotten married at the city hall in Norway a few months earlier, but for our wedding day we had a blessing at Ballymagarvey Village. The ceremony was conducted by my uncle who is a priest in Norway. We wanted an informal wedding ceremony with lots of music. The priest played the guitar and sang Leonard Cohen for us, and Connor McKeon from The Connor McKeon Wedding Band sang a beautiful Irish folksong.
We chose our venue because… With over half of our guests arriving from abroad, it was important for us to hold our wedding at a venue convenient for our guests. We were recommended to check out Ballymagarvey Village, and immediately fell in love with this place. It had everything we wanted. Beautiful surroundings, the accommodation was perfect for our needs with nine bedrooms for the bridal party in the main house and seven cottages surrounding the courtyard, all very tastefully furnished. When visiting the venue for the first time we instantly felt that this place could offer the warmth, personal atmosphere and not least the service level we were looking for. The staff was very professional and they had a great dedication to detail. It provided the perfect romantic setting in private surroundings, which was exclusively ours on our wedding day.
Our wedding theme/colours… We had a romantic country style wedding. My best friends and I handmade the table cards in Norway before the wedding. After we had them printed, we cut and glued dark green silk ribbons on each side of the table cards, all while enjoying a few bottles of wine – a great way to spend an evening with your friends! The flower arrangements were made by Magda Louw, the house florist at Ballymagarvey Village. On the tables were individual roses and peonies in lots of jam jars in different sizes and shapes. My wedding bouquet was a beautiful collection of white and pink peonies and roses, which I replaced with a wristband of white and pink flowers after the ceremony. On each table we had a small bag with two teabags attached, together with several small cards. Our wedding guests were encouraged to write us messages/advice on the cards – the idea was that when faced with a rainy day, we would get out a bag, have a cup of tea together and read the messages from our friends and family. As we were moving to China shortly after our wedding, this was a lovely way for us to bring with us great memories from the day and from of all our wedding guests to our new home.
My favourite part of the wedding day… the ceremony, as it was solemn as well as filled with joy. It felt like a real celebration of love. Our son and daughter spent most of the time during the ceremony sitting together with me and my husband, and I loved that our children played such an important role on our big day. I also loved being on the dancefloor with all our friends after. We had a great band – The Connor McKeon Wedding Band – I highly recommend them. And not least, I really enjoyed breakfast the next day together with all close family and friends in the beautiful conservatory at Ballymagarvey Village. It made the perfect setting for us saying goodbye to everyone before we were heading off to China.
My piece of advice for other brides… If you find a venue you really like and that you think will make the wedding day the way you have envisioned – everything else will fall into place. The most important thing, I believe, is a venue that can offer a special atmosphere and can give a special memory to all your wedding guests that they will keep with them forever.
Our honeymoon… was short, but perfect. We spent three nights at Brooklodge and Macreddin Village with fabulous restaurants, spa and beautiful natural surroundings in the Wicklow Mountains.
Photographer: Tanya Colclough, Eden Photography
Shoes: Repetto.
Suit: Tiger of Sweden
Flowers: Magda Louw, House Florist at Ballymagarvey Village
Music: The Connor McKeon Wedding Band
Make–up: Brown Sugar
Hair: Brown Sugar
Stationery: Weddingpaperdivas
