Actor Johnny Ward Married His Beautiful Bride On A Gorgeous Summer Day

Fair City and Love/Hate actor, Johnny Ward married his beautiful bride, Brenda! They tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony in Kilcullen and celebrated their new marriage at the award-winning Westgrove Hotel. We love that they went all out with their wedding entertainment and even had a saxophonist play dance hits on the sunny rooftop terrace.

Couple: Brenda & Johnny Ward
Engagement length: 1.5 years
Wedding date: 2023-07-08
Wedding location: The Westgrove Hotel
Photographer: Alan Dunne Photography

Brenda and Johnny met serendipitously during Covid while on a walk in The Curragh!

Johnny explains, “Brenda was going for a walk. I suppose she was just far ahead in the distance and I was going at a faster pace. And then the two of us kinda got chatting. She was like ‘Oh listen you can walk with me if you want’ and it was just by chance that we met because we had nothing else to do.”

They continued chatting on social media and then did the walk again. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Johnny describes the proposal as “intimidating”, and since he got down on one knee in front of Brenda’s family on Christmas Day during dinner, we can understand why!

Their entire wedding was decorated with their theme in mind: classic, elegant and timeless.

They chose their flowers very carefully, with predominantly white blooms interspersed with sage green eucalyptus. Lorna, the wedding coordinator at The Westgrove Hotel brought their colour scheme into the decor throughout the entire hotel. From the welcome sign in the foyer and arrivals area to the amazing floral displays at the grand staircase, to the centrepieces in the banqueting suite.

You might recognise a few faces amongst the guests, including professional boxer Eric Donovan, Home Rescue star Peter Finn, professional wrestler Darragh Truck and actor John Sharpson.

Johnny says: “We were so lucky to have a scorching hot Saturday in July. The roof terrace at The Westgrove Hotel was like a scene from Ibiza with colour everywhere!”

Brenda wore a gorgeous, strapless Justin Alexander gown and her bridesmaids wore elegant green dresses with a bow detail on the shoulder.

Johnny and his groomsmen wore classic navy suits from Dublin Formal Wear, which perfectly complemented the rest of the wedding party.

Among the wedding party were Johnny’s fellow Fair City actor Stephen O’Leary, who plays Zak Dillon on the show, his Best Man Darren Molloy and Brenda’s sister Karen.

“The ceremony took place in The Sacred Heart and St. Brigid’s in Kilcullen. It was beautiful and the church was decorated amazingly by Anne Heatly.”

Brenda walked down the aisle with her father, Joe, while her mam, Marion watched on.

The first and only venue that Brenda and Johnny visited was The Westgrove Hotel. They just couldn’t get over how helpful their wedding planner, Lorna McKeon was from the very first meeting.

“She’s absolutely phenomenal. As couples do, you think up the odd worry or concern and Lorna will just talk you into actually getting excited about what you were actually worried about in the first place!”

Brenda and Johnny really wanted a space for all their family, friends and guests from the entertainment industry to mingle and have the best time. The Westgrove Hotel has three different drinks reception areas all linked together, creating an amazing atmosphere. There’s also the beautiful and spacious mezzanine, which was perfect for their pianist to entertain guests. The private bar provided great craic, and this led to the beautiful roof terrace where guests could enjoy the lovely sunshine.

“Prosecco and canapés were being served, DaddySax was belting out Ibiza tunes on the sax and everyone just had an absolute ball… and this was all before dinner! The Banqueting Suite ‘Alexandra Suite’ is phenomenal. The attention to detail they put in is unreal. They matched the centrepieces to Brenda’s bouquet and the room was filled with flowers and candles. It was just magical.”

Their wedding was beautifully captured by Alan Dunne.

“His work is amazing. He’s part of The Westgrove Hotel’s All Inclusive package so he’s really familiar with the venue which is always great as he knows exactly what he’s doing and doesn’t waste any time, allowing us time to party with our guests.”

Brenda and Johnny went all out to entertain their guests!

For the drinks reception, they had “Daddy Sax” (Conor McGrath) entertain guests with dance hits. They described this moment as being like a scene from a movie! The weather was amazing, so Conor played outside on the roof terrace.

Ireland’s “most lethal magician”, Steve Spade, performed jaw-dropping tricks at each table.

In the mezzanine, Stella Bass was singing and playing the piano.

As they were called in for the meal, they had Ireland’s best corporate dance act, XOD Dancers perform a 15 minute flash mob. This got everybody up singing and dancing!

After their delicious meal, they had country star, Cliona Hagan, steal the show and spoil guests with her brilliant talent.

Their DJ, Paddy Fagan, treated everybody to amazing karaoke and some floor-filling tunes!

For their Day 2 celebration at The Westgrove Hotel, they had the rebel band, Clover, who they say is just brilliant! They had everyone up on their feet from start to finish.

They had too many amazing memories to mention, but this is what Johnny said about his favourites:

“…seeing Brenda for the first time as she walked up the aisle. Arriving at The Westgrove Hotel in our vintage car and everyone out waving. The roof terrace during the drinks reception with everyone dancing and having the best time. I will also never forget waking up the morning after the wedding in the most beautiful honeymoon suite looking at my beautiful new bride, Brenda Ward. We both laughed about the previous day and then got ready for Day 2!”

Newlyweds always give brilliant wedding planning advice. This is what Johnny had to say:

“Take your time and enjoy the Journey! Get a great wedding planner behind you. We fell on our feet with Lorna McKeon from The Westgrove. She arranged an amazing package for us so we could just enjoy all the fun bits!”