Amy & Shane’s Bespoke Bellingham Castle Wedding

Real Weddings

“I just remember feeling so happy and excited looking around at everyone’s smiling faces as I walked up the aisle to Shane. It was an incredible feeling.”

The couple: Amy O’Shea and Shane McInerney
Length of engagement: 16 months | Wedding date: 11th April 2015
Ceremony location: St Finian’s Church, Dromin, Co Louth
Wedding venue: Bellingham Castle, Co Louth

Photographer: Insight Photography

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We met… We met through friends of ours on holidays in Portugal and clicked instantly, but it was a few months before I finally gave in to Shane’s charms. It was when he arranged what we now call the Epic Date – he planned about 6 different dates in 1 day, starting with a rugby match at 1pm & finishing with chocolate cake in a wine bar more than 12 hours later. We had a brilliant day, and after all that effort I finally realised that he was a keeper.

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Our proposal…We went to London to “visit Shane’s brother and sister” for a weekend in December 2013 after I had finished exams…little did I know Shane had other plans. He arranged a whole lot of surprises for the Saturday, which was exactly 6 years after the Epic Date. He booked tickets for the musical Once; Ice Skating; dinner in a fancy restaurant; and booked us into a beautiful hotel…he even roped his brother Ross into transferring our luggage across London and checking us into the hotel so we just had to arrive and open the Champagne! Luckily he decided against proposing at the ice rink (it turned out he wasn’t a very good ice skater!), and instead he got down on one knee in Hyde Park beside the Serpentine Lake…it was a funny coincidence that our hotel room was called The Serpentine.

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My dress… I got my dress in Amarra Bridal. I fell in love with it as soon as I tried it on. I knew this dress was special because I couldn’t stop smiling & I didn’t want to take it off. I was with my mam and I knew by her face that she felt the same as I did! Mary in Amarra Bridal was so lovely to deal with, she made the whole experience so easy and stress-free.

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My hair and make-up… My hair stylist was Lorraine Browne and Alyson Smyth was my make-up artist.

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My favourite part of the wedding day… There’s so much to choose from, it really was such a brilliant day, so its hard to pick one thing. But we both agree that the church is up there as one of our favourite parts; it felt really special. I don’t think I was nervous walking up the aisle with my dad, I just remember feeling so happy and excited looking around at everyone’s smiling faces as I walked up the aisle to Shane. It was an incredible feeling. The ceremony was gorgeous; our priest was a family friend of Shane’s mam, so it felt very personal. And we really loved the music in the church, which we had a great time choosing with Susan and Bridget (Susan Rowland Duo).

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What our bridesmaids wore… The bridesmaid dresses were perfect, we picked them the first time we went shopping in Coco Boutique and it was easier than I could have imagined. We all loved the colour, it was perfect for Spring time, we loved that there were so many different ways it could be worn, and it really suited all of the girls, they looked fabulous on the day.

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Our wedding theme/colours… We didn’t start off with any specific theme or colours in mind, but we did really want to personalise the day and make it feel like ‘us’. We loved the image from our invitations so we incorporated it a lot into the day and it became our logo. We used the logo on our mass booklets, and on signage at the church and castle which my brother Ian designed and made for us. He even made us a personalized photobooth/polaroid frame which was great fun.

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Bellingham Castle Wedding Ireland by Insight Photography (132)

Our wedding cake… Our mothers each baked a tier, and one of my bridesmaids (Julie Nolan) also made a tier and then decorated the entire cake. Julie even got a personalised cake topper made using the image which Claire created for our stationery.

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Our stationery… One of my bridesmaids (Claire McEntee) designed our invitations, including a personalised image, which we just loved. She did an amazing job we were over the moon with them. and we loved the image so much we found various uses for it throughout the wedding. We got the invitations printed by Just-Print.

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Our wedding coordinators at Bellingham Castle… Ciara and Patrick in Bellingham Castle were fantastic to work with and were so open to all of our ideas, they didn’t even blink when we dropped up all of our games, photobooth props, CDs etc the day before the wedding.

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My piece of advice for other brides… Enjoy every minute! It all goes by in the blink of an eye. Enjoy all the planning and the buildup to the big day, there’s so many lovely get-togethers and outings with your family and friends. Try to enjoy the small things like writing your invitations, picking your songs etc… they’re not just jobs to tick off a list, they’re all lovely little memories of the build up to your wedding. We really really enjoyed that time. Try not to leave too much to the last minute, the few days before the wedding, especially the last day, are hectic, and things tend to take longer than you may think! Lastly, accept advice and help when its offered…and if its not offered ASK! Your family and friends want you to have the best day of your life and will do what they can to help, accept it and appreciate it.

Suppliers

Wedding venue: Bellingham Castle | Photographer: Insight Photography | Wedding dress: Amarra Bridal | Bride’s shoes: No1 Jenny Packham | Bridesmaid dresses: Coco Boutique | Groomsmen’s suits: Diffney for Men | Flower girls dress: Marks and Spencers | Hair: Lorraine Browne | Make Up: Alyson Smyth | Flowers: Floral Events | Band: Deja Boo Music | Church Music: Susan Rowland Duo