Your wedding ceremony is not just a highlight, but one of the most important parts of your Big Day. Whether or not you choose to get married legally on your wedding day (that’s entirely up to you), we recommend giving this moment a lot more attention. Your ceremony is the moment you make promises and vows to one another. This is where you get to publicly declare your love for your Other Half and it’s incredibly special. There are so many things that make up a beautiful ceremony; the setting, the words you share, your dream supplier team and those personalised moments. Wondering how to create a gorgeous wedding ceremony filled with intimate, personal moments? Well, here’s what 2021 couples loved about their wedding ceremony. Take a peek at the special moments they look back on!
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Kate and Noel
“With the ever changing restrictions and limitations with distance, as well as the fact that I didn’t want my Dad to walk his only daughter down the aisle in an almost empty church, we decided to opt for a humanist ceremony on site in the Anglers Rest itself. We got in touch with Romy McAuley celebrant after seeing her name pop up a number of times on the HIGM Facebook page and I am so glad we did! From the moment we met her on Zoom, she was just a breath of fresh air who put me at ease during a very uncertain and anxious time. The ceremony itself was just beautiful! Romy has a way of obtaining lots of great info out of the bride and groom beforehand which she uses so cleverly on the day. Lots of our guests thought she knew us personally! With the smaller guest numbers, it was so intimate and every word could be heard, emotions were high and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room!”
Wedding location: The Anglers Rest | Photographer: Laura Conlon Photography | Celebrant/solemniser: Romy McAuley – A Beautiful Ceremomy
Lynne and Kevin
“Our ceremony was beautiful. I was late of course and the priest initially got worried, but all was good. We had only 25 guests at our wedding so it was intimate.”
Ceremony venue: St John the Baptist, Clontarf | Photographer: John Channing Photography | Celebrant/solemniser: Fr Martin
Kellie and Liam
“We had a civil ceremony as we are a non-religious family. It was absolutely beautiful, outside in the garden in the Clanard Court Hotel. It was 30 degrees that day (the hottest day in Ireland in the last 15 years). We wrote our own vows and chose readings that reflected our our values and beliefs.”
Ceremony and reception venue: Clanard Court Hotel | Photographer: Bokeh Photography & Film | Celebrant/solemniser: HSE Julie Murphy
Vivien and Nathan
“We had a very chilled, laid-back spiritual ceremony. Our solemniser, Yvonne was delightful to work with and was such a relaxing, fun presence on the day.”
Ceremony and Reception venue: The Ardilaun Hotel | Photographer: Alex Zarodov Photography | Celebrant/solemniser: Yvonne Griffin
Amanda and David
“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).”
Ceremony venue: St Patrick’s Church Dunmanway | Photographer: Laura & Benny Photography | Celebrant/Solemniser: Fr. Ted Collins Dunmanway
Kayliegh and Sean
“Our ceremony was in a little country church. It was the church that as a family we would go to mass in and I have a lot of family buried there so it felt right to be married there. It was very simple and sweet. All the flowers in the church were gypsum and it just added to the fairytale theme. I walked down the aisle to “Bless the broken road” by Rascal Flats which I think is perfect for a wedding. And we walked out to “Here comes the sun” by the Beatles. We had instrumental music of Beauty and the Beast and “Can you feel the love tonight?” during the ceremony. As there was so many in my family overseas that could not come to the wedding we streamed it so they could still be there to see us finally get married.”
Ceremony venue: St Brigids, Kilcurry, Co.Louth | Photographer: David Maury Photography
Sarah and Jamie
“Our ceremony was a humanist ceremony on-site in Mount Falcon, outdoors as the weather was so lovely. Our humanist celebrant was Sheila Garrity who wrote a beautiful, personal ceremony for us with lots of laughs and special sentimental moments throughout. We had a handfasting and sand ritual. Being outdoors, it was easier to use sand than candles in case of wind). We also had readings from both mums and Jamie’s cousin read Imelda May’s poem “Home”. Our music was by Saoirse Murray Music, a last-minute allowance with restrictions that we were delighted to be allowed.”
Ceremony and reception venue: Mount Falcon Estate | Photographer: Alex Zarodov Photography | Celebrant/solemniser: Sheila Garrity
Aisling and Gary
“We had our ceremony in the Greenway Manor Hotel in Waterford and went with Spiritual Ceremonies Ireland to do our ceremony. Janette Wade was our celebrant and she was brilliant. We wanted our wedding to be as much about our 4 kids as it was about us and so wanted to include them as much as possible. Janette gave us loads of ideas with this and helped us plan the perfect, most personal marriage.”
“We had a candle lighting ceremony and both our mothers lit a candle, our 4 kids lit a personalised candle each and we lit our unity candle. All our candles were by Beautiful Creations Ireland. We also had a handfasting ceremony which was so special. To include the children we presented them with a little gift so they have a keepsake from the day. We had music throughout the ceremony by Mary O Neill. Her voice and her talent on the harp are just gorgeous.”
Ceremony and reception venue: Greenway Manor Hotel | Photographer: Alex Zarodov Photography | Celebrant/Solemniser: Janette Wade
Natasha and Ian
“We decided on a humanist ceremony. It was intimate and very personal. It was full of happiness and love from all our friends and family. Our celebrant Romy from A Beautiful Ceremony did such an amazing job! There were plenty of tears and laughter. We had a fasting ceremony using material Natasha’s nan had crochet before she passed away last year that our kids tied along with our unity candles. Our ceremony was focused on bringing the 4 of us together so we each had a colour of sand and blended all 4 colours during our sand ceremony. Everyone was so happy for us and I think Ian’s photos show that. We had our neighbour Gerry sing and play for our ceremony and it was just perfect.”
Ceremony and reception venue: The Village Hotel | Photographer: Ian Hennessy Photography | Celebrant/solemniser: Romy Mc Auley – A Beautiful Ceremony
Claire and Cedi
“Our ceremony was laid back with close family and friends. We chose 5 songs for the service and had 3 readings. It was a Unitarian ceremony. The ceremony took about 30mins and was very intimate.”
Ceremony venue: Macreddin Chapel Brooklodge | Wedding venue: Brooklodge & Macreddin Village, Wicklow |Celebrant/solemniser: Keith Troughton
Orla and Paul
“Our ceremony was in Crosschapel church. A family friend Fr. John Hughes said the mass. Maria Fitzgerald did our music. It was a very relaxed and enjoyable ceremony and the music was beautiful.”
Ceremony venue: Our Lady of Mercy Church, Crosschapel, Blessington, Wicklow | Photographer: David Maury Photography
Ita and Cathal
“A traditional church ceremony was how we had envisioned the start of our day and as usual, Ita was late! An unexpected power cut meant that the church was lit only by candlelight which proved to be serendipitously atmospheric! Our original priest was stranded in Rome but Father Francis kindly stepped in to officiate and gave a very genuine and charming ceremony.”
Ceremony venue: SS Mary and Laurence Church, Crookstown | Photographer: David Maury Photography
Frances and Jonathan
“We were married in the registry office in Dublin so it was quick but lovely. We had Ruelle “I get to love you” playing as our girls led me into the room and my Dad gave me away.”
Wedding venue: Orlagh Country House | Photographer: Simon Peare Photography
Emma and Colm
“It was a very intimate and personal ceremony. We were very lucky that Colm’s uncle is a priest and he officiated the ceremony. My Aunt is a very talented singer who performed all the music for the mass. This made it extra special and was ideal considering we were working with restricted numbers. There were lots of laughs and happy tears throughout.”
Ceremony venue: The Honan Chapel, UCC | Photographer: Kevin Kiely Photography | Celebrant/solemniser: Fr Finbar Crowley
Shireen and Kevin
“Our wedding ceremony was so personal to us, Fr Murray did an amazing job, and we are grateful for the memories we have! Darragh gave me away and Kevin was waiting at the altar with the other boys. Aodhan spent the ceremony playing with trains on the alter while Darragh and Cillian join in everything else with us! It was perfect for it to just be us 5!
Kathryn’s music was stunning, and at the end when Aodhan was having a meltdown, she broke into Baby Shark and Twinkle Twinkle to calm him down. You can’t ask for much more than that. It is one of our favorite memories, to have a family dance party to Baby Shark on the altar.”
Ceremony venue: Multyfarnham Abbey | Photographer: Waldemar Zukowski Wedding Photography | Celebrant/solemniser: Family friend Fr Frankie Murray
Eimear and Paul
“We had an intimate wedding ceremony in the Church of Our Lady’s Nativity celebrated by Father Karl Fortune. It was very special and personal for us and some of our friends and extended family came to see us outside the church before we came in and left.”
Photographer: Ian Hennessy | Ceremony venue: Church of Our Ladys Nativity Leixlip | Celebrant/solemniser: Fr. Karl Fortune
