Glamorous Dunboyne Castle Wedding by Steve Weldon Photography

We’re giving Friday a high-five today!

Love is certainly in the air this afternoon at Mrs2be HQ, as we share the glamorous wedding of childhood sweethearts, Ciara and Darren, captured by Steve Weldon Photography. This is just the wedding to get your weekend off to a great, stylish start!

After meeting at school when bride Ciara was 15 and groom Darren was 13, the couple soon realised they were best friends, and years later Darren planned an extremely romantic proposal to seal the deal.

“The proposal was extremely romantic and surprising. Darren took me to a restaurant in Bray overlooking the seafront. After the meal he suggested that we take a walk along the beach. He was very quiet and then he said “Ciara wait!” I stopped and looked at him and he had tears in his eyes and starting saying how much he loved me and said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me and showing me how much I mean to him. I, at this stage, was babbling tears (and mascara rolling down my face). He then said “Ciara, will you marry me?” Of course, I said yes!” explained Ciara.

The couple had a long engagement of four years before they started to plan their perfect wedding, as they wanted to wait until their little girl was old enough to be part of their special day.

Together they planned their wedding day working around their stunning venue of choice, Dunboyne Castle. “We decided to have our wedding on a Sunday (of a bank holiday weekend) in order to have the venue we wanted. This did cause unforeseen problems as when we booked the venue we didn’t realise that the only to diesis in the country that allow Church weddings on a Sunday was Cavan and Galway!” added Ciara.

Ciara is a huge Strictly Come Dancing fan so chose to incorporate her love of sparkle into her Big Day with scoring paddles for the table plan and place settings, as well as a glamorous look to the entire day.

“My dress is actually my most favourite thing from the day! I had been looking at dresses online and found things I sort of liked, but my mam’s friends had suggested that I should try Barnardo’s in Drumcondra as they have a wedding boutique upstairs. I was very apprehensive about going to a charity shop for a dress as I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but off we went. The lady was very welcoming and then asked what sort of style I wanted and I replied anything sparkly and bling. She started pulling puffy dresses and cream and I was really seeing anything until she pulled out this dress and I instantly fell in love with it. I tried it on and absolutely fell in love with it. It was sparkly, loads of bling and flowed down but not too much which was exactly what I was looking for. I honestly didn’t want to take it off I felt like a Princess!” explained Ciara.

“The day had a few hiccups and bumps but honestly it was the best day of my life. I felt on top of the world and never wanted the day to end. I smiled from the minute I got up singing in my head ‘today’s the day I get married!’ Seeing my now husband and my daughter smile as much as I did and have all my amazing family and friends there to share our special day made it an incredible day that I will never ever forget,” added Ciara.