A marriage proposal on the high of Shandon
You cannot get extra Cork than a wedding proposal made towards the backdrop of the Shandon Bells.
Aoife O’Callaghan and James Brady received engaged in pandemic instances, on the Cork landmark, the Church of St Anne. “James had orchestrated a plan to get in there during lockdown and we had the whole tower to ourselves,” says Aoife.
“We’ve at all times beloved to seize a takeaway espresso and go for a stroll across the park there. James enjoys pictures and that day he advised me he wished to take some footage from the tower.
“When we received to the highest, James requested me to look down, by means of the digicam lens, and subsequent factor, I noticed two of our buddies under within the backyard with banners saying ‘Aoife, will you marry James?’.”
Aoife and James were childhood neighbours in Whites Cross and attended the same primary and secondary schools, Glanmire National School and Glanmire Community College. “We would take the same school bus,” says Aoife.
They became friends in their 20s, by which time Aoife was living in Wexford.
“When I returned to Cork, we began dating,” she says.
The couple, who live in Rathcormac, exchanged vows in December in The Kingsley Hotel in Cork which was also their reception venue. “Our celebrant was Carol Cotter who made our ceremony very personal and relaxed,” says the bride.
Tomás Tyner captured the occasion on camera, including a photoshoot in the hotel’s penthouse and alongside the River Lee.
Guests of honour included Aoife’s mother and father, Noreen and Seán O’Callaghan, and James’s father, Ger Brady, and grandparents, Josie and Jim Brady.
Aoife’s buddies, Mary Nolan and Marie Murphy, had been by her aspect as her bridesmaids whereas James selected his pal, Podge Bullman, to be his finest man and his brother, Alan Brady, was his groomsman.
“We always wanted a Christmas wedding, and a smaller wedding of close family and friends,” says the bride.
“My brother, David O’Callaghan, sang me up the aisle. He played piano and sang David Gray’s ‘This Year’s Love’,” says Aoife.
The Fureys’ ‘When You Were Sweet Sixteen’ was the soundtrack to the newlyweds’ first dance.
“Our drinks reception room was overlooking the beautiful River Lee. Our wedding coordinator, Charley Walters, made sure everything was perfect on the day.”
Healys of Blackpool baked the marriage cake and Aoife and her dad travelled in model in a Mercedes chauffeured by a household pal, Bertie Hackett.
“We drove up Patrick Street which was very special as so many people waved in at us,” says the bride.
Aoife appeared elegant in her dream marriage ceremony gown, sourced in Vows in Blarney, teamed with Jimmy Choos.
“James bought me diamond earrings to wear on the day and my mother Noreen gave me a silver hairslide as my ‘something borrowed’,” provides Aoife.
Orchid Cottage Crafts created the floral preparations and the groom and his celebration had been dapper due to Morley’s Suit Hire.
The mother-of-the-bride designed the marriage invites. “She painted Shandon Bells and a silhouette of the two of us dancing in front,” the bride.
Three Degrees hair salon in Blackpool and Aisling McEvoy, Vision of Beauty, Glanmire, ensured the bridal hairstyling and make-up had been picture-perfect.
Aoife, a main faculty instructor, and James, who works at Stryker, began their minimoon within the Kingsley Hotel after which continued the break at Killashee Hotel & Spa in Naas, Co Kildare.
They plan to honeymoon in New York subsequent summer season.
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