True Love Tuesday Rebecca and Conor Walker.... - Getting Married in Northern Ireland Magazine

Fate’s Design: The Story Of A Serendipitous Connection

Close Your Eyes

Fall In Love

Stay There

Rebecca Fawcett a General Practice Nurse from Maguiresbridge met Conor Walker a Human Resources Manager from Hillsborough 6 years ago; Rebecca was living with another girl in Belfast while at University, turns out a friend of Conor’s was going out with her and when Conor spied Rebecca on Facebook, he knew he needed to meet her, a plan was hatched; Rebecca tells us “Little did I know that Conor had spied me on Facebook and was hatching a plan to meet me in person (bear in mind he didn’t even add me so I was oblivious). His friend was going out with a girl I lived with. I went home from university every weekend, while my friends would have stayed up and went out; Conor would have been there. I had heard them talk about some boy Conor, but never thought much about it. It was my birthday and I and a few friends were going out, meanwhile Conor and another friend decided to pop around to our house to catch up with my friend. – I couldn’t understand why these two boys I didn’t know wanted to call around, especially on my birthday! Little did I know it was planned as Conor knew I would be in the house and really wanted to meet me. As soon as Conor walked through the door I was delighted – we hit it off instantly and I realized I perhaps should have stayed up some of them weekends as I may have met Conor quicker”

The proposal took place in August 2021; on a wet and cold day, just your typical Irish summers day. Conor decided that they would go for a spin in the car as they would normally do, they brought a picnic, although Rebecca was not interested in going out due to the weather and couldn’t understand why Conor was hellbent on going out. Rebecca told us “I sat mainly complaining saying we could go somewhere nice for lunch! He’d persisted and we drove to Holywood and had our picnic in the car. I was completely in shock when Conor got down on one knee and proposed (in the car as it was so wet outside!). I was not expecting it at all. He brought me to Holywood as we had our first date there in The Dirty Duck. Conor picked the ring himself from Lunns and I couldn’t have picked better myself”

Rebecca knew that when it came to her gown she had a picture in her head of what she wanted, something plain and ivory with long sleeves, unfortunately when she tried that exact gown on in Pronuptia it did not suit her at all. Claire from Pronuptia stepped in and was brilliant picking out dresses that Rebecca would never have chosen herself. The gown Rebecca ended up with was the total opposite of what she had originally thought she wanted, the dress still had sleeves but it was fully embellished and was a beautiful nude colour. Rebecca told us more about her experience “I only went to the one bridal shop with my mum and sister – Pronuptia Belfast. My sister got her wedding dress there and we knew they were first class. Claire was so attentive and so patient as I tried on several dresses. I couldn’t recommend Pronuptia highly enough!”

The bridesmaid’s dress for Sarah who is Rebecca’s sister came from Coast, while the suits for Conor and his best man his brother Daniel came from SD Kells in Enniskillen.

The couple managed to stay quite relaxed during the planning, they only looked at the one venue, they knew they wanted the Slieve Russell Hotel as it would be perfect for them and their 100+ guests, after getting all of the main things booked they were able to relax and enjoy the lead up to their big day.

A date was set for Saturday 15^th April 2023 with their ceremony booked in Maguiresbridge Methodist Church and the Slieve Russell Hotel in Co Cavan for their reception.

One thing they did find stressful as Rebecca told us was “the days leading up to the wedding were slightly stressful in making sure that everything was sorted. As our wedding day fell on the same day as The Grand National, our wedding favours were a bet for each person. Conor went to the bookmakers a few days before the wedding – I don’t think the worker was overly delighted at having to print 120 individual bet slips! I then spent the day before putting them together with wee ribbons, a verse and a wooden horseshoe. So once they were finished and everything was delivered to the Slieve Russell I could relax!”

Rebecca and Conor didn’t have a theme as such but had decided on spring flowers and pastel colours as Rebecca loves those and knew she wanted to get married in the Spring so they could form part of the wedding through signage, invitations and bouquets, Rebecca absolutely loved hers.

The whole day went without a hitch, it was a day filled with emotion as well, Rebecca told us “We had an absolutely brilliant day from start to finish. It was also a day filled with emotion as my daddy passed away from cancer during the Covid19 pandemic in May 2020. While I couldn’t wait for the wedding, in some ways I was also dreading it as daddy would not be there to see his youngest daughter get married. We were very close and I know he would have been very proud to walk me down the aisle. Before daddy passed away Conor had a conversation with him and daddy knew that Conors intention was to marry me and daddy gave Conor his blessing, which I find such a comfort. I was sure to make daddy a main part of our wedding. I had a picture of him on my wedding bouquet. Along with the Grand National bets as wedding favours, we also donated money to Marie Curie as they were very supportive to our family when daddy was ill. My brother gave me away and stepped up for the day. Everything ran smoothly on the day. Both families and friends got on so well and it was evident that everyone had a brilliant day!”

Thankfully Conor loves a good spreadsheet and was able to keep their spending on target while Rebecca sourced invitations and signage. Team work makes the dream work!

They did splurge on a sweetie table for the kids, having nieces and nephews as flowergirls and pageboys along with other children attending, it was good to keep them occupied. A photo booth was also available for guests to take some great and memorable photos.

Not being able to pick one single highlight as the whole day was just amazing, they did say that they wouldn’t change a thing. As the song for their first dance tells us they are ‘Better Together’ (Luke Combs)

They gave this advice to other couples planning their own special day “Don’t stress! Everything will come together. Relax and enjoy your day as it will go by so quickly”

Before jetting of to New York and the Bahamas they told they are finding married life just lovely, they said “We didn’t live together before getting married. Conor had a house in Belfast and I was still living at home in Fermanagh. Before the wedding, Conor sold his house and made a brave decision to move down to Fermanagh. So it is lovely seeing each other every day and getting into our own wee routine”

WEDDING SUPPLIERS INFO NAME AND TOWN