Serene Love
God Smiled On Me And Gave You To Me As Proof Of His Love
Ellen Hall a History and Politics Teacher from Ballyclare met Aaron Hoy a Software Developer also from Ballyclare while they were growing up and attending the same church. Ellen tells us “Aaron was always in the age group older than me in most organizations, but we chatted at youth events and then eventually went to Youth Fellowship together. We chatted more and more in the Summer of 2016, and he then asked me to his Upper Sixth Formal that November. I said yes, then soon after that he asked me to be his girlfriend”
A few years later while on a trip to a very windy Portstewart they went to the cliff where they always go to, Aaron proposed almost shocking Ellen out of words, she said “I just kept saying ‘you’re joking!’ as he was down on one knee. We then went to Bob and Berts’ for a coffee, but I was too excited to go home and tell our parents we left before I drank mine!
The ring is a yellow gold entwined diamond ring from Beaverbrook in Belfast. It’s unique and I just love it”
After being together for over 6 years from being high school sweethearts it was time to set a date for their wedding, they chose 7th July 2023 to get married at Kilbride Presbyterian Church followed by a reception at The Wool Tower in Broughshane. They invited 110 guests to a relaxed wedding with a country vibe.
Ellen took her mum dress shopping but after the first shop she hadn’t seen anything that she liked so they booked an appointment at Seraphim Bridal in Greyabbey for a few weekends later. Ellen said “Catherine at the shop picked out one when I described the country/ laid back theme of the wedding and I instantly fell in love with it, I knew it was the one. After trying on a few others to make sure as directed, I kept coming back to it, so bought it there and then. I’m not much of a shopper, but I loved going with my mum and sharing that experience together. When it came to the decision making about trains and veils it got a little tricky, I’m not very decisive, but everyone was very helpful at the shop and so made it easier to finalize everything”.
Ellen had 4 bridesmaids; her best friend and maid of honour Rachel along with Emma (Aaron’s sister) and Sarah and Jasmine both friends from school. They got their dresses online from JJ’s House, Ellen also bought her flowergirl dress from Monsoon.
Suits for Aaron and his best friend and best man Michael along with friends Tom, Joel and Mark and ushers Adam (Ellen’s brother) and Mark (Aaron’s cousin) came from SD Kells.
The best part of the planning was going to choose the venue, knowing they wanted a rustic barn vibe they visited a couple of places but fell in love with the second place; The Wool Tower. They said “We knew we wanted a rustic barn vibe, and so viewed two places and instantly knew the second one was our venue. We also loved planning the finer details such as décor etc, as it was fun to imagine what it would look like when it all came together. Also cake tasting was a real highlight”.
The most stressful part was the final run up to the big day, the final two weeks when everything seemed to be happening all at once, finishing off all the finer details, thankfully they had great support from their friends and family.
Their country vibe wedding was brought to life with glass bottles filled with fairy lights as well as wild flowers, they said “We decorated the dining room with fairy lit bottles on every window pane, and had photos of us throughout the years to make it as personal as possible, as well as having photos from our parent’s weddings to add to the personal touches. We wanted to keep it relaxed and country vibe, so the fairy lights helped with that, as did the wild flowers. We also liked to keep it personal with photos”
The day went brilliantly, in fact it was described as the best day ever, the weather was good, food was good and everyone had a wonderful day. The dancing at the evening party was great, everyone got involved and stayed right until the end, they were all clearly enjoying the day. There was a vintage ice cream van brought in at the entrance of the reception which was a huge success with all of the guests enjoying a whippy in the sun. The day went smoothly without any disasters, apart from a fall from one of our guests, thankfully there were doctors and nurses on hand to help.
A highlight from the day as described by Aaron “the ceremony, specifically seeing Ellen coming up the aisle, and saying our vows and exchanging rings- made it all very real”. Ellen told us “the night time party! The dancing was great, didn’t stop the whole night, and nearly everyone got up – some unexpected dancers too”.
They wouldn’t do anything differently as their wedding was everything they could have wanted and more.
Before jetting off to Hong Kong and Australia they gave this advice to other couples planning their own wedding, “Everyone tells you not to stress, but it’s a natural thing. But honestly, we would say try not to stress about the little things, and enjoy the build up as much as possible. It’s easy to get caught up in everything that needs done, especially in that week before the wedding, but that’s the time to be soaking it all up and enjoying the last few days before you’re married”
The happy couple are now enjoying married life saying “It’s the best! Getting to do life with your best friend is so cool, and because we’ve been going out for so long, it feels great to finally be married, living in our home together and adventuring together as Mr and Mrs Hoy”
WEDDING SUPPLIERS INFO:
Reception location: The Wool Tower
Wedding Dress from: Seraphim Bridal
Bridesmaids dresses from: JJ’s House
Groomswear from: SD Kells
Cake by: Fairy Tree Cakes
Stationery by: Allcoats’ Creations
Photography by: Jervis Wedding Photography
Entertainment by: The Coves
