True Love Tuesday Ashleigh and Ashley Gregg... - Getting Married in Northern Ireland Magazine

Ashleigh and Ashley met in a series of unfortunate events. Ashley, who is a football player, injured his ankle and around the same time, Ashleigh’s mum had a fall which in pursuit of their husky dog and injured her elbow. Both of them needed surgery and while Ashleigh was visiting her mum, she ran into Ashley a few times. It wasn’t until after both surgeries, Ashleigh and Ashley begun noticing each other and he asked her to accompany him as a ‘plus one’ to a wedding evening party. Ashleigh said, ‘It was an unusual first date setting but it was the catalyst to us spending time together and eventually becoming inseparable.’

Since they got together, they have visited Newcastle annually to watch Newcastle United – who Ashley is a big fan of. The city holds a real sentiment in Ashley’s heart. Naturally, it was only fitting to have the Tyne Bridge as a backdrop to his proposal. It was on the 9th November, he got down on one knee. ‘Hearing him say the words I had long awaited was a surreal and touching moment. There was no hesitation to my resounding ‘Yes!’ as he opened the Murray & Co. box said Ashleigh. The ring has a gold band with an emerald cut sapphire, surrounded with diamonds.

Ashley had planned his proposal two years prior as he spoke to Ashleigh’s dad who was in decline of early onset Alzheimer’s disease on Father’s Day. Ashley asked her dad for her hand in marriage. It was a very bittersweet moment for them, but Ashleigh knows her dad would have been so proud of him.

The wedding planning begun as they set the date for 19thSeptember 2020, they had planned their day with almost all of their vender’s booked prior to Christmas. Although this wasn’t meant to be, with restrictions in place the couple decided to postpone their date until 25th September 2021. Thankfully they had purchased their first house a number of years prior and with the lockdowns it meant that they got to finally spend a lot of time together instead of being ships that pass in the night.
Ashleigh got her dress from Pronuptia, Belfast on Black Friday with her mum, her future mother-in-law and her sister. She told us, ‘The shop had such a relaxing and elegant atmosphere and the lady working allowed me to pick out several dresses to sample. The first dress I tried on was Justin Alexander, Mikado ball gown with a low beaded back. I knew it was the one when I stepped out and the song I intended to play walking down the aisle. – Can’t help falling in love by Elvis. I teamed it with an Ivory & Co. tiara headpiece, a cathedral length, laced edged veil and beaded belt to accentuate the waist. It was the timeless look I’d envisioned. The veil I wore was my sisters from her wedding, it was my something borrowed for the day.

The bridesmaids dresses were supplied by Aimee in Piia Bridal, Coleraine. The dresses were Stone Blue Mikado A-line shaped dresses by Sorella Vita. Ashleigh’s bridesmaids were her sister Elaine Barrett and two best friends Christine McCrabbe and Rachel Acheson.
Ashley’s groomsmen were all his close friends, Gareth Lyness, Callum Grieve and Calum Jones. His ushers were Gary O’Neill and Jonathan McGeown. The groomsmen outfits were from Freddie Hatchet, Cookstown.

Ashleigh and Ashley’s favourite part of planning their big day was the experiences they enjoyed as a couple. Ashleigh loved having her partners input as it made decisions much easier.
‘Days out picking the venue, menu tasting and visiting bridal shows together made it so enjoyable and knowing he was just as excited to plan, helped me immensely.’

They married at Shankill Parish Church, Lurgan where Ashleigh’s parents were married thirty years prior. Their reception was at Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle. The Slieve Donard Hotel was an easy choice thanks to the hotel’s wedding coordinator, John Comerton. He was a delight to work with and nothing was out of the question.

They had 110 guests and they kept the wedding theme formal with a timeless aesthetic. They had subtle nods of their personalities throughout, such as the table numbers. They were football stadium names, as per Ashley’s influence. The favours were personalised M&Ms with their names, faces and wedding date printed on them. They got them from Alzheimer’s Society in memory of Ashleigh’s late dad. They also incorporated forget-me-knot flowers in Ashleigh’s bouquet and cake flowers.

The big day flew effortlessly for the couple and there wasn’t a minute they didn’t enjoy. They have a huge appreciation to all the suppliers that went above and beyond for them. They are grateful they hired their videographer to catch the moments they would have otherwise missed. They are happy to have it to look back on as you often don’t remember everything going on.

Ashleigh said one of the most special moments of the day was arriving to the church on a horse drawn carriage with her mum.

‘The rhythm of the horses and carriage made for a relaxing way to travel when nerves where high and having that time with my mum was an amazing memory for us to share. After the ceremony, myself and Ashley joined the bridal party in a limo to Newcastle where we met Joanne with the carriage to take us the rest of the way into the Slieve Donard. It was lovely to see people stop in the street to see us coming and the looks on children’s faces when they saw the horses was heartwarming.’

A funny part of the day for the couple were the speeches as it was difficult to distinguish which one of them they were referring to given the bride and groom have the same name.

The bride also surprised her husband and guests by booking Nemises Fireworks, which was displayed after the dinner. The guests created a sparkler tunnel and counted down to the fireworks. The couple then had their first dance to Bryan Adams, Everything I do which is the grooms favourite song.

The couple spent two nights at the hotel before flying to Dubai for eleven days on The Palm Jumeirah and have been loving married life. They are looking forward to a year of travel together.

Their advice to other couples planning their wedding is, ‘Take the stress out of the day; even if it means paying a little more, your sanity is more valuable. I would consider myself quite creative and had so many ideas of making things for the wedding myself to save money but I realized it just wasn’t worth the stress and paying a professional meant it was one less worry.’