True Love Tuesday Deborah and Rory Bell... - Getting Married in Northern Ireland Magazine

They have Chemistry

A relaxed and rustic themed wedding was the perfect opportunity for Lurgan bride Deborah to showcase her creativity and flair for handmade decoration.
The imaginative pharmacist married project manager and fellow Lurgan native Rory in Rossharbour Resort in County Fermanagh.

Despite both being from the same town, the couple met for the first time in Queen’s University, Belfast where Deborah was an undergraduate while Rory was completing his Phd.
“After my graduation we got speaking again and decided to go on our first date and the romance blossomed from there.” said Deborah.

Rory proposed to Deborah on a chilly day in early April at Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, one of Deborah’s favourite cities.
“Despite the cold weather, the amazing views made it worthwhile. When we finally made it to the top Rory told me to look out over the view to get a nice photo. After waiting ages for him to take a photo I turned around to see what was taking so long and he was down on one knee.” said Deborah , “I was so surprised- it was such an amazing moment that we both won’t forget.”

Deborah had a specific dress style in mind, a lace fit and flare cut with a v neck and open back. “At one point I thought I wasn’t going to find what I was looking for but I kept going and eventually did.” said Deborah.
After travelling to 8 different she finally found her dream dress in Perfect Day in her hometown of Lurgan.
“It was surprisingly one of the first dresses I had pinned on Pinterest so I think it was meant to be!”
The search for the dress was an enjoyable experience for the bride, her mum and her bridesmaids, especially the bubbles on offer in so many of the boutiques as well as all the laughs and post shopping coffees.
Deborah also purchased her bridesmaids’ dresses from Perfect Day after getting such a great deal.

The scene was set on 10th August 2019 at the picturesque Rossharbour Resort with both the ceremony and reception taking place in the grounds in front of 130 guests.
The 3pm ceremony time meant guests had plenty of time to travel to the venue.
“We wanted our day to feel relaxed, fun and chilled out to reflect who we are as a couple.” explained Deborah.
Deborah said, “Our theme was a mix of rustic, natural and relaxed styles. I handmade all of wedding stationery from the invites to the menus and even photo frame pallet table plan.” Rory was on hand to help out where he could.

The bridal party was made up of maid of honour Stephanie, a friend of the bride, and bridesmaids Hannah, another of the bride’s friends and cousin Carly.
“To compliment the relaxed vibe we were going for and we kept the colours all neutral with the bridesmaids dresses in ‘fog’ (a very pale blue).” Deborah told us. The very elegant look was completed with hand tied bouquets of white flowers.

Rory’s brother Barry took the role of best man while brother-in-law Paul and friend Gareth were groomsmen. The groom’s party wore suits from Red Groomswear in Belfast with ties to match the bridesmaids’ dresses.

On arrival guests were greeted with a DIY lemonade stand with mini milk bottles for serving the lemonade.
Rosie the Caravan Photobooth was on hand to capture moments from the drinks reception.

The wedding ceremony itself was due to take place outdoors but this plan was scuppered by a yellow weather warning. The couple were given a number of options by the venue and they decided to move the ceremony indoors. “The room was so beautiful that it didn’t matter in the end. The good thing about the rain meant that when we went to get our photos we got some lovely shots with reflections in puddles.” said Deborah

At the reception guests delighted in the handmade favours, scented candles for the ladies and mints for the gentleman, all produced in the couple’s kitchen in the run up to the wedding.
The rustic theme continued throughout the reception with creative Deborah’s burlap runners, hanging floral hoops and apple crate displays.

In keeping with the chilled out vibes of the day the guests enjoyed a barbecue for the wedding meal. This got great reviews from everyone.

The couple chose George Ezra’s ‘Hold my Girl’ for their first dance to start off the evening celebrations.
Thankfully the weather improved in the evening and the guests could enjoy some outdoor fun. A s’mores bar at the fire pit led to a memorable moment as Deborah told us, “The photographer was taking pictures and told us to feed marshmallows to each other. I pulled mine straight from the fire (the mallow was still burning) and went to put it in Rory’s mouth but this resulted in a burnt lip. Thankfully we had already had our first kiss by that point!”

Deborah and Rory said ,“We really loved our day and had so much fun with all of our family and friends so we wouldn’t change it.”
They loved the opportunity to be creative and add a DIY aspect to their day. Not only did this give a real personal touch to the wedding, it meant they saved some money which they could spend on all the other little extras like a pizza van which made the day so memorable.

When asked if they had any advice for couples planning their own wedding they said, “We’d definitely recommend heading to wedding fairs early on the planning process even before you have a venue booked. We got lots of our ideas from these and also Pinterest but we wished we had been to some of these earlier in the process.”

The couple took off on a trip to Bali for their honeymoon, enjoying a mix of relaxation and adventure.