True Love Tuesday Heather and Ivan Catherwood... - Getting Married in Northern Ireland Magazine

Flowers, Love & Happiness

True love is when both people think they have the better half of the deal

Heather Dobbin from Bushmills met Ivan Catherwood from Boveedy/Kilrea through a mutual friend, on their first date Ivan was planning on taking Heather out but suddenly realised his Berlingo van was out of MOT, they never told anyone what happened, that was until the best man let the cat out of the bag in his speech, now everyone knows and it gave them all a good laugh.

Ivan proposed to Heather on her birthday in front of her Dad, thankfully he was pretty confident of a resounding ‘Yes’. The ring is a gorgeous vintage style diamond cluster from Adrian & Co Jewellers in Cookstown. A wedding date was then set for 18th June 2022, 3 years after they first met.

Heather found her bridal gown in Beautiful Day Bridal in Greysteel and then she had to very quickly find a new gown. After losing 3 stone and also having a change in dates the original dress was no longer suitable. Heather emailed the shop 2 months before the wedding date in a complete panic, she didn’t need to worry though as Ciara stepped up and fitted her in that evening, Heather said “Ciara was simply amazing. Fitted me in that evening. Knew exactly how to dress my new body shape. Placed a rushed order for my new dress from the bridal warehouse. I had my new gown within 2 weeks”
When it came time for sourcing Bridesmaid dresses for sisters Edwina Duncan and Kathryn Dobbin along with friend Joanne Christie; the girls knew what they wanted and hired a local dressmaker to make them, unfortunately a few days before the big day they were found to not be suitable at the final fitting, Heather told us “We went for a final fitting just a few days before our wedding and the dresses where not fit for purpose due to several reasons that were out of my control. I had to panic buy 3 unworn dresses from a local girl just 2 days before our wedding. My grandmother who is 76 years old and my sister altered all 3 dresses. They ended up being just perfect”
Suits for Ivan and his 3 groomsmen; friend William McDonald, brother Sammy Christie and brother in law Martin Duncan came from S&T Moores in Coleraine.

A fabulous floral themed wedding was planned for The Royal Hotel in Cookstown, wanting a simple but elegant style for their 96 guests their main focus was on flowers, the couple told us “We wanted a simple but elegant style. The main focus was our flowers which were simply stunning. We gifted the table flowers to family and friends. We had flowers everywhere, flowers make you smile, they are simply stunning”

Describing the day as simply amazing and that it was worth every penny, they had a special feature for the young guests, although I’m pretty sure the grown up guests also enjoyed all of the extra special treats such as a bouncy castle, games, teepees, racing simulator pods and a candy cart, I mean who wouldn’t love sweets and games.

The funniest part of the day was the best man’s speech which everyone enjoyed, the best part of the day for Heather was walking down the aisle on her Father’s arm, for Ivan it was seeing his bride for the first time. They both agreed that they wouldn’t do anything differently. Their first dance as husband and wife was to Ellie Goulding ~ How long will I love you.
Heather loved planning the wedding, she said “I love organising; so everything from start to the finish was fun. The best part however was planning our honeymoon as a surprise for Ivan, he was given details in a wedding card from me on the morning of our wedding” The most stressful part was “definitely the issue with the bridesmaid dresses, I didn’t ever think that I would get replacement bridesmaid dresses in time”

Before setting off on their amazing honeymoon to San Antonio Bay in Ibiza they gave this advice for other couples planning their own wedding “enjoy every second as the day just flies in, make sure to step away from the guests and take a few moments on your own as husband and wife”

Heather and Ivan are enjoying married life saying “we are so happy and taking each and every day as they come”