True Love Tuesday Julie and Colm Barry... - Getting Married in Northern Ireland Magazine

Fantastic pre-dinner music made Julie and Colly’s wedding day all the more special when they celebrated with 220 family and friends at the Four Seasons Hotel in Carlingford

When Julie Fegan and Colm Barry discovered their best friends were dating each other, they decided to follow suit.
Julie, a physiotherapist from Burren, Co Down, and Colm (Colly) a machine operative from Ballyholland in Co Down, met eight years ago on a night out in Newry. “We realised after that night that my best friend Helen and his best friend Patrick were already dating, so it just took off from there,” said Julie.
The couple got engaged in Greenore in Carlingford on April 15 2018. “We had a beautiful breakfast in Strandfield and went for a walk along the shore and Colly asked me that morning as a surprise,” Julie said. Her ring, a halo pear shaped diamond ring with gold band, was custom made in Jack Murphy’s Jewellers in Newry

Julie found her perfect dress, by Justin Alexander, in Elody Bride shop in Newry. It was the second shop she tried although she visited another seven or eight shops just to be certain this was indeed her dream dress! “I loved trying on the different dresses and feeling like a princess. It was great craic and we all enjoyed a ladies’ day out,” Julie said. “My advice though is to maybe just do one or two shops per day.”
Julie’s maid of honour was her sister Cara Larkin, and bridemaids were her best friend Helen Mathers, mum to flower girl Molly, and her sister Aislinn Fegan.
Their beautiful platinum coloured dresses came from the Mark Lesley range in Divinity Bridal in Lisburn.
Flower girl Molly wore a dress Julie’s good friend Amy Ferguson had for her flower girl. “She let us borrow it which was I suppose my something borrowed,” said Julie.

Pageboy was Julie’s nephew Ciaran Fegan and the four groomsmen wore outfits from McCartan Bros. Newry. The gents’ party was made up of Colly’s friend John Mathers as best man; Colly’s brother John Barry; and his friends Patrick Mathers and Daniel Barry.
Julie said wedding dress shopping was the best part of planning the big day, while organising the invitations and RSVPs was the most stressful aspect.
The couple married in St Mary’s Chapel, Burren, on June 7 2019 and hosted a reception for 220 guests at the Four Seasons Hotel in Carlingford.
They didn’t go for a specific theme, although Colly did use the occasion to celebrate his team Liverpool’s success in the Champions League.
“On the morning Colly had a few Liverpool flags out and at the entrance to the meal we had to take in a Champions’ League balloon to the sound of the Champions’ League theme tune.” Julie said. “If anyone knows Colly, Liverpool is his first love!”
The couple say the day was just perfect. “It exceeded our expectations and everyone just had a ball. From start to finish we just enjoyed every minute of it and we hope all our guests did too,” Julie said.
They had opted to invest in pre-dinner music. “It was the best money spent,” she explained. “We had booked a band called Raglan Music who were just fantastic. They had everyone up dancing and in great form and entertained young and old. They had so much energy and most people commented that it was like a wedding before the wedding… it set us off on a great tone for the day.”
Julie and Colly’s first dance as man and wife was to You are the Reason by Calum Scott and Leona Lewis.

Reflecting on the day, Julie said: “I have two highlights which were probably both random. At 11.45am instead of getting into my dress, I was running around my garden with Molly and Ciaran playing and getting photos in the sunshine, and secondly, before we went into the meal, the bridal party was sitting in the bar and Raglan, in the middle of packing up, decided to play one more tune, The Leaving of Liverpool. We all enjoyed those five minutes together relaxing, singing and dancing.”
Colly said his highlight was walking into the room to the Champions’ League theme tune with both the cup balloon and his new wife!
The couple’s advice to others planning a wedding is: “Enjoy every minute. Have five minutes together during the day to take it all in.”
Julie added: “My best piece of advice is to spend the money on the entertainment and photographer/video. Raglan Music and The Nooks were both amazing and the dancefloor was never empty. Your photographer and videographer are there to capture your big day, and we were blessed with Rashida Keenan and Declan Brady who are just fantastic at their jobs and we can now look back on those special moments.
Julie and Colly went on a Mediterranean cruise for their honeymoon.