True Love Tuesday: Mary & Declan

After meeting in Belfast via Declan’s sister, Emma, Mary and Declan soon realised they had a lot in common, including sharing the same birthday! After seven years together Declan popped the question in a casual way; “The proposal took place on the 13^th July 2014, the day of the World Cup final. We had both been visiting our parents and when we met up at home Declan asked did I want to get married or get a house. I had said, “I don’t know.” He then asked did I want to get married?” I had thought a few years down the line and said, “yes”. He carried on to say, ok we will have a look at rings tomorrow then. A little out of the blue and definitely took a while to get my head around!” explained Mary.

The couple began planning their wedding day and chose March, 16th as it was one day after their anniversary and the day before their birthdays. “Planning was pretty laid back, we planned things as we went along. We only looked at one venue, Tullylagan Country House Hotel. My friend had been married here and we both really liked it and as it was convenient for both families and a stunning venue we didn’t need to look anywhere else!” said Mary.

Mary found her perfect wedding gown online. The designer was House of Mooshki and she tracked their local stockist down to Marie Me Bridal in Randalstown. When she visited the store she ended up choosing another dress from the same designer. Keeping their style simple, Mary chose sage green bridesmaids dresses and added lots of DIY elements to their day.

“We did a lot of elements ourselves, including invitations, Order of Service, favours, sweet table, centrepieces, we did our own bouquets, buttonholes, flowers for the church and name places for the hotel as well as our own table plan. We wanted the day to be as personal as possible and we felt by doing as much ourselves, it would not only help with cutting the cost of the day but also make it more personal to ourselves. The only thing we got made which made the venue smell utterly amazing was candles by The Bearded Candle Makers in Belfast who personalised a candle scent just for us based on the smell that I wanted. These two guys are honestly the best!” added Mary.

Instead of a wedding cake they chose a homemade caterpillar birthday cake!

“We felt it was a very relaxed day that we were both able to enjoy. No near disasters thankfully and all went according to plan. It would be hard to choose the highlight as the whole day was amazing surrounded by our close friends and family, we couldn’t have wished for anything more,” said Mary.