True Love Tuesday....Mr & Mrs O'Shea - Getting Married in Northern Ireland Magazine

Civil Engineer Dearbhla McGuigan from Omagh met Architectural Technologist Eóin O’Shea from Belleek on a charity trip to Ethiopia in 2016, friendship came first followed by their first date after they arrived home. Falling in love and planning for their future together led to a romantic proposal a few years later. Eóin invited Dearbhla to his house telling her it would be to watch a movie and have some food, not thinking anything of it, Dearbhla went to Eóin’s house, he shouted out to Dearbhla that the front of the house was blocked due to the washing he was drying, Eóin asked Dearbhla to go around the back of the house and come through the back door. Smelling candles Dearbhla said “this plonker has run himself a nice bath” but as she started to make her way across the hall Eóin had laid some lovely messages on the floor with tea lights and rose petals, he then popped out of the kitchen dropping to one knee and proposing with a ‘proposal ring’ Dearbhla said “he know I was a fussy so and so and would want to pick my own ring”.

Eóin and Dearbhla settled into their new life as a newly engaged couple and got to work setting a date for their wedding and making plans for their big day. Deciding on getting married in Church of the Sacred Heart in Riverstown Co Sligo on 30^th September 2022 and having their reception in Markree Castle, the happy couple set about ensuring their wedding would be fabulous.

Dearbhla found her perfect dress in Wed2Be in Belfast on a shopping trip with her sister. Telling the ladies in the shop the style of dress that she wanted, Dearbhla was given four dresses to try on, she fell in love with the third dress. Taking a break for some coffee and a think about the dresses, Dearbhla knew she had found ‘her dress’ so went back to the shop and bought her dress before heading home. Dearbhla said of her experience “it was quite fun, as it was still in lockdown there weren’t many people in the shop when I was in, so it felt like I was getting a lot of attention”.

The dresses for Dearbhla’s sisters Maid of honour Janine McGuigan and Bridesmaids Aoibhinn McGuigan along with friend Kate Mackay came from the now discontinued ‘Sisters’ range from Kate Halfpenny in London.

Eóin and his groomsmen, Best Man and friend Brian McPhillips and brothers Paschal O’Shea, Ciaran O’Shea along with friend Stephen McCarron came from SD Kells in Belfast.

Their wedding day was as fabulous as they had hoped for saying “it went as well as it could have, it was over in the blink of an eye just like everyone said it would” they did manage to keep to their budget with the help of a really good spreadsheet.

As a surprise for their 125 guests Dearbhla’s brother Gareth and her friend Grainne Morgan sang at the ceremony which was really special, thankfully the day went without a hitch apart from nearly running out of Tayto crisps at their Tayto Sandwich Station. Dearbhla and Eóin rounded of their day by enjoying their first dance as husband and wife to Little Trip to Heaven by Tom Waits.

Speaking to us afterwards the newly married couple said the highlight of their day was “pretty difficult to pick just one moment but milling around during the drinks reception chatting to people and listening to our pianist is something we’ll always remember, and as soppy as it is, seeing each other at the end of the aisle” Looking back they said “we are both of the same mind in that no matter which way we planned it, there will always be something that doesn’t go quite right and maybe we could have planned differently, but anything we wanted to have at the wedding we had, so I don’t really think there is anything we would change”

Giving this advice before heading of on honeymoon to Vietnam, Singapore and Bali they told us “Make sure to schedule time to sit down together to work out what you both want, be prepared to compromise and be organised and divvy up the tasks”.