Nicola and Mark attended the same primary school but never properly met each other until a night out in Summer 2010 where they met accidentally in a local bar in L’derry and swapped numbers Mark then asked Nicola out on an official date, they got on really well and found it very natural to be in each other’s company, in fact Nicola says “I missed him when we were apart!”
Nicola and Mark had visited the ‘Ballyare Lodge’ for a weekend break and really fell in love with lodge and setting so much so that when it came to the proposal Mark planned the surprise proposal to be at the ‘Ballyare Lodge’. Nicola told us “The proposal was very well planned, Mark had organised a ‘fake’ competition on Facebook with the owners of Ballyare Lodge to win a one night stay and we won, Ballyare Lodge is a very special place to us it’s a beautiful spot in Donegal that has a private lake and fabulous accommodation! We were in the outdoor hot tub and Mark started talking about how special the lake is to him and us when he got down in one knee in the hot tub and asked me to marry him! Little did I know, Mark had champagne hidden by the side of the hot tub and he had the ring tied to his trunks! Then when we left the lake the next day and he whisked me off to Lough Eske castle where we had another day & night of luxury”
With plans in place and the wedding date booked for 15th July, Nicola travelled to McElhinneys bridal rooms where she chose a Justin Alexander designed wedding dress, “I got the butterflies when I tried it on and I knew that it was my dress” says Nicola. Nicola had one flower girl her niece and god daughter, Aoife who also got her dress in McElhinneys. Nicola’s bridesmaids were her four sisters Kiera, Kelly, Leanne and Terri.
Mark, his best man and brother Ryan and his groomsmen chose to hire their suits from the Black Tie Showroom in L’derry where they picked out suits, Marks son Emmet and Nicolas son Luca carried out the usher duties while their son Jacob was pageboy.
Nicola says’ “the best part of organising was wedding dress shopping and the most stressful was waiting on people to RSVP I was starting to panic as the only people we heard from was people that couldn’t make it!! But it all fell into place in the end! My theme for the wedding wasn’t very specific we had retro VW campers and a beetle as our wedding transport as I love retro/quirky! I made my own bunting and Pom poms for decorating the venue there was bunting on the entrance table and across the bar in the function room, and the pom poms on all the windows that were pink and ivory that matched my dress and the brides maid dresses. My guest book matched my invites and I loved it as it was a portrait of our family, Mark, myself and our 3 boys even our 2 dogs and cat were in it thanks to the very talented Deerymedesigns. The day was brilliant seeing all our loved ones and close friends all together, I laughed and danced away! great memories were made. Our Highlight was getting to board the southern comfort yacht at the clipper festival on the quay, all the racing boats were there and beeping their horns as we passed them and people were waving and cheering to us! It was surreal walking through the crowds of people at the festival and being able to sail on the river Foyle on our wedding day it reallty felt amazing seeing the peace bridge and our lovely town”.
Nicola had lots of help from friends on family when planning and organising her wedding and is very grateful to all her chosen suppliers for their efforts saying they all went over and beyond her expectations.
Nicola and Mark enjoyed their wedding celebrations along with 150 guests at the Inishowen Gateway Hotel in Buncrana, the couple shared their first dance as husband and wife to ‘Foo Fighters, Big me. After the celebrations, the couple travelled to Cuba for their honeymoon.
Inside Information:
Reception: Inishowen Gateway Hotel Wedding Dress: Elhinneys Bridal Rooms Shoes: Christian Louboutin Brown Thomas Bridesmaids Dresses: Elite Brides
Grooms Wear: Black Tie Show Room Make up: Katie B Make Up Hair by: Matthew Ferry @ NOIR Flowers by: Funky Flowers Wedding Rings: Fallers Jewellers Cake by: NM cakes Stationery by: Deerymedesigns.com Transport from: Logybear Campervan Hire Photographer by: Paula Gillespie Photographer Videography: Derg Media Videographer Wedding Singer: Colleen Gormley
