True Love Tuesday Sarah and James Carmichael

True Gin & Celebration

Sarah and James chose to add bottles of their favourite tipple, gin, to their colourful summer wedding at Drenagh Estate, Limavady.

After going to Ballymena Academy together, it was during a night out in Kelly’s nightclub that Sarah and James first got together, over nine years ago. A few years on, just after Sarah had completed one of her Chartered Accounting final exams, the couple planned a night away to the Roe Valley in Limavady to relax. Following a couples massage, Sarah was busy sending her family photos of the suite they were staying in and when she turned around James was on one knee! “The ring was designed by James as he incorporated family diamonds into it, which just makes it even more unique and special for me,” explained Sarah.

The couple took wedding planning in their stride, and after choosing the beautiful Drenagh Estate for their reception, the plans came together easily. “We wanted the wedding to have plenty of colour and a gin theme. “As avid gin lovers, we had our table names after gins. We spent the 18 months planning our wedding by collecting weird and wonderful gin bottles, using these as our table names and then having the bottle on each table with flowers inside! We also had glass vases in the centre with lemons and limes inside, with flowers on top,” added Sarah. Sarah visited Bride at Logan’s in Cloughmills to find her perfect wedding dress. “I had been to a couple of shops, but when I went to Bride at Logan’s and met Dorothy, I knew I would find my dress or at least my style of dress there. My sister had also got her dress there in 2013 so it made it all the more special for me to also have got mine there. The experience was amazing, anyone who has bought or been there knows that Dorothy is one in a million, I’ve never met someone so suited to their job and I am so grateful for everything she did for me.” Sarah was attended on the day by her four bridesmaids, sisters Victoria and Rachael, and her best friends Sarah and Ciara. The girls wore striking pink tea-length dresses with lace bodices, whilst James and his groom’s party wore modern bright navy suits from Hire Class, Ballymena.

“My favourite part of wedding planning was being able to get in touch with friends and family to invite them. It is such an amazing day where we got to invite long distance friends we don’t get to speak to every day, so that was pretty great. Also trying on wedding dresses, I am slightly obsessed with Say Yes to the Dress!” said Sarah. “Our day went amazingly! I woke up at 6am feeling like a child at Christmas, I just couldn’t wait to get to the church to see James! My bridesmaids were nervous but I was absolutely buzzing. The team at Drenagh made sure the day went more smoothly than I could have ever wished for. In terms of budgeting for our day, being an accountant I had the excel spreadsheets fully utilised, and I managed to stick to the budget more or less – the week in the run up to the wedding is where things got a little lost but they don’t count, right?!” Looking back on their day, Sarah wouldn’t change anything: “Our highlight was the moment we got into the car after the ceremony. At that point it’s just you and him, and you realise you’re husband and wife! Also walking into the marquee at Drenagh and seeing all our family, friends and hard worked decorations looking amazing was another highlight!” said Sarah. Following their summer wedding Sarah and James headed to Miami and Cancun on honeymoon.