A Dublin bride has recounted the hilarious tale of her near missed engagement.
Jennifer Ormonde married her husband Dane earlier this year in Tankardstown House, with Tayto sandwiches topping off the night's festivities. The pair first met almost a decade ago, and have since welcomed their daughter Luna.
The duo jetted off on a holiday to Mexico back in 2017. And unbeknownst to Jen, her partner had an engagement ring concealed within the luggage.
However, Dane's plans to propose nearly didn't make it off the runway. A rushed passenger mistakenly took the suitcase containing the ring, causing chaos on the flight.
READ MORE: Dublin bride walks down the aisle in first dress she tried on
Jennifer explained: "The air hostess moved the passenger to the front of the plane so he could get off first – and he took with him what he thought was his carry on bag! It wasn’t until we stood up at the end of the flight that Dane realised our bag wasn’t there – I have never seen the blood drain from his face quicker."
Luckily Dane was able to recover his bag after some furore. The couple later got engaged on the second night of their holiday, a much more romantic setting.
Jennifer's big day was captured on camera by Niall Scully. Her wedding make up was completed by artist Ailbhe Lynch.
Here is the bride's testimony about her big day in full.
Who is your partner and how did you meet?
My husband is Dane Ormonde. We met in 2014, we had both been to a Kings of Leon concert separately with friends, in a not so sunny Marlay Park in the middle of July – the heavens opened.
We were both drowned rats after the concert but somehow managed to head to a night club afterwards where our paths crossed on the dancefloor. 92 nightclub in Leopardstown Race Course is where our love story began – Ironically nicknamed the Club of Love!!
Over the next few months Dane always said he laid some serious groundwork! He was determined to get us out on a date. We went to the Guinness storehouse on our first date.
Dane’s grandfather Willie drove us up in his Taxi. He even turned the meter on and loaded up the extras for the craic. He got great pleasure and amusement out of Dane’s face as he charged him €15!
He made a wonderful speech on our wedding day where he had the whole room laughing at the €15 charge but beautifully explained that it was his way of showing the lovely girl Dane had won over that he would always pay his way!!
It was a lovely summer’s evening in Guinness Storehouse as we sat together alone overlooking the Dublin Skyline. We sipped on a couple of Guinness pints and both knew this was something a lot more special than any ordinary first date.
Tell us about the proposal.
The proposal is a pretty funny one!! We went on the most amazing trip to Cancun in 2017. Dane hid the engagement ring in his sunglasses bag in my carry on bag as he attempted to smuggle it through Dublin airport.
We flew through Charles De Galle in Paris and then connected to Cancun. On the way to Paris there was a man beside us panicking as he was tight for time for another connection. The air hostess moved him to the front of the plane so he could get off first – and he took with him what he thought was his carry on bag! It wasn’t until we stood up at the end of the flight that Dane realised our bag wasn’t there – I have never seen the blood drain from his face quicker.
I knew something was up because all that I thought was in that bag was my shoes and hair tools lol!! Dane just kept shouting up and down the plane about his bag. Eventually we realised the other man had realised he had the wrong bag and just left it at the top of the plane and had raced off without any luggage!
It had kind of clicked with me what was happening – but neither of us said the words! Dane took out the bag, took my hand and we walked to our connecting flight.
It was on the second night of the holiday after a gorgeous day in the Mexican sunshine we went back to the room and Dane had organised for the room to be filled with candles, rose petals and a beautiful note saying 'Will you marry me?'
He got down on one knee on the balcony with the sun setting in the background. A gorgeous moment and a sigh of relief for both of us after the stress beforehand.
We had a bit of a long engagement – we welcomed our gorgeous daughter Luna to the world and bought our own home all in the same month in August 2019. So it was a busy few years of enjoying life. We booked our wedding date in early 2020 – over zoom as the world was taken over by Covid!!
We looked around at a few venues, plenty of zoom tours as we couldn’t see them in person due to Covid. It was a strange way to book your wedding, but when we had a meeting with Tankardstown we knew immediately it was the venue for us.
Not only did we fall in love with the venue itself, every single staff member was unbelievable to deal with and that high standard continued and raised higher as we moved to the wedding day. I knew if we got this vibe over a screen I would love it even more in person – so we booked.
It felt like miles away when we booked the 29.04.2023 but with a busy house and a small baby to run after it feels like 5 minutes ago when I look back.
Tell us about your wedding.
Our wedding day everything we wished for and more!! I wont lie the planning really does take over your life haha – It's like taking on another stressful full-time job at times but it pays you back and more to see all the work you put in come to life and the feeling of love in the room on the day is indescribable!
The night before the wedding, my bridesmaids/bridesman, flower girls and I all stayed in my Mam's house whilst Dane stayed with the boys in our home. The excitement in my mam's the night before was another level and such a lovely wedding eve.
The next morning, we were up bright and early to head to Tankardstown, our whole day was in the venue. The house was honestly like the scene from Home Alone with everyone running around grabbing the 100 bags and clothes.
Off we set to Tankardstown, the wedding morning in the bridal prep suite was honestly one of my favourite parts of the day. We had the dream team of Ailbhe Lynch on make up and Roy Leigh on Hair – two beautiful souls who added so much magic to the morning.
The vibe in the room was so lovely, there was tears and laughs and everything in between. It was so lovely to have my god daughter Eliie-Rose and my daughter Luna there on the morning. A special memory we will always have.
We were all ready for 2pm which was great as it gave us time to breath and get some photos. I also did a first look with my Dad which is a moment I will cherish forever!
I was pretty calm myself until it was time to walk to the ceremony and my stomach started to do somersaults! Walking down the aisle was the most surreal, nerve racking, amazing moment all rolled into one. But seeing Dane and Luna waiting at the top of the aisle for me is my proudest moment to date!
Frog Prince were on decor and it was like walking it a fairytale – they were so amazing to deal with. I gave them my vibe and they went above and beyond to create my vison and more. Before we knew it, our celebrant Mark Lovette had announced us as husband and wife and the day from there zoomed past!!
The sun shined down on us unexpectedly for our reception and our guests were able to enjoy a glass of prosecco and listen to the amazing talent of Aaron Rowe. Dane and I headed off for a while with our [hotographer Niall Scully and videographer Mark Ryan. We also went on a lovely walk with our daughter Luna, another one of my favourite parts of the day! The rain held off until just before the bell rang for dinner!
Dane and I had a half a half an hour to ourselves whilst everyone sat down for dinner which I highly recommend – its so nice in all the craziness of the day to take a second together to take it all in. We made our entrance to the dinner to 'Freed from Desire' and I think the roof nearly came off the Tankardstown Orangery! The food was incredible, our guests are still talking about it today.
The staff in Tankardstown are second to none, they know exactly what you need as a bride and groom on your big day. We were lucky enough to have Aine looking after us and she went above and beyond to make us feel at home in Tankardstown and stopped at nothing to make it the day of our dreams.
Dinner was done and it was time to celebrate. Dane and I said from the start we wanted something different on our wedding day and really wanted something to get our guests moving after the dinner (not that it took much).
I knew from the moment I found the hit machine drummers they were the ones for the job. We kept them as a surprise, as they started beating the drums everyone was up and dancing straight away. Everyone from all ages loved every second of them.
It was over to riff shop then to get the party started. The dancefloor was packed until the early hours! We finished the night off the only way – with Tayto crisp sambos!!
For day 2 celebrations we booked the upstairs in Nolita in Dublin City centre – it was perfect, gorgeous food and amazing atmosphere. It also took the pressure off our guests if they didn’t want to stay in a hotel 2 nights – they were closer to home for night 2.
What was the best thing about the build up to the big day?
Someone said to me the build up is just as good as the day – and they are so right! I think the lovely moments you have the few weeks before are the best.
We booked some lovely days out with our special people like a brunch with my mum and bridal crew/ Dane and I also went into town to pick our wedding presents for each other the weekend before the wedding and afterwards had a toast to the week ahead with our little Luna. These are moments you never get again so its important to get out and soak them all up!!
What was your dress/ the bridesmaids dresses like?
My dress was a Rue de Seine, I got it in The White Gallery in Newry. It was the first dress I tried on but typical woman I went to a few more shops and tried on a few other styles before going back to the first shop again! I couldn’t stop thinking about it so knew it was the one.
My bridesmaids Gemma, Emma and Mary-Rose wore a champagne coloured dress from pretty lavish. We ordered them online just to see what they were like and the girls looked incredible when they tried them on.
My brother Gary was my bridesman – and he wore a stone-coloured suit from Zara and a champagne dicky bow, he looked very dapper!
What are your tips for other brides?
Enjoy every second, before you know it you will miss it – even the stress! Soak up every second of the build up, plan those special days out with your special people.
Some of the best things on the day were last minute bits that didn’t cost much – we got foam glow sticks and blow-up props off Amazon and they were the best crack on the dancefloor. And lastly people will remember what they ate, what they danced to and the love in the room on the day – everything else is extras!
Would you do anything differently?
Absolutely nothing – it was honestly the day of our dreams and we would live in it everyday if we could.
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