A NI couple have shared a look inside their wedding day at Lough Eske Castle in Donegal.
Leanne (31) McMullan and Colm Mac Eoin (33) are both teachers who live in Derry and got married on July 11, 2022 after their day was postponed twice due to Covid.
In our weekly feature Inside My Wedding, couples are delving into their special day to give bride and grooms-to-be some top tips.
Read more: Inside NI couple's beautiful Galgorm wedding day
Leanne told Be: "We met during university in Belfast in 2010 when we were both training as teachers but we didn’t officially become an item until 2013 when we were both living in Doha, Qatar. After four years, we moved to Abu Dhabi. Colm won a competition to drive an Aston Martin for the weekend so he planned the engagement around that.
"He proposed at the Meydan Racecourse in Dubai in January 2019. He had given me a photobook of all of our travels together and our story so far and proposed with a Claddagh ring. We went together the next day to choose my engagement ring."
Here is all about their big day!
How did you begin planning and how did you decide on your venue?
Our first decision was deciding on when we wanted to get married. We had decided on the summer of 2020 as it gave us enough time to plan. I knew where I wanted the ceremony to take place in Derry. We wanted to choose the reception venue somewhere not too far from there. I sent my mum and aunt to two different venues before we decided on the Lough Eske in Donegal – even though we had never been there before! I liked how guests could stay overnight, we could have second day event in a casual pub in Donegal town and we didn’t need to travel anywhere else for photographs. The staff and the wedding co-ordinator Simon were also extremely welcoming, friendly and accommodating which is what we needed with planning a wedding from abroad!
Tell us about your wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses and suits!
I had visited a boutique in Dubai before going home to start the search, so it gave me an idea of the style I wanted and the shops that would stock them. I was between two dresses for a long time before visiting The White Gallery and choosing a dress by Rime Arodaky. Thanks to Covid postponing our wedding twice, I started to have doubts on the dress and went on the search again in October 2021. I travelled to Victoria Ivy in Limavady with only one dress in my mind and that was the dress I ended up going for! It was from Eddy K and was very simple and classic but made a statement which I loved. I love pearls so I also bought a veil there with scattered pearls throughout.
My sister had bought me the Charlotte Mills Henrietta pearl shoes too, so it was perfect. It was only about the week before that I decided I would still wear my original wedding dress for the evening because it was better suited for dancing. Fortunately, my mum's friend is a seamstress so she could alter the dress at such short notice. My fantastic hair artist Michael Deery also got creative with my hair and scattered pearls throughout to match the pearl theme!
With me living in Abu Dhabi, my sister in Glasgow, my friend in Canada and another in Derry, I knew my bridesmaids would have to be bought online! I had searched and found the Ghost bridesmaid dresses and loved them. I wanted my bridesmaids to feel comfortable and they all looked stunning.
We had initially looked at the groomsmen and groom wearing a tuxedo but when myself and Colm went in to Esquire in Derry, we had seen the suit we had chosen on a mannequin and loved it. I thought the burgundy would match well with the bridesmaid dress colours and our florist Aoife at Sass and Halo created stunning bouquets to tie all of the colours together.
What was the best part in the build-up to your day?
I loved every part of the build-up to our day. We had many friends travelling from afar and it was so lovely seeing the huge effort many people made for us. My sister planned an amazing hen party in Liverpool a few weeks before. Like the wedding, it too had to be postponed three times! I had the best weekend ever and didn’t stop laughing (or crying), so I would have to say that was definitely the highlight for me! I also loved doing all of the smaller things for the wedding. From making recovery kit bags for our guests staying at the venue, to choosing the readings for our ceremony. I loved every stage of the planning!
What was the best moment of your day and your other favourite parts?
Honestly, I would say it was seeing your friends and family all in the one place and celebrating you both! We have many friends from all over that had never met before, so to see friends that you lived with abroad speaking to and dancing with friends you have known for over 20 years was really special.
What are your top tips for other couples?
I would tell brides and grooms to think about firstly what is important to them and use that as a starting point. If it’s the location and venue, start with that. If there is a particular band you definitely want, check their availability and use that as a starting point. Our top tips would be not to get weighed down or influenced by other weddings or things you see on social media. It can be so easy to get carried away with things that your guests ultimately don’t notice or that don’t add anything to your day. We also sent our invites electronically using Paperless Post. It saved a lot of money and meant guests could RSVP straight away on our wedding website and we had all of the responses on a spreadsheet.
What were the hardest parts to plan?
The only big difficulty we had when planning was having to plan it all three times! Contacting all of your suppliers and matching up dates was tricky but thankfully it was relatively stress free because they were all so accommodating and we had made the call quite early on to postpone. Planning from abroad was also not the same experience as being at home by not being able to go to wedding fairs/meet your suppliers beforehand, but thanks to social media it wasn’t overly tricky.
What was your theme/vibe?
Although we were getting married in quite a formal setting, I knew I wanted everything to be quite relaxed but fun. If the bride and groom feel relaxed and are enjoying themselves then that sets the tone for the guests and the rest of the day. I wanted everything to look quite classic and timeless so that in 20 years time I’d still be happy with my choices. Our main priority was the music we chose – we felt that really added to the atmosphere of the day. Our friends played during our ceremony and as Colm is a gaeilgeoir, lots of the music was sang in Irish. We also had a family friend’s family play traditional Irish music during the drinks reception and a local singer Matthew Crampsey kept the atmosphere up during dinner. Our wedding band The Enemies and our DJ made sure the dancefloor never emptied. Sean Magee had also played for us for our second day too and he was phenomenal. All of the musicians we had chosen were the highlight of the weekend and really suited the vibe of our wedding.
Would you do anything different?
Looking back, I 100% wouldn’t change a thing about our day. I am so happy we chose to wait and postpone to finally get the day we both wanted and to party in style with all of our friends and family!
Suppliers:
Photographer: Peter Mackey
Videography: Simba Star Media
Venue: Lough Eske Castle
Venue Décor: Simply Divine Weddings
Florist: Sass + Halo
Dresses: The White Gallery & Victoria Ivy
Shoes: Charlotte Mills
Suits: Esquire Formal Wear
Bridesmaids: Ghost
Makeup: Kendra Hetherington
Hair: Michael Deery
Band: The Enemies
DJ: Paddy Hegarty
Reception Music: Port Trad
Dinner Music: Matthew Crampsey
Day 2 Music: Sean Magee Music
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Do you want to tell us all about your wedding day? Email be@belfastlive.co.uk for your chance to be featured.
