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Belfast Live

Nadia Breen

Inside My Wedding: Couple's stunning wedding at Castle Leslie

NI Rebecca Kelly Roisin

A couple who live in Lisburn have shared a look inside their stunning wedding at Castle Leslie in Co Monaghan.

Warrenpoint woman Rebecca Kelly and husband James McGeoghan from Luton, England met at Queen's University, Belfast in 2012.

In our weekly feature Inside My Wedding, couples are delving into their special day to give bride and grooms-to-be some top tips.

The 29-year-olds got engaged in December 2020 and had their big day on November 18, 2022.

Rebecca has told all about their special day.

Rebecca and her bridesmaids (Steven Neeson Photography)

Tell us all about your wedding day!

Our day was everything we could of wished for and more - perfect autumn weather (clear blue skies), excellent food, amazing service, fantastic music and the best company. It could not have gone any better!

How did you begin planning your wedding?

We got engaged in December 2020 and started planning almost straight away. The first step was to find the perfect venue - and nothing could compare for us to Castle Leslie. We booked this in February 2021.

How did you decide on your venue?

We knew we wanted a great venue that had perfected locations for photos as well as great food. From friends, we had heard raving reviews about Castle Leslie, its food and its hospitality. We were booking our wedding during a lockdown and Castle Leslie went above and beyond any other venue we looked at to ensure we could get a sense of the venue and how the day would go.

We couldn't view in person (because of lockdown) but our wonderful wedding coordinator Roisin sent us a 360 degree view of each room of the castle and spent almost three hours talking us through the layout, how weddings normally run there, as well as the quirky bedroom selection and food! The effort they went to, to try and secure our booking instantly set them apart from the runners up we looked at. It was a no-brainer!

Wedding party (Steven Neeson Photography)

Tell us all about your wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses & suits!

My wedding dress was from the brand Tesoro, in the style 'Sabadell', which I had originally seen on Pinterest and adored - but instantly thought I couldn't carry off a dress this size being 5ft 2! My mum sourced it at a shop called Angelic Bridal in Banbridge and as soon as I tried it on (with my mum present) we both knew it was the one. We went back for one further appointment to confirm. We made some small changes including adding lace to the shoulders. I found dress shopping the hardest, as I was trying to shop during the pandemic. For many appointments I had to wear my mask and it just took away from the experience (which we're always lead to believe is magical)! As the dress was plain, I wanted an intricate veil to set the look off and bring it some life. Deborah at Deborah K Design did just that. The veil was just incredible, probably my favourite part of my outfit! Deborah just knew what would work for the look I wanted to achieve.

For the bridesmaids dresses, I had seen a local wedding a few years back that had the same style. I loved them then, and still love them now. It was just a matter of finding the perfect dressmaker to bring them to life and put her own stamp on them. That was Shirley Moorehead at Fairytale Designs! Shirley was a dream to work with. She knew the vision and also how to make the dresses to work for three bridesmaids, each with different body shapes. Shirley also did mine and my mum's alterations for our dresses - she is just a wizard!

The ceremony (Steven Neeson Photography)

For the suits, we weren't entirely sure what we wanted until we visited Freddie Hatchett in Belfast. They gave James his own bridal (groom) experience with beers on arrival, football on a huge TV and laid back vibes. The velvet tux jacket was just luxury and set James apart from the groomsmen. It was perfect for a late autumn wedding.

What was the best part in the build-up to your day?

110% the food tasting at Castle Leslie. Getting to go to Castle Leslie with both sets of parents and try options for each course was brilliant and also helped give us other opinions for what would work best for a crowd. We had a fabulous meal with wine pairing, and again, with service that went above and beyond the norm! It was such a wonderful evening and experience to have had.

The happy couple (Steven Neeson Photography)

What was the best moment of your day and your other favourite parts?

First and foremost for me, having private time with my parents before we got ready - when we could exchange gifts and reflect on the lead up to the big day. It helped get a lot of emotion (and tears) out early doors on the day (most importantly - before make up). After that, definitely seeing James at the top of the aisle! He looked so handsome. We are both big lovers of music and our bands (Arco String Quartet and The Tributes) were just exceptional throughout the day. Arco played for our ceremony, drinks reception and throughout dinner and The Tributes band played after dinner, followed by some DJing. The dance floor never emptied the whole night!

What would you tell other bride and grooms to plan first & what are your top tips?

Get your perfect venue - and everything else will fall into place. What I found best was to send the invites out nice and early (you will spend some time chasing RSVPs) and as the replies come in, place the guests into tables as you go, sitting groups of families/friends who know each other together. This way, you have a rough draft plan which makes it MUCH easier to edit in the weeks before!

I also reached out to all my vendors 3-6 weeks before the big day to make sure they had everything they needed (addresses for car pick ups, music choices for ceremony and bands, flower choices etc) as well as get their bank details to pay in advance. It left me very organised which as a result made the two weeks before a lot easier and chilled.

Rebecca and James (Steven Neeson Photography)

What were the hardest parts to plan?

We both found chasing RSVPs hard. Naturally, being in a cost of living crisis, it is expected that some of your guests will be unable to join you for your big day, even if they want to. Also, getting married on a Friday, it was difficult for friends and family to get the time off. Choosing music was also hard but only because our bands were both so brilliant and had such a huge range of music and set list. We just wanted to hear it all!

One of my bridesmaids and three of James' groomsmen were living in England (where James is from) and so it was tricky to arrange fittings for them all. It was also lovely to have them come in turn to stay with us and make a weekend of it before the big day!

Did you have a theme?

I wouldn't say we had a theme. The day just reflected our style and fashion sense! I always gravitate towards simple, elegant styles so this is what we went with! This was achieved with the help of David at The Vintage Violet - the flowers were out of this world. I knew exactly what I had ordered, but David went above and beyond - it felt like there were flowers everywhere! They were so stunning and the whole place smelled amazing. All the flowers, in particular my own bouquet, were just elegant, classic and absolutely stunning. I never knew just how much of an impact the flowers would have on the day. Using the 'One Fab Day' website to search other real weddings at Castle Leslie also helped us find ideas that worked well for our own day as well as source our vendors.

Cutting the cake (Steven Neeson Photography)

Would you do anything different or wish there was anything you didn't worry about?

We wouldn't change a thing, the day was even better than we could have wished for! We were both pretty cool, calm and collected in the run up to the big day (probably on account of being hyper-organised)!

The day was beyond perfect and we couldn't recommend any of our vendors more. Each played a key role, were kind, helpful, considerate, organised and informative. They collectively pulled off the most perfect day for us - in particular, Steven, our photographer, Eugene and Paul at Castle Leslie, and David at Vintage Violet.