A newlywed couple have shared a look inside their stunning wedding day at The Mill at Ballydugan.
Rebecca Durack (29) from Downpatrick and husband Will Fazackerley (32) from England got married on July 1, 2022 at the Co Down venue.
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 My Wedding: Couple's Lough Eske Castle big day after Covid cancellations
Rebecca told Be: "Will and I met in Tenerife seven years ago, I lived there at the time and he was on holiday from England.
"We got chatting and the rest is history, 10 months later I had moved to Droitwich to be with him and a further three years later he moved to Co Down to be with me!"
Rebecca told us all about their big day!
Tell us all about your wedding day!
We had our wedding day on Friday, July 1 2022 and it was honestly the best day of our lives! I wish we could go back and relive the whole day all over again! It was perfect from start to finish and there is nothing about our day that we would change.
How did you begin planning your wedding?
We started planning straight away as we were that excited! I was looking at colour schemes on our engagement night, no hanging around here! I had most things booked two months after we got engaged which was a good way to keep track of our budget. It meant we knew exactly what we had to save and how long we had to save for.
How did you decide on your venue?
The Mill at Ballydugan was the first and only venue that we had looked at because we knew the minute we walked in that it was the venue for us! It was beautiful inside and out. The thing that appealed to us the most is that we had the whole place to ourselves. Maureen was amazing throughout the whole planning experience - she made it easy and stress free and was brilliant on the actual day too!
Tell us all about your wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses & suits!
I had an idea in my head of the style of dress that I had wanted but it was difficult to find one that ticked all of the boxes! My mum and I were looking online and seen one that did exactly that so we booked an appointment at LA Bridal in Carrickfergus to go and see it the next week. Unfortunately, this was in the middle of Covid so only two people were permitted in the building. Leah was amazing from the very beginning and advised that I try on various styles before settling on the first dress I had seen - but nothing was giving me the feeling. I then tried on the dress that I had seen online and there were tears all around! It was the one! I fell in love with my dress the moment I had put it on.
Straight away we had the idea that we wanted Will to stand out from the groomsmen so we had decided that he would wear a different jacket to the rest of them. Will got his suit from Next which made it easy for his groomsmen to match in as they were all over in England. They could go to their local Next to try their suits on.
Maid of honour Marie's dress was the first item that we had seen and that dress decided the whole colour scheme of the wedding! Once we found Marie's dress, we matched everything else in and around that dusty blue colour. We became obsessed with everything dusty blue, even the wedding cars turned out to be that colour!
What was the best part in the build-up to your day?
Towards the end, it was great seeing all of our plans coming together. It's hard to imagine everything together when planning, so seeing it in real life makes it more exciting in the build-up.
What was the best moment of your day and your other favourite parts?
A special moment for me would be the car journey to the Mill with my mum. She has been and still is the most important person in my life and that journey will be one that I will cherish forever - along with the mother daughter dance. I feel so honoured and lucky to have shared both of these moments with her.
For Will, it was having all of his family and friends make the journey over from England to celebrate with us. It was great spending time with everyone as we hadn't seen them in a long time. It was great seeing everyone all together and under one roof.
Another special moment for the both of us was our pupper Cora coming down to say hello and to pose for some photographs. She has been part of our lives for four years and there is no way we couldn't have her be part of our special day. Our florist Janet even made her a special 'flower dog' collar which matched in perfectly with the bridal bouquet.
What would you tell other bride and grooms to plan first & what are your top tips?
Choose your colour scheme first, I think that's what made planning easier for us as that was our base to work around. Don't hold back, after all we only plan to do this once, so if you want something, get it!
What were the hardest parts to plan?
I loved every second of planning! I could do it all over again.
What was your theme/vibe?
We wanted our wedding to have a chilled and relaxed vibe which is one of the reasons why we had chosen The Mill. We got married at the venue so one of the bonuses with that meant that nobody had to travel in between the ceremony and the dinner.
Would you do anything different?
I wouldn't change anything, the day was perfect from start to finish!
Some suppliers:
Photographer - Andrew McKenna
Dress - LA Bridal, Carrickfergus
Suits - Next
Florist - Flowers by Janet
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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.
