A couple from Northern Ireland have shared a look inside their beautiful wedding day at Blarney Castle Hotel in Co Cork.
Lisburn woman Jade Gibson (31) and husband Victor Gibson (34) from Dromore had their big day on July 16, 2022. In Be 's weekly feature Inside My Wedding, couples are delving into their special day to give bride and grooms-to-be some top tips.
Jade told Be: "We both met when Victor added me on Facebook in 2019 but never contacted me until 2020. He started a conversation around Christmas 2020 and arranged to meet up and it really was love at first sight.
READ MORE: See inside Belfast couple's wedding day organised in just three months
"I knew from there he was the guy I was going to marry and three months later on Valentine’s Day he proposed."
Jade has told us all about their big day!
How did you begin planning your wedding and decide on your venue?
We started planning pretty quickly for a 2023 wedding with 150 guests, went to look at our venue and paid a deposit. Then one weekend we went camping down in Blarney, Co Cork and I just fell in love with the whole place, especially Blarney Castle Hotel.
I just visualised my whole wedding being down south and told the idea to my mum. I headed back up north home and my mum had called into The Church of Resurrection (Blarney) and spoke to a lovely minister called Rev Robert Ferris to see if he could marry us and we went from there. Blarney Castle Hotel also had the reception and rooms available for me to bring 50 guests.
Tell us all about your wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses & suits!
Me, my mum and sister booked an appointment in Divinity Bridal in Lisburn and honestly Shelly was amazing. I went in not knowing what dress or style suited me, so I was willing to try anything on. The big princess dresses were not for me, so we moved more to the figure hugging dresses. I then decided to choose the gorgeous Gaia bridal gown, which I fell in love with straight away. But then I left the shop to make sure it really was the one and went to another bridal shop and I tried on three dresses that weren't for me before deciding to go back to the first dress I picked!
My bridesmaids dresses were actually the first thing I had picked out from Chi Chi. I had my three sisters and niece as my bridesmaids, so knew these dresses would suit each one in their own way! I loved the colour especially!
Suits were a hard one for me. Three times I visited the shop and on the last trip I basically left it up to my husband and step-father as it was causing me too much stress. I notice in the winter, you need to go suit shopping for a summer wedding, but the summer suits aren't out until that summer - so we just settled with navy suits for the men.
Did you have a theme?
I didn’t really have a theme at my wedding as if I liked it, I went for it! And it all fell together brilliantly!
What was the best part in the build up to your day?
Most brides I spoke to loved planning their wedding but it definitely wasn’t enjoyable for me due to being up in Northern Ireland and anything to do with weddings down south seemed to be booked out for the next year. I had to order my flowers and cake from up home! But my bouquet, I actually stopped at a woman’s house in Cork the day before my wedding and begged her to do my bouquet. She did and it was gorgeous.
How my cousin managed to carry a cake four hours without destroying it I don't know, but the relief when she pulled up to hotel and it was literally all in one piece, it was unbelievable and well worth the journey! I also had an amazing singer I met at my granda's ruby anniversary party and we all loved her and asked if she would travel and sing for us. She loved the idea. She went above and beyond the whole weekend!
What was the best moment of your day and your other favourite parts?
My favourite part of the wedding was most definitely the vows. Down south they don’t just have one day weddings, they like to go 2 to 3 days so we had a BBQ the following day with the singer doing a party and it was amazing. Both days the temperature was 30C and it felt like we were abroad.
What advice would you give to other brides?
If I was to give any advice to a bride, I would tell them don’t try to plan a wedding in less than a year. Relax and enjoy every single minute of that day, it just goes by far too quickly. Don’t sweat the small stuff! To see everyone together having an absolute blast is the best feeling.
Photos by both family members & Vic Photography.
READ NEXT:
- Inside NI childhood sweethearts' beautiful castle wedding
- Inside My Wedding: NI couple's beautiful day at Corick House Hotel & Spa
- Inside My Wedding: NI couple's timeless day at Killeavy Castle
- NI couple's unique and colourful wedding day at The Old Rectory
Do you want to tell us all about your wedding day? Email be@belfastlive.co.uk to be featured!
