A NI couple have shared a look inside their laid-back and timeless wedding day.
Laura McBride (29) and husband Chris (34) from Temple had their big day at Tullyveery House, Co Down on June 2, 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.
Read more: Inside My Wedding: NI couple's beautiful day at Corick House Hotel & Spa
Laura told Be: "Chris and I actually met through Tinder... He is the biggest romantic and planned a series of surprise dates before we made it official.
"Our life together has always been a bit of an adventure, and by our third date we had planned a banger rally to Africa. Six months later we were in Tangier, Morocco in a beat up Renault Mégane. It was incredible!
"Chris had originally intended to propose on our second year anniversary in Venice, Italy but unfortunately Covid got in the way. After much planning and fretting on his part, six months later he proposed in Gocek, Turkey on October, 6, 2020. It was beautiful surprise."
Laura has told us all about their big day!
Tell us all about your wedding day!
Our wedding day was in Tullyveery House, Co Down. We had always wanted a relaxed, homely atmosphere with the ceremony and reception in one place and that's exactly what Tullyveery offered. Thankfully the weather stayed fab all day and we had the most beautiful outdoor ceremony by Steve Ames. It will forever be my favourite part of our day.
It was so amazing to just take a minute and watch all of our closest family and friends have a great time together.
How did you begin planning your wedding?
We knew that 2022 was going to be a manic year for weddings, so we actually tried to pick a few dates that we loved first and then contacted venues and suppliers. When we found out about the Platinum Jubilee, we jumped at the chance to have our wedding on the Thursday!
I think the first vendor we booked was our photographer. Leanne Magill is incredible and we were so lucky to have her on the day.
How did you decide on your venue?
We had booked most of our vendors for Thursday, June 2 and visited venues that still had that date free. Not the easiest way to do things, but we had faith and it definitely worked out!
We had visited a few venues which were beautiful but didn't tick all of the boxes. We were ready to accept that perhaps the perfect venue for us didn't exist until I seen pictures of my friend attending her cousin's wedding at Tullyveery.
It looked perfect and was even better in person. Charlie and the team couldn't have been nicer and we knew before we left that it was the one for us!
Tell us all about your wedding dress & bridesmaid dresses & suits!
I got my dress in Dream Weddings, Coleraine after visiting a few boutiques. Sue could not have been more helpful and I ended up being stuck between two dresses. Naturally, I realised a week later that I had picked the wrong one and thankfully Sue pulled out all the stops to accommodate this change.
I ended up going for a custom Eva Lendel gown and I couldn't have been happier with it. I loved the fact It was unique to me.
The bridesmaids dresses were from Th&Th who couldn't have been better after a sizing mix-up. The dresses arrived in the nick of time, a week before the wedding. What I loved about them was that they suited each girl perfectly and they were super comfortable to wear. I was very chill with the theme and colour, I just wanted the girls to feel amazing in whatever they wore!
Chris' suit was from Suitor Brothers who couldn't have been more helpful. Anyone that knows Chris will know he was never going to wear a plain navy suit! He looked amazing.
What was the best part in the build up to your day?
My hen parties were easily some of the best moments of my life. I am so blessed to have amazing friends that all got on the best together.
For my home hen, my husband Chris and my bridesmaids completely surprised me with a hen fest. Chris spent days creating a full festival set up in one of the fields near our house. The amount of effort and planning took my breath away and we all had the best time.
Another stand out moment was making our wedding rings together during a workshop with Tanya Ireland. We collected pieces of gold from the amazing females in our families and used this to create our rings. It was such a beautiful moment and so touching to have a piece of our loved ones with us through this journey together.
What was the best moment of your day and your other favourite parts?
The ceremony was easily the best part of our day. Seeing Chris waiting for me made all of the stress and worry we had prior to the day melt into nothing. I don't remember seeing anyone but him.
Steve Ames (Married by Steve) created the most beautiful, personal ceremony for us. Chris blames his tears on the high pollen count that day!
My second favourite part of the day HAD to be Chris and my amazing mother-in-law surprising me with the ABBA lovelight act!
I have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with ABBA, (there really is a song for every occasion though) and when they walked down the stairs and started singing, I just collapsed into a heap. Chris had planned many surprises for me over the years but that has definitely topped it for me.
What would you tell other bride and grooms to plan first & what are your top tips?
I would definitely try and work out what your non negotiables are for the day. How do you want the day to look and feel?
Once you know what you what this looks like for you, it's much easier to find venues and vendors that suit you.
We focused on the venue, entertainment and put a free bar on for our guests as a thankyou. We didn't bother with wedding favours or the smaller details too much.
What were the hardest parts to plan?
Chris and his dad Joe have always been party planner extraordinaires, so honestly, I had it pretty easy! They took the lead on 80% of the planning which was such a relief for me and it was pretty refreshing.
Did you come across any difficulties?
Unfortunately we were let down by our florist on the morning of the wedding. They stopped answering our calls and we were left without a lot of flowers! My poor bridesmaids had to run to the local garage that morning to get something to put in their hair.
As disappointing as this was, our other vendors really went above and beyond to help us out. Charlie and Gwen from Tullyveery reassembled our wedding arch and it looked so much better for the pictures!
Did you have a theme?
We just really wanted everyone to have a good time and not to sweat the small stuff. I would say our wedding was laid-back, and our end look was pretty timeless.
I just want to say a massive thankyou to all our amazing family, friends and vendors that made our day what it was.
Read more: Inside My Wedding: NI couple's timeless day at Killeavy Castle
Read more: Inside My Wedding: Belfast woman comes home from US to have her special day
Do you want to tell us all about your wedding day? Email be@belfastlive.co.uk to be featured!
