A Belfast couple has shared a look inside their wedding day at Clandeboye Lodge Hotel in Bangor - which was organised in just three months.
Nichola (32) and Michael (34) McVeigh had their big day on June 21, 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.
Nicola told Be: "We both knew each other from school years but got back in contact when I visited the bar he was a barman in.
Read more: Inside NI childhood sweethearts' beautiful castle wedding
"We got engaged on Christmas Eve night 2021, whilst we were in our matching Christmas pyjamas with our little daughter Olivia-Grace who is nearly 2."
Tell us all about your wedding day, how you began planning and why you picked this venue.
We went to two wedding fairs on the same day. As soon as Michael walked into the Clandeboye's ceremony room, he said straight away ‘Let’s get married here’. The quirkiness of the Clandeboye was exactly what we wanted. We wanted both the ceremony and the reception to be in the same place so that once our guests arrived, they could just park up their cars and enjoy themselves.
We weren’t too sure which route we wanted to go down in terms of who was going to marry us, but once we met Rev Gary Haire we just clicked with him straight away!
When booking the wedding at the end of February, we had decided 2024. But both of my grannies took sick and knowing how much it meant to me them being there, Michael suggested bringing the wedding forward to June 2022. So an email later to the Clandeboye and we were getting married in three months! So that week the save the dates went out! The amount of people that rang us to check the year was right!
Tell us all about your wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses and suits!
I went to two bridal shops for my dress and I bought it in the second shop. I always wanted a dress to cover my arms and shoulders but the closest they had to that was lace sleeves, but off the shoulder. I was told material could be put into the top of it. When it arrived the seamstress said it wasn’t possible to alter the shoulder part, I was devastated but we just made it work.
I bought a few bridesmaid dresses online, but as my bridesmaids are all different and I had such little time, I thought it was best to get them into a bridal shop, so back to where I got my dress I went. And I got the three bridesmaid dresses there!
What was the best part in the build up to your day?
I enjoyed the excitement and pressure of organising a wedding and our engagement party in three months. Excel spreadsheets were my best friend for those two months. I got called Monica from Friends a lot! I enjoyed the two hen parties organised for me. I enjoyed all of the craft nights myself, my mum and my sister had to do the favours etc.
I enjoyed that after two long hard years, we were finally going to have all of our family and friends in the one room supporting our journey together and showing us their love for us.
What was the best moment of your day and your other favourite parts?
The best moment of my day was having our daughter there with us. I was previously told I couldn’t have children and had a very difficult pregnancy mentally and physically. She is our miracle. Michael's favourite part was when he seen Olivia-Grace and myself walking down the aisle to Songbird - Eva Cassidy. The tears he shed showed that!
What were the hardest parts to plan?
The hardest part was wondering if there was going to be another Covid outbreak just before the wedding and if restrictions were going to be put in place again. Also, just before the week of the wedding both of my grannies' health got worse and neither could attend the wedding. I was heartbroken.
Did you have a theme?
We had a mixed theme for our wedding - we both love Guinness, Oasis and Marvel. I ordered old small vinyl records off eBay and stuck Oasis song artwork on them, making them into Oasis records. These were used as our table numbers and corresponded with the Oasis table plan.
Our cake looked like a plain wedding cake at the front but at the back opened up into Marvel. We had Batman as the Dark Knight is our favourite film, Wonder Woman because that’s what Olivia is to us, and Iron Man because together we are as strong as Ironman and can get through anything.
My granny gave me a vintage mirror which she has had for over 50 years, so with this I made our own welcome sign with vinyl stickers and artificial flowers. We had sparklers for twilight and glow sticks for when the DJ came on. We had Brook Avenue providing ice cream after the ceremony and everyone enjoyed that as it was a very warm day.
What are your top tips for other bride and grooms?
I would tell brides and grooms to only invite who they want to be there, and if their gut feeling is telling them not to invite someone, then don’t.
Would you change anything about your day?
I wish I wore my mummy’s wedding dress at the evening reception as my granny who is now 92 made it 42 years ago!
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