Aoife & Conor

Our Story

A little bit about us both:

Myself on Conor are both from Newbridge, Co.Kildare. We have been together over 17 years, since 2003 (teenage sweethearts). We met in the Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge. I was a bass guitarist in a band, & played a gig in the Riverbank one night. Conor was at the gig & we started to get to know each other from there.. The rest, as they say, is history.

Our proposal:

We got engaged at the Galway Christmas Market in December 2012. We went for a walk from our hotel up to the market one night. Conor told me afterwards that his plan was to propose under the big Christmas Tree in the middle of the market, but it was closed when we got there.. So he got down on one knee underneath a sculpture covered in Christmas lights at the entrance to the market. There was nobody around except us, it was just perfect.

Our suppliers:

Photographer: Katie Farrell Photography
Stationary: As You Wish
Flowers: Forget Me Not Flowers, Kildare Town
Cake: Conor’s mother made our amazing cake. It was Madeira, chocolate biscuit cake & fruit cake. It was decorated with subtle ribbons and handmade roses, all tieing into our wedding theme colours of pink, navy & mint green
Decor: I made a lot of the decor/sinage myself. I collected jars for about a year before the wedding, covered with sheet music & twine & put tea lights or flowers in them around the venue. I made confetti for the tables. I picked ivy from my parents garden to wrap around the candelabras on the tables. Myself & my sister did the Sweet Cart
Music: Conor sings & plays guitar in a band called CPNHGN, and they were our Wedding Band for the night. They don’t normally play covers, but for the few months running up to the wedding they focused on becoming a wedding band for one night only! It was great having the Groom & his best friends perform at the wedding. It definitely added a more personal touch to the evening.
Rings: We got the rings from Patrick Glynn Jewellers on Abbey St. Dublin. It was where Conor’s parents got their wedding rings also.
Wedding Favours: We had personalised chocolates from Lily O Briens & personalised Yankee Candles for all of our guests.

Our beauty parade:

I wore a Ronald Joyce wedding dress, I got from Amarra Bridal. I loved this designer and looked for local stockists of the brand. With a few tweaks, it turned into my absolute dream dress.

I am a Makeup Artist myself, working mainly in Bridal, and I did my own makeup on the day! It was actually something that calmed me down a lot on the morning of, the process of doing my own makeup. I was so happy I chose to do this.

Natasha Caffrey from Neeba Hair, Newbridge did my hair. I wanted Old Hollywood waves to suit the dress & the makeup and Natasha did such a great job.

I got the 2 Bridesmaids dresses from Coast. They were a dark navy full length halter dress. They suited the girls so much, our colour theme & also the autumnal time of year.

Conor & the Groomsmen got their suits from Savoy Taylors Guild in Kildare Village.

The Flower Girls & Page Boy outfits were all purchased in Debenhams

Something old, something new?

Something Old - My Mothers Vintage Brooch, I pinned it to my Bouquet
Something New - My Dress
Somethings Borrowed - The same Brooch, belonging to my Mother. It doubled up as something ‘Old’ and ‘Borrowed’
Something Blue - A little blue silk rose; pinned on the inside of my dress

Our Big Day

We had our ceremony in St Conleths Parish Church, Newbridge. It was the same church my parents got married in.
We had some photos taken outside the church, then more on the grounds of the stunning Tulfarris. The rain never stopped on our Wedding Day, but the staff were so accommodating & drove our guests, using Golf Carts, from the car park to the Manor House in rotation. Myself & Conor braved the elements & were also driven in a golf cart to the lake & the pathways to get some fabulous photos

We had Chicken Vol-Au-Vents for startes, Beef or Salmon for mains, and an Assiette of desserts.

Our first dance was ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’ by The Flamingos. We always said it would be our wedding song in our teen years, long before we were engaged!

There were too many lovely moments to mention, but one of the most memorable moments was the two of us & our photographer Katie, going down to the lake in the lashing rain with our umbrellas to try get some photos. I just remember the two of us laughing, looking out at the rain, without a care in the world

Post Wedding celebrations:

We had a small gathering in Conor’s parents house the following evening. We were flying out on our honeymoon the day after that.

For our honeymoon we did an American Road-trip for 3 weeks. We flew into Las Vegas for a few days, rented a Ford Mustang to drive to LA for another few days then drove up the Pacific Coat Highway to San Francisco for the last part. We stayed in a few seaside towns along the way also. It was such a great experience, & something we had always dreamed of doing.

Why did we choose Tulfarris?

As soon as we viewed Tulfarris we fell in love with the place. We loved the idea of having the arrival at the Manor House, then moving onto the Ballroom, then into the Hotel for later part of the night. I felt it was like our own private village for the day. The landscape & lakes surrounding the venue are also so stunning, & we were obsessed with it all. We have returned to Tulfarris so many times since we’ve gotten married & I feel we always will.

All the staff running up to the wedding & the day of were all amazing. So accommodating to myself & Conor & also so kind to all our guests too, during the meal sitting, etc.

I have recommended Tulfarris to so many engaged couples. I just wish we could do the day all over again!