West Cork brides tell EMMA CONNOLLY about the special, personal touches that made their weddings so memorable for them, their spouses and guests
Katie Shanahan and Pat Calnan
Katie's Jack Russell dog "Millie" was their ring bearer. (Photo: Ray Terry Photography)
MARKETING executive Katie Shanahan put her unique stamp on her wedding day to best friend Pat Calnan when they tied the knot last August.
The two have been a couple since they met in secondary school in Rosscarbery and said ‘I do’ in front of 190 guests in her local Carrigfadda Church, with reception afterwards in Inchydoney Lodge and Spa.
Because of her skill set, she took on a lot of the DIY touches for their day, which allowed her to include elements that were meaningful to them both.
‘I did the save the dates, wedding invites, mass booklets, upcycled a milk churn for wedding cards, a wheelbarrow for crisps which was brought out at 11pm and wedding favours which consisted of a personalised cow tag from Cormac Tagging.
‘ We also had a personalised guest book where people could write their name on a love heart and drop it into a frame with a picture of me and Pat! Pat is big into rallying and I wanted to incorporate that into the day so I designed an A0 seating plan which consisted of each table being assigned a car in the world rally championship which went down well!’
Katie also runs her own Irish dancing school and dancing and music was a big theme of the day.
‘I’m chairperson of Kilmeen Macra and some fellow members did a trad session at the drinks reception and it really set the tone for the day. My best friend and maid of honour Cliodhna Walsh and I danced together for almost 10 years and both teach now so we had our dancing students perform and the crowd was amazed! The finale included a piece from myself and Cliodhna along with our brothers and friends who have since retired from dancing. It was very special. My good friend Danny O’Leary was our wedding band and did not disappoint. ’
Staying on the music theme, her brother Ray sang Morgan Wallen’s ‘Spin you around’ accompanied by Danny as their first dance, which was so special.
Katie and Pat sharing their first dance. (Photo: Ray Terry Photography)
‘Even better that we saw Morgan live in Dublin the week after! A standout moment of the whole day was surprising Pat with the song I walked down the aisle to. I had told it would be one thing, but it was John Legend’s “All of Me” sang by Celtic Women star Emma Warren. That song came out over a decade ago when myself and Pat started dating. It brought a tear to his eye!’
‘Cliodhna my best friend of 17 years was my maid of honour. Pat’s best man – a mutual school friend – was Daniel Hodnett. My bridesmaids were Aibhlin Barry and Maryrose Shanahan and groomsmen were my brother Eamon and Euan Tobin. Page boys were Eddie and Tim Williamson and Charlie Crowley and flower girls were Maggie Williamson and Abbie Crowley.
‘My dog Milly was the ring bearer, and a notable mention must go to my ‘bridesman’ and best friend Micheal Cullinane,’ said Katie.
Katie got her dress in Isabella Grace in London, sourced with the help of her cousin Hannah and got the bridesmaids dresses in Folkster about six weeks before the wedding.
‘I was pretty relaxed!’ she said.
Despite being a big content creator herself, Katie didn’t capture a thing on the day.
‘I had so many ideas saved of trends or dances I wanted to do but I just completely forgot and enjoyed the moment! But I was lucky to have a lot of “content creators” at my wedding who captured beautiful reels I was able to look back on. We also created a QR code for guests’ tables which would bring you to a photo circle where everyone could upload and view photos and videos from the entire weekend.’
Katie sourced her beautiful dress in London. (Photo: Ray Terry Photography)
Day two celebrations were in the Leap Inn where country music star Aishling Rafferty performed.
The only thing the couple would change about the day would be to make it longer.
‘It went so fast. Our honeymoon plan is to travel to America – specifically the likes of Nashville and see the music and country dance scene there along with the rodeos and Nascar racing at some stage in the future, but we did enjoy a mini-moon in Tenerife and that’s something I’d definitely recommend to rest and recharge.’
Her other advice for anyone in the middle of planning their wedding is not to stress!
‘Once the main things like your venue and band are booked, the rest falls into place. I’d also recommend a photo circle. We have almost 1,000 behind the scenes images and videos I never would have seen otherwise.’
Despite being across all parts of the wedding, there was one thing Katie wasn’t expecting.
‘My brother Eamon is the secretary of the Irish Charollais Sheep Society and sourced two pedigree ewe lambs for Pat to give me on my wedding day! I didn’t want any fancy designer bag or heels – they were exactly what I wanted!’
Aoife O’Sullivan and Colm Spillane
Colm Spillane and Aoife O'Sullivan were married in June of this year. (Photo: Adam and Grace Photography)
WALKING down the aisle to Pavarotti’s ‘Ave Maria’ being performed by a singer who shared a stage with Adele was just one of many standout moments of former Miss Cork Aoife O’Sullivan’s wedding day.
Aoife, from Ballinadee, married Cork hurler Colm Spillane on the 21st of June at a church ceremony in Inistioge, Co Kilkenny followed by a reception in Mount Juliet Estate with over 200 of their friends and family.
‘I have a love for music, so I invested a lot of time in carefully selecting the performers for our wedding,’ said Aoife.
‘We were thrilled to have the brilliant Glenn Murphy sing in the church, and his beautiful rendition of Pavarotti’s “Ave Maria” as I walked down the aisle was unforgettable. Glenn has previously performed with Adele and even appeared on the Ellen Show, so we were overjoyed that he could be part of our special day. For the drinks reception, we enjoyed some smooth jazz, followed by an unforgettable night of dancing with the incredible Bentley Boys, who kept everyone on their feet all night long. Our first dance was to “Until I found You” By Stephen Sanchez.’
Artist Neo, who Aoife had seen last year at Electric Picnic, played at their day-two celebrations – a garden party in a bar in Thomastown.
‘He was fantastic and made the day. We were quite literally on the tables dancing. All signs of a good night!’
Aoife had five of her ‘favourite ladies’ by her side on her wedding day: ‘They were my sister Shóna, my cousin Martha Brennan (Kinsale) and three friends Aoife Donegan and Niamh Morgan (Bandon) and Orlagh Ryan (Innishannon). Martha and Orlagh had only returned from living abroad a week before the wedding so it was so special to have them back for the day. Colm had his two brothers Michael and Anthony Spillane as well as two friends Eamonn O’Reilly and Eoin Maye.’
She found her dress at The White and Gold Bridal Kinsale, a boutique she’s modelled for.
‘I went for a figure-hugging, structured gown with a classic design from the Australian brand Jane Hill. We customised the dress by adding delicate, removable off-the-shoulder sleeves that I could take off later in the evening.’
Her bridesmaids wore floral gowns. ‘When I told them that I’m pretty sure they all probably made a face at the thought of it but I trusted my gut! I wanted to pick a dress that I would buy for myself for an occasion. The dresses were bought from Reformation. They were expensive but I kept an eye on them and bought them on the St Stephen’s Day sale last year so I was thrilled!’
Aoife with her bridesmaids for whom she chose beautiful floral dresses. (Photo: Adam and Grace Photography)
Hair and make-up were important to her: ‘They were one of the first things I booked after we got engaged. I wanted to feel and look like myself on the day so I went for simple make-up look that just enhanced my own features and had my hair down the way I usually style it. Hair was by Sarah Keogh and makeup by Lisa Shannon.’
Colm got his suit from Saville Menswear in Cork – a navy blue velvet jacket, that gave him a distinctive look compared to his groomsmen.
There’s nothing the couple would change about the day. ‘It was so perfect for us. The best moments were spending time with our family and friends, it really is so magical and you are just in one big love bubble for the weekend,’ said Aoife.
Her top tip is to think about how you’ll capture the event. ‘I absolutely loved having extensive coverage of our day—not just with our photographers and videographer, but also a content creator and a photographer for the night before the wedding.
'My advice is to invest in capturing the entire experience, especially if it’s a weekend celebration. Don’t just focus on the wedding day itself; document the whole weekend to preserve all those special moments,’ said national school teacher Aoife.
The couple had a mini moon to the South of France taking in Monaco, St. Tropez, Cannes and Antibes to name a few.
‘We have booked time off work at Christmas to go to South America for three weeks. I can’t wait for the adventure! We’re also currently building a new house in Castlelyons where Colm is from so it has been lovely to have another project to focus on after the wedding.’
Bríd O’Donovan & Eoghan O’Sullivan
Bríd O'Donovan and Eoghan O'Sullivan. (Photo: Egle Laukyte, White Cat Studio)
MARCH to the beat of your own drum: forget about trends, or what other people did for their wedding, figure out what is most important to you on the day and go with that.
That’s the advice of photographer Bríd O’Donovan, Clonakilty who married Eoghan O’Sullivan, Rosscarbery at an outdoor ceremony in front of 110 guests in Rathsallagh House in Wicklow last August.
Bríd and Eoghan did just that: the couple eschewed a traditional wedding cake and allowed the bridesmaids choose their own gowns.
‘I had five bridesmaids; my sister Maria, three school friends Ashling Ahern, Sinead Harper and Tara Hegarty, and my college friend Bridget Butler and they each wore whatever they wanted. I had no interest in dressing them alike, and I wanted to celebrate their individuality by allowing them to choose their own outfit. I gave them a budget and some images as reference and off they went; they looked amazing.’
Another unique touch was her choice of pink heels with her gown.
‘I randomly found them in Thomas Patrick on Grafton street in Dublin. I wore them all day and they were so comfortable. My dress was from White and Gold in Kinsale. The minute I tried it on I felt amazing, and totally like myself which is what I wanted. I knew I could dance, hug people, eat, run around the place in it and still feel great! It’s a bias cut, slip 100% silk dress from Prea James. I knew I wanted to wear it for the entire day and that it had to be comfortable, which it was,’ she said.
Bríd also wanted her hair and make-up to be natural.
‘Aoife Callaghan did our make-up. She came highly recommended and the minute I saw her Instagram I knew she’d be fantastic. I noticed that all of her brides just looked like themselves, and she didn’t plaster them with make-up. I wanted a natural look and Aoife did the most incredible job. I felt amazing, and completely like myself. I was so sad to remove the make-up that night. It was still perfect at 2:30am!
'Kathy McClean did my hair. She cuts my hair, and I knew she was the only person I wanted to be there on the day. She’s so talented at what she does, and I trusted her completely. Aside from their talent, the two women were amazing on the morning of the wedding; you really want to surround yourself with intuitive and calming people on the morning of the wedding and the two of them knew exactly what I needed at the right moments,’ she said.
Eoghan had his three school friends as groomsmen; Fin Pankhurst, Jer Fitzpatrick and Padie O’Mahony. He wore a green suit from Massimo Menswear on Dawson street in Dublin city. The groomsmen wore light grey suits from M&S.
Bríd O'Donovan and Eoghan O'Sullivan with their bridesmaids and groomsmen. (Photo: Egle Laukyte, White Cat Studio)
The couple, who live in Dublin and who met in Clonakilty 20 years ago, included a few novel DIY features on their day.
‘We are big fans of doing the crossword in the paper every week so we made a crossword all about us and our relationship. It kept the guests busy during the drinks reception and into dinner time. I think it was a hit! I spent some time learning calligraphy and I wrote each guest’s place card. It was a lot of work but at least now I have a new skill. I also reused my easel and board that I used to do my portfolio to get into art college; I sanded down the board, stained it and painted it for our ‘Pick a Seat, Not a Side’ sign.
'I also made up all of the bridesmaid’s bouquets using dried flowers. I hate waste so I wanted to give them something they can use in their own homes,’ said Bríd.
Their ‘day two’ was another unique celebration.
‘We rented a nearby mountain lodge called the Wicklow Escape. We knew we wanted to have the opportunity to chat more with our guests before they hit the road back to Cork. We didn’t do a traditional wedding cake as neither of us cared about it. We ordered some delicious cakes from a nearby bakery for this celebration instead. My friends organised Sing Along Social which got everyone on their feet, and then after some Swingball in the garden we sat down for some delicious wood fired pizza and drinks.’
The couple enjoyed a minimoon directly after the wedding at their favourite music festival Another Love Story.
‘Two days later we travelled to Ischia in Italy and spent a week lying in the sun reading our books. It was heaven. We are planning a big trip to Mexico at Christmas time.’
Brid’s other advice is to ‘soak up every moment of planning and try to make it as fun as possible.’
‘Have a think about weddings you’ve attended in the past and what you’ve enjoyed most about those days. What did you not notice? Focus on that when budgeting and trying to make decisions on the details of the day.’
As a sought-after photographer herself, was it hard for Bríd to hand over control to someone else?
‘From a photography point of view, I knew I wanted as many candid shots as possible. I didn’t care about getting a shot of my dress hanging up or too many staged shots of the getting ready photos. We both told our photographer Egle Laukyte, of White Cat Studio that just capturing our family and friends was the most important thing to us. I completely trusted her vision and just left everything else up to her. I knew we were in safe hands as she is so experienced in her field and such an artist; I adore her style of photography. I was really excited to be photographed by her.’
Stand out moment?
‘It’s near impossible to pick just one moment, but, for the two of us, just sitting at our ceremony and looking out at all our guests was a really special moment. Seeing all of our friends and family together was a real special feeling.’
Aisling O’Leary & Forbes Kelly
Aisling O'Leary and Forbes Kelly. (Photo: Lorna Jane Photography)
Aisling O’Leary and Forbes Kelly organised their perfect wedding in just 10 days and best of all, the majority of their guests were oblivious to what was happening until they arrived.
The couple, who run Revel coffee shop in Clonakilty, enlisted the help of a small number of family and friends to pull it off and looking back Aisling admits it now seems almost mind-blowing.
‘But it shows that where there’s a will, there’s a way!’ she said.
The couple signed their wedding papers in the presence of wedding celebrant Damian Moloney in a local Clonakilty hotel on October 16th, 2021.
‘After the legal aspect was done and dusted, we started the real wedding planning which was in a 50-foot polytunnel that had not yet been planted. Forbes and his best man Iain built a timber floor in the polytunnel for the ceremony and the party. The polytunnel was on my parent’s land and we had the meal in their house. Approximately 70 of our nearest and dearest attended the (surprise) wedding. The guests were told they were attending a “fancy” engagement party. We informed only our parents and siblings two days beforehand that it was in fact going to be our wedding, to ensure that everyone could make sure the most important people would attend.
'One of my sisters conducted the ceremony, which was a wonderful personal touch,’ said Aisling who had two bridesmaids and Forbes had three groomsmen; his closest friend and her two sons, Mink and Riley.
Given there was only 10 days to organise the event, there was some time pressure to sort a dress.
‘Luckily for me, Maria of Brides of Eire in Clonakilty is a very dear family friend and was able to set me up with a private appointment after hours. I fell in love with so many of the dresses I tried on but there was one in particular that made me cry so naturally that was the one. While I always thought I would wear a mermaid style, figure hugging dress, I ended up opting for a tight bodice with full skirt. Perhaps the deciding factor were the pockets. I wore a beautiful dusty pink dress from Folkster to receive the guests (who thought they were attending an engagement party) before the wedding ceremony started,’ said Aisling.
‘Make up was by Siobhán O’Mahony. She knows me well enough to understand that I’m not one for wearing make-up and gave me a lovely, natural look. A local hair salon in Clonakilty gave me a subtle up-do with soft braids along the sides.’
There were lots of DIY touches to the unique day.
The candle-lighting ceremony. (Photo: Lorna Jane Photography)
‘My sister-in-law/bridesmaid helped me style the wedding location in a very natural, autumnal way. We harvested lots of wild grass and pampas grass which we combined with some dried flowers to create stunning floral arrangements. We hired a horse box bar stocked to the rims, which we also decorated. Combined with the outdoor fire pit and festoon lighting, it was the perfect setting for the dj party after our meal,’ said Aisling.
The next day a group gathered in the same hotel they signed the marriage papers for a late lunch, which Aisling remembers as a ‘lovely ending to the weekend’.
Her advice to couples is to try and stay in the moment as much as possible.
‘The wedding is over faster than you know it, so take in all the little moments,’ she said. In a funny way their first dance to the song ‘Lay Down’ by Son Little alludes to that. ‘It’s a beautiful song about slowing down with your loved one while the world runs around you in a flurry,’ said Aisling.
A stand out moment was one she wasn’t actually expecting.
‘Forbes and I assumed that the signing of the papers would be an easy-breezy task, when in fact it turned out being the most tear-jerking part. Signing the papers, for me was the most personal and intimate moment as it was just us, our parents and our two boys,’ she said.
Her advice to anyone planning their wedding is to avoid stress.
‘If the process becomes overwhelming, you’ll begin to feel resent towards what’s supposed to be the most memorable and magical day of your life. I would advise couples to accept in advance that not everything is going to go according to plan. No matter how good a planner you might be, there needs to be room for hiccups. Don’t get hung up on things being too perfect.
'Finally, I’d suggest that weddings don’t all need to be the same. The concept of a wedding has such a predetermined image in our minds and personally, for me it was quite invigorating to break free from the traditional “wedding” mould. There are some beautiful traditions, but not all might suit who you are. Pick and choose which work for you.’
