This morning we're delighted to feature a fabulous pair of boys who, after 14 years together, finally got their dream wedding. Ollie and James are a fun-loving couple who wanted a big bash to celebrate their big love, so they threw an almighty shindig in Bloomfield House Hotel by the shores of a Lough Ennell near Belvedere in Co. Westmeath. Tanya from Bronte Photography was on hand to catch the couple's private moments before an hilarious hooley kicked off...
"I came home from the UK 14 years ago and was only just after coming home and my sister had set me up on a blind date with James. It went so well we moved in together within 2 months, and of course everybody said we were mad and that it would not last, but we proved them wrong and were married 14 years later!"
How did the proposal go, if there was one? I brought James to Las Vegas for his 40th and everybody thought we would get married there, but we didn’t and he didn’t even propose to me, much to my disgust! But when we came back I had a surprise 40th party for him and he got down on one knee in front of all our family and friends… there was not a dry eye in the house that night."
From the very beginning Ollie and James knew that Bloomfield House Hotel was going to be their perfect venue. Though they did visit other locations, they were always drawn back to the lovely setting by the lake and the happy memories of other great weddings they had attended there. "I wanted a glam affair because we had always thought we would not be able to have our day here in Ireland, so when it became legal we decided to go all out. We made sure all our guests were well looked after, as it would have been most of their first time at a civil partnership."
As it was a civil partnership most people coming to our wedding did not know what to expect, so we felt we had to give them a few surprises. When the speeches were finished we had a drag act come out and mingle with our guests, he had comments to say to most of them, which of course I had already supplied him with - funny stories about each of them! Then people were trying to guess what our first dance would be and as everyone stood around watching us go out on the floor the band started to play YMCA and suddenly we had 300 people on the floor with us, and it stayed that way for the rest of the night!
What advice would you give to brides and grooms planning their day? "You really need to plan everything out.. write all down and double check everything. It can be as stressful as you want it to be but remember it goes so fast and I would tell every person whos day it is to also stand back and give yourself 5 minutes to remember all these people are here for you on your big day..."
Congratulations Ollie and James, after 14 years it really does seem like this was the perfect celebration for you both. We were delighted that Tanya from Bronte Photography sent us their cute wedding pics to feature, and we would love to show more stylish civil partnership celebrations, so come on couples, ask your photographer to get in touch!
All the Wedding Details
- Venue: Bloomfield House Hotel, Mullingar
- Photography: Bronte Photography
- Flowers: Nicole Reilly Gilsenan
- Grooms' suits: Wilf's Menswear, Mullingar
- Cake: Ciara Rigney
- Stationery: Deirdre Kennedy
- Wedding Bands: Ennell Jewellers, Mullingar
- Reception Music: The Big Kahuna
