As the months roll on, the creativity of couples marrying during this pandemic continues to excite us. Yes, while many will have had to make a great deal of compromise for their 2020 weddings, it's real wedding's like that of Aoife and Shane that prove there's always a silver lining. The Waterford natives made the absolute most of Dublin City for their big day this year, tying the knot in Newman University Church before raising a glass in Fallon & Byrne. The results were spectacular - as proven by the photography from Elaine Barker.

Rewind 11 years earlier and Aoife and Shane had their first introduction while at a Halloween party at home in Waterford. "At the time we were dating different people and we didn't see each other again until January," Aoife revealed of their first meeting. "By that time, we were both single and really started to have a crush on each other. Shane was a year older than me and I was still doing my leaving cert.  This meant I was constantly at school studying, but I would meet Shane on my breaks for a cup of tea. We really looked forward to those meet-ups and slowly but surely, we started to fall in love."

As with their first meeting, the timing wasn't right for their big day as they, like many other couples this year, had to reschedule their wedding more than once. "We were originally supposed to marry on the 28th of March, this then got moved to the 24th of July and as time drew near to our second wedding date, we realised that we would have to move the date again," Aoife told us. "We had to make a decision - either we accept the fact that we have a small wedding where close family members on both sides would not be able to make it or postpone the whole thing for a year."

A decision that will feel all too familiar to many couples, however, for this pair, they opted to go ahead with their smaller Covid wedding. "We decided to have a smaller wedding in September because the future seemed too unclear at that time," Aoife explained. "My grandmother gave me a gold bracelet that my grandfather had given her when my father was born. I wore this bracelet on my wedding day. As my mother was living in a different country and also wouldn’t be able to make it, we made sure to have the ceremony at the church filmed. This gave such a sense of peace in our hearts, as we knew that our loved ones would be able to see us get married in real-time. It felt good knowing that they were there in a way."

When it came to the logistics, with their smaller wedding, Aoife and Shane wanted to have a relaxed yet chic city vibe for their big day. A big focus was to have a really great feast on the say - and make sure the whole thing was captured beautifully. "We wanted to have amazing food and an amazing photographer," the pair said. "Fallon & Byrne is in the middle of the city and we had both already fallen in love with the place. The food and service is amazing and we couldn't think of a better venue."

From there, the couple saved money on things like buying a dress and made sure to shop the sales. "Once we prioritised those elements, we then moved on to deciding on what to wear for the big day," Aoife said. "We decided to rent my wedding dress and get Shane and Finbarr's suits in the sale at Louis Copeland's and ended up getting both suits for the price of one!"

Aoife managed to get her elegant dress from Covet Boutique in Powerscourt Townhouse Centre in Dublin and picked up her bridesmaid's jumpsuit from online retailer ASOS.

Hindsight is always 20/20, and in the year 2020, this pair learned that the restrictions in place forced them to not sweat the small stuff. "I can honestly say that if our March wedding went ahead, we would not have been able to enjoy and appreciate it as much as we did when it finally went ahead in September," Aoife said. "We were worrying about the tiniest little things before Covid. When we were able to finally have our wedding, we realised how lucky we were to be getting married and to be able to celebrate this with close friends and family."

So it will come as no surprise that their advice stems from that lesson learned. "Our advice would be to try and take some moments throughout the day and be fully present," they told us. "The people that are there are celebrating your love for one another. Just drink it in and savour it - it's such a beautiful feeling!"

A sincere thanks to today's couple Aoife and Shane for showing us yet again how to turn lemons into lemonade with their gorgeous Covid wedding and to Elaine Barker for capturing the day.