Today's real wedding is a tale of fate finally bringing people together: Susan and Christopher's love story is like a romantic comedy, with near misses and a gorgeous proposal gone (only slightly) awry. The couple's wedding plans got caught up in the Covid pandemic pandemonium but they managed to get their loved ones together in the lovely Kilshane House for a very personal and intimate wedding. Captured by Remain in Light Photography, we're delighted to bring you a wedding that will give you all the feels...

It's a wonder that Christopher and Susan never crossed paths while growing up -  they both spent their teens and 20s living in Waterford, spending time in the same places, going to the same events and even sharing some of the same friends. It sounds a bit like Sliding Doors.. "We like to joke that there must have been times when we were younger that one of us was walking into the room as the other was walking out," Susan told us. "We both believe that we met when we were supposed to and not before. It wasn't until I moved to Cork that we started talking on Tinder. When we finally met in person, we hit it off immediately and talked for hours. After that, we took it in turns to commute at the weekends and any free day we had. Then, after our first year, Christopher and his dog Bob moved to Cork to live with me and it turned out to be just across the road from where Christopher's great-grandfather used to live - our lives are always intertwined!"

Fast forward, and their fateful meeting had led to a commitment for a lifetime. The plans for the proposal were perfectly laid by Christopher, who had a super romantic idea in mind - but as we know, the best laid plans often run awry with hilarious results. It might not have been exactly as he envisaged but it certainly came good in the end... "In April 2019, we rented the lighthouse keeper's house in Youghal for a night away and while we were there, Christopher pretended to fall down the hill in the garden," Susan told us. "It turned out, he was trying to imitate the scene from The Princess Bride when Westley rolls down the hill saying, 'As you wish'. But, I missed the entire thing! So Christopher stayed laying on the grass until I came outside to find him. He pretended to be injured and when I went to help him up, he proposed."

From the beginning, Susan and Christopher always had a small intimate wedding in mind. They wanted a day that felt personal to them and relaxed for everyone, however, Covid did rear its ugly head and caused enormous stress in the lead up. "After Covid changed a lot of things and caused us to postpone our wedding from May to August but the number one priority was to get married," Susan told us. "The stress of the unknown in the lead-up and the week before the wedding, we were in constant fear of Covid and government announcements and updated restrictions. There was also a weather warning and the storm took out the electricity in our house for a day. So, when we finally got there, we couldn't believe we made it."

But despite all the upheaval, everyone made it to Kilshane House for the wedding, which ended up almost exactly  as they envisaged..."Kilshane House is just so special and as a private house it offers something unique in that the venue is on 320 acres of private land meaning we were nice and secluded and the venue was just for us and our guests," Susan told us. "The owners Jane and Finbar are big animal lovers which was important to us as we knew we wanted to have our dog Bob in the wedding. As well as this, the conservatory with all the indoor plants and the fountain is just a beautiful venue for the ceremony."

 Having their dog included was super important and they'd given him a starring role: "Bob was our ring bearer," Susan beamed. "For the first reading, we chose a song from our favourite artist Macklemore and our second reading was from our favourite TV show, Brooklyn 99. In the ceremony, we chose to do an oathing stone ceremony as a nod to our interest in natural history and to serve as a reminder of our first holiday together and our visit to the natural history museum in London."

The wedding planning experience can be overwhelming, especially during Covid, but this couple want to remind others of why it's all worth it. "Planning a wedding can be fun but sometimes it's not," Susan admits. "It's painful and when that happens, try and stop and step away from things for a moment. Take a breather and do something you enjoy and then come back to it. It's a lot, and that's OK. With Covid heaped on top of what is already an emotional and stressful time, it can take away from the excitement and the build-up of the day. But try not to let it, trust that it will happen because it will and when it does, it's all the sweeter because you made it. So enjoy it all and take it all in. It's a day that goes by too fast so slow down and embrace it all!"

Thanks so much to today's couple Susan and Christopher for sharing their gorgeous wedding and great advice with us. And an extended thank you to Remain in Light Photography for capturing the magic.