A vintage inspired celebration for our Real Wedding couple, Noelle and Declan, as they celebrated their wedding in Markree Castle. A day filled with tradition and DIY decor for this creative couple, who found love in the local hotspot of Boyle, Co. Sligo. Christine Burns was on hand to capture all the special moments of the […]

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A vintage inspired celebration for our Real Wedding couple, Noelle and Declan, as they celebrated their wedding in Markree Castle. A day filled with tradition and DIY decor for this creative couple, who found love in the local hotspot of Boyle, Co. Sligo. Christine Burns was on hand to capture all the special moments of the day!

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How did you pair of lovebirds meet? We knew each other when we were at school and apparently Dec had a crush on me but because he was four years younger I thought he was just a cute shy guy who went red every time he saw me! Many years later we met up again in a local pub back in Boyle - the cute shy guy had turned into a handsome young man! We both got on really well and there was definitely a spark between us that night, however Dec announced to me that he was off travelling again this time to Australia.... and he was going the very next day. My heart sank a little, this was a time when Facebook didn't exist and Dec didn't have an email address, so we had no contact with each other for the time that Dec was away."

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The year went by I finished my degree in Fine Art and I decided that it was time for me to travel so I applied for a visa for Australia. I was to be home for the weekend while waiting on my visa and I went into the local hotel for a drink with a friend, and who happened to be sitting at the bar only Dec! We bumped into each other again a few nights later and I remember there was a guy singing in the pub and I was on my way up to ask him to play a song by Pink Floyd called ‘wish you were here’ Dec was on his way up to ask the guy to sing the same song! It was Christmas time and there was thick snow outside when it came to closing time, so I asked Dec to walk me home. I’ll never forget there was about 4 inches of snow outside, it was magical and so romantic. Dec ended up going to Australia again, this time with me! That was 12 years ago, it has taken us all this time to make it down the aisle, having two wonderful boys Cael 8 and Dara 3 in between and building a house but we finally did it!

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So how did Dec pop the question? "Before we travelled we were working hard saving every penny we could earn. Dec was working in Dublin and I was working in Leitrim we saw each other at the weekends. One Friday morning I got up to go to work and there was a Huge Red Wooden Heart outside my apartment block with the words ‘I love you. Will you marry me?’. Dec had driven up from Dublin that morning and was waiting and hiding behind this big heart. I couldn't believe it, but of course I said Yes. Dec rang my Dad and asked if it was ‘ok’ to marry his daughter after he got the go-ahead he went about making the heart."

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Noelle and Declan's boys helping out, so cute!

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Noelle and Declan had their ceremony in the lovely Cloonloo Church in Co.Sligo, adding a few special touches of their own... "I decorated the church with beautiful flowers from Heatons they were the exact colour of my bridesmaids dresses. I collected candles and I had two framed photos of my parents and Declan's parents on a little table as we came in the door of the church."

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After the success of the initial big red heart Declan made to propose to me, he made several smaller ones the following year for Valentines Day, and we included those on the day of our wedding - outside the church and house and used some of them as directions signs"

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Noelle and Declan originally thought they would have a small, low key wedding, but when they saw Markree Castle, they fell in love and went the whole hog for a big shindig.

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I loved the vintage idea for weddings - using china teacups on the tables and filling them with fresh flowers. So after collecting about 100 teacups and saucers from friends and family, my Mam and I went to Aldi the day before the wedding and picked up bunches of fresh flowers to fill everything.

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What was your favourite moment of the day? The moment I got to the church and I saw my two boys Cael and Dara standing outside looking so cute in their suits I felt so proud. I thought I would cry walking up the aisle with my Dad as I always shed a tear at someone else's wedding at this point but I didn’t. Instead I held onto my Dad really tight and just concentrated on getting to the top of the aisle and when I saw Dec waiting for me up there I knew everything was going to be ok. I really think that was my favourite part of the day.

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Congratulations to Noelle and Declan and thank you for sharing your sepcial day with us!

Of course a big thank you goes to Christine Burns for sharing her work with us, to check out more of Christine's work pop onto her website www.christineburnsphotography.ie

The Wedding Details