A one of a kind love story.

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Some real wedding stories stick in my memory after writing them, and today's is one of those. Reminiscent of a film plot, Antoinette and Ben met in rural Seoul while teaching English. They fell for each other and Ben was set to propose with his grandparent's ring when illness struck Antoinette and brought her home to Ireland. Love did prevail and we are so thrilled to share Antoinette and Ben's love story and charming 1950s style wedding by Livia Figueiredo with you today.
Wedding Photography Dublin, Ireland

Antoinette begins their love story... “I'm from Dublin and Ben is from Michigan, USA. We met in Seoul, South Korea in 2013. We were both working in the suburbs as English teachers. I joined the online dating website OkCupid in May and Ben was my first match. Messages became emails and when we had our first date in Hongdae (a vibrant arts district) we felt we already knew each other very well; conversation flowed and everything felt very natural. Ben left Korea for Vietnam in August, two months after we first met but the relationship continued long distance. I came to visit in December and in March of the following year, I moved to Vietnam. We moved into a little apartment together in Saigon, bought a small motorbike and started working at the same school.”

Ben continues... “Over the next summer, Antoinette and I flew to the United States, this time to visit my family and some friends across the country. My mom knew what I was thinking about: she offered me my grandmother's ring to give to Antoinette. As we travelled that summer, we spent a lot of time talking about our future and what we wanted. After all, if we were to be together, one of us would always be away from home. We both arrived back in Vietnam re-energized and ready to take on the new year. But the very night of our staff return party, Antoinette discovered a large lump in her right breast. We were both frightened. We went to the hospital and got it checked right away...”

“...The doctor decided it was a tumour and it should be removed. Antoinette was out of school for a whole week after surgery. The doctors then sent the tumour out to Thailand to get it tested just in case. Maybe a week or two later, one Thursday night after work, Antoinette was trying to get the test results but the hospital secretary said she had to come in to discuss them. After some pleading, she was emailed the results. She looked at the results and asked me what “carcinoma” meant. "Cancer," I said.”

After her diagnosis, Antionette returned to Dublin for treatment while Ben stayed alone in Saigon. Therein followed a tough period of intercontinental visits while Ben worked to gain an Irish Visa. All the while Ben waiting for the right moment to give Antoinette his grandmother's ring.

Ben tells us... “I was able to visit in October so we took the train from Dublin to Galway. Antoinette had started chemotherapy at this stage and had lost most of her hair. I knew I wanted to propose but I didn't know how much energy Antoinette had or how she would be feeling. On a whim, and since she was feeling up to it, we decided to take the ferry to Inishmore. Antoinette was weak but she wanted to rent a tandem bike just like we did in Gyeongju, South Korea. I wanted to get a horse and buggy but she refused. We rode our bike to the other side of the island, to Dún Aonghasa. There, high above the rocks and waves, I asked Antoinette to marry me. She said yes and we've both been giddy and smiling ear to ear ever since. I gave her my grandmother's ring, designed by my grandfather.”

Embracing life Antionette and Ben planned a fun 1950s style wedding at The Anglers Rest, complete with a vintage Dirty Fabulous dress and guests travelling from all over the world to celebrate. Ben recalls... “Our one extravagance was people; we wanted to involve lots of friends and family in the ceremony so we chose five bridesmaids and five groomsmen. Antoinette's brother Thomas acted as groomsman and musician playing 'Here comes the Sun' on his unusual 'silent guitar'. We chose this song to celebrate overcoming hardship.”

(Not to mention a divine wedding cake selection from Avoca.)

Kind contributions to the day included the red tandem bike loaned to Antoinette and Ben by their DJ and traditional Korean duck figurines which acted as cake toppers. To return the favour Antoinette and Ben gifted everyone Maple candy from Ben's hometown as well as Irish welcome packs filled with city maps, power plug adaptors, Tayto crisps and Jacob's biscuits.

In place of a honeymoon Ben and Antoinette enjoyed a pre-wedding break, Antoinette explains... “As we were planning to move to England for jobs in September, we decided to have a pre-wedding honeymoon. Ben organised a surprise trip to Budapest and I didn’t know the destination until we boarded the plane. Ben had a number of friends message me about the trip with misleading information about the destination so Budapest was a wonderful surprise!”

Huge congratulations to you both and thank you so much for sharing your amazing story and wedding with us all. A big thank you also goes to the lovely Livia Figueiredo for sharing her work with us. To see more from Livia Figueiredo visit www.liviafigueiredo.com