West Cork couple Bríd O’Donovan and Eoghan O’Sullivan discovered a shared passion for music and movies soon after they met.
Bríd, from Clonakilty, and Eoghan, from Rosscarbery, first laid eyes on one another as teenagers, in June 2006, when they were both working in the Eurospar in Clonakilty.
Eoghan popped the question in Belfast in November 2022. “At that stage, we had been together for 16 years and we went to the Europa Hotel to celebrate our anniversary,” he says.
Bríd adds: “I was in complete shock when he went down on one knee. I was not expecting the proposal but loved it!”
The couple, who have been living in Monkstown, Dublin, since 2021, were married recently at Rathsallagh Country House, Co Wicklow.
“We had an outdoor ceremony in the walled garden of Rathsallagh,” says the groom, who is assistant production editor at the .
Spotting wonderful ideas for photo opportunities was easy — as the bride is a photographer.
“I’ve worked at a good few weddings and before we got engaged I had shot a wedding in Rathsallagh and I was bowled over by the venue,” she says.
“Sometimes a place will stand out, the food was great, as were the staff, the gardens and the grounds.
“Even though the weather wasn’t totally playing ball, our photographer, Egle Laukyte, White Cat Studio (whitecatstudio.ie), got the pictures we wanted, and we got to have our outdoor ceremony.”
Celebrant Nadia Powney officiated and among those helping the newlyweds mark the occasion were Eoghan’s dad Eugene O’Sullivan and his partner Olive Giles, and Bríd’s parents Sean and Anne O’Donovan.
The bride’s brother John made the trip home to Ireland from Australia for the occasion too.
Music was a key element of the occasion, according to the groom. “Our friends Leah Hearne and Daire Dillon provided the music during the ceremony,” says Eoghan.
“Our favourite DJ Cian Ó Ciobháin, who hosts An Taobh Tuathail on Raidio na Gaeltachta, was our entertainment for the night.”
Bríd’s bridesmaids were Tara Hegarty, Bridget Butler, Ashling Ahern, Sinead Harper, and her sister Maria O’Donovan. Eoghan split best-man duties among his three groomsmen Jer Fitzpatrick, Fin Pankhurst and Pádie O’Mahony.
Eoghan’s godson Nicholas and niece Olivia did a reading of Séamus Heaney’s Scaffolding as part of the ceremony.
Bríd looked super-elegant in a Prea James dress from The White & Gold in Kinsale and Eoghan was stylish thanks to Massimo Menswear, Dublin.
Kathy McClean from Pearl Salon in Dublin was the bridal hairstylist with Aoife Callaghan as the makeup artist.
Brian Dowling, House of Ren, was the videographer and Kiri Bishop created the floral décor.
The celebrations continued as newlyweds hosted a day-two event at the Wicklow Escape Lodge.
“We had our wedding cake, tea and chats with people there and played a few games in the afternoon,” says the groom.
That weekend, the newlyweds headed to the boutique music festival Another Love Story in Killyon Manor, Co Westmeath, on the Saturday and Sunday.
Then it was off to Ischia, off Naples in Italy, for a week, and the newlyweds have the last part of their honeymoon, a holiday in Mexico, to look forward to in January.
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