Edel & Peter McVeigh
Edel Close and Peter McVeigh5th November 2010
Ceremony at La Nucia, Spain with a reception at Enrique Mendoza Bodegas (Winery)
Engaged in the summer of 2009 Edel and Peter set about planning their dream wedding abroad. “I had always wanted a destination wedding,” begins Edel. “ I was a guest at a wedding in Cyprus a few years back and I just loved the chilled out atmosphere and the weather. Peter thought it was a great idea and we decided to go for it and check out some locations. After sending a lot of emails to planners, we finally settled on an amazing planner called Marcella Doran from Your Dream Wedding in Spain.”
The couple made an initial visit to Spain in October 2009 to meet Marcella and view some venues. “We were blown away by how pretty the settings were and it was hard to make a decision,” Edel recalls. “We finally settled on the Winery because it was so completely different to anything we’d seen before. There were huge metal wine vats in one area, stacked barrels and lovely landscaped gardens where we would have the meal. We knew our guests would be impressed with it as well and it would be a real talking point of the wedding.”
The ceremony was in held in Iglesia parroquial Purísima Concepción in a small mountain village called La Nucia. “The church is so pretty and ornate and has amazing steps leading up to it,” says Edel. “It is a very small intimate church, which is exactly what we wanted for our 44 guests. Of course the acoustics were amazing for our music.”
As both Edel and Peter work in music they wanted music to be a big part of their day. “We spent a good portion of our budget on the music,” reveals Edel. “We had a string quartet for our ceremony, Spanish guitarists for the drinks reception and a 5-piece band for the evening entertainment. Most of our friends and family are musicians, so needless to say, they all contributed on the day including Peter and my dad.”
In keeping with the Spanish setting Edel chose a lace wedding dress by Benjamin Roberts. “Out of all the dresses I tried on, it was the lace dresses that I loved the most and this one was just perfect and of course lace has a very Spanish feel to it,” says Edel. “It is a very figure hugging dress with a fish tale bottom, I loved the shape of it. I never imagined I would have a long train on my dress, but I loved the look of it and it made the dress feel very special and “bridal”.
Edel’s two bridemaids, her sister Karen and best friend Claire Gibson. Describe the dresses and accessories you chose for your bridesmaids and where you wore purple silk dresses from Coast.
Peter wore a mid-grey suit from Bogarts in Belfast and a purple tie and ivory shirt. As the wedding was abroad, he didn’t want to be too formal so didn’t bother with waistcoats or cravats. Sean Paul O’Rourke, the best man, wore a matching suit to Peters.
 For her bridal bouquet Edel wanted a wild and “thrown together” look and she is full of praise for the florist who also decorated the venue with random vases, flowers and fruits with scattered petals and tea lights.
The caterer who supplied the food for the reception has a Michelin Star in their restaurant (El Xato), which was right beside the church Edel and Peter got married in. They provided canapés during the drinks reception with wine and cava from the winery. For the starter guests enjoyed Foie Gras followed by a fish course of prawn and hake cannelloni then kiwi and mint sorbet. The main course was slowed cooked beef cheeks with dauphinoise potatoes and desert was a traditional Spanish bread desert with coconut sauce and a caramelised topping.
“We both agree that the best part of the day was arriving at the winery after getting our photos done,” reveals Edel. “Our guests were eating and drinking to the sound of the Spanish guitarists and there was just such a great atmosphere. I think that’s when it sank in that this was our wedding day and it was everything we wanted it to be.”
We had an amazing photographer called Paul Schillings and his wife Jolanta. We had many lovely locations to choose from. The church steps looked amazing for our group shots. Peter and I then went to the old town of Altea to get some photos taken. This is a really traditional Spanish town with cobbled streets and white washed buildings. We then took a trip to a nearby beach for more photos and finally to the winery. In the winery, we were able to gain access to the cellars underground and we got some brilliant photos taken there.
THE LITTLE DETAILS
Wedding Planner:Marcella Doran from Your Dream Wedding in Spain, www.yourdreamweddinginspain.com
Wedding Dress:By Benjamin Roberts bought it in McElhinneys Bridal Rooms, Ballybofey, Donegal.
Groomswear: Suits from Bogarts in Belfast
Veil: Full length veil with lace trim on the bottom from The Wedding Veil Shop
Photography: Paul Schillings, www.schillingsphotography.com “They had great ideas for photos and were clearly very professional. They made us feel so comfortable getting our photos taken and were really lovely people. We were very happy with the results.”
If you would like to have your 'big day' considered for a Wedding Journal magazine and weddingjournalonline 'real wedding' feature, email brief details (day, venue etc) and two or three sample photos to: tara.craig@pentonpublications.co.uk
And don't forget, single pictures for possible inclusion in My Day My Way magazine pages can be emailed to: sarah.jayne@pentonpublications.co.uk Pictures published are at the editor's discretion.
|
Real Weddings 
Meeting up with the lovely Kirstie McMurray from Cool FM, our compare for The Wedding Journal Reader Awards on Monday!
