An Unforgettable Day At The Everglades Hotel

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Beckie & Gavin’s Real Life Wedding
24th May 2019 | Everglades Hotel, Derry

HOW THEY MET

Beckie and Gavin first met each other thanks to Gavin’s brother’s workplace. He says, ‘I had noticed Beckie when I picked my brother up from work one evening and decided to find her and message her on Facebook. A few months passed and we eventually went on our first date to see Toy Story 3 at the cinema. During our time together, I knew there and then that Beckie was the girl I was going to marry.’

THE PROPOSAL

Gavin originally planned to propose to Beckie during a trip abroad toIceland, however, it didn’t go exactly to plan as disaster struck when Gavin nearly lost the engagement ring in the snow! After that slight mishap, he decided to propose back home instead and rented a VW campervan and booked Beckie off work for a couple of days. He says, ‘With the help of Beckie’s mum, I sneaked in and woke Beckie up with bacon pancakes before surprising her with the car of her dreams. We drove up to the beautiful North Coast and visited all of Beckie’s favourite spots such as The Point Bar in Magilligan for lunch, the Black Glen and Mussenden Temple in Castlerock, before going a dander around Portrush.’ Gavin then drove Beckie to Ballintoy Harbour, which was deserted and popped the question as the sun set behind cliffs on the horizon. How romantic!

THE VENUE

After Beckie and Gavin visited the newly refurbished grand ballroom during a wedding fair at the Everglades Hotel in Derry, they completely fell head over heels in love with it! Gavin says, ‘We dealt with Mairead during the two years running up to the wedding and met with David the week before as he would be the one looking after us on the day. We met Neil the General Manager on our big day and his team could not have been more helpful. They really looked after us and put us at ease, ensuring the smooth running of our reception. All the staff from the guys behind the bar, to the waiters and waitresses, kitchen staff and those on reception really played a blinder! We really can’t thank them enough and would recommend the Everglades Hotel to anyone looking for a high-quality wedding venue.’ For their theme, as big fans of author Roald Dahl, Beckie and Gavin choose to have a Roald Dahl theme for their tables, alongside a VW camper van and Beetle as their wedding transport.

WHAT THE BRIDE WORE & THE REST…

Beckie looked beautiful in a lace dress purchased from Beauty Day Bridal Cottage in Greysteel. She says, ‘Day Bridal Cottage was the first boutique I visited and I fell in love with my dress as soon as I saw it! Ciara who works there was fantastic and made me feel so comfortable straight away and was full of knowledge. For my bridesmaids, we purchased peach dresses from Ultimate Dresses in Dungiven and they looked gorgeous.’ For Gavin and his groomsmen, they looked dapper in teal, white and grey checked three-piece suits purchased from Tomorrows Bridalwear in Derry. Gavin says, ‘We were recommended by a friend and the staff were brilliant and helped pick a suit and style that suited all of us.’

WEDDING FLOWERS 

As part of their wedding package at the Everglades Hotel, John Paul Florist supplied flowers for their day. Gavin explains, ‘John Paul helped us choose our flowers for our milk churn at the entrance and the floral display at the front of Killaloo Parish Church where we held our ceremony. We went for a wild meadow theme with roses and daisies. Beckie also put together decorated jam jar at the end of the church pews, filled with gip and coronations which was a lovely touch.’

FOOD & DRINK

For their food and drink, Beckie and Gavin were blown away with the high-quality food that was supplied and enjoyed a three-course meal. Gavin says, ‘Although we thought everything was fantastic, the real standout was the beef. I think it must be famous in Derry because I can’t count on both hands how many people told me about it before our wedding. It did not disappoint!’

STATIONERY

For their stationery, Beckie and Gavin had met Karen McShane at the Everglades Hotel wedding fair and instantly fell in love with her style and knew she had to make their invites. The couple says, ‘Karen was extremely helpful and well organised and ended up supplying all of our stationery including table plan, signs and thank you cards. We were so pleased with how well they turned out.’

WEDDING CAKE

For their wedding cake, Beckie and Gavin chose Cakes by Miriam which was part of their wedding package at the Everglades Hotel. Gavin says, ‘Miriam made us a three-tier wedding cake with a sheet cake as an extra. We chose four different flavours, one for each tier, lemon, chocolate and orange, red velvet and carrot cake. Beckie loved a design she found on Pinterest a few years earlier and so we stuck with that and Miriam tweaked it so it would match the colour of the bridesmaid’s dresses. Beckie got the VW cake of her dreams and we were delighted with it.’

PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY

To capture the special moments of their big day, after scrolling through hundreds of photographs and photographers, Beckie settled on Lisa Byrne of Holly and Lime Photography. Beckie explains, ‘I loved her work and knew I just had to book her! Thankfully, Lisa was free for our date and turned out to be such a delight to work with. Her easy-going nature really relaxed us and the results were stunning.’ For their videography, they chose Tony from We Are Soulful who did an amazing job. Gavin says, ‘We are so glad we chose Tony. He was a great find and worked really well alongside Lisa on the day. Our wedding video turned out beautifully and I cannot thank Tony enough!’

LAUGH OUT LOUD MOMENTS

One moment that had everyone laughing happened at the top of the alter. Gavin goes on to say, ‘Beckie almost didn’t make it to the altar, as the train of her dress got stuck underneath the church door! Queue a very panicked father of the bride who tried to yank it out which followed an awful ripping sound! From the front of the church, I heard Beckie mutter ‘well, that’s not a good start! and the congregation couldn’t help but laugh. Thankfully, the dress was released and Beckie finally walked down the aisle in one piece which I was glad for!’

FAVOURITE MOMENTS

For Gavin, his favourite moment was when he saw his beautiful bride arrive at the church. ‘When I turned and saw Beckie had finally made it to the front of the church, I just knew this girl would finally be my wife.’ For Beckie, her favourite moment was having all of her loved ones celebrate their big day together. ‘Having all of our friends and family around us to celebrate was so special. It meant the world to us to finally see our hard work fall into place!’

 Wedding Team

Venue – Everglades Hotel

Wedding Dress – Beauty Day Bridal Cottage

Bridesmaids – Ultimate Dresses

Groomswear – Tomorrows Bridalwear

Photography & Videography – Holly and Lime Photography & We Are Soulful

Flowers – John Paul Florist

Wedding Cake – Cakes by Miriam

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