8th July 2016. Ceremony and reception at The Red Door Country House, Donegal
Photos by Patrick Duddy Photography
A butterfly-themed wedding with a countryside setting
The couple
This couple first met during a night out in Derry/Londonderry back in 2009 in the Gweedore nightclub.
The proposal
Four years later on Christmas morning Andrew brought Ann in a glass of champagne while she was feeding their baby Aodhan, who was only three-weeks old at the time. Andrew got down on one knee, popped the question and his other half wasted no time in saying, ‘Yes!’
Venue
“We chose The Red Door Country House in Fahan, Donegal as it was one of our favourite places to go for Sunday lunches and dinners,” Ann recalls. “The food and service is always fabulous. We also knew we could have a civil ceremony there and it catered for smaller, more intimate weddings. The stunning location on the banks of Lough Swilly also played a part in our decision.”
Theme
The couple opted for a butterfly-themed day which featured on the bride’s hair comb, wedding cake, on the flower girl’s dress and on jam jars of flowers which were made by Poppy Lane.
Photography
“We saw some photos on Patrick Duddy’s website that he had taken of a wedding in The Red Door and we loved the natural, unobtrusive, journalistic style,” Ann says. “We are delighted with our photos as they capture so many special moments of our day.”
Wedding dress
Ann looked gorgeous in a Sincerity Bridal wedding dress from the Bridal Showroom, Derry. “I loved it because it was a flattering design for my shape; it was simple tulle material with specks of sparkle and jewels,” Ann recalls.
Grooms wear
The groom and grooms men wore Remus Uomo suits from Cityman, Derry.
Bridesmaids
The bridesmaids wore fuchsia pink dresses by True Bride from The Bridal Showroom, Derry.
Wedding flowers
Bloomin’ Marvellous Flowers, Buncrana supplied the wedding flowers. “The bridesmaids’ carried cream and baby pink roses,” Ann says. “My flower girl and I had cream roses with fuchsia pink and cream freesia. The groom, best man, groomsmen, fathers of bride and groom and pageboy had thistle buttonholes as did the mothers. I lived in Glasgow for a few years and have family there so thistles were a significant and important symbol.”
Stationery
A friend of the couples designed and printed the wedding stationery.
Wedding cake
Pretty Elegant Cakes created the three-tiered cake decorated with ivory icing, edible roses and freesias and fuchsia butterflies. “It was the best cake we have ever tasted,” Ann enthuses. “The bottom layer was chocolate cake with chocolate orange ganache, the middle layer was lemon cake with lemon butter, and the top layer was classic Victoria sponge with homemade raspberry jam and cream.”
Favourite moment
Andrew: seeing Ann for the first time in her dress as she joined me at the ceremony table.
Ann: walking down the aisle with my new husband and our beautiful son, seeing the smiling faces of our family and friends.
Leave a Reply