Although Marcy and Ruairí are now living in London they returned to their hometown of Portrush to tie the knot surrounded by friends and family.
How did you both first meet?
Coming from the small seaside town of Portrush, we knew of each other before we properly met as there were some connections in our family. We became good friends when we joined the same secondary school and spent our teenage years working in Barry’s amusements during the summer months. However, we didn’t start dating until we were both at university. It was quite ironic that Ruairí lived around the corner all those years, but when we finally started dating in 2014, he was studying in Belfast, and I was in Liverpool! I moved back to Belfast in 2016 before we both moved to live in London, when Ruairí was offered a job there.
Tell us about the proposal!
We got engaged in Athens in 2021, where we were celebrating our seven year anniversary. Although a few people had joked that I may come home with some bling, the engagement came as a complete surprise. Ruairí seemed far too chilled going through security at the airport, so I instantly lost all suspicions that he could have a potential ring in his backpack. It was on our second night in Athens, that he popped the question. I was so excited and stood in shock for about a minute; Ruairí had to double-check it was a definitely a ‘yes’! I was over the moon and very impressed with his choice of ring. We rang our families and then went for some bubbles to celebrate!
When did you start planning your wedding?
Even though we live in London, we knew we wanted to get married in Portrush, as most of our family and friends live there. Once we had set our date, we had around 18 months to plan our wedding. We decided to plan it ourselves, which was a bit stressful at times, especially as we were planning from a distance. However, we got a lot of great support from our family and friends. Luckily, my dad works in interior design and Ruairí’s dad has a lot of experience working in weddings due to his role as a hotel manager, so we got a lot of handy tips and ideas from them both. Our mums and other family members also helped us with other parts of the planning which was great – the fact so many people chipped in made it very personable. I really enjoy arts and crafts, so I decided to make our wedding stationery and place names, which I found really enjoyable. I liked to complain (probably daily) how stressful the planning was, but in hindsight I secretly really enjoyed it!
Who captured your day?
We had seen weddings that Lauren Chamber from LIT Photogrpahy had done for other couples in the area and we really loved her style. As soon as we set a date, I made the enquiry with Lauren straightaway and were over the moon when she told us that she was available on our date. From the moment we met Lauren, she made us feel comfortable and we had such a laugh with her at our engagement shoot.
We had told Lauren that our main priority was for the photos to capture the atmosphere of the day and laughter of our family and friends. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, so we didn’t want lots of staged shots. We were absolutely blown away by the photos when they arrived.
For videography, Lauren recommended Jo Knight, also known as Filmmaker Jo. After looking through her social media/website, we absolutely loved her style, too. Jo captured the day perfectly; I didn’t have any tears left after she sent the video over to us. Jo was an absolute delight and did such an amazing job.
What did you wear?
My dress was by a brand called Lovers Society, who specialise in modern wedding dresses. I purchased this dress from a bridal boutique in Fitzrovia, London called Lovely Bride. I instantly fell in love with the floral lace detail on the back of the dress. Ruairí wore a midnight navy velvet satin suit which he purchased from Thom Sweeney in London and the classic tuxes for the groomsmen were hired from Red Grooms wear in Belfast. The bridesmaids wore champagne halter neck dresses from Pretty Lavish.
What was your favourite part of the day?
It sounds cliché but we loved the whole day, we had such a ball. We both really enjoyed the process of getting ready in the morning with our bridal party and family. Another highlight was getting our photos taken at Dunluce Castle. It felt like the windiest day in history and I almost lost my veil a few times, but we had so much fun. We may be biased but we also absolutely loved the speeches, our sides were sore from laughing. Finally, we also loved dancing the night away with our family and friends. It was a real pinch me moment having everyone in the same room together, dancing away to our favourite songs!
Any advice you can give?
Try and enjoy the experience as much as you can and expect that some things may not go completely to plan, but that it will all work itself out. We picked three areas that mattered most to us which we wanted to focus on and everything else was just a bonus. We would say also celebrate the small things and have as much fun with the planning as you can. Although you will be busy on the lead up to the wedding, try and set some time aside for your hobbies too, I found walks and music to be a good stress reliever. Finally, take a deep breath and take in your surroundings, it’s such a magical day!
The Dream Team
Photography: LIT Photography NI;
Videography: Filmmaker Jo;
Venue: Royal Court Hotel, Portrush;
Design, Styling & Concept: Studio 59 Arthouse;
Room Décor: The Wedding Room NI;
Bridal Dresser: Janine Sunderland;
Dress: Lovers Society From Lovely Bride;
Groomswear: Thom Sweeney & Red Groomswear;
Make-up: Rebecca Duff;
Hair: Danielle at Golden Salon;
Flowers: Fabienne Egger;
Ceremony Music: Natalia & Ciara;
Drink’s Reception Music: String Ninja’s;
Reception Music: The Groovesmen;
DJ: DJ Magiggs;
Photobooth: Northern Lights Hire;
Camper Van: Tony Kearney
