Real Weddings: Cliodhna and Barry’s romantic castle wedding in Co Cavan
After nearly a decade together, these lovebirds from Meath finally tied the knot at their dream venue – Cabra Castle. With four musical acts booked and a magician, their wedding weekend was full of fun, dancing and precious moments with loved ones.
THE COUPLE
Cliodhna, real estate, and Barry, clerical officer.
THEY LIVE
in Oldcastle, Co Meath.
THE VENUE
Cabra Castle Hotel, Kingscourt, Co Cavan.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Julia and Ricky, JR Studio.
THEY MET
We lived three houses away from each other for six years, however, we didn’t get introduced to one another until the year before Barry moved house. Our paths crossed during this time as we used to take the same bus to school, but we officially met in 2012 when my friend Cathriona introduced us on a night out in Kells.
THE PROPOSAL
It was our eight-year anniversary in 2021 and Barry had organised a day out for the two of us. There were travel restrictions due to Covid, so he decided that the best place to go would be Virginia Park Lodge in Cavan. We got there and Barry got out of the car and headed for the boot, where he took out what looked like a small picnic. Barry mentioned this idea over the years and I always told him that I wasn’t interested.
I got ready to leave the car myself and as soon as I saw what he had planned, I jumped straight back in and refused to get out, all I wanted and thought we were going to do was go for a nice long walk down by the golf course and lake. So Barry’s plan B was to take us up to Lough Ramor and we just sat in the car with the food and looked out onto the lake.
One of the things that the picnic consisted of was a box of my favourite sweets. We were halfway through eating the sweets when I felt something metal in the bottom of the box. When I dug deeper into the sweets, I managed to find and pull out a ring. Once Barry had seen that I discovered the ring, he asked me to marry him and after what seemed like an hour of trying not to choke and swallow the sweet in my mouth, I eventually said yes! Even though things didn’t go as planned at the beginning, I still wouldn’t change anything about how the proposal went.
THE WEDDING ATTIRE
My dress was purchased in Belle Mariee, Athboy, Co Meath and Barry got his suit in Pat O’Byrnes Manshop, Trim, Co Meath, where my father Padraig works and made sure everything was catered for when it came to the suits.
THE CEREMONY
Our ceremony took place in Girley Church in Fordstown. My parents got married there too so it was very special to me. Fr David Bradley married us and gave a beautiful ceremony. The extremely talented Louise Morris sang all of the songs and hymns at the wedding accompanied by her father, Finn, on the keyboard.
THE RECEPTION
Following the beautiful wedding ceremony, we headed over to Cabra Castle in Co Cavan. This was always a dream venue of ours from the moment we entered the grounds of the castle for the first time. The staff were all incredibly attentive to us and all of our guests from the moment we arrived until leaving two days later. After two years of planning, it was so lovely to get such positive feedback from all of our guests.
THE ENTERTAINMENT
Our entertainment on arrival to the castle was Tropical Storm. Our band on the night was the Bentley Boys and our DJ was Paul McGuiness. We had previously seen Tropical Storm perform at another wedding and we attended a showcase for The Bentley Boys so there was no doubt about choosing them.
THE DECOR
My flowers were from Flower Innovations in Kells. Yvonne was amazing to work with. I showed her a few different ideas of what I wanted. She said “Leave it to me!”, and she knew exactly what I was looking for and she certainly didn’t disappoint; the flowers were beautiful.
THEIR TOP TIPS
- Working and communicating with suppliers who were local and who we knew made life a lot easier when it came to planning the big day.
- Don’t stress about getting around to everyone at your wedding, the day flies by before you know it.
- Relax and enjoy it.
THEY WISH THEY HAD…
We had the best day ever; we just wish we had more time to spend with all of our guests.
THEIR BEST MOMENTS
The entire day was filled with special moments, but our highlights were:
- Walking up the aisle with my dad and meeting Barry at the altar
- Our first dance
- Arriving at the castle as a married couple
- The speeches
- Dancing with all of our family and friends
- Our entrance into the Ballroom
- The barbecue on our second day in the castle included an amazing performance by Andy James Magic
THEIR FIRST DANCE SONG
Everything by Michael Buble. A big thank you to Chantelle in Dance Mania Studio, Kells who we went to for a dance lesson before the wedding.
THE CREW
Wedding Dress, Veil & Headpiece: Belle Mariee. Bride’s Shoes: The Little White Dress. Groom and Groomsmen’s Suit: Pat O’Byrnes Manshop. Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Abelle Bridal. Ceremony Music: Louise Morris. Reception Music: Tropical Storm, Bentley Boys and DJ Paul McGuiness. Flowers: Flower Innovations. Make-Up: Keara Kelly Make-up. Hair: Hair By Caoimhe. Wedding Car: Classic and Executive Wedding Cars. Cake: Mrs Smiths Bakery (Emma Smith). Videographer: Shay Casserley.
See more photographs from Cliodhna and Barry’s wedding in the gallery below.
Photography by Julia and Ricky, JR Studio.
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