Real Weddings: Fernando and Gary’s lavish wedding at Adare Manor

THE COUPLE
Fernando Klein, general manager at Trinity Townhouse Hotel, and Gary Quane, private banking.

THEY LIVE
in Dublin 8. We bought an old boys’ school built in 1795 and recently converted it into a number of luxury city centre gated townhouses.

THE VENUE
Adare Manor.

PHOTOGRAPHER
Under The Veil.

THEY MET
I moved to Ireland 16 years ago in 2007 from my home city of Porto Alegre in Brazil. I came to Dublin primarily to learn and study English but from the moment I arrived, I fell in love with the country and felt right at home. Gary grew up in a small area in County Limerick called Caherdavin, he studied at the University of Limerick before moving to Dublin, where he also worked in hospitality.

We met on a night out in Dublin at the famous LGBTQ+ nightclub ‘Mother. Gary approached me, we got chatting, exchanged numbers and the rest is history.

THE CEREMONY 
The ceremony took place in the ballroom at Adare Manor. Guests were seated on either side of an ivory-carpeted aisle lined with fresh flowers and floating candles leading up to a bespoke built ivory stage with a draped silver suede backdrop. The stage was set with tall floral arrangements on top of white plinths that gradually increased in height to meet a collection of glass vases and candles in the middle.

Gary stood at the top of the room watching as I walked down the flower-lined staircase and up the aisle with my mum Rejane. Gary’s aunt Karen was our celebrant – she led the ceremony while Gary’s brother Brian performed on a baby grand piano alongside his cousins Lucia and Billy, who sang renditions of Feels Like Home To Me and You’re Still The One. Our page boy Conor and flower girl Olivia delivered the Tiffany & Co wedding bands before the ceremony came to a conclusion and the recessional played out.

THE RECEPTION
The drinks reception took place in the beautiful Maigue Suite. Guests enjoyed champagne, cocktails (margaritas, caipirinhas, cosmos), pints of Guinness with the F&G wedding logo printed on top and a selection of canapés, as Nova Quartet played classical strings with a modern twist in the background á la Bridgerton. Guests found their names on the large antique gilded mirror table plan towards the end of the reception, each table was named after one of our favourite hotels from around the world.

THE ENTERTAINMENT
After the meal and speeches, there was a special Irish dancing performance by Riverdance. It featured some bespoke choreography with a performance of Kylie Minogue’s Padam Padam. This was a spectacle, especially for the guests who travelled from Brazil and abroad.

After dinner, The Event Band kept guests dancing for the night. We also wanted an element of pride to be visible and so, the outdoor terrace was decorated with soft furnishings and lighting in pride colours.

In the later hours of the wedding, guests could choose from two social media/photo moments – a 360-degree camera which captured guests in slow motion as a cannon shot out gold confetti and a static photo booth capturing chic black and white images that guests could print out or send to their phone.

THE DECOR
During the drinks reception, the ballroom was transformed from the earlier enclosed ceremony space to a fully opened-up room for an evening disco-inspired soiree. The staging and lighting were enhanced for the theme, a full 3D mirror dance floor that was ferried over from London was laid and a ceiling rig with dancing gold and mirror disco balls was installed.

The guest tables had a mix of tall and low centrepieces featuring a colour palette of white, champagne and dusty pink florals with accents of gold along with lots of candles in varied heights and a sign showcasing a watercolour visual of the facade of each hotel table name. Mini paper scrolls with gold calligraphy were used for the guests’ place names and each setting contained a French blue folio menu with a gold foil Adare Manor illustration on the front, closed with an F&G logo wax seal.

The ballroom was fragranced with ‘Baies’ by Diptyque and the bathrooms featured Chanel toiletries and essentials for every eventuality. There was a refined sophisticated mood for the ceremony and drinks reception then a definite disco party atmosphere for the evening.