Real Weddings: Laura and Conor’s fairytale wedding in Bellingham Castle

THE PROPOSAL
We had moved into our house in August 2021 and were busy renovating, so a proposal was the last thing I was thinking of. But we were going to Dubai that January, so I knew I wanted to look at rings over there – time was ticking for Conor.

That December, I was in town with my mam for dinner and drinks near Christmas, leaving Conor and his dad doing what I thought was “bits around the house”. But when I walked back into the house that evening, Conor was on one knee in our newly renovated kitchen with my favourite song playing and a fab set-up.

It was perfect! I always said I wanted to get engaged in private and on a random day. Conor had proposed with a mock ring and told me that in Dubai, I would get to pick out the real thing. He had our family and friends looped in, and they all arrived at the door to join us in our celebrations.

THE WEDDING ATTIRE
I bought my dress nearly two years before the wedding. Working in fashion, I always knew what I wanted and spent too many hours on Pinterest saving dresses. I knew what style dress I loved, but was just afraid it wouldn’t suit me; being 5ft, I was nervous I would look swamped in a long dress. So I searched websites that stocked the exact dress I had screenshot. I booked flights to Manchester with my mam just to try it on, knowing it was too early to commit.

We went to Knutsford Wedding Gallery, tried on the first dress, and I just knew. I tried on a couple more just to be sure, but nothing made me feel the way I felt in the Courtenay by Elysee. I left the shop thinking it was too early to have found ‘the one’, but my heart knew. After a couple of days, I rang the shop and bought it. Two weeks later, I found out I was pregnant with our little girl, Harlow, so it was a blessing that I started early.

The fabulous Paula in Bridal by Tamem Michael did my alterations! My nanna wanted to buy my shoes as a wedding present, so I knew I wanted shoes I would wear again. I bought Sophia Webster Rosalind gems, which I loved!

Conor’s tuxedo was from Reiss, and he got it tailored in the Alteration Centre off Grafton Street. His shoes were Christian Louboutin.

THE CEREMONY
Our ceremony was in St Agnes’ church. As cliché as it sounds, when I was a little girl, I always pictured getting married in a church and walking down the long aisle. We love abroad weddings, but I knew wanted to get ready in my family home, so we chose a church close to us. Finesse Weddings did an amazing job transforming the church, and our ceremony music was by Fox & Cole Music.

I walked down the aisle to the same song that was playing when Conor proposed – Lionel Richie’s Stuck On You, sang beautifully by Alana Fox.

Our daughter Harlow was 13 months old at the time and was meant to walk up the aisle with my bridesmaids, but fell asleep on the way to the church, so she missed the whole ceremony. She woke up just at the end in time for the pictures, and Conor got emotional again seeing her. Emma captured some fab photos at the end of the ceremony of our little family!

THE RECEPTION
Our reception was in Bellingham Castle, and honestly, it was the best decision we ever made. The staff were incredible from the minute we contacted them about getting married there. Our family and friends still rave about the food, the service and the venue!

We got married in June, thinking we would be safe from the rain, but from the minute we woke up, the rain didn’t stop. I checked the weather all morning and could see no rain in Louth, and was confidently saying how it’s going to be sunny at our reception. But, in the wedding car driving to the venue, the closer we got, the rain wasn’t subsiding. The driver had us laughing, slagging my optimism, but when we drove into Bellingham Castle, it stopped – it was honestly a miracle! There were blue skies; our guests all could have their reception canapes and drinks outside.

We booked DJ & Sax for our reception music as we wanted to create a good vibe as soon as our guests arrived. We walked into the wedding room to Put ‘Em Under Pressure by Niall Murphy. We wanted to tie in Conor’s football career in some way, so when we reached the top table, the whole room started singing “Olé, Olé, Olé” and it definitely got everyone up dancing.

THE ENTERTAINMENT
Entertainment was so important to us, and we knew we wanted a band that would keep the atmosphere going. We booked The Event Band and they were brilliant.

Alana, who sang at our ceremony, is also in the event band, and she sang our first dance song acoustically, which was amazing. The Event Band also served as our DJ, and they kept the place dancing until the early hours!

THE DECOR
The décor for our ceremony and reception was done by Finesse Weddings. Mary got my vision from the moment we met – the flowers exceeded my expectations, and when I pulled up outside the church, I was so happy. Being a control freak, I was nervous that it wouldn’t be as I envisioned, but it was everything and more!

We also booked a Vogue magazine–style photo box. I knew I wanted something a little different for our guests to get photos in, so we booked this with Champagne Memories Events. Outside of the décor, I wanted little finishing touches, so we had personalised drink toppers with our initials for the reception drinks and personalised drink stirrers.