Conors Lucky Bet at the Galway Races in 2003 Paid Off
February 5, 2016-Holy Trinity Abbey & Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel
& Spa, Adare
Photos Courtesy of Gary
Barett Photography
Photos Courtesy of Gary Barrett Photography
Aislinn Connolly, a Galway girl, first met Conor Fitzgerald , of
Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel fame , at the prestigious Galway races way
back in 2003. After 11 years of courting, Conor, ever the romantic, proposed to
Aislinn during a trip to Dubai. Upon their return to Dublin they purchased an
art deco diamond and sapphire target set ring. A
wedding date was set for Friday February 5, 2016 at the Holy Trinity Abbey in
Adare followed by a reception for 360 guests at the prestigious Fitzgeralds
Woodlands House Hotel, Adare, Co. Limerick. Conor, a director at the family run
hotel, wasnt short of help from his siblings and mother when organising
their big day.
THE WEDDING PARTY
Aislinn, known as
the three county Connolly because she splits her time between Dublin, Limerick and
Galway, had her sister Sinead Bradbury as matron of honour, with the help of
bridesmaids Moira Maher, Katharine Duane and Deirdre Burke. Conors groomsmen
consisted of his two brothers and two friends, David and Richard Fitzgerald,
Aidan O Rahilly and Michael Toomey. Our three god children were our page boys,
Fionn Connolly, Milo Kane and Michael Bradbury.
THE WEDDING TEAM
Fitzgeralds
Woodlands House Hotel has an in house flower arranging service for ceremonies and
wedding receptions. Aislinn and Conors wedding flowers were supplied by
Geraldine Foley. Aislinns wedding dress was a Johanna Johnson design from
Knightsbridge Boutique, Powerscourt in Dublin. 'I tried on 30 odd dresses, from
eight shops, four fabulous days out'. Aislinn had a vintage gold veil from
Knightsbridge Boutique in Powerscourt to match. Her shoes were bought online
from Freya Rose, a plain and simple peep toe designed by Style Arura. The
bridesmaids were Alfred Sung dresses in a cloudy blue colour.
The bridal partys
hair was done by Sinead Lee from Renaissance in Galway and Nicole O Gorman from
Revas Spa, Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel. We had ten hairstyles to do so it
was all hands on deck! Annette Smyth did Aislinns make-up and Aislinns tan
was DIY. I did my fake tan myself, Lancome leg gel all over! The wedding
invitations were provided by the brilliant Orla Gilbourne of Limelight Design.
Diarmuid Leonard of Photobooth 365 provided some entertainment for the guests
with one of his photobooths for hire. Guests loved it, it was great fun!' added
Aislinn. The church music was performed by Limerick Gospel Choir, who
created a bright cheerful atmosphere. Conors wedding ring is a gold 1950s thick
band that originally was his fathers, Dick, who passed away in September 2014
so its really special that he is able to wear his dads. Mine is a custom made
platinum diamond band shared Aislinn.
CHERISHED MOMENTS
So many to choose
from! The morning of the wedding with all my family and bridal party at the
Mustard Seed, Limerick. Meeting Conor at the top of the aisle. The arrival
reception where my mother and mother in law kicked of the celebrations by
gathering a big crowd around themselves as they danced to the music
at five pm! Walking into the function room to a rapturous crowd. My dads
speech. Dancing the night away with Conor and all our loved ones on the dance
floor until late.
Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel kept the wedding party
going on the following day. 200
of our family and friends stayed around to keep the celebrations going, we had
a big party in the hotel, consisting of buffet style grub, Irish seanos dancers
and music. Following the wonderful celebrations, the couple headed away on the
honeymoon of a lifetime to Australia, New Zealand and Bali for five and a half
weeks. We had a ball!
SPECIAL TOUCHES
Our friends organized a video link interview with Micheal
O Muircheartaigh amongst others sporting heroes which was played on big screens
in the function room before the meal. It was really special and an amazing
surprise. You could have heard a pin drop when Micheal was speaking. Aislinns advice to other brides and grooms is to
remember that you will only do it once (hopefully!) so embrace every day in the
lead up to the wedding. Cherish the days out and the moments. Dont sweat the
small things. People are so good natured and generous in the lead up to your
day so lap it all up. Its sooo cliché but when people say it was the best day
of our lives, we totally get it! It was ours! Celebrating their
marriage in the family run business was deeply sentimental for the couple. We
were so proud to have our wedding at home. It was a dream come true after
growing up in the business and seeing it develop from a 4 bedroom bungalow to
the 93 bedroom four star hotel it is today! It was an amazing weekend from
start to finish. We can't thank our team enough for looking after our guests so
well over the weekend.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE
WORKING WITH GARY BARRETT PHOTOGRAPHY?
Gary was great. You
didn't even notice him taking snaps. Very discreet. It was really important to
Conor and I to make as much of our arrival reception as possible. After the
ceremony, Gary didn't delay and captured all the snaps in approx. 40 mins. We
were back in the hotel for 4.20pm to absorb the atmosphere with our
guests.
www.garybarrettphoto.com
