How did you meet your fiancé?

Aaron and I knew of each other from family friends and we also went to the same school. One day Aaron sent me a message and the conversation just flowed from there. He took me to the North Coast to the beach for our first date which soon became one of our favourite places to go to.

How did he propose?

We were up at the North Coast with my family on St Patrick's Day. We had been spending the day with my sister Sarah and I remember her jokingly saying at one point, 'Thank you for letting me third wheel today, sure it's not as if you were going to get engaged anyway'! Little did she know! We dropped Sarah off and headed off to White Park Bay - our favourite beach - in the pouring rain. Thankfully it had cleared up by the time we arrived, so we headed off down to the beach. When we got down onto the beach, we noticed that someone had spelled out the name Hannah in pebbles on the sand. Aaron told me later on that he had no idea who had done this - such a strange coincidence! As we were walking along the beach, Aaron stopped me and gave me a note. When I had finished reading it, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was so exciting telling all our family and friends and celebrating together just before lockdown began.

Were your wedding plans impacted by Covid-19?

As we got engaged just a few days before lockdown began - this meant that we did a lot of the initial planning whilst living apart with our families. There were lots of Facetime calls and emails sent and we actually ended up booking Tankardstown House as our reception venue without even visiting it in person first! Thankfully we fell in love with it and were delighted with our choice when we were finally able to go and see it that summer.

For months on end we weren't sure how many guests we would be able to have at our wedding. In the end we weren't able to have all our guests at Tankardstown House due to limited numbers in the South. Thankfully we were able to invite all our original guests to the ceremony and we hosted an afternoon tea afterwards in the parish centre with a pizza van and ice cream station too. Although our wedding day was different to what we had originally planned, we were so thankful to be able to celebrate with our loved ones and we had the best day!

What brought you to Jade Alexandra Bridal?

I had been following Jade Alexandra Bridal on Instagram and loved all the beautiful dresses and Jade's aesthetic. I had been to four other bridal shops before visiting Jade and was torn between two dresses which were so different but neither of them felt right. I decided to book into Jade's boutique as I was up at the North Coast on holiday. Jade was so helpful and chatty and understood exactly what I was looking for. It was so fab trying on the different dresses and chatting about our wedding plans. All the dresses in the boutique are so beautiful and different to any dresses I had seen or tried on before. It was also great that Jade stocks THTH Bridesmaids dresses, so it was fab being able to try on my dress alongside my bridesmaids. I absolutely loved my experience at Jade Alexandra Bridal!

How did you know your dress was the one?

I had initially seen the dress on Love Story Bridal online and was looking forward to trying it on in person. It was actually the first dress that I tried on in Jade's boutique and I felt confident and so happy in it as it had a little bit of everything I was looking for in a dress. Anyone who knows me knows that I am really indecisive so it was such a relief to finally find a dress that I absolutely loved straight away and kept coming back to! When I tried on the veil with my dress I could picture myself walking up the aisle on my wedding day and I knew that it was the one.

Do you have any dress shopping top tips for future brides?

I would definitely recommend doing some research before you decide to visit different bridal boutiques so you know what sort of style you like. Come with an open mind and be open to trying on different types of dresses. Bring supportive, honest people with you whose opinion you trust and who understand what you are looking for. I was so thankful to have my Mum and my sister there with me as they were so encouraging and supportive. Most of all, have fun!

Where was your ‘go-to’ for wedding planning inspo?

Instagram and Pinterest! I also got some really helpful suggestions from friends who were married or who were also planning their wedding in the midst of Covid restrictions.

What was the highlight of your wedding day?

The highlight for me was definitely our ceremony. I had been feeling nervous on the morning of the wedding but as soon as we arrived at the church I felt such a sense of relief and excitement and I couldn't wait to walk down the aisle to get married! My Papa and Dad both led the ceremony and my Dad married us which was really special and emotional too! My Mum had composed a piece of music for us which my sister Ruth sang during the signing of the register. It was so encouraging to see all our friends and family gathered together to celebrate with us and such a joy to finally get married!

Did you stick to traditions, or add anything new into your day?

Although many aspects of our wedding day were traditional, we also added some personal touches to our day. We decided to host a mini reception after our ceremony as we couldn't have all our guests at our reception in Tankardstown House. Aaron's favourite food is pizza and ice-cream so we had a pizza van and ice-cream station after the ceremony for our guests and we also cut a cake which our family friend had baked and did a joint speech to thank everyone for coming. My dad baked our wedding cake for us too - I haven't heard of many Fathers of the Bride doing this but it was so special and meant a lot to us! One highlight for me was the bridesmaids' speech at our reception. The bridesmaids had told me that they wanted to give a joint speech after the meal. I had absolutely no idea what to expect but they got up and performed a poem which they had written together. It was absolutely hilarious and had everyone laughing!

DREAM TEAM

Dress - EMMY by Love Story

Venue: Tankardstown House

Photographer - Signature Photography

Florist - The Posy Barn

Cake - Father of the Bride

Stationery - We designed the invitations and stationery ourselves and got the printed!

MUA - Catherine Fleming

Hair - Rebecca McBurney

Bridesmaids Dresses - TH&TH from J/A

Menswear - J R McMahon

Jewellery - Mejuri