Kerry bride's stunning wedding after their first date almost didn't happen

Fiona and Paul said "I do" in a gorgeous Kerry ceremony but the wedding nearly didn't happen when the bride showed up at the wrong location for their first date!

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Life

Kathy Prendeville

16:16, 13 MAY 2023
Updated19:30, 2 JUL 2023

Fiona and Paul's wedding (Image: Laura and Benny Photography)

THE HAPPY COUPLE

Fiona Durkin, from Kerry, and Paul Fitzsimons from Tipperary.

THE PROPOSAL

"We bought our first home together two years ago and Paul proposed in the kitchen six months after we moved in. It’s a great memory to have in the house. We celebrated the following weekend with a romantic stay in Monart Spa.

THE FIRST GLANCE

Paul and I met on Tinder and had our first date in Tom Barry's Bar in Cork.

The date almost did not happen when I went to the wrong location first - Barry's bar in Douglas - but it all worked out well in the end!

THE RECEPTION

Our reception was held in the Great Southern Hotel in Killarney. We wanted to have a wedding in my local church in Castleisland and Killarney was a natural choice to have the reception given that it is only 30 minutes away and there are so many wonderful locations for photographs.

The hotel sits in the centre of the town and I have always loved its historic façade and beautiful lobby with its black and white tiles. It is often a place that we visit over the Christmas period with my family so when it came to choosing a venue it was at the top of the list.

THE DRESS

I had my bespoke dress made by Orlaith Carroll in her shop The Attic in Limerick City Centre. I had travelled around the country trying to find the perfect dress but nothing was quite what I was looking for so I made an appointment with Orlaith in the Attic and she was able to sketch up the dress from what I had in my head!

The texture and the materials of the dress were a big aspect of it for me so it was amazing to work with Orlaith on every detail and pick out the fabrics with her.

I was going for a really clean and timeless look so the fit of the dress was also very important and that was the great thing about getting it made specifically for me as it was made to measure for my 5.3” frame.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Our photographers were Laura and Benny Photography. They were amazing. Laura more or less ran the day from when she arrived in the morning and took a lot of pressure off me as I did not have to think of what time it was or where I needed to be!

Benny was a great help to the lads ensuring they had their corsages on correctly and were where they needed to be. I was most impressed when after breakfast the following morning they had already sent me around a 100 pictures which was so nice to be able to get them so quickly and they were beautiful.

THE BAND

We chose the Bentley Boys as our wedding band. They had played at Paul’s brother's wedding in 2018 and we were very impressed with them as they had everyone on the dance floor all night!

It was no different for our own wedding. Rory and the band ensured that the music was to our taste and the dance floor was packed all night long. We got so many compliments on the band.

THE FIRST DANCE

We chose ‘The One’ by Kodaline. We are both Kodaline fans and felt the words of the song reflected our relationship well.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

Luckily every single thing went to plan on the day or at least there was nothing I found out about anyway! I was speaking to my cousin between courses of the meal, who is studying a masters in music and I asked her if she would sing a song after the speeches and she sang a beautiful love song “Alma, Corazón Y Vida” in Spanish which was a very nice unexpected part of the day.

THE STRESS FACTOR

I found organising the wedding both stressful and exciting! There were really fun parts like having the dress made and having the wedding tasting but as someone who likes organising events it was a lot more stressful than I thought it would be.

One of the biggest stresses was the two weeks leading up to it and worrying if either of us, our close family members, or the bridal party would get covid but we were very lucky we had almost everyone that we wanted to be there on the day.

THE HONEYMOON

We were very lucky to be able to go on a month-long honeymoon straight after the wedding and spent two weeks travelling around Cuba and two weeks travelling around Mexico. It was so nice to have a month of 30 degree weather when it was snowing back in Ireland and was a great opportunity to relax after a busy year of planning!