'My highlight was Dad achieving his goal of walking me down the aisle' says Cork bride Sabrina

THE HAPPY COUPLE

Sabrina O’Keeffe and Johnathan Miloudi from Co. Cork.

THE RECEPTION

We instantly fell in love with Springfort hall in Mallow, Cork. The day we drove down to see Springfort hall my mam cried instantly because she had fallen in love with the grounds and how picturesque the venue was.

From the moment we arrived we knew it was exactly what we imagined. I had always wanted a royal elegant wedding and this ticked all the boxes. From the spectacular gardens outside to the reception room which is full of charm and character we knew we had to have our wedding here. What caught our eye was the amazing draped ceiling in the reception hall this brought to life our vision that we had.

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The icing on the cake was also there food which is out of this world. We are big foodies and this was very important to us for our day. There food is exquisite! Their feather blade of beef is a must try.

THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Our amazing photographer was Dominic Dunne, a true professional artist. His vision is incredible and our photos are out of this world. Aside from being an amazing photographer, he was also incredible to have during the day. His experience in the wedding industry really helped our wedding run smoothly.

He was able to guide us and help us through out the day, be it fixing button holes or reminding me to breath. He made our day so memorable and we’ll be grateful for him been apart our day. His work is incredible when we were looking at our photos when they were ready we didn’t even realise how many were taken but also how discreet he was during the day. He isn’t your typical photographer making you stand and smile for hours he wants you to be apart of your day and he’ll capture your memories while your living them.

THE FIRST DANCE

We had the Pat Fitz band. There is a reason why they are highly sought after they are incredible. People were dancing from start to finish. On the night he had little kids to 90-year-olds up doing the conga line. This shows how fantastic they are at getting the crowd involved. We wanted a big party and he brought it!

We had simply the best for our first dance. This was one of the requests we had for Pat as we wanted to change it up. We are huge fans of Schitt's Creek and the minute we heard this version we knew this was our song but we didn’t want a slow song for three minutes as that’s not us. Pat did an amazing job. We had the first half nice and romantic and then half way in, we turned it up and brought the beat. It turned out amazing and had everyone up on there feet. Johnathan even threw in a few lifts here and there as he never got to the gym that morning!

THE OUTFIT

I went shopping a year previous with my mam. Our first visit was to diamond bridal in Maylor St. in Cork. The amazing Grace looked after us.

The dress we chose was part of the beautiful collection by Enzoani.

The big thing for me was a bow. It was a theme that was running through the wedding and I wanted to tie it into my dress. The first dress I tried on was my dress. It had beautiful mikado satin with a gorgeous eye catching bow at the back and it even had pockets which is a game changer. Audrey recommend to go try on some other dresses at my next appointment and then decide but I knew in my own heart it was the one. Within the hour I was back knocking at Diamond bridal ready to say yes to the dress.

THE PROPOSAL

We got engaged in 2019 on our trip to Bali. We traveled to one of the islands off Bali for my birthday. The island was paradise. On the day of my birthday I decided to celebrate with some cocktails. All I wanted to do was watch the sunset. So I was quite surprised when Johnathan told me he had dinner booked on a boat just after sunset.

It wasn't exactly how I wanted to spend my birthday as I have a fear of boats but when we turned the corner down the path there I saw a beautiful candle lit dinner on the beach. Thank god we didn’t have to go on the boat! At this stage I didn’t expect a ring because Johnathan is very romantic so this isn’t out of the ordinary for him. At dessert the waiter brought out a cake and a card which I thought was a lovely touch.

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Johnathan asked me to open it and it so happened the card was from him and not the hotel. We have a funny thing about cards, he loves writing a book inside a card, whereas I’m the opposite and you'd be lucky to get your name on it. On the inside of the card he had written out nine reasons why he loved me. On the ninth reason he said he would love for me to be his wife. Nine has always been my number and he proposed on the 9th after 9 years on the 9th reason. And the rest is history..

THE HONEYMOON

We had an amazing honeymoon in the Maldives a few days after the wedding. We decided to treat ourselves first class on the way over and wow what an experience. That was a nice treat to relax just after the wedding. When we arrived to the island, we were greeted with fresh coconuts and flowers and felt like royalty. Our room was incredible we booked an overwater bungalow with balcony and sea access just like the videos you see on Instagram.

You are literally swimming with baby sharks and the most amazing sea creatures. The resort itself was a small intimate island you could walk around in 20 minutes. We had a romantic candle light dinner one evening and a private cinema experience on the beach watching our favourite movie The Greatest Showman. The weather was heavenly with sunshine and 30 degree heat daily.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

Jonathan found it amazing having everyone who means the world to us under one roof to celebrate. It was a very surreal moment.

I had a few highlights. The morning was incredible, it was so relaxed and everyone was just having the craic and enjoying the madness. The big highlight for me was being able to walk down the aisle with my dad, who a year previous wouldn’t have been able to do so because of illness.

His goal was to get me up the aisle unaided and he accomplished it. What made it even more special was Johnathan arranging a guard of honor from our closest friends from the navy/army to guide us up the aisle. It was very emotional walking up the aisle but having those guys guide me up with my dad was amazing.

THE FIRST MEETING

We met on the 6th of august 2010 outside the Savoy in Cork. We met through school friends and instantly clicked. We just got along so well. We were able to chat for hours about anything and everything. We had similar interests, food being one of them but we just got along. We worked as a team since very early on and have always had each others backs, even when he was away with the Irish the navy for months, we were always able to listen to each other and be there for each through thick and thin.

For me, I found Johnathan always put me first and always listens. He is the one I can depend on and talk to. He is always positive and happy which sometimes annoyed me as he’s very optimistic whereas I sit back and think maybe to much about things. He would be the calm one which I find amazing as he can tell me to cop myself on sometimes when I’m overthinking.

THE WORDS OF ADVICE

For Johnathan, it was a very easy experience but for myself I’ve turned grey! Now he would say it was a tough time trying to keep up with me and my ideas and plans!

The most important advice I took on from day one was make sure to research your suppliers. My suppliers made my day. From the hair and beauty team of Ciara Burke from fusion hair design to Lola Desmond make-up artist, they were incredible. They made the whole group so relaxed and made it stress free.

It was the same with our photographer Dominic and videographer Anthony Fleming. They have worked before together and you can tell this as it’s so natural to them they know each others habits and ways of doing things so it all went seamless and hand in hand. Knowing we had true professional suppliers made all the difference we didn’t need to worry about anything because they had it all sorted. We just got to enjoy the day.

Would you like to have your wedding featured in RSVP Magazine and on our website RSVP Live? Get in touch with kathy.prendeville@reachplc.com