Photographs courtesy of Ted Murphy Photography
Globetrotting couple Niamh McCormack and Greg Wojdowski were always going to make sure their big day was held at the perfect location, as divine destinations played a role in their relationship from the beginning. Dublin born beauty Niamh first met Pittsburghnative Greg Wojdowski in London. They later had their first and second date in New York, where they have since settled, and their third in Morocco. A surprise engagement in Australia set the tone for the wedding day, it would have to be in a dreamy location.
“We knew we didn’t want to get married in New York or Dublin. We wanted a destination wedding where both our families and friends could celebrate with us away from their day to day, but not too far where the traveling impacted the guest list. We explored some other destinations, but Ireland was a clear winner as it offered so much of what we wanted for our wedding weekend. Having been to a lot of weddings, nothing compares to an Irish wedding as they are multiple day events packed with fun, so we had our heart set on Ireland but had very specific criteria for the type of venue we wanted”, Niamh shared.
Ballinacurra House was just the place to suit their ideals and was truly their dream wedding venue when they said ‘I do’ on September 23, 2016.
“We viewed eight venues when visiting Ireland a month after our engagement and Ballinacurra House ticked all the boxes for what we wanted. We wanted exclusive hire for at least two nights (we did three), rooms for our guests onsite, near a nice town for guests who couldn’t stay onsite. It was a major bonus that it is so near to Kinsale, the culinary heart of Ireland, which everyone fell in love with, separate dining area to dancing area so we don’t have to move tables to create a dance floor, excellent chef and food and contemporary décor to name but a few”, the bride revealed.
“Orela Walsh at Ballinacurra was our Wedding Coordinator and she was amazing to deal with. The food was amazing, and we have high standards – we like to call ourselves foodies. From the wedding day to the recovery day the food was five stars. Oh, and the late night pizza was yummy! The food wasn’t ‘wedding food’ that you get in a lot of places that are serving big crowds. It was high end – thanks to the amazing chef Dave. The service was seamless during dinner with a perfect flow and as we chatted with our guests going from table to table between courses we saw that the clean plates going back said it all”, Niamh gushed.
Personal USA touches to an Irish wedding day
“The day after we had a ‘Recovery Day’, which was so much fun. We had garden games, which were a huge hit. My Dad made a US game called cornhole, which was so much fun and we opened the Cuban cocktail bar for afternoon cocktails, followed by a BBQ and a live band. We had the fire pit going outside with cigars and s’mores to add a little something from the US”, Niamh said.
Making sure their guests were well looked after, Niamh and Greg went the extra mile by providing welcome bags with Irish treats for all the guests on their arrival and a had mimosa and bloody Mary bar the morning after the wedding.
What advice do you have for couples planning their wedding day in Ireland?
“We’d recommend going to Ireland for the week before your wedding date if you can and stay for the week after. By travelling over the week before it forced us to be prepared with everything we needed to bring a week before the wedding, so it wasn’t a crazy rush in the days leading up to it. For example, Greg was able to enjoy golf the days before”, the bride advised.
Getting married in Ireland exceeded our expectations. Our guests are still talking about it. The food at the venue and the fresh seafood in Kinsale, the Guinness, the golf, the scenery; especially at Old Head, the staff at Ballinacurra and the people in Kinsale town were all amazing. Our guests who continued to travel Ireland’s West Coast after our wedding all reported back what a wonderful time they had.
Niamh & Greg
