Photos courtesy of Into The Light Photography
The charm of an Irish accent, no matter how difficult it may be to understand, is often something the spouses of Irish abroad reveal they have trouble with resisting. As was the case for proud New Jersey girl Stephanie Wizner, when she and Co. Sligo native Ruairi Lynch enjoyed their first date over a few drinks. One date led to another and before they knew it, the beautiful American girl and her handsome Irish partner had begun to build a life together. “We had so many beautiful memories and a beautiful life together already, that deciding to get married was easy”, Stephanie shared.
“We were living together and already dreaming about our wedding day, off in the future. Ruairi had decked out our home with candles, roses, romantic music and bottles of champagne. I walked in the door to him on one knee. It was such a romantic and private moment I will cherish forever. We popped champagne and lived in our own bubble for a while before sharing the news with friends and family”, she added.
With lots of factors considered, having a wedding in Ireland was the perfect fit for the couple. “My family took a vacation to Ireland (coincidentally when Ruairi and I had just started talking), and then Ruairi had brought me over to meet his whole family when we began more seriously dating. I love the country – the people are the warmest (and most fun) and the sprawling green hills are gorgeous. Weddings in NJ are getting increasingly shorter and increasingly more expensive, and we knew half of our invite list would have to travel internationally to attend either way, either to Ireland or the U.S. Once we looked at a few Irish venues online, we started getting excited about introducing our American side to a proper Irish wedding”, the bride shared. Stephanie and Ruairi set a date for their dream Irish wedding day for January 21, 2018, with Ballymagarvey Village in Co. Meath taking their breath away.
“Ballymagarvey village was magical, fit the capacity we needed, and was offered on an exclusive basis so we could be sure we were the only wedding there for the entire day. Ruairi’s mom and sister went to the open visit at the venue on our behalf and called us while they were still there to tell us we must put our deposit down there – that is how taken they were with the location, as they could just picture our day on the grounds. When we came back for a visit a few months later, we went to see it as well, and it made us even more excited for our wedding day!”
Enjoying Ireland and soaking up the culture was something the couple wanted their guests to soak up during their time on our beautiful island.
“We planned a lot of activities for our visiting American friends and family members, centered around Dublin, for the few days before the wedding. We had a group of 30 plus people traveling on tours through the Guinness storehouse, Jameson distillery, and Kilmainham Gaol. I always recommend first timers to do the hop-on/hop-off bus trip around Dublin, as it allows you to visit all the tourist spots without renting a car and gives you a good taste for Dublin. Ruairi’s friends and family welcomed everyone with open arms, and made everyone fall in love with the Emerald Isle just the same way I had. We organized a night out at a pub in Dublin for everyone to meet on the Friday before our wedding day and Ruairi’s mom helped us throw a rehearsal dinner that included all 140 of our wedding guests on the Saturday before our wedding, which was large and festive enough to be the wedding itself, yet our wedding day at Ballymagarvey was the most picture-perfect wedding day we could have imagined.”, the bride said, fondly looking back on her Irish wedding day.
I love the country – the people are the warmest (and most fun) and the sprawling green hills are gorgeous.
Stephanie
