A Dublin couple rescheduled their wedding so dying mum could see her daughter marry the love of her life.
Toni Byrne and her now wife, Gillian Turner married on March 10 of this year. The wedding wasn’t meant to be until February 2023 but the couple celebrated their big day 11 months early.
Toni’s mum passed away three days later and the couple felt so blessed that she got to celebrate the most important day of their lives.
Read More: Dublin couple who met during 12 pubs of Christmas on Baggot Street wed in beautiful city ceremony
The Swords woman told us all about the special occasion.
Who is your partner? Where did you meet her?
I met Gillian in a childcare setting in 2016 where she had linked in as part of her college year. We became great friends straight away.
How did she propose?
Gillian proposed to me during our first year of renting together. I had broken my foot and went away with my mam and dad for a few days to get out of the house.
When I came back Gillian had the apartment all set up and was down on one knee. She asked me to marry her while playing our favourite song.
Tell us a bit about your relationship.
I’m from Swords and Gillian is from Finglas. We are the best of friends. We’re always laughing and we always appreciate the time we spend together. We wouldn’t change a thing from the beginning of our relationship to where we are now.
Tell us all about your wedding and venue.
We got married in the Pillo Hotel in Ashbourne. It was perfect and everything we had wished for. We were supposed to get married in February 2023, but unfortunately my mam took ill and we brought it forward to make sure she was part of our celebration.
The hotel and our suppliers, celebrant, singer and photographer changed everything for us and helped us plan it all in 12 weeks which was not easy but it really was a magical day.
Tell us about your wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses.
Our dresses were very different. Everyone said they just captured us both perfectly which we thought too. Our mams bought us our dresses and that was a very special memory of going to pick them out together.
Our bridesmaid dresses were a total win for us, we ordered them to just try and in the end the girls loved them and so did we.
What was the best part in the build up to your day?
There isn’t a specific memory that sticks out on this. It was very stressful and it was hard to remember that it was all going to be worth it on the day.
When we collected our wedding rings and arrived at the hotel the day before, that was probably the best feeling because we knew it was going to happen and nothing was going to change it.
What was the best moment of your day and your other favourite parts?
The best part was seeing each other in our dresses. Gillian was very nervous about walking down the aisle so we decided to get ready together and that gave us time to relax and to get rid of the expectation of how we would react at the end of the aisle.
The ceremony was also another highlight as it captured us perfectly and our celebrant Shelley O’Shea - interfaith minister did a great job at including our nephews. They were the stars of the show and carrying our rings for us was very special.
We also organised lighting a candle to celebrate my mam to ensure she was with us on the day.
What would you tell other brides to plan first and what are your top tips?
Enjoy every moment. Take in every memory and every minute because it goes so so fast. And also, don’t plan it in 12 weeks.
What were the hardest parts to plan? Did you come across any difficulties?
It was all pretty easy to plan as our suppliers were so accommodating. They stuck by us no matter what and helped us with whatever we needed. The most difficult thing was unpacking the cars at the hotel the day before.
Tell me all about your theme of your wedding? How was it different?
We didn’t have a specific theme but our favourite movie is “Up”, and we based our invitations, welcome sign, table plans all around this which turned out amazing in the end.
Would you do anything different or wish there was anything you didn't worry about?
I wouldn’t do anything different. However, due to my mam been sick, there was so much uncertainty around whether we should go ahead with our wedding or not. We didn’t want to seem selfish but we knew she would have wanted us to stick with it and we’re very grateful that we did.
Looking back, I don’t think we would have been able to do it now while knowing she wouldn’t have been involved in the plans this time around. She unfortunately didn’t make it to our wedding and passed away three days after the celebration.
She may not have physically been there with us, but she was very much included in our day and we knew that she celebrated with us.
Did Covid affect your plans at all?
It didn’t affect our plans as such. We kept our guests to only 50 in case restrictions came back.
We worried about Covid certs and masks but thankful, that all changed the day before the wedding.
Read More: Wedding goes ahead after father of the bride passes away day before ceremony
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