A Northern Ireland couple have shared an insight into their beautiful wedding day at Kilronan Castle Estate & Spa in Co Roscommon.
Co Tyrone couple 33-year-old Diana Symington, from outside Dungannon, and husband Barry Devlin (35), from Stewartstown, had their big day on December 8, 2022.
In our weekly feature Inside My Wedding, couples are delving into their special day to give bride and grooms-to-be some top tips.
Read more: Inside My Wedding: Couple's outdoor wedding followed by roof garden reception
The newlywed couple got engaged on August 10, 2022 at the same venue.
Diana has told Be all on their big day!
Tell us all about your wedding day!
Wow, where do we start? We had the most magical day spent with our families and friends. As the cliché of 'best day of our lives' goes, we genuinely could not fault any part of it. Our suppliers all lived up to our expectations. It was great to catch up with family and friends we hadn’t seen in a while and it was great to see them all enjoying themselves as much as we did.
How did you begin planning?
We actually never started arranging anything for about ten months after getting engaged as there was still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Covid and the hospitality sector, but in June 2021 we decided to make a start by checking availability of our hotel and band. With Barry being in the wedding industry, we basically knew all we wanted so we had a lot booked within a few hours!
How did you decide on your venue?
We got married in St Michael's Church in Castlecaulfield and our reception was at Kilronan Castle in Roscommon. Barry had previously taken me there for a birthday celebration and we got engaged there too, so it was always top of the list.
Barry also had performed at weddings in Kilronan previously and found it to run very smoothly and always commented on the staff being helpful and friendly, which was a big YES for us.
Tell us all about your wedding dress and suits.
Thankfully I didn’t have to go round loads of bridal shops. My bridesmaid always joked after the first few shops that I wouldn’t be buying a dress unless it had pockets and we were offered prosecco! (That was clearly all I spoke about!)
Well La Boda Bridal in Banbridge offered it all. My dress wasn’t what I expected to wear at all and at times I had my doubts, but in the end I thought it was perfect - and fitting for our castle venue.
When shopping for bridesmaid dresses, I knew the look I was aiming for so this wasn’t a problem to sort and thankfully I had two relaxed ladies by my side. I really wanted the girls to be comfortable all day and they got that. The girls in Petticoat Lane Bridal in Hillsborough were great. Not forgetting my three flower girls, they all looked super cute in their dresses and accessories, all purchased from Next.
Barry always wanted a Dee Graham tailor-made suit so felt his wedding day was the perfect opportunity. Nothing was a problem to Dee. Barry is a Batman fanatic [and] Dee incorporated a Batman timeline on the inside lining of Barry’s tux. He was delighted!
Barry purchased the tuxedos for the best men, father of the groom, [father of the] bride and our usher from Dee and they were fitted to perfection.
What was the best part in the build up to your day?
During the build up we just relaxed and enjoyed it. We are both busy people so we just took it all in our stride and sorted bits and pieces when we got the chance. All the celebrations pre our wedding day were great fun – we both never turn down a party!
What was the best moment of your day and your other favourite parts?
I don’t think we can pick – it may sound ridiculous to some, but we loved it all. I never stopped smiling. We had our day two in Kilronan Castle as well and it was lovely to catch up with family and friends the next day enjoying some more celebratory drinks.
What would you tell other brides and grooms to plan first and what are your top tips?
I would say not to overthink it, we didn’t find any of it stressful and just booked the essentials and went with the flow after that. It will be far more enjoyable if you just remember it’ll all work itself out. We booked all our main suppliers quickly - hotel, band, photographer, videographer, florist and church.
Following this everything else fell into line as we went along. I have to say, I was fortunate to have a husband-to-be who was very helpful during the organising!
What were the hardest parts to plan? Did you come across any difficulties?
Nothing was overly difficult to plan, I think as we always had a rough idea of what we wanted things just fell into place, thankfully. We had a fabulous bridal party who helped as needed along the way. I’m a slight control freak so I guess that was the difficulty for me – letting others do little things for us, and now I realise I definitely couldn’t have done without them.
Did you have theme?
We didn’t go for a theme as such. We aimed for a classy and more elegant look, so we decided to keep things simple and stick with black and white, with the exception of Barry’s suit jacket which was green velvet.
Would you do anything different or wish there was anything you didn't worry about?
I don’t think we would have done anything differently. All was exactly what we wished. We didn’t want to go overboard and have too much going on. With it being Christmas time with the fabulous decorations and a few extras, we were happy we got a good balance.
Thankfully we didn’t worry about anything – just enjoy it. Life is too short to worry.
Our advice is HAVE FUN, your wedding day goes by in the blink of an eye. Enjoy time with your family and friends and capture all the moments you can. Memories will last forever.
Suppliers:
Venue – Kilronan Castle Estate & Spa
Photographer – Sasha Treanor Photography
Videographer – Bobby at Motion Media
Florist – Flowers by Arrangement – Sinead Goodwin
Cake – Jill’s Cakes NI
Band – After Dark
Suits – Dee Graham Tailor Made
Wedding dress – La Boda Bridal, Banbridge
Bridesmaid dresses - Petticoat Lane, Hillsborough
Hair – MANE Attraction Hair – Sheree O’Hagan McGee
Makeup – Fiona Murphy Makeup
Cars – Glendale Limousines
Coffee and treats – Puddin’ and Trap
Wedding stationary – CR Print
Photobooth – Vintage Photo Company
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Do you want to tell us all about your wedding day? Email be@belfastlive.co.uk for your chance to be featured.
