A Northern Ireland couple have shared a look at their beautiful wedding ceremony followed by their reception at Lissanoure Castle in Ballymena.
In Be 's weekly feature Inside My Wedding, couples are delving into their special day to give bride and grooms-to-be some top tips.
Sarah and Colin Campbell, both 29 and from Ballycastle, got engaged on May, 1 2020 and married on May, 28, 2022.
Read more: Inside My Wedding: NI couple's special day at Leighinmohr House Hotel
The pair met at school when they were both 16 and say they are childhood sweethearts.
Sarah said: "Overall, it really is the best day of your life and it goes extremely fast, so relax and enjoy every single second. Having our nearest and dearest friends and family together was very special. We would do it all again in a heartbeat!"
Sarah has told us all about their big day!
Tell us all about your wedding day!
Our wedding day was honestly the best day of our lives. It was better than we had ever expected and we both loved every second of it. We got married in St Patrick's Chapel in Loughguile and then had our reception in Lissanoure Castle. We had around 100 guests.
How did you begin planning your wedding?
The first thing we booked was our venue. When picking a venue, we always knew we wanted something different and didn’t want a hotel setting. Lissanoure Castle is only a 10 minute drive from my home house so it was the top on our list to view. Within seconds of even driving up the entrance lane, we knew we wanted our wedding to be there. It was the only venue we actually looked at and booked it there and then.
Tell us all about your wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses and suits!
I was very nervous about dress shopping as my family and friends would know how fussy and particular I am about clothes. I love fashion! I was highly recommended Jade Alexandra Bridal in Coleraine and was obsessed with her social media accounts. Jade (the owner) is an angel and honestly was made for her job. The mostly bubbly and friendly person. She made me feel so comfortable.
My wedding dress was also the very first dress I had tried on, I instantly fell in love and knew it was the one! I always wanted something fitted, simple and elegant. I always believe less is more. I said yes to the dress straight away. My dress designer was Alyssa Kristin. I also got my veil and the designer was Ashley Wild. It instantly completed my bridal look and made me feel so special. It was fully embellished with pearls and exactly what I was after. I want to wear it all again!
My bridesmaid dresses were a lockdown find from ASOS brand TFNC. As my dress was simple, my bridesmaid dresses had a small pleat and together it looked lovely. I had three bridesmaids (my two sisters and best friend). The girls were very easy to find dresses for and they felt very comfortable in them.
Colin and the groomsmen got the suits from Red Groomswear in Belfast. Colin is very like me and once he has an idea in his head, it’s hard to change. He knew exactly what he was after and within 10 minutes he had his suit and shoes picked. He couldn’t recommend them enough, very high quality suits and they looked great!
What was the best part in the build up to your day?
I think the best part of the build up was just all of our family and friends responding to their RSVPs and their excitement of coming to the wedding. I was so looking forward to having everyone together again, all glammed up and relaxed.
What was the be st moment of your day and your other favourite parts?
We simply don’t have a favourite part of the day, we honestly loved it all so much. Although the morning getting ready with my bridal party is something I’ll never forget.
I had my gorgeous cousins as my glam team - this was so special to me. My mum said to me every now again throughout the day: “Sarah stop for one minute and just take it all in." This was a nice reminder to just live in that moment! Once the music started in the evening I think we properly relaxed and just danced all night. Our band The Professionals had the dance floor full.
What would you tell other bride and grooms to plan first and what are your top tips?
The first thing to plan is the overall theme or style of wedding that you want. After we booked our venue, everything else just fell into place. We booked our photographer and videographer very quickly as we knew exactly who we wanted, don’t hang around to book these to avoid disappointment.
I think a top tip for planning your wedding is booking what you both want. I found at the beginning there are so many options out there, such as photographers etc and it’s easy to get lost and confused. Don’t care what other people think, remember it’s your day! Also stick to a budget, you can get very excited and overspend quickly.
What were the hardest parts to plan? Did you come across any difficulties?
Myself and Colin are extremely laid back, probably too laid back and we do our own heads in! So towards the end, it was stressful in wondering how everything comes together and it can be overwhelming. But it really does come together and everything works out. Also table plans can be a big stress, I don’t think this is something you can avoid (everyone warned me). Thankfully everyone we booked for the day was so helpful and a pleasure to do business with.
Did you have a theme?
We wanted a very relaxed rustic theme, lots of greenery and candles. Lissanoure was perfect for this as they have amazing grounds including a lake that was great for photographs. We had our drinks reception in the castle and then our evening meal in the large converted barn which has a large open fire and many sofas for guests. Our room was dressed by The Wedding Room Coleraine. They were amazing in making a dream into reality, nothing was a problem. The room was incredible - rustic and cosy vibes with all of the candles.
Would you change anything?
We wouldn’t change a thing, everything was better than than we had imagined. So many people had said to us “if something is out of place, remember it’s only you that will notice, no one else”. So don’t stress, it all works out.
Did Covid change any plans?
When starting to plan our wedding it was right in the middle of the Covid pandemic. It didn’t hold us back and I carried on as normal and tried to plan everything with positive vibes. We had set the date two years in advance in the hope that Covid wouldn’t exist. There were a few friends and family members in the weeks leading up to the wedding who unfortunately got Covid so couldn’t make the wedding. But overall, we tried to remain positive and we weren’t too badly affected.
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