West Cork newly-weds share memories and advice from their weddings.

This article was featured in our Weddings 2025 magazine – you can read the full magazine here!

Amy & Gary

Amy Minihane and Gary Lordan

AMY Minihane from Skibbereen and Gary Lordan from Drimoleague enjoyed an entirely bespoke personal ceremony on their wedding day last summer.

‘Our ceremony was created by Thomas Harty, an interfaith minister, who guided us in creating a ceremony that was unique to us,’ said Amy.

‘He included things like candle-lighting and hand-fastening which were both lovely to have in the ceremony. He also included family and friends in different aspects of the ceremony such as readings,’ said the national school teacher.

Amy and Gary were married in Fernhill House Hotel on July 18th.

‘We had our ceremony in the beautiful gardens, drinks reception in the stunning new Fernery. All the staff at Fernhill were amazing. They couldn’t have been more helpful and made sure everything ran smoothly! They really went above and beyond for us,’ said Amy.

They got engaged at Christmas 2022 and started planning a couple of months after that.

‘Once the main things were booked it was quiet until the months leading up to the wedding,’ said Amy who got her dress in Memories bridal boutique in Cork city.

They invited around 230 guests, including some who travelled from Australia, to celebrate with them – so just a typical West Cork wedding!

Amy’s top wedding planning tips are to get the major items booked in early on: ‘So sort things like the venue, photographer, videographer, hair and makeup and the rest will fall into place! Enjoy the lead-up and all the days out planning and shopping!’ she said.

Among the couples non-negotiables were a good band and good food.

‘It’s what guests love! Our band was the Ian Hendricks band and they had the dancefloor full from start to finish! We were also lucky to have Gearoid and Liam McCarthy play at our drinks reception and that really made the day,’ she said.

The couple enjoyed a fortnight’s honeymoon in Tenerife after their big day.

Noel & Natasha

Noel O'Donovan and Natasha Burke (photo by Ilaria Frabetti)

SENATOR Noel O’Donovan and his wife-to-be Natasha Burke were newly-engaged when they attended a wedding fair in Dublin last January.

‘We had just gotten engaged at Christmas and went to the fair for ideas with no dates or plans in mind. We met the team from a venue called Borgo Di Tragliata in Rome who were taking bookings for 2028. We felt this was too far out but they had one single date available for this year and that was the 9th of September. It’s funny as Natasha’s three sisters were all married in September, the 3rd, the 4th and the 8th, so we took that as a little sign and just went for it!’ said Noel from Rossmore.

Why Rome?

‘Italy and Rome were always in our sights as we both like food, wine and the outdoors but it was also important for us to have a traditional wedding so Rome was the perfect fit. We liked the idea of having our close family and friends all together for a few days of relaxed and fun celebrations,’ said Natasha, a garda and originally from Bantry.

The couple had over 165 guests celebrate their day which had a strong West Cork flavour.

‘It was important to us to have a little of West Cork during our wedding and our mass booklets were made by Blush Designs based in Dunmanway. Also, we were very lucky that our friend Ciaran Callan (Rawney) travelled over to play music on the day of the wedding and our day two celebrations.

‘Bridal make-up was very important and can be tricky to find the right fit, again we were very fortunate that our friend Aneta Winnicka, a make-up artist based in West Cork travelled to Rome and did the bridal party make-up,’ said Natasha.

They also used West Cork business takeNplace, a photo service for guests to share their photos using QR codes on tables.

And while it was a traditional wedding, the couple chose not to use traditional invitations – opting for a free wedding website (withjoy.com).

‘We didn’t do wedding favours either – instead we went for fireworks which was very special and a real treat and surprise for our guests,’ said Natasha. Among the couple’s tip for marrying abroad is to start the paperwork early, as there are additional legal requirements with some specific deadlines/timelines.

‘Also, visit the location to make sure you’re happy with the venue and use the opportunity to do the tasting menu but also use the opportunity to meet with suppliers. We had one visit to our venue in March 2025, where we picked our wedding meal, met with our photographer, hairdresser and visited the church,’ said Natasha.

Their ultimate tip: don’t stress.

‘It will all come together, family and friends good food, music, you don’t need much more than that!’ said Noel.

The couple, now living in Rosscarbery, honeymooned in Italy, renting a Fiat 500 and travelling though some of the Italian countryside – Tuscany, Florence, Siena and finishing up in Sorrento.

Stephanie & Brian

Stephanie Murray and Brian Hayes

WHEN bride Stephanie Murray’s veil was whipped off by a strong gust of wind and flung across Kenmare Bay never to be seen again, far from being upset – she was thrilled!

The veil was the only thing she had stressed about ahead of her wedding to Brian Hayes.

‘I went through three different veils in the lead-up to the wedding –the first one I had was the wrong colour, the second I borrowed from a family friend, which was too long and we could not cut it, the third was ordered in a panic a week before the wedding and wasn’t exactly what I wanted and was a little short, but I went with it on the day anyway. It was on for the ceremony, photos, but never made it to the drinks ceremony,’ she recalled.

‘While taking photos down at the pier in Dromquinna Manor, a huge gust of wind took the veil and it went out in the tide in Kenmare Bay – which was a strong tide after the late August hurricane we inherited from the US. I think it was meant to be and it was a strange relief when it flew away and Brian said he preferred me without it. We can’t wait to get the photos and videos back of it flying away as the videographer captured it!’

Stephanie, from Dunmanway married Brian from Rosscarbery last August in Dromquinna Manor in Kenmare in a spiritual ceremony with celebrant Maeve O’Grady Williams, Clonakilty from Spiritual Ceremonies Ireland.

‘We designed our ceremony closely with Maeve, we added the elements of the spiritual ceremony that we wanted. We included a ring warming ceremony, remembrance candle, our own personalised readings and poems, love letter ceremony, and we then had the usual vows, unity candles, rings etc. It was so nice having the ceremony outside, surrounded by the beautiful gardens in Dromquinna. We were massively complimented on Maeve on the day, she was absolutely brilliant, everyone said the ceremony was both meaningful and entertaining, and one to remember,’ said Stephanie.

When it came to budgeting for their day, music was important to the couple as well as a photographer and videographer.

‘The day goes by so fast and the photos and videos are really all you have after the weekend is over, and as the bride and groom you miss so much of what’s happening on the day (no matter how hard you try not to),’ said Stephanie.

They were lucky as Brian’s mum Anne took the lead on the flowers.

‘All flowers were grown and arranged by Anne, some of her family members and neighbours, which saved us a lot of money but made the day even more special, the flowers turned out to be amazing. We also saved on wedding rings, as I was given my grandmother’s wedding ring, who sadly passed away in November 2023. Brian also used his father’s wedding ring, as the ring was rarely worn and Ger wanted an upgrade anyway. We felt this was a lovely nod to the past,’ said Stephanie who got her dress in Memories Bridal Boutique in Cork city.

The couple, who are living in Rosscarbery, enjoyed a mini-moon in Gran Canaria after their wedding and are planning a bigger trip in 2026.

‘We’ll make a plan once we come down from the high of the wedding!’ said Stephanie.

Sharon & Frank (and Brutus!)

Sharon & Frank (and Brutus!)

FOUR year old Brutus played a starring role on the wedding day of his owners Sharon Concannon and Frank Murray.

The couple who live in Innishannon were determined their beloved English bulldog would be part of the proceedings.

‘We got him from North Yorkshire, and he came over the on the ferry during Covid. He is such a big part of our lives that we couldn’t imagine not including him somehow in our big day. We couldn’t leave him out, so we had him with us for a few pictures after the ceremony. We even dressed him in a little tuxedo for the occasion!’ said Sharon.

They were married in St Mary’s Catholic Church, Innishannon with the reception in Fernhill House Hotel on September 13th and are still basking in the after-glow of a wonderful day.

After getting engaged last year, they had just over a year to plan their day.

‘The most important thing to us was great food and drink and a great band to keep everyone out on the dancefloor all night and both our venue Fernhill House & Gardens and our band ‘Up to 90’ delivered on those fronts,’ said Sharon.

They chose not to use a traditional videographer but instead opted for a content creator to capture special moments.

‘We wanted to capture a few short videos of the day, so we had Erika’s Edit as our content creator. Erika was there for the church and reception just to capture short videos of our guests arriving to the church, the music at the church and reception by Niamh Murphy – just capturing moments we may have missed ourselves,’ said Sharon.

Among her top wedding tips is to decide what is most important to you as a couple, to help stay on budget.

‘That helps you to spend money accordingly, because it is easy to get carried away. We also made an effort to get as much done as possible ahead of time as the weeks and months fly by. We wanted the week before the wedding to be as relaxing as possible. Finally, I’d say to brides-to-be to never underestimate a good Excel spreadsheet, to keep everything in one place, the to-do list, guestlist, budget etc. It really worked for us and there’s actually not a single thing we would change about the day.’

She got her dress from Pearl Lane Bridal in Galway, where she’s originally from and her bridesmaids dresses online from JJ’s House.

The couple enjoyed a mini-moon in Dunmore East – with Brutus of course whose favourite thing is to play ball on the beach – and will plan a bigger trip early next year.

This article was featured in our Weddings 2025 magazine – you can read the full magazine here!