The Beginning: A Winter Wedding

We got married on December 23,2005. We used⁣ to close the restaurant in January so we were⁢ kind of suiting ourselves ⁤that we could go⁤ away on a nice honeymoon after the wedding for about six weeks to Australia and New Zealand.

We got married in the Nuremore Hotel in Carrickmacross in Monaghan, an excellent hotel, which has since closed down. There was a very, very good chef there at the time called Raymond McArdle. He ⁣was a friend of mine, and I have a lot of respect for him, and he was at least part of the reason⁣ we chose that hotel.

A Local Affair: Ceremony and Roots

We had the ceremony in Boho, co. Fermanagh, in what was Imelda’s local church. Boho is literally 20 minutes from where I grew up. I always joke that I shopped local for food and for love.

A Grand Celebration: Guests and Family

We had a big enough wedding of around 300 guests. I have a big family; I’m one of nine children, and Imelda, though she’s an only child herself, has a large ⁣extended ⁤family. And, you no, we had invited lots of our friends and of course, our staff at the restaurant. I was teaching in Fermanagh College as well at the time so I had a lot of work colleagues there. We also had people like Mary Kennedy and Marty⁤ Whelan, who we’d grown close to⁢ over the years, at the wedding.

Imelda’s⁣ Touch: planning and Details

For the wedding organisation, I have⁤ to give a lot of credit to ⁢Imelda. She has a great attention to detail, but likes ‍things done nice and simply, with no fuss. She handwrote all the wedding invites and created the mass booklets herself.

The Bride ⁢and Bridal Party

She got her dress locally, ⁤in Enniskillen.