Only You : Jeni + Damien At Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Cork

The bride and groom were beaming all day!

We love a wedding where you can just see the love and excitement on everyone’s faces from beginning to end! That’s just what you’ll find as you take a look at Jeni and Damien’s stunning celebration at the Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Cork, captured perfectly by Bernadette Hayes of Hayes Photography. After 11 years since they first met and three gorgeous children, Jeni and Damien planned their day with plenty of personal touches that truly made their day one of a kind.

Witness all the joy from pre-ceremony smiles to the laughter and love following the big I do’s below…                  

The Beginning

“I’m a friend of Damien’s sister and was staying at their house one night 11 years ago and asked her for his number to pretend I was a girl he met on a night out but there was no girl on that night and the jokes turned into more serious texts after a while.”

The Proposal

“Damien had our eldest daughter Kayleigh in on it, after dinner he knew I would be going up to our room so on the bed was a picture drawn by Kayleigh saying ‘mammy will you marry our daddy’ and the ring was with it…he had followed me up the stairs and had Kayleigh record the whole thing while pretending she was just on her phone.”

The Wedding Attire

“The wedding dress was bought in Diamond Bridal, it was an Ivory full-length mermaid gown with a V neckline and matching low illusion V back with a beautiful lace trail. I wore a Cathedral veil which I always wanted to wear. The suits were 3 piece Navy with Ivory tie and brown shoes.”

The Venue

“When we went to look at the Radisson Hotel it was my first time ever visiting the hotel. We instantly fell in love with the place. Our wedding co-ordinator Joanne was amazing, her advice and ideas were much appreciated and taken on board. There was a wedding on the day we called to meet her and we were sold straight away.”

The Wow Factor

“So much…we loved the ballroom, loved the Old House from day 1 but what the guests kept mentioning were how the staff were so amazing which they were, they treated us like royalty and guests also couldn’t stop talking about how great the food was.”

The Photographer

“Bernadette was due to call to the house at 12 but she arrived at 11.30am so this instantly brought the stress levels down. I had said to Bernadette at our consultation that we wanted a picture of us kissing with our kids hands blocking their eyes in horror but had totally forgotten so thankfully Bernadette reminded us of this on the day and the photo turned out great! She had plenty of unique ideas on the day and captured little details you would not think of. Pictures turned out fantastic with brilliant quality.”

Trends & Themes

“We had all our own unique ideas, our music was very different from the norm, coming up the aisle was ‘Only You’ by Alison Moyet and more recently Selena Gomez. Another part that was loved by all was the music to our entrance to the reception where we came in to ‘Shipping up to Boston’ by Dropkick Murphys.

And the most unique part of it all was the surprise Damien planned, just at dessert time 4 people came out and performed the Greatest Showman songs they sang, danced, mingled with the guests and were in great costumes too. The hotel staff really helped with this too regarding getting them in and using the PR system.

We had Ger Kearney the magician as well and he entertained everyone at the drinks reception, this was an idea we decided to go with only a few weeks before the wedding when we had seen him perform at a communion he was brilliant and had everyone amazed!”

Instead of traditional wedding favours on the table, we made a donation to Temple Street Children’s Hospital, this was printed on the menu which Joanne added for us.”

Memorable Moments

“Jeni decided to do a speech, well in song that is!! She put her own words into 4 songs from Don’t stop Believing to Roar!! A lot of laughs were had here mostly at my expense!!”

“Another big highlight was our 18-month-old daughter Chloe walking up the aisle with her big sister Kayleigh…halfway up the aisle when she saw her Daddy she beamed and shouted up ‘Daddy’ which had the all our guests laughing while saying ‘Awwww’ at the same time this was lovely and really set the tone to what became a very relaxed ceremony. The Humanist Celebrant Geraldine O’Neill played a big part in creating this environment also.

Funny things to look back at were when my dad tripped over my veil twice…when he first saw me at the house and just after walking me up the aisle!! Another one was when I was called up on stage for a song and they got Damien to play the tambourine just to get him involved and he didn’t hold back he jumped down from the stage into the crowd to his friends’ delight and amusement!”

Special Thoughts

“June Bloom Florist did my fabulous bouquets. I decided on artificial flowers as I wanted me and the girls to keep them forever. She made a mini bouquet for my 9-year-old daughter and a beautiful little wand for my 18-month-old. She is a lovely lady to deal with and was very reasonably priced too.

Christine O’Sullivan did our hair. 5 heads and we were all over the moon. I was unsure with what exactly I wanted on the morning and she showed me pictures of up styles she had done before and we went from there. Everyone was complimenting our hair all day. She is such a lovely genuine girl and we had an absolute ball with her it felt like we knew her years. I can’t recommend her enough. She is amazing.

Laurna Murphy from Minnies Salon in Grange did our makeup. It was really beautiful and natural looking which is exactly how I wanted it. She is such a sweetheart she even provided me with lipstick to top up during the day.

Niamh Murphy provided the music for the ceremony…what a voice she has, it is so haunting. We wanted to put our own stamp on our song choices and she was more than happy and capable to accommodate our requests. We changed our exit song 3 weeks before the day and there was no problem at all to do it for us. All our guests couldn’t get over how good she was and she definitely made the ceremony intimate for us.”

Supplier Information

• Venue:

  Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Cork

• Photographer:

  Hayes Photography

• Band:

  Route 66

• Bridal Shop/Designer:

  Diamond Bridal

• Florist:

  June Blooms Freelance Wedding

• Hair Stylist:

  Christine O’Sullivan of Creation Hair

• Makeup Artist:

  Laurna Murphy of Minnies Beauty Salon

• Magician:

  Ger Kearney Magician

• Wedding Music:

  Drew & Pearse of Cork School of Music

• Wedding Cake :

  Healys Bakery

• Wedding Car:

  East Cork Wedding Cars