You’ll never believe how this sweet couple met!
It must have been fate that brought them together when Michelle accidentally dialled the wrong number and rang Danny instead! A little snow didn’t stop these two from celebrating their wedding day with their loved ones at The Lakeside Hotel. Leading up to their wedding day the couple just couldn’t stay away, often heading up to have lunch and take in the glorious views of the waterside venue.
You won’t want to miss Michelle’s gorgeous wedding gown and the group’s sweet, snowy photos.
The Beginning
“You won’t believe how we met! He was a ‘wrong number’! I had become separated from my mum whilst shopping in Limerick City and I went to ring her. This was 2005 and before smartphones where we just pressed ‘Mum’ to dial. I misdialled my mum’s phone number by one digit and this guy with a gravelly voice answered the phone. I pretty much accused him of stealing my mum’s phone and asked him if this was his own phone he was answering, he replied ‘yes’ he thinks so… It turned out he had just been issued with that new mobile phone that very day by his boss. So, I apologised, explained I must have misdialled and was looking for my mum.
About an hour later I received a text message saying I had a sexy voice and he hopes I found my Mum eventually!… Mum warned me not to text back and I didn’t: Until the next day I was working and had a break and I messaged back and it went from there!
We didn’t actually meet up for weeks, by which time we had confessed developing feelings for each other, we finally met for the first time under the pagoda in the park in Adare, Co Limerick. It was so so surreal after hundreds of messages and hours of phone calls here we were face to face.”
The Proposal
“We went into Limerick to buy a Michael Kors watch for me for Valentine’s day and he suggested we look at engagement rings.. ‘Just in case’ I chose a lovely one, outside our budget, but as far as I was concerned it was pie in the sky.
He was ringing the jewellers every Saturday paying off the ring and on the 28th May 2015, which was exactly 10 years to the day from the day I rang him by mistake, he got down on bended knee in our living room. He had hidden a Bluetooth speaker in the living room and had the 4 children we share outside in the hallway stood with flowers, champagne, cake and a phone playing our song into the living room. He was wearing, wait for it… Swimming shorts! We were packing to go on holiday and he said he wanted to wear something that I could look at him as we were by the pool on holiday and remember this moment. As if I would ever forget!”
The Venue
“We really wanted to invite our guests somewhere they would be happy to go to for a weekend. Somewhere that they wouldn’t have to get into the car to go off for an hour the day before or the day after. Killaloe ticked all the boxes for this. Such a beautiful town, that people would only love to go away for a weekend to.The Lakeside hotel sits beautifully on the side of the river and the ambience in the hotel is a perfect mix of cosy and prestige. The staff, everyone, are just fabulous and couldn’t do enough for us to get our special day.The hotel is the best decision we made, we booked it a year and a half before the big day and initially, Danny said it was too long to wait. It passed so quickly!”
“Catherine, Ashlynn & Thomas and all the staff were scrumptious every step of the way. We went for lots of meals in the year running up to the wedding, any excuse to go there and picture our special day!”
The Venue Wow Factor
“The hotel Ballroom is set down a corridor away from the reception. The reception looks out over the River Shannon and is a stunning place to sit and relax, the long entrance down to the Ballroom though, really lent itself to some stunning displays. We had my mums wedding dress from 40 years ago on display on a mannequin and lots of big frames introducing our wedding party and lanterns and lights and oversized mason jars with silhouettes of loving couples on them. It really was stunning and as it was February it was dark early and the lights were beautiful, as our guests walked into the Ballroom they were greeted with a beautiful room, lights and fabric draped from the ceiling in the very middle of the room.”
The Photographer
“Diane with Angles photography was a dream to work with also. She was the perfect mix of bohemian and traditional wedding photographer. I am in love with our album! Diane took time to get to know us and our 4 children and really captured the fun and easy-going nature of our family. I didn’t want ‘stiff’ photos and I didn’t get them. She is so talented.”
Trends & Theme
“I loved the trend of not having to have our bridesmaids matching. It makes so much sense and I feel it looks much better. We had 4 Bridesmaids and 3 Flower Girls. The Bridesmaids were ages ranging from 21 to 45 and different colourings and sizes and it was so great not to have a shared style or colour. I love the look we had.”
“We are a big Disney Family ~ We are heading to Florida on a big ‘Familymoon’ this June. Our tables were named after Disney characters and I walked up the aisle to Disney’s ‘now I see the light’. Our invitations were a beautiful laser cut castle and our first dance included a group of 20, between all the bridesmaids and groomsmen and ‘Once Upon a Dream’ was part of this dance.”
The Dress
“Curvy, 39 years old, and really wanting to be a princess for the day, I wasn’t confident wearing white and wasn’t sure about cream. My Gold dress from the Bridal Emporium in Miltown Malbay Co. Clare was stunning. I am trying to persuade my bridesmaids to re-create that ‘Friends’ scene where they all wear the wedding dresses! I would love to wear it again. It was lace which is elegant and timeless, with beautiful diamond and pearl detailing which satisfied my love of something sparkly and it was an antique gold. I Love It!!!”
Special Moments
“We really liked the idea of this ‘First Look’ that is becoming more popular. I liked the idea of sharing a moment with Danny before we met at the ceremony, however, I still wanted to take his breath away in front of all our guests as I emerged to walk up the aisle. The Lakeside Hotel reception have this lovely corner in their reception area. So, Catherine our wedding co-ordinator arranged to clear the reception about an hour before the ceremony and have Danny stood on one side and then from the other side I was brought from the room where we were getting ready. We shared a few moments, holding hands on opposite sides of the corner, without seeing each other, just the sound of his voice asking if I was ‘okay pet’ was enough to reduce me tears… Makeup re-application was needed! I love that moment we had.”
“We stayed in the hotel the night before and got ready there with all our bridal party and hair and make-up, I am so glad we did this. It made for a scrumptious night the night before and a very easy going relaxed morning. The Lakeside sent a fresh fruit platter and champagne down to the room and we had a great morning. I would give anything to relive that day!”
“We had the PapaZitas band, a big 10 piece showband. They were amazing. It was over the budget we had initially set but it was a great decision. Food and Entertainment are the two most spoken about parts of a wedding and we are both so glad we ‘pushed the boat out’.”
