June 19, 2016- The Glenview Hotel, Delgany, Co Wicklow
Laura Corrigan, from Wexford and Tara Moloney from Athlone met while playing football. A deep friendship followed for the teammates over many years while playing club and county football. It took a while before Laura and Tara knew there was something a deeper to their friendship. A sneaky kiss solidified their feelings for each other and they started dating. Marriage wasn’t something they spoke too often about until the referendum rolled around.
“It was something we had spoken about a few times but Tara felt it wasn’t something that was required; a piece of paper to declare your feelings for someone. However, in the build up to the marriage referendum she realised the importance of it,” remembers Laura.
THE PROPOSAL
Tara asked Laura to marry her on Laura’s birthday in April 2015, just before the marriage referendum vote. The proposal was a huge surprise for Laura and was done using five helium balloons. Each balloon had a birthday present and a love message attached to the cord, each one was opened in sequence with the last present being the engagement and message saying ‘Will you marry me?’. Struggling to answer through the tears of joy, Laura said yes to her “best birthday present ever!” The couple were delighted to share their news with friends and family including Laura’s daughter, Kristen.
THE WEDDING DETAILS
Once the ‘Yes’ votes passed shortly after the proposal, the ladies were elated and began to plan their special day. A wedding date was set for June 19, 2016 with the stunning Glenview Hotel, Co Wicklow as the location. The guest list contained 139 of the ladies’ closest friends and family members. The wedding had a theme that was an important life motto for the pair. “’Live, Laugh, Love’ – a lot of the elements on the day had the statement on it. Life is too short to not enjoy it so if you get to live, laugh and love each day then that is a good day.” The colour scheme was pink and mint with a splash of pride colours.
THE WEDDING TEAM
A team of talented wedding vendors came together to help the brides create the most perfect wedding day. Each guest received a beautiful invitation from Vistaprint.ie to invite them to the girls’ upcoming nuptials. Ensuring the ceremony was as special as the ladies wanted it to be, the ceremony officiator was carefully selected; Romy McAuley from ‘A Beautiful Ceremony’. “We couldn’t speak highly enough of Romy, she created a beautiful personal ceremony which completely reflected our lives and the beginning of our new adventure. Even still people are speaking of our beautiful, intimate special ceremony.”
The stunning floral arrangements were created by Vita Flora based in Co. Wexford. The team at Vita Flora also supplied a backdrop for the room, a candy ferris wheel and a Ferrero Rocher Heart for guests to enjoy on the night. The Cake Creator supplied a fabulous cake on the day to the girls’ specifications.
Music for the ceremony was supplied by family members, Aimee Brennan; a cousin of Tara and very talented wedding singer, and Anne Murphy, Laura’s sister, a very talented former singer from various bands. The Heebie Jeebies kept the dance floor hopping all night and the brides were delighted with their performance. “They were unbelievable; dance floor was full from beginning to end. We would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a fantastic night.” The stunning images captured throughout the day were taken by Tara’s Dad, Tim Moloney from Kylefoto Studio. The girls were blown away by the end result and were delighted with how easy Tara’s Dad made the whole process.
PERSONAL TOUCHES
Putting their personal stamp on the day was important to Laura and Tara, so a touch of DIY allowed them to do so. “We created our own menus in the style of a ‘Cootie Catcher’. Under each selection was a different course of the meal with the options you had to choose from. Some found it just a little bit too confusing but for most it brought them back to their childhood!” The personal touches didn’t stop there. “The favour boxes contained a personalised Yankee candle with a ‘Thank you’ message for each person, thanking them for not only being a part of our day but for all their support and love for the past few years.”
The tables were named after the ladies’ favourite TV shows. Each person had a personalised table escort card where they had to scratch away a heart that revealed the table they were sitting at.
Laura and Tara also wanted to create an intimate reception that they could enjoy closely with their friends and family, which included getting rid of the traditional top table. “We had a large oval table in the middle of the room which sat 24 people. All of our close family members we able to join us at the main table, of course named “Modern Family”. It was so wonderful to have included all of our immediate family in such a unique way. Then all the rest of the tables surrounded the middle table and it meant that all tables were beside the main table.”
CHERISHED MOMENTS
For Laura, seeing her wife to be walk up the aisle was something she will cherish forever. “She was just stunning and completely took my breath away. It was the realisation that our moment had finally arrived. We were able to be ourselves from start to finish, hold hands, hug, dance, kiss in front of all our family and our friends.”
There was also an entertaining re-enactment of the pair’s first meeting and proposal for the guests to enjoy. Laura also sang ‘Tenerife Sea’ by Ed Sheeran with the band to surprise her new wife.
What did the Yes vote mean to you guys?
“The build up was very tough emotionally for us as a family. We really felt like our family unit was being openly scrutinised and to be honest, torn apart. In particular for Kristen it was a very tough time, she just couldn’t understand their small mindedness and their ability to try to create this idea that we couldn’t possibly be capable of raising children, creating a loving family unit and certainly not raising a well-balanced, loving, intelligent, caring, beautiful, focused daughter, which is everything we had already achieved. Her open mindedness and acceptance of diversity will always be her strength. The run up was very tough but we knew there was more open minded accepting people out there. Those who knew the truth and that the younger and more accepting generations would stand up and be counted, keeping the Yes vote being a real possibility. The day itself was so emotional, the realisation of what was about to happen was truly amazing. I remember we watched the day unfold from home, beaming with pride and joy of what was unfolding and what we were witnessing.”
