Benjamin Hart and Liam Fitzgerald
Hotel Doolin- November 2, 2017
Photographs courtesy of Mrs Redhead Photography
Having met online, there was a lot of things that Ben Hart and Liam Fitzgerald had yet to learn about each other. Ben’s love of animals was one of those things, as he is Co-owner and Lead Presenter/Keeper at Wild Encounters (an expanding zoo in Limerick).Using his cheeky side to introduce his unique career to his partner. “I revealed to Liam that I had a big snake. Liam thought his luck was in until the day came when we moved in together and my mum threw a bag at him with a live snake in it and said ‘it’s your problem now!”, Ben shared.
The boy’s shared sense of humour and love for life made them the perfect pair and Liam decided he wanted to tie the knot with his soulmate and put plans in place for the perfect proposal.
“Liam put the ring into the 24th day of my advent calendar. He quickly realised this was a mistake as the wait was then excruciating. He nervously watched as I opened a new box each day worrying if the ring had fallen down into the wrong one. The day came for the final box to be opened and Liam watched as I pulled back the tab and waited nervously for a response. After a few seconds of me staring at what I had found, I finally said yes” Ben said.
WEDDING DETAILS
Team
Photographer: Olga (Mrs Redhead)
Location: Doolin
Venue: Hotel Doolin
Suit shop: Connelly’s Menswear, Limerick
Wedding music: Perfect Day Wedding Band
Cake: MM Cookies
Decorations: Grace Events
Bridal party names: Clare Biggs, Nicola Antrim, Samantha Goddard, Noel Fitzgerald
Special Moments
Ben and Liam really wanted their guests to experience a wedding like no other, making sure their guests would remember their first time coming to Ireland. “We felt that Hotel Doolin, with what they were offering as part of the wedding package, and the stunning area of Ireland that is Doolin and the Cliffs of Moher would give our guests a real experience of Ireland” says Ben.
The pair really showed their rather unique side for their wedding. “We wanted our wedding to portray our personalities and our own lives and animals are a big part of that to us. We felt we really captured that with elements such as walking down the aisle to The Lion King’s ‘Circle of Life’ and our unconventional wedding cake of a skunk pooing up the side of a simple yet more traditional cake”, the quirky groom shared.
Being a patriotic Cornishman, Ben wanted to bring an element of his Cornish heritage to the day, hanging a Cornish flag alongside the Irish one outside the hotel, and incorporating some Cornish tartan into his button hole. ” Our highlights of the day (along with getting married to each other) were seeing our guests discovering our ideas and little quirks throughout the event and really embracing them” recalls Ben.
Favourite moment of the day
“Getting to spend a few amazing days with friends and family, some of which we haven’t seen in years, and sharing an important part of our life with them”, Ben said.
Advice for couples planning their own wedding
Ben says “Be yourselves, don’t worry about going by what is traditional and how other family members think it should be done. It’s your day, enjoy it and make it how you want it! It only happens once”
“We’ve now been married for a little over a year and we’ve been going from strength to strength, purchasing our own house and working on expanding Wild Encounters. Some days are tough but knowing we have the support of each other gets us through it and we couldn’t be happier! We’re looking forward to what the future holds for us!” mentions Ben.