September 17,2016 – Woodford Dolmen Hotel
For Gary Kelly and Michael Keogh, a first date at a bar in Dublin was just the beginning of a lifetime of love and laughter together. As the pair jetted off on a holiday to celebrate Michael’s 40th birthday, Gary had a surprise gift in store for his other half and popped the question to his future husband.
Michael delightedly said yes and preparations began for a wedding full of fun and joy. A date was set for September 17, 2016 and the beautiful Woodford Dolmen Hotel was the chosen location for their perfect wedding day, celebrated with a large party of 460 guests.
LOCATION The Woodford Dolmen Hotel provided a day of memories to last a lifetime for the newlyweds. “It was perfect. The service and food were amazing and I still get feedback from my wedding guests telling me how great the hotel was,” explains Gary. Due to the size of the wedding party, we hold the record for the biggest top table in the hotel with 28 people.”
ATTIRE Both Gary and Michael wore suits. Michael was kitted out by Love Suits, while Gary looked dapper in his suit from Ted Baker’s.
FLOWERS Jungle Flowers in Malahide.
CAKE A friend of the couples made the cake on request.
ENTERTAINMENT The entertainment provided was a huge part of the day and night as eight different musical acts performed. Sarah Louise sang during the ceremony and a Mariachi band called Tropical Storm entertained after the ceremony and before the meal.
Four drag queens then took centre stage – Armani Dyynne was flown in from Gran Canaria, while Dublin’s Davina Divine, Dolly Grip and Twiggy were also in action. The Kiera Dignam Band then took over the music after dinner and DJ Mosey kept the guests dancing long into the night.
PHOTOGRAPHER John Courtney Photography
VIDEOGRAPHER Abbey Video Production
INVITES Conor Scott
SPECIAL MEMORIES OF THE DAY “We have so many favourite parts of the day,” said Gary. “But mostly it was seeing such a diverse mix of people mix and have fun together and standing back and taking in the fact that all these people had made the time and effort to share our day with us.”
HONEYMOON Gary and Michael booked the honeymoon themselves and had three magical weeks in Kuala Lumpur and Bali.
CEREMONY OFFICIATOR Eileen Morris of spiritualceremonies.ie
WEDDING CARS The couple had three cars for the wedding. Two limousines for bridesmaids and one Vintage car for themselves.
FUNNY MOMENTS “One of the limos never showed up (it broke down in Waterford) and we had 10 bridesmaids to move so that was a bit of scrambling to get them to the reception. The next mishap was that we had hired a bus for my neighbours to travel to venue on and my dad decided to go on the bus with them unbeknown to us, while me, Michael and our bridesmaids were in the garden locked out of the house,” Gary explained.
“As a result, all the bridesmaids and groomsmen’s flowers and purses were inside so someone had to chase down the bus halfway there to retrieve the keys. So, with all the goings on we were an hour or more late!”
FIRST DANCE When it came to the first dance Neither Michael or Gary had given much thought to the first dance song beforehand so they asked an aunt to do the honours. Funnily, she picked an Ed Sheeran song they both hated.
PERSONAL TOUCHES The invite design we purchased from a designer in Tel Aviv and our friend edited the design with us and that was nice to be involved in that.
ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO ADD? “We never got stressed or argued during the planning of the wedding. “We just agreed to leave something and come back to it the next day if it was going to stress us out and just roll with any issue that came up and enjoy it and that’s what we did.
“Everything was great and I would do it all again tomorrow if I could. So, that would be me and Michael’s advice to any couple getting married. Please don’t stress it, just enjoy it all as the planning is something you never get to do again so enjoy it. Also, Gary’s mum gave him away and Michael’s aunt did the honours for him.”
