Imelda & John

The sun was shining brightly as I arrived in Brideswell on the morning of Imelda & John's wedding, and it stayed like that all day. The ice-cream van was out at the Hodson Bay Hotel, and the fine weather lifted everyones' already buoyant spirits on the day. There was even more than the usual hustle and bustle of bridal preparation in Imelda's home, as many of the wedding guests had been invited to call by before the ceremony. Champagne corks popped all morning - a great soundtrack to work by, even if I wasn't able to sample the bubbly.

At the Church, John was cool, calm and collected, leaving it to his brother and groomsman Ollie to get giddy with excitement. There was a dramatic delay though, just before Imelda and her Dad Gerry came up the aisle. The doors swung closed behind the bridesmaids and the church filled with nervous laughter from the guests. It certainly had John on the edge of his seat. Within a minute or so, the doors opened and here came the bride.... There were no less than three celebrants, with Deacon Willie Gacquin, a former teacher of John's, conducting his first wedding ceremony. There are lovely gardens behind the church in Curraghboy, where we took a few photographs before taking the short drive to The Hodson Bay.

The lawns outside the Hotel were thronged with guests spilling out of the drinks reception, and after the bell was sounded, there was time for Imelda & John to take a romantic stroll along the pier before enjoying a quick pre-dinner drink with their bridal party. I took the back way home past a roadside windfarm as the sun set and the sheep grazed in the stonewalled fields of South Roscommon, a nice relaxing end to the day. Meanwhile, the party was getting going in the Hodson Bay with the first of the two bands, All Folk'd Up and The Lols tuning up.