Christina & Declan, The Landmark Hotel.

The course of true love varies widely, from love at first sight to late realisation, from whirlwind romance to protracted courtship, from instant passion to growing desire..... Over the past year or two I've had a couple who got married 22 years after their first date at a school disco, and another who met in January and married in November.

Declan is a man who is prepared to take the long view. He knew from an early stage that Christina was the woman for him, and set out to persuade her of that fact. Christina wasn't prepared to be swept of her feet; Declan would have to work for her hand in marriage. He's also a shrewd tactician, and employed a number of different strategies in wooing Christina. Some of the highlights include buying a bull from her father, turning up on her doorstep after an elaborate car chase which may have involved the Gardai, and something to do with Donkeys, that I didn't quite understand. Whatever, he did, it worked, and on Friday their guests travelled the four roads to Glenamaddy to attend their wedding.

After a lovely ceremony under the Harry Clarke Stained Glass Windows in St Patrick's, the bridal party retired to Jim Pete's Pub for a quick pint. It's the type of intimate, old-fashioned pub it would be very easy to pop into for one and end up staying for several hours, but the discipline held, and we were on the road to Carrick in good time. We were met with the usual warm Landmark welcome from Trish & Emma, who then proceeded to tidy up the boys and make sure they were looking their best.

A fine set of speeches before dinner set the scene for the evening that followed, with Declan's Dad Denis getting them off to a hilarious start as he told us tales of Declan. I met one of the guests later in the weekend who informed me she didn't leave the Late Bar until an ungodly hour that no civilised person would be up til. Sounded like a good night!