Our Wedding Story: Acting on impulse brings actors together

While studying for a BA in business and languages, Natalie, an actor from Blackrock, Co Dublin, was a member of the Drama Society at Dublin City University. After graduating, she moved to London to train for three years at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA).

Five years ago, she moved to Los Angeles, where she met Robert (an actor, whose stage-name is Robert Mitchell). After completing a degree in business at Georgetown University, Robert attended the Terry Schreiber acting studio in his native New York.

“We met in a busy bar on the Sunset Strip. I saw Robert and knew I had to speak to him. I walked up to him, tapped him on the shoulder, asked him if he had a girlfriend, and the rest is history.”

Following the proposal in November 2014 – over a bacon sandwich in Hollywood – it was Robert who suggested they get married in Ireland. His one condition was that it had to happen in a castle.

On 28th November 2015, Thanksgiving weekend, they were married in Kinnitty Castle, Co Offaly. On Thanksgiving evening, the night before the wedding, the couple hosted a dinner in O’Connells restaurant in Donnybrook.

"Turkey, cranberries, pecan pie, the works. You can't expect Americans to travel to Ireland on Thanksgiving weekend and deny them their dinner," laughed Natalie.

For the couple's fifth date, they went swing dancing which prompted them to book The Swing Cats for their reception. They honeymooned in Mauritius in December and spent their first Christmas as newlyweds in Dublin.

Photograph: Wim Vanhengal, In Love Photography, inlovephotography.ie

Sarah Geraghty