Our wedding story: Surprise readings helped to make the big day

Zia & Dan Bergin-Holly

Zia Holly, a lighting and set designer for theatre, and Dan Bergin, a product manager for mobile video games, are both from Dublin and met as students of drama and theatre studies in Trinity College Dublin.

“Our proposal was very spontaneous,” says Zia. “Although we had talked about marriage, and had both been thinking about proposing, when it actually happened I think it came as a surprise to both of us. We had recently started to set plans in motion to move to the UK and that night I wanted to check in with Dan and make sure he was still happy to go ahead with everything. I asked him how he was feeling about the move. He said he was excited for us to move, to get a house and a dog and get married, ‘Cos yeah I think we’ll get married. Do you wanna get married?’ And I said, ‘Yes’.”

On May 8th, 2016, they married at a vineyard in Portugal called Quinta de Sant'Ana. Having taken care of the legalities in Dublin, they had a symbolic ribbon-tying ceremony conducted by their friend, Ed Collins. The meal was served indoors in a room that had once been a theatre – "a bonus detail for us". The bride, whose parents are Con and Cinta Holly, wore a Monique Lhuillier dress with red heels and changed into red Converse for dancing later in the evening.

The bridesmaids were Joanne O'Hagan and Hannah Hughes-Ellis, the best man was Gareth Fitzpatrick and Ruairí Gaffney was groomsman. The groom's parents are Frank and Bertilla Bergin.

Zia's brother Alan designed the invitations and Shane Holly arranged and played the music for the ceremony. The rings were designed by a school friend of the groom, Eoin Lyons, and the wedding website was designed by Gerard Heffernan. Some of the couple's wedding highlights are the tango they danced together, and "the sounds of cheers and crashes as our guests played Giant Jenga, Connect 4 and Quotis on the grounds of the villa" and, most of all the, ceremony itself.

“We had written our own vows,which made things very personal but also stressful to get right,” says Zia. “Ed did a wonderful job of setting the tone for the whole ceremony, while our friends surprised and thrilled us with their readings that we had asked them to pick in secret . . . friends and family brought up a total of six different ribbons, each a different colour and style, and each with their own meaning attached.”

The newlyweds live in Leamington Spa, England, "although both of us currently travel all over the UK and Ireland for work, so it's a little tricky to really get settled into a routine as husband and wife. But then again, that's all part of the adventure, and we're loving every minute." Photographs: Matt + Lena Photography, mattandlenaphotography.com

Sarah Geraghty