Our wedding story: ‘He dropped down on one knee and gave the loveliest speech’

[ irishtimes.com/weddings ]

Angie Duffy and Grant Sutherland Scotsman Grant Sutherland and Angie Duffy, from Co Fermanagh, met three years ago in Leeds. Both were working in “lovely” Yorkshire – she in financial services, he for a magazine printing company – and Angie remembers, “we were at a bar in Leeds ordering drinks and realised neither of us had the requisite accent”.

A few months later they made the trip north to Edinburgh where Grant had arranged dinner for a group of friends and family to introduce them all to Angie. “I was so nervous,” she said, “but the effort he went to wasn’t lost on me and I really thought I might be on to a winner.”

And she was.

Over Easter 2014 in Australia – where Angie had lived for seven years – Grant insisted to his hesitant girlfriend that they climb Sydney Harbour Bridge. Lucky she relented. “Grant dropped down on one knee, and gave the loveliest speech, ending with a proposal,” she says.

They were married on February 21st, 2015, in a Catholic ceremony at St Aidan’s Church in Butlersbridge, about 15 minutes from the Slieve Russell Hotel in Cavan where they hosted a reception for 150 guests from Ireland, Scotland and Australia.

According to the bride, whose bridesmaids were sister Anne and friend Annette: “It was without doubt more than we could ever have hoped for.”

Grant’s brother Ross was the best man and friends Nicholas and Stephen were the ushers.

Angie’s university friend Ashling Geraghty from Butterfly Photography “kept everyone smiling on a cold February day in Cavan”.

Kilts were swinging on the dancefloor thanks to The Trips and things really took off when they played I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers.

“It also seems our wedding was a big hit with the under 10s, as both our six-year-old flower-girl Abby and another five-year-old guest Keagan declared it as the best day of their lives…we couldn’t agree more.”

The newlyweds, who still live in Leeds but are planning a move to Edinburgh, honeymooned in Venice and Florence.

Photographs: Ashling Geraghty, Butterfly Photography, butterflyphotography.co.uk

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