GRÁINNE O’ROURKE and James Johnston were married in the chapel of the 11th century Duomo di Ravello by Fr Peter Gannon from Claremorris, Co Mayo, a friend of the bride’s family, who joined 100 guests from Ireland, Luxembourg, the UK, New York, San Francisco and Texas, for a week on the Amalfi coast.
“We originally planned to get married in the back garden in Maynooth, but that was before the summer when the weather was so awful,” the bride explains. “So we decided Italy would be something everyone would enjoy, and far less work for everyone, and we’d be able to prolong the celebrations.
“The guest list grew from 60 to 101 – we were surprised (but thrilled) when everyone said yes. It was a great mix of people and we had a magnificent week.”
The bride is the daughter of Dr Christopher O’Rourke, a GP in Maynooth, and Eileen O’Rourke, who works for the Tallaght Partnership promoting community healthcare initiatives. Gráinne went to school at King’s Hospital in Palmerstown, studied auctioneering at DIT Bolton Street, worked for a large Dublin estate agency and later did a BA in finance and economics at NUI Maynooth.
Her husband grew up in Craigavon, Co Armagh, and is the son of Jim and Marty Johnston, professional singers and leaders of St Anthony’s choir, Moyraverty parish for 15 years.
James attended Lismore Comprehensive before studying business and computing at the University of Ulster at Coleraine, and has been in the Civil Service for more than six years.
The couple met in the Botanic Inn (“the Bot”) in Belfast while Gráinne’s sister Christina was in the North working with Co-operation Ireland in 2002. “I went to visit her on St Patrick’s weekend – I’d never been in the North before,” Gráinne says.
Gráinne moved to New York for the summer in 2003, returned home, and, after a flurry of e-mails, long-distance phone calls and cross-Border travel, finally joined James in east Belfast in 2005. They became engaged on Christmas Day in 2006.
Memories of their Italian wedding are sustaining the couple through a long Irish winter: “We are still thinking and talking about it every day,” Gráinne says. “The town of Ravello has just 1,000 inhabitants year round and the local people were wonderful to us.
“We sent out our invitations months in advance and created a website – James added a Dean Martin soundtrack – so people could plan their trip early and be sure to find a place to stay nearby.
“We had celebrations and sing-songs, gatherings, meals and drinks each evening in the Piazza Duomo. The food, weather, atmosphere and craic were fabulous.”
Music was important on their wedding day, with a soprano and organist in the church, and a mandolin player and guitarist in the piazza afterwards who led the merry group to the Villa Eva for an outdoor meal of seven courses as the moon came up.
“We had a jazz band and then much later a DJ and an outdoor pizza party and wonderful friends and family singing until the sun came up at 7am.”
The couple spent almost four weeks in Italy. They are now back in their house in Belfast and regularly head south to visit family and friends in Kildare.