Our Wedding Story: By the time I got to Phoenix, I was smitten

Hattie Johnson and Domhnall Kearney

Domhnall (36), from Limerick, has been a technician with Intel for 10 years and left Ireland in 2011 to work in Arizona.

The following year he met Hattie (31), from Phoenix, when he was in Flagstaff for a ski trip with friends.

“I saw him listening to this not-so-great band,” remembers Hattie, who works in the hospitality industry, “and I decided to make the first move. When I heard his accent I was hooked.”

After their first date at a sushi restaurant, the pair promptly fell in love. But Domhnall’s work visa expired and he flew home in 2013.

They saw each other every three months, flying between Dublin and Arizona until July 2014, when Domhnall proposed – with the permission of Hattie's father, Tom, and the blessing of her grandmother Beverly Miller – on the Johnson family's ranch.

On the evening of October 17th, Hattie and Domhnall were married by the bride's great-uncle, Henry Lockett – ordained for the occasion – at the Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village in Sedona, Arizona.

Ninety guests attended, including the groom's parents Mary and Tony Kearney and 30 others from Ireland.

After dinner, during which the newlyweds sat at their own "sweetheart table", the first dance was to Harvest Moon by Neil Young. A surprise silent disco ended the night.

Domhnall’s mother recently hosted a ceremony in Ireland for those who couldn’t make it to the US in October.

Hattie and Domhnall honeymooned in Hawaii and live in Ranelagh, Dublin.

Photography: Foskett Creative Sarah Geraghty