Our Wedding Story: A special holiday in Portugal with loved ones

Niamh O’Connor and Allan Mulrooney

Niamh and Allan, both from Strandhill, Co Sligo, celebrated 16 years as a couple on their wedding day in Portugal on September 23rd, 2016.

The day after Allan, a marketing executive, proposed in December 2014, “we jumped in the car and hit the west to share the news with our family and friends. That Christmas was very special.”

Niamh was finishing her doctorate in clinical psychology and three weeks after she completed her viva, the couple married in Quinta de Sant’ana in Gradil, Portugal.

“We planned a week holiday in Portugal – the wedding day itself was the highlight and the week abroad with loved ones was one long party.”

“We didn’t want a religious ceremony so we had a humanist ceremony at the vineyard. It was very important for us to put our own stamp on our day so we scripted the ceremony for the celebrant, chose the readings and poems to be read by family and friends, and Allan’s friend, Keith, performed the music during the ceremony.”

The Bruce Brothers played slow jazz during the cocktail reception before switching to funk after dinner.

Niamh, whose parents are Rory and Pat, danced with her dad to What a Wonderful World and Allan with his mother Hazel to Come Fly with Me. His father is Kieran.

The newlyweds came back together for their first dance to Better Together by Jack Johnson. By the end of the night, "the DJ had to be unplugged by the venue three times before we accepted that the party was finally over".

Niamh and Allan live in Blackrock, Co Dublin, but return home to Sligo every weekend to run Strandhill People's Market with Allan's parents (strandhillpeoplesmarket.ie).

Photographer: The Framers, theframers.pt