Our Wedding Story: ‘He promised he’d propose within a year-and-a-half. And he did’

Both from Dublin, Liza and Shane met at his graduation from DIT in 2011 where he did a course in computer science with some of her friends.

They became Facebook friends but, as Shane was in a relationship at the time, didn’t stay in contact.

A couple of years later both were single when they bumped into each other in a nightclub and they began dating in March 2013.

“After three months, in Rome on our first holiday together, he promised he’d propose within a year and a half – and he did, in Dubai at the end of 2014.”

‘It worked out beautifully’

The couple chose to get married in Sorrento, “based on its location and weather – we always wanted an outdoor summer wedding. Having never been to Sorrento before, and not speaking Italian, I found it extremely challenging to book suppliers for the wedding. Thank God for Etsy, Amazon, Instagram and Pinterest.

“We initially wanted a very small, low-key destination wedding so I didn’t feel a wedding planner was required but before I knew it we were sending out invites to 100-plus people, which changed the whole dynamic of the wedding planning process.

“Luckily, on the day of the wedding it all miraculously just came together and worked out beautifully. I was shocked that I managed to pull it off.”

On 30th July 2016, Liza and Shane married in an outdoor civil ceremony at Villa Antiche Mura.

The bride – whose mother is Vera Cheldieva – had one bridesmaid, Ruquea Hussain, and the groom, son of Pauline and Aidan McGovern, was accompanied by Mark James Byrne.

The first dance, to Bryan Adams' Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?, was choreographed by Dublin's Viva School of Dance.