Our wedding story: a black-tie reception for 170 people

[ irishtimes.com/weddings ]

Tom Fox and Amy Lyons have been together since day one of a UCD ski trip nine years ago (which four of their wedding party of 11 was on, too) and got engaged on the beach at Doonbeg in November 2013.

On December 30th, 2014, they were married by Tom’s former headmaster at Clongowes Wood College, Fr Bruce Bradley SJ, in St Patrick’s Church, Slane, and held a black-tie reception afterwards for 170 at Tankardstown House.

That morning, Amy got ready at her family home in Ballsbridge. Her parents Tony and Sandra Lyons and brother were there to still her nerves on the drive to the church.

Wearing a Jenny Packham dress with a Simone Rocha fur and silver Jimmy Choo pumps, her “something old and borrowed” was a tennis bracelet belonging to her mum.

The four bridesmaids – Hannah de Vere White, Katie McShane, Stephanie Tallon and Claire Sexton – wore floor-length burgundy dresses from Reformation.

Tom travelled from the home of his parents, Tom Sr and Mary, in Maynooth, Co Kildare and wore a black tux from Reiss. His groomsmen – James O’ Reilly, Ciaran Deane, Richard Boland, Mark Broe, Art McCoy, Marcus McDonell and David Keane – were gifted with burgundy bow ties, pocket squares, braces and socks.

The bride’s niece Ella and groom’s three nieces Amber, Grace and Isabel were the flower girls.

The couple wanted to involve their friends in the day as much as possible so Tom’s friend Richard produced the wedding video; bridesmaid Claire, an events planner, helped with the decor in the dinning room, and Tom’s godmother made the cake. Flowers were arranged by The Garden in Powerscourt Townhouse.

For their first dance, three of Tom's friends sang A Rainy Night in Soho by the Pogues. "It's a song our friends love to perform when we're all together and holds happy memories for us," said Amy, who added that it was the happiest memory for them both.

Amy works for creative advertising agency Rothco, and Tom works for Twitter. They live in Dublin and honeymooned in Mauritius for two weeks with a three-day stop over in Dubai.

Photographs: Lucy Nuzum, lucynuzumweddings.com

We’d love to hear your wedding story. If you’d like to share it with our readers email weddings@irishtimes.com with a photograph and a little information about your big day