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Architect Barry McKenna confessed that in the run-up to their wedding on December 12th, 2014, his fiancée Helen Fagan, a primary school teacher, “was really the wedding planner. I was more a consultant when required”.
But an active one, no less.
Barry designed the invitations, mass booklets and table planner stationary that depicted images of landmarks from the couple’s home counties of Kerry and Meath (they met in Dingle one summer weekend six years ago). “We wanted something that represented home, so the church and the pub are from Helen’s home of Moynalvey and the mountains in the background are from Lispole.”
It was also a joint decision to walk hand-in-hand up the aisle of the Church of the Nativity in Moynalvey.
“We got a chance to have a bit of a laugh beforehand with the rest of the gang and just settle ourselves before heading in . . . it ended up being one of the highlights of the day,” said the groom.
After the ceremony which was accompanied by music from the Alpha Quartet, the newlyweds drove themselves – in a classic BMW borrowed from a friend – to Fagan’s pub (no relation) for a Champagne tipple, a mini-photoshoot in the fading winter sun at Donadea Forest Park and on to the Hamlet Court Hotel in Enfield, Co Meath, where The Mixtape had the crowd dancing into the wee hours.
And if you were wondering about the proposal story, here’s an extract from Barry’s speech: “It was a Sunday afternoon so I said, ‘Helen, do you fancy a walk?’ She said yes of course. Helen’s stone mad for walks. We headed in and around Maynooth, Helen happy just to be outside, me with what felt like the weight of the world in my pocket.
“I actually remember getting nervous, thinking . . . if I got a sign that it was the right time to do it, that’s all I’d need, something, anything . . . Helen has this lovely thing where, every time she sees a white feather it reminds her that her mam is with her and that she’s looking down on her . . . it’s not often you see them. Maybe one or two a year.
“So there I was walking around Carton, looking for a sign when right in front of us was this big white feather. I even remember Helen saying, ‘That’s Mam now looking down on us’. So I knew there and then that the time was right. That was my sign.”
Photographs: Weddings by Kara, weddingsbykara.com
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