THE PERFECT WEDDING VENUE

WINNER OF COUNTRY HOUSE WEDDING VENUE OF THE YEAR

WHY SHOULD WE BE YOUR DREAM WEDDING VENUE?

• Intimate and larger weddings catered

• Award-winning Executive Chef Jonathan Keane

• Indoor & outdoor civil ceremonies

• Picturesque lakeside setting

• Splendid gardens with breathtaking views

• Award-winning personal wedding planner

For further details contact Cora Duggan at the Lodge at Ashford on +353 (0) 94 954 5400 or email cduggan@thelodgeac.com

The Lodge at Ashford Castle, Cong, Co. Mayo weekend so we ended up going a few days early and stayed in New Hall Hotel & Spa which was incredibly christmassy - like Hogwarts - and Birmingham was great for shopping. We even managed to catch a matinee performance of A Christmas Carol! In Lapland, we did so many once in a lifetime things. We stayed in a beautiful village which sits on both sides of a frozen river. One side is Sweden and the other is Finland. There were so many beautiful sights but the activities on offer were incredible - we went Husky sledding, snow mobiling, got to visit Santa on Christmas Day, went on a Reindeer Sleigh Ride and even got a glimpse of the Northern Lights on Christmas night.

In your daily lives what do you do for work ? What interests do you share and have that are different ?

Simon is a Special Educational Needs Teacher and Nathan works as a receptionist in a GP surgery, but is going to Magee to study medicine in September. Together we also run ‘The Brick Guys NI’ and put on LEGO Exhibitions across the province. It’s been a really successful venture and helped us pay for our dream day. We both love performing and recently completed a run of Beauty and the Beast at the Marketplace Theatre. Throughout the year we’ll also do a musical concert and Lurgan Panto together. Nathan is a big gamer, and loves spending his free time in front of the TV with his PS5 or Switch controller in his hands. Simon has really enjoyed renovating and re-decorating our new home which we moved into in August just a few months before the wedding, and putting the shows together takes up a lot of his time.

Do you do everything together in terms of socialising, travel ?

More or less. We have shared friends at drama but tend to socialise in separate cliques when we’re there. We did lots of travelling last year and are hoping to this year as well. Last year we went to Malmo in Sweden to see Eurovision and of course spent a day exploring close-by Copenhagen. In 2023 Simon received a medal from the King for Services to the Community and the Arts in County Armagh so we went to London to attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace, and of course went to see a few shows and do some sightseeing while we were there. We both had separate Sten do’s with our bridal parties and love heading down to Dublin together as well. There was also the honeymoon at Christmas. This year we’re planning on a trip to Devon, revisiting Lake Como in Italy and heading to Boston and Salem over Halloween for our first wedding anniversary and Simon’s 40th.

Have you a family, is this something on the plan for you?

No family as yet but we have two nephews who we love to spend time with and keep us busy. Nathan got accepted to do medicine and starts in September, so extending our immediate family is on hold for now.

Tell us who made your day possible in terms of rings, flowers, photographer, cars etc Caterers - Old Barn Catering in Markethill were second to none.

Drinks - Joanne from The Hole In The Wall was incredible.

Venue - The staff at the Marketplace Theatre were so welcoming from start to finish - a big shout out to Vinnie for allowing us to use the venue and to the technical team - Shane, Colin, Robert, Oliver, Chris and Adam for making the space so incredibly beautiful for the ceremony.

Cars - Diamond Elite provided the cars to take our bridal party to and from Clare Glen, and we got the Ford Anglia from Star Car Hire.

Rings - H Samuel in Craigavon were so helpful.

Flowers - We got our own! Wreaths from The Range for our Centrepieces and garlands and lanterns from Amazon. I made the bouquets myself using flowers from Amazon and twine - this was one area where we really wanted to save a bit of money.

Entertainment - Donna & the Dynamos from RPNI did our ABBA tribute and Sanderson Sisters performances and Darran from Northern Lights provided our disco, donut wall and crisp wall.

Photographer - Harry from Friends & Lovers did our wedding shots on the day and they are fantastic.

Flytographer - Matteo from Lake Como Couples did our photoshoot for the engagement.

Invitations - The theatre printed off tickets that we used as our invitations.

Cake - Tori’s bakery in Hillsborough.

Suits - Nathan got his suits in Next and I got mine in Freddie Hatchett on the Albertsbridge Road.

Dresses - We got our bridesmaid dresses from everpretty.co.uk

Honeymoon - We went through Caroline from Air & Ocean Travel who arranged the entire thing for us and was really helpful when we were worried about the storm!

Celebrant - Avril Hawthorne from Humanists NI

Gift registry - We used Prezola, which had a gift list but also allowed us to put a fund together for our honeymoon, which was entirely covered by contributions from our guests.

LEGO Minifigure table - Magpie Bricks

Favours - I made clay star Christmas decorations in our art department using a stamper I got on Amazon. A few of the kids in my class helped but a big thank you to our art department staff for getting them into the kiln!

Has anything changed since you said “I Do”? Nathan has been accepted to study medicine at Magee and we have almost finished the house renovations - it’s going to be a busy few years!

Anything else we may have missed that you may want to add/mention???

Just some advice: Don’t move house before a wedding. Don’t renovate a house during a wedding. There will be tears!