GNI MAG WEDDINGS__ TELL US ABOUT YOUR WEDDING DAY… JAMIE We had 140 friends and family attend Larchfield Estate for a humanist ceremony. I was anxious about the service because I’ve only ever attended religious denomination weddings. I was worried that a civil partnership ceremony somehow wouldn’t feel enough, but we couldn’t have asked for better. We had debated waiting until such time as same sex marriage becomes legal in N.I but we’re stubborn and neither of us liked the thought of other people dictating what we could and couldn’t do and when. To us we are married despite what the document might say. After the ceremony everyone was able to mingle outside during the drinks reception in the Orangery. Our reception was held in the main barn. We wanted it to have a rustic but romantic feel. Blue Moon helped us to decorate with fairy lit backdrops, lace beam runners, and draped entrances. A lot of it we did ourselves with family assistance though. I was completely overwhelmed by the speeches. Gordon Crawford Aka Trudy Scrumptious was our Master of Ceremonies so our guests were entertained from the outset. Everyone put so much effort into their words and in the case of my best women she put it all into song while playing her accordion.
After dinner Manouche Swing played in the barn to get everyone on their feet. We kicked off the dancing to Runaway by The Corrs but were quickly joined by our friends on the dance floor. DJ Kenny Kane played in the side room just off the main barn. I blame him for the state of my dress the day after because I spent the whole night swinging it about the stage and floor dancing. GRAINNE It was magical from start to finish, Larchfield estate was the perfect venue, it was like a fairytale! Everything went perfect! We couldn’t have wished for a better day! WHAT ABOUT THE FOOD AND DRINK… JAMIE We used Janes Kitchen for the food. They regularly cater in Larchfield so it was seamless. We’d had a tasting about a year before when we were choosing a caterer and Jane’s Kitchen didn’t disappoint. It was all delicious, even our two Dads who are notoriously fussy finished their plates. Although Grainne might not be able to tell you how it tasted. She was so nervous I ate most of her dinner too. A friend made our Victoria sponge VW wedding cake to tie in with Grainne’s love of campervans. We had a mini theme of VWs running through our
JAMIE & GRAINNE
day which I’d tried to resist at the start lol. The bar staff were great. We didn’t go without a drink in our hands all day. They even brought us Refresher Bombs during the evening do to keep us topped up. The only issue was (as we found with several vendors in the run up) was the immediate generic ‘thank you Mr and Mrs Bowman’ email the day after the wedding. Perhaps it was even an oversight of the letter ‘S’ in Mrs but it had been an issue in some of the planning. After that notorious cake incident (and especially as a girl with a boyish name) I felt we needed to be upfront in every email / initial contact about being a same sex couple incase it was going to effect the service we were requesting, and even with that prewarning we still turned up to meetings were they assumed I was Grainne and had brought my friend not fiancé for assistance. GRAINNE The food was beautiful, we used outside caterers Janes kitchen, they were a great choice! With our wedding being in October we wanted a nice warm menu for our guests. For our evening guests, and incase anyone was feeling hungry after a few drinks, we had staff bring round trays of mini steak burgers and chip cones.
GNIMAG.COM | 123