Kelly & Conor

Our Story

A little bit about us both:

Conor and I met 12/11/2016, I'm from Dublin and Conor is from Clare. He was living in Dublin at the time. We now live in Clare, having made the big move months before the wedding date. We don't make anything easy for ourselves. We were married 11/11/2022, the same year we bought a house, moved across the country and I started a new job.

Our proposal:

The proposal was a complete surprise on a rainy July day. Conor popped the question by a secluded bay called Mannin Bay in Connemara. It's a place we have visited many times together when we stay in Clifden and has become 'Our Spot' making it the ideal place for such a huge moment for us. The sun came out after the proposal and we went for a swim and sipped some prosecco to begin the celebrations!!

Our suppliers:

Our gorgeous cake and cupcakes were made by a friend of my sister who is no longer in the cake industry, we were her last wedding cake unfortunately!
The band and DJ were an amazing group called Arthur. They had EVERYONE up dancing all night and definitely broke the standard wedding band mold which is exactly what we were looking for.
We worked with the Tulfarris Team for the decor and they were better than any company we could have hired. The Manor house, the two bar areas, and the main room were beyond breathtaking!! The team from Tulfarris took a box of decorations, framed photos, candles, and candle holders that we had prepared as well as a selection of children’s toys and sweets for the cart (which they provided) and they told us not to worry that they would use everything to decorate the house and function area. They kept their word and it was stunning, they then packed it all up and had it ready for us to collect when we were checking out. Chic Events, who were recommended by the hotel, supplied the fairy lights backdrop and the sparkling dancefloor, these completed the magic and the room looked unreal, especially during the late-night dancing.
Our flowers were supplied by Wild Meadow Flowers, I can't say enough about the amazing woman who runs this company. They are based in Nenagh and specialize in dried flowers which are in a vase in our house now and are still as gorgeous and vibrant as they were on the big day.
Our photography team were from a company called Best Photo and Video Production LTD. The video and photos are better than we imagined and they also made us a 3 minute video of the highlights of the day & night played over a gorgeous song. This company also supplied a photo booth as part of the package.

Our beauty parade:

The bridesmaids dresses were a mix and match from ASOS, Oh Hello Clothing, and even one from Shein.
Our hair and makeup were done by the talented Keira Smyth.
Core Beauty in Old Bawn also did my own tan as well as some of the bridal party and brides sisters.

Something old, something new?

My something old was my bridesmaids. They are by no means old but our friendships are!!
Something new was my dream wedding dress which I bought in La Bella Sposa in Swords.
Something borrowed was a shirt Conor gave me as part of a present. It was the one he wore on our first date.
Something blue were my flowers in the bouquets, they were the most vivid shades of blue.

Our Big Day

We were married in St. Brigids Church in Manor Kilbride. It is such a stunning, picturesque church which had been decorated by the amazing Bling and Bloom, who were more than prepared for the windy weather we had and who also stood behind me as I entered the church and fluffed my train and veil perfectly before I took off down the aisle, a beyond thoughtful touch.

Our photos were taken in the church, on a stunning road by the church surrounded by trees with colourful leaves and then in the Manor House and outside of it. The pictures are amazing.

The food is something people are still raving about including us. We chose to have a selection of canapes alongside the sandwiches and donut wall for the guests arrival. For the starters we chose Root Vegetable Soup, Creamy Chicken Mushroom & Tarragon Bouche and a Blackcurrant Sorbet. For the Mains we chose an option of the Feather blade Beef or the Sea Hake and dessert was the Sticky Toffee Pudding. We also chose to provide a selection of late night snacks for the party people staying up late.

The food was perfection, our aim was to keep our guests well fed throughout the day and night and Tulfarris made that happen with the most outstanding food. We had high expectations as we have eaten in the restaurant on our numerous stays in the hotel over the years and they surpassed all of those expectations.

We are both in agreement that the whole weekend is our most memorable memory, neither of us can choose just one. The weekend was like a dream, we had no hitches at all as far as we know. If there were any, the team at the hotel did a great job of dealing with it without us even knowing.

We were so well looked after and we have the whole team there to thank for giving us the BEST weekend.

Post Wedding celebrations:

We stayed in the Manor House for the day and night after the wedding. Our families enjoyed rounds of golf, travelling out to Blessington and just relaxing with lunch in the lounge for the day. That evening we had a singer in the bar and were served platters of food. It was a great night!

Why did we choose Tulfarris?

Tulfarris was the first venue we viewed out of 3. We had decided almost immediately because it ticked all of our boxes. We worked with Honora and Claire throughout the decision making time and then as we went on to plan the big day.

No job was too much and no list of questions was too long for these women, I was always made to feel as if our day was the top priority for them. We had some last minute requests such as booking two rooms for the bridal party for the night before the wedding. We booked that only a matter of weeks before the wedding and the request was greeted with a friendly and helpful response as always. Two rooms booked beside each other, breakfast was provided in the room and even that took a weight off the organization stress of the morning. We also decided in the week before the wedding to add canapes to the reception, we were really chancing our arm with the day so close and again they just replied to say it was no problem at all and that it would all be looked after.

As I left the hotel to make my way to the car a member of the Tulfarris team walked me to the car with an umbrella to protect me from the wind. This was something I would never have thought of in the madness of trying to get out the door but they were always a step ahead of us. It's the small touches like that that make Tulfarris stand out.

I would do the day all over again and I would not change a bit of it!!