Paula Hynes: Turning a summer dream into a reality

We laughed, got a little teary-eyed and what was such a simple moment was turned into the most magical of celebrations, writes Aherla dairy farmer Paula Hynes

Paula and Pete Hynes renewing their wedding vows after 25 years of marriage. Picture: Steve Lupson

Unfortunately, Becky's flight from Dubai to Heathrow was delayed, meaning she had to catch a later flight to Cork. 

This then meant we were in Cork Airport at 11:30pm on Wednesday evening and back there again at 4am the following morning, as we had a little break planned in Lanzarote to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

When we realised late last year that we were 25 years married this year, we decided to make a little dream come true. We had always talked about renewing our wedding vows on a beach; we have enjoyed many trips to Lanzarote and also had our honeymoon there many years ago. 

A wedding or vow renewal can be as extravagant as you want, but for us, we love simplicity. 

A quick search on Google, as we discussed the idea, led us to the Lanzarote Celebrant, and after reading the reviews and realising she shared the same birthday as Pete, we contacted her.

From word go, Sarah was amazing to deal with — a simple celebration packed with fun and memories. We filled out a questionnaire and then did a few video calls with her, and although she offered to show us a draft of the ceremony, we declined as we wanted to allow her space to surprise us.

We contacted a few friends of ours in Lanzarote asking them to join us on the beach at sunset to celebrate. We love photography, and Sarah linked us up with Steve Lupson, a great guy to chat with who agreed to capture a few shots before and during the ceremony. 

We arrived in Lanzarote just as their warmest days of 2026 arrived, glorious sunshine, a cocktail or two and time to chat without the cows in tow.

Of course, the warm sunshine meant our little secluded beach was thronged with people enjoying the sea on the Sunday, but just as we got ready, the sun worshippers headed home for the evening, which left us on a very private little beach with our friends and a few bottles of Cava. 

Sarah organised a little altar complete with a candle and a cow teddy, as well as music as I arrived at the beach. The ceremony was truly amazing, like a trip down memory lane for our relationship. 

It was such a special moment to hear her views on us as a couple following our few conversations — we laughed, got a little teary-eyed and what was such a simple moment was turned into the most magical of celebrations by Sarah. 

As Steve grabbed a few snaps of us as a couple and with our friends on the beach afterwards, we had so much fun. There are bumps in the road through 25 years of marriage, but it is crucial to enjoy life together and both Sarah and Steve made us laugh so much that evening, which was the perfect way to celebrate 25 years, simply smiling together. 

Steve's photos are truly stunning, the way he captured the light as the sun set, they are beautiful memories of a magical evening. Young people are always told to follow their dreams. With all the planning that went into our wedding 25 years ago, now that we are a little older and perhaps wiser, we have managed to realise a dream in the simplest of ways

Back at the farm

Two days later, we were back in the milking parlour, the farm was running like a well-oiled machine thanks to Becky, Georgie, Katherine and our French student Thyan.

It is a godsend to come home to dry weather and drier paddocks after the horrendous early few weeks of April. We were due to take a show team to Emerald Expo, but cancelled a week ago, making the choice to prioritise people and the farm rather than pushing ourselves to the limit. 

The weather this spring has been tough, and we are tired; we didn’t waste a minute on our little holiday and probably had less sleep than if we were at home as we sat up late every night chatting. 

Becky is tired after two trips to Australia, with the latest one being three weeks of non-stop work followed by 36 hours of travel home and then straight back into the milking parlour the following morning. 

As it turned out, cancelling our trip to the show was a wise decision as Goergie has sprained her ankle and is now in a boot cast for 10 days, not ideal at the start of the show season, but we are very grateful to the staff in Affidea for being so efficient with X-rays and providing her with the cast. 

Like every other farm, we seem to be a month behind on work due to the weather, so at least now we have a little more time to catch up.

Cork YMA

We also have a little work to do in preparing for the Cork YMA workshop on Monday,  May 5. Georgie and Becky are both on the Cork YMA committee, and the group were keen to get a training day for all young dairy show enthusiasts. 

Gary and Izzy Jones will be giving top tips on selecting a calf for showing, how to prepare, train and show a calf and also showmanship tips on how to walk a calf better in a show ring. 

The group are putting together light refreshments along with a few show supplies for each young attendee. 

It is a pleasure to allow the YMA to use the facilities here and hopefully inspire a few new members, just as they welcomed and inspired our girls a few years ago. Pre-registration is essential, and details can be found on the Cork YMA social media pages. 

There are a vast number of agricultural shows looming across Cork over the next few months, with Bandon Show being one of the first in mid-May, so hopefully we will see rings packed with young kids and calves over the summer.