Wedding of the Week: Mary and Rick keep things local in Kerry

It's literally a ‘love’ match for this couple who tied the knot recently.

Sun, 20 Dec, 2020 - 07:52

Eve Kelliher

Mary Quinn, from Tipperary, and Richard Love, from Austin, Texas, were wed in the Little Belfry Chapel in Glenbeigh, County Kerry.

“We lived together for a few years in Glenbeigh before moving back to Tipperary in June of this year,” said Mary.

They got engaged in July 2019 in Bath in Britain. “We were visiting my brother, Will, and his wife, Sue, in Bristol and Rick proposed to me when we went out for the day to Bath,” said Mary.

They had a spiritual wedding, co-ordinated by Helen O’Sullivan from Spiritual Ceremonies.

“We had the traditional hand-fasting and my mom, Bernie, got to do the hand-fasting for us,” said Mary.

“My dad, Billy, walked me down the aisle and we didn’t have a bridal party — we wanted a small intimate wedding.”

The bride’s nieces, Erin O’Connor, and Ellie Quinn, both three, were flower girls: “I promised Rick I would be on time to the ceremony and Ellie refused to leave the house until we found her Lol Doll ring. I was thinking, ‘OMG, she is going to make me late’. She also refused to wear her dress at the start and Breda, our amazing photographer, helped us out!”

The newlyweds held their reception in the Towers Hotel in Glenbeigh. “We had a beautiful meal there and my brother and his friend Johnny did the music for us,” said Mary.

“We kept everything and everyone local to Kerry. We used the Kerry Cake company for our wedding cake; All About Flowers in Cromane; we had local musicians on arrival; we used weddingkingdom.ie for our four-foot ‘LOVE’ letters; and Fizzvan in Cromone provided us with a beautiful flower wall — it was the talk of the day.”

“Leta O’Sullivan, the hotel wedding coordinator, was just outstanding and the staff were wonderful.”

“I got my dress from Kerry Wedding Shop in Tralee and rick got his suit in Tuxedo in Tralee town.”

The church music was by Sirona Strings from Dingle. “We had my brother, James, his wife, Bonnie, and kids, Emily and Fionn, watch our ceremony in the chapel from San Francisco along with my other brother, Will and Sue, in Bristol. It was so nice knowing they were there virtually,” said the bride.

The newlyweds had originally chosen Orlando as their honeymoon destination but instead went to Meath. “We went to the Johnstown Estate and booked the Lady Margaret suite — it was so beautiful. Our plan will be to go to Orlando for our honeymoon when the time allows,” said Mary.

The bride is a nurse in South Tipperary General Hospital and the groom is a product manager for the company WP Engine, based in Texas and Limerick. “He is enjoying working from home!” said Mary.

“We are both happy to be living in Tipperary with our four-year-old ‘fur baby’, Penny, who is the love of our lives.”

If you'd like to see your wedding feature in the Irish Examiner, please email eve.kelliher@examiner.ie