Wedding of the Week: the groom hits all the right notes with a Derek Ryan classic
Julia Kelleher and Ricky O'Donovan with their wedding party. Pictures: Sean Jefferies Photography
Both dedicated country and Irish music fans, Julia Kelleher and Ricky O’Donovan got engaged at a Derek Ryan concert.
And as he proposed, Ricky O’Donovan serenaded Julia with Derek’s song .
“We both absolutely love Derek Ryan,” said Julia.
That was in January 2019 at Killarney’s INEC, and in May of that year, the couple set the date for their wedding, September 3, 2021.
When the big day dawned, Julia was in for another pleasant surprise. The chords of the Derek Ryan classic rang out the moment she stepped into the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her native Doneraile, Co Cork.
Ricky, awaiting her at the altar, then proceeded to sing Julia up the aisle.
The bride and groom, from Kildorrery, Co Cork, were wed by the bride’s cousin Fr Liam Kelleher, Cobh, and held their reception in the Charleville Park Hotel.
Helping them celebrate were the bride’s mum, Sheila Kelleher, and the groom’s dad, Dickeen Donovan, and, of course, the couple’s son, Bobby, four, who enjoyed taking on the key role of pageboy for the occasion. “Bobby is our life!” said Julia.
Also very much in their thoughts were Julia’s father, the late Jerome Kelleher and Ricky’s mother, the late Betty Donovan.
It was a case of love at first sight for Julia and Ricky, adds the groom.
“We first met while working together in a local nursing home,” said Ricky.
They both worked with the elderly, Julia as a care assistant and Ricky, as a registered nurse. “We became close friends and then went on to start dating each other,” he added.
On her big day, Julia’s sister Elaine Kelleher was her maid of honour while her bridesmaids were her nieces, Ciara Hones and Chloe Enright, and her best friend, Katie Stack.
“Katie and I have been best friends since playschool — there are two days between us, she was born two days after me!” said Julia.
Ricky’s friends were by his side, James Dwane, as his best man, and Robert Coughlan, James Magner, and Colin Palmer as his groomsmen.
Anthony Palmer and Mark Lenihan donned chauffeur caps for the day to drive the wedding cars for the couple.
Sean Jefferies, wedding photographer, and Pat O’Hara, videographer, captured all the special moments on camera.
Julia was picture-perfect in a wedding dress made by a seamstress in Charleville, with hair and makeup by Catherine Hickey, Limerick, while Ricky cut a dapper dash in a suit by Suits Distributors, Cork.
Una Fitzgerald designed the floral arrangements and the bride’s creative flair shone when ensuring their big day was extra special.
“Julia did a lot of her own décor, including a wedding bike, mirror and she arranged bags of sweets for the bridal party — and even tissues to dry people’s happy tears at the wedding,” said Ricky.
The couple made sure Ricky’s brother, James, and his family did not miss out on the wedding fun, even though they live Down Under. “We Facetimed him so that he was part of it all and his partner Kate made him the same meal, so he had everything we had to eat at the wedding at home in Australia,” said Julia.
The newlyweds have yet to plan their honeymoon due to the pandemic but took time out after the wedding with a spa day in Cork’s Kingsley Hotel. The bride, who works in Aldi, and groom, a nurse, live in Kildorrery.
- If you would like your wedding featured, eve.kelliher@examiner.ie
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