Wedding of the Week: A wedding proposal at the top of Shandon

Schoolmates Aoife O'Callaghan and James Brady had the most Cork of weddings with a cake from Healys of Blackpool and River Lee photoshoot

Sun, 06 Mar, 2022 - 22:29

Eve Kelliher

You can't get more Cork than a marriage proposal made against the backdrop of the Shandon Bells.

Aoife O’Callaghan and James Brady got engaged in pandemic times, at the Cork landmark, the Church of St Anne. “James had orchestrated a plan to get in there during lockdown and we had the whole tower to ourselves,” says Aoife.

"We’ve always loved to grab a takeaway coffee and go for a walk around the park there. James enjoys photography and that day he told me he wanted to take some pictures from the tower.

“When we got to the top, James asked me to look down, through the camera lens, and next thing, I saw two of our friends below in the garden with banners saying ‘Aoife, will you marry James?'.”

Aoife O'Callaghan and James Brady got engaged at the top of Shandon

Aoife and James were childhood neighbours in Whites Cross and attended the same primary and secondary schools, Glanmire National School and Glanmire Community College. “We would take the same school bus,” says Aoife.

They became friends in their 20s, by which time Aoife was living in Wexford.

“When I returned to Cork, we began dating,” she says.

The couple, who live in Rathcormac, exchanged vows in December in The Kingsley Hotel in Cork which was also their reception venue. “Our celebrant was Carol Cotter who made our ceremony very personal and relaxed,” says the bride.

James Brady with Podge Bullman and Alan Brady

Tomás Tyner captured the occasion on camera, including a photoshoot in the hotel’s penthouse and along the River Lee.

Guests of honour included Aoife’s parents, Noreen and Seán O’Callaghan, and James’s father, Ger Brady, and grandparents, Josie and Jim Brady.

Aoife’s friends, Mary Nolan and Marie Murphy, were by her side as her bridesmaids while James chose his friend, Podge Bullman, to be his best man and his brother, Alan Brady, was his groomsman.

Aoife wears a dress from Vows in Blarney

“We always wanted a Christmas wedding, and a smaller wedding of close family and friends,” says the bride.

“My brother, David O’Callaghan, sang me up the aisle. He played piano and sang David Gray’s 'This Year’s Love',” says Aoife.

The Fureys’ 'When You Were Sweet Sixteen' was the soundtrack to the newlyweds’ first dance.

Aoife O'Callaghan's silver hairslide was her 'something borrowed'

“Our drinks reception room was overlooking the beautiful River Lee. Our wedding coordinator, Charley Walters, made sure everything was perfect on the day.”

Healys of Blackpool baked the wedding cake and Aoife and her dad travelled in style in a Mercedes chauffeured by a family friend, Bertie Hackett.

“We drove up Patrick Street which was very special as so many people waved in at us,” says the bride.

Aoife O'Callaghan and James Brady were schoolmates in Glanmire

Aoife looked elegant in her dream wedding dress, sourced in Vows in Blarney, teamed with Jimmy Choos.

“James bought me diamond earrings to wear on the day and my mother Noreen gave me a silver hairslide as my ‘something borrowed’,” adds Aoife.

Orchid Cottage Crafts created the floral arrangements and the groom and his party were dapper thanks to Morley’s Suit Hire.

Aoife O'Callaghan and James Brady had a December wedding

The mother-of-the-bride designed the wedding invitations. “She painted Shandon Bells and a silhouette of the two of us dancing in front,” the bride.

Three Degrees hair salon in Blackpool and Aisling McEvoy, Vision of Beauty, Glanmire, ensured the bridal hairstyling and make-up were picture-perfect.

Aoife, a primary school teacher, and James, who works at Stryker, started their minimoon in the Kingsley Hotel and then continued the break at Killashee Hotel & Spa in Naas, Co Kildare.