Wedding of the Week: A Gilmore Girls proposal and Kerry fairytale for Hannah and Matt
Hannah Doherty and Matthew (Matt) Passardi. Pictures: Padraig Healy Wedding Photography
They met in August 2019 at work in the United States. Five years later and four thousand miles away, Hannah Doherty and Matthew (Matt) Passardi exchanged wedding vows in Kerry.
Hannah and Matt got to know one another when Matt was hired as general manager at Stonewood Grill & Tavern in Tampa, Florida. “I had worked there for about seven years prior as a bartender and server,” says Hannah, who is from Tampa.
“We worked five days a week together and got to know each other through our long shifts. We knew managers and staff could not date, but broke that rule just once on November 25, 2019 — our first date, to see a Tampa Bay Lightning ice hockey game (which Tampa won).
The next day I quit Stonewood where Matt continued to work, and the rest was history!” says Hannah.
Matt, who is originally from Massachusetts and was raised in Tampa, popped the question in 2022. And as Hannah was a big fan of the 2000s drama series Gilmore Girls, there were real Stars Hollow vibes when he set the scene.
“We got engaged on July 17, outside the Rusty Pelican restaurant in Tampa, Florida, near a gazebo which Matt knew was special to me due to my love of the show," she says.
Another gazebo was on the cards for their big day, in the grounds of Ballyseede Castle Hotel in Co Kerry.
John Olthoff officiated at the ceremony in the castle belfry and the reception also took place at Ballyseede Castle.
Hannah’s family are Irish and mainly from Kerry, so they decided to marry there. “We both fell in love with Ballyseede Castle after a night staying there one Easter when we went to visit my grandmother. It truly felt like home and Matt and I, being dog people, loved the fact that dogs were roaming the property freely. Being a place that I used to go to since I was a child — since it's only minutes from my grandmother's house — made it feel more special. My mom even used to work at the hotel back in the 60s!”
The bride's mother and father Liz and Timothy Doherty and the groom’s parents Colleen and Gary Passardi were key to the wedding celebrations, as was Hannah’s grandmother Mary Mahony, who still lives in Ballyseedy, in the same house and farm where Liz was raised.
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Matt’s friend Manny Camunas was the best man and his friend Stephen Rogers and brother-in-law Randall Briggs together with Hannah’s brother Liam Doherty and his friends Kyle Funkhouser, James Neujahr and Dennis Laidley were the groomsmen with Gunnar Briggs as the groomsmen, with Matt’s nephew Gunnar Briggs as the junior groomsman.
Hannah’s friends Hayden Penn and Jacob Hollis were the men of honour and Matt’s sister Samantha Briggs was the matron of honour with Hanna’s sister Erin Doherty as the bridesmaid and her friends Katherine Ries, Alexa Camunas, Olivia Neujahr and Olivia Buschini as the bridesmaids while Matt’s niece Riley Briggs was the junior bridesmaid and the couple’s friend Maria Laidley was the ring bearer.
“The energy everyone had was incredible, and without tooting my own horn, I'd like to think I was a very calm and easygoing bride!” says Hannah. “We had about 50 guests travel from the States and the other 30 were my family who already reside in Ireland."
The bride wore a Jenny Yoo wedding dressm ‘Sparrow’. Maureen McCarthy did the bridal hairstyling while Hannah’s cousin Ally O’Reardon was her makeup artist and Rachel O’Driscoll did the bridal party’s makeup.
Pilgrim Films provided the videography and the floral décor was by Maura’s Cottage Flowers.
Hannah's cousin, Padraig Healy (Padraig Healy Wedding Photography) led the photoshoot.
“Paudie Healy truly went above and beyond and made our day as special as it was. The energy he has behind the camera is incredible, he made everyone comfortable and made everyone laugh which you can genuinely tell in our photos, we are so grateful he volunteered to be there for us on our day,” says Hannah.
“My cousins Noel and Aida Doherty from Killarney (from my dad's side of the family) invited us and our wedding guests two days before the big day to their local pub in Headford called Spillane's Bar. Our American guests got to witness a true singsong and hear traditional Irish music which later helped when our band Flog the Dog sang similar tunes on our wedding night.”
The newlyweds, who work in hospitality and live in Tampa, Florida, enjoyed a minimoon in London and plan to honeymoon in Italy.
- If you would like your wedding featured email eve.kelliher@examiner.ie
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