Wedding of the Week: No shortage of fun and games to be had on Cork couple’s big day

Katlyn Buckley and Alan Devereaux exchange vows in Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork

Sat, 04 Oct, 2025 - 17:23

Eve Kelliher

IT WAS a case of let the games begin as soon as Cork couple Katlyn Buckley and Alan Devereaux exchanged vows.

Katlyn, from Farranree, and Alan, from Hollyhill, said “I do” in a ceremony in the garden of Rochestown Park Hotel, on July 10, followed by a drinks reception at the hotel’s Atrium with evening celebration in the venue’s Estuary Suite.

“We wanted an outdoor ceremony with fun and games, and that’s exactly what we got — the weather was in the high 20s with the sun splitting the stones,” says Katlyn.

“We had everything from a roulette table and giant Jenga during the reception to music bingo during the meal — everyone had a ball.”

Katlyn Buckley and Alan Devereaux. Pictures: Bismark Photography

They were married by Carol Cotter, Spiritual Ceremonies, and Willow Buckley, the bride’s cousin, sang during the ceremony.

A cheeky shot before they walked down the aisle started the celebrations. "We had our first shot -- of sambuca -- first one as a married couple!" says Katlyn.

Sweethearts from their teenage years, the couple now live in Bweeng, Co Cork, and first met 12 years ago, in January 2013, through mutual friends.

Sunshine was also to the fore at their engagement, in September 2021, which Katlyn describes as “magical”: “It was all I could have dreamed of and more. We were supposed to head to New York and Las Vegas, but because of covid [pandemic restrictions], we had to cancel, so when the trip was cancelled, we decided to go to our second ‘home’, Puerto Rico.

“Our friends said they would come along for the holiday. We flew out two days before them, and they arrived with the engagement ring [which Alan had bought beforehand] with them. We went to the beach and Alan proposed on the beachfront — it was fantastic.”

Katlyn’s parents, Fiona and Anthony, and grandmother Rose and Alan’s mother, Melissa, helped them celebrate.

The bride’s sister Emma Murphy was her maid of honour, and her aunt Michelle Hourigan and the groom’s sister Abbie Devereaux were the bridesmaids. Alan’s niece Kayla-mae O’Sullivan was the flowergirl.

The groom’s brother Jordan Devereaux was the best man, and his brother Dylan Devereaux was a groomsman, together with his friends Derry Falvey and Anthony Fitzgearld. Katlyn’s cousin Isaac Boyd was a junior groomsman.

Bride, groom and guests flung themselves into a whirl of giant dominoes, as well as rounds of pitch and putt and competitive beanbag-tossing.

“The games were the best part of the day for us – besides getting to spend it with family and friends,” says Katlyn. “We had a game of Mr & Mrs during the meal, and played music bingo and Bring Me, which is similar to musical chairs mixed with a treasure hunt.”

Katlyn chose her dream wedding dress at Wed2B in Dublin, and Alan sourced his suit at Suits.ie, Paul Street, Cork. Nic’s Pin Ups, Holyhill, created the bridal hair and makeup look and Florist 4 U, Cork, devised the floral décor.

Husband-and-wife snappers Sheenagh Morley and Barry Keating of Bismark Photography ( Bismark.ie) were behind the cameras, with Antyony Fleming Productions as videographer.