My Wedding Day with Linda Stinson: ‘I woke that morning to a patchy and green fake tan disaster’

Jason and Lisa: Even the priest got in on the gangster theme.

We got married on November 29, 2013. We had the ceremony in the chapel in Pomeroy, Co Tyrone, where I’m from. In fact, we used to live directly opposite it when I was growing up. 

My bedroom was at the front of the house, facing the chapel, and I used to spend my time looking at all the brides on their wedding day. I couldn’t wait to get married there myself!

We had the reception in Cabra Castle in Co Cavan. We’ve quite a large family — there were 280 at the wedding — so we needed somewhere that held the numbers. We booked out the whole castle, and everyone stayed there on the night.

I had my daughter, Holly, at the time, so she was our floral girl, and then all of my four sisters were my bridesmaids. Jason’s brother and a few of his friends were groomsmen.

I wanted a real 1920s' wedding. I’ve always been into black-and-white movies and that whole era. I love that women were getting that bit of freedom again to be able to go out and dance. And I’ve always loved the style: The flapper dresses, the sequins, and the glamour.

I made up a poem for our invites: “Come as a flapper. Come as you are. Come as a gangster or a silent movie star. It will be fun, no matter what the dress. Just bring yourself and we’ll do the rest.”

And we were delighted, because a lot of the guests came all dressed in the 1920s' gear: The men in gangster suits and women with their fur stoles.

The only thing was that the theme meant I searched high and low for a wedding dress. A lot of the dresses back then were big, almost Cinderella ball gowns, and that’s just not me. I had seen a magazine article where they had done a 1920s-themed wedding shoot, and one of the dresses jumped out at me. It was from The White Gallery in Newry, so I went there and I saw the dress hanging in the corner. It was the only one they had; it was a sample.

As soon as I tried it on, I thought, ‘That’s the dress’. I bought it there and then. I also got a diamond-encrusted headpiece, and my auntie made me a big fur stole. I had an ostrich feather fan instead of a bouquet.

Lisa and Jason on their wedding day: 'On the morning of the wedding, I didn’t have time to be nervous, because I had an absolute disaster to deal with.'

All my bridesmaids wore 1920s-style dresses, too, with the dropped waist, and Holly’s dress matched theirs, in a lovely dusty pink. Jason wore a top hat and tails with a white scarf over the suit, and he added a pocket watch. I also put my father into a white tux, against his will.

To be honest, I couldn’t believe how much the guests got in to the theme. Even the priest — it was his first wedding — got in on it. At the start of the ceremony, he said: “I was warned, when I came here, that there were a lot of gangsters at this wedding, but be warned, everything in this chapel is nailed down!”

On the morning of the wedding, I didn’t have time to be nervous, because I had an absolute disaster to deal with. I had gone for a spray tan the night before. When I woke up the next morning, it was a mess.

I suffer from eczema, and everywhere I had patches of eczema, the tan had stuck. And it had gone green, too, under my arms. So, let’s just say there was absolute chaos. 

My sister roller-painted my back with foundation, and I had to use bleach under my arms. Look, I just had to suck it up, the wedding was happening, so we just had to get on with it.

Lisa and her husband Jason: 'The dance floor was full all night, and the bar was full all night. I remember the owner of the hotel said it was the best bar he’d had in a while.'

When we were travelling to Cabra Castle, we had an old-time car, like something from The Great Gatsby. I was raging, though, because it was teeming down with rain; we could only put the hood down for two minutes.

We had a jazz band for when guests arrived at the castle. During the meal, we had the singing waiters and they had everyone up on their feet, swinging their napkins around their heads.

Afterwards, we had a band and a DJ. For our first dance, we had a rave track — it was a real party starter. A slow dance just isn’t us. So, everyone was up on the floor from the get-go. I love a good party and a bit of craic; our bridesmaids walked into the room to Who Let the Dogs Out?

The dance floor was full all night, and the bar was full all night. I remember the owner of the hotel said it was the best bar he’d had in a while. He said he’d never seen as many bottles of brandy drank in his life.

Everybody had a good time. And, you know, it was close to Christmas, too, so people were getting in the festive mood. I’ll always remember dancing all night and just having the craic with everyone.

• Linda Stinson is the founder of Irish beauty brands Bellamianta and Iconic Bronze. Products are available on bellamianta.com or at the company’s first Irish store in Rushmore Shopping Centre in Co Armagh.