My Wedding Day with Holly Carpenter: 'We used Cork colours to ‘tie the knot’ — Jamie is a proud Cork man'

We had a secular ceremony and one of our best friends married us. We had the ceremony outdoors, under a big tree. And it was really chilled

Tue, 24 Mar, 2026 - 20:00

Deirdre McArdle

We got married in France on September 6, 2025. We’d already had a small ceremony in Ireland in May, at a restaurant called Charlotte Quay, in Dublin, where Jamie and I had had our first date.

There were 14 of us — just our family — and my dad walked me down the length of the restaurant as a little aisle. It was nice, because my dad was quite sick at the time, so it turned out that he couldn’t come to France.

We chose France because when my dad was younger, he did a foreign exchange to a small town in France, and he kept in touch with the family throughout his whole life. It’s somewhere we have a lot of happy memories.

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Initially, in my mind, I really wanted a big chateau, but when we started viewing them, we realised how much work you’d need to do — it would be almost like planning a festival. So, instead, we found a venue, Le Domaine de Baulieu, in a town called Auch, and it ticked every box.

Holly Carpenter on her wedding day. Picture: Susie Kelly.

What really worked out well for us was that we weren’t having a super early ceremony — it was at 3.30pm — so I didn’t have to get up early to get my hair done, or anything like that. We had such a laidback morning, playing music and drinking iced coffee out on the balcony. Although my husband, Jamie, and his groomsmen all went for a run on the morning!

When I was thinking about my dress, I thought I wanted something a bit whimsical that would work with the French countryside. I saw this dress in Verona Bridal in Belfast and as soon as I put it on, I loved it. The dress had a bodice and detachable sleeves, with a really long veil.

I had two bridesmen and two bridesmaids. My bridesmen were in blue shorts and a linen shirt from Louis Copeland, and my bridesmaids were in blue dresses from Dresscode in Dublin.

Holly Carpenter: 'I had two bridesmen and two bridesmaids. My bridesmen were in blue shorts and a linen shirt from Louis Copeland, and my bridesmaids were in blue dresses from Dresscode in Dublin.' Picture: Susie Kelly.

For Jamie’s side, we went to Louis Copeland for all the men’s outfits. The groomsmen didn’t wear suit jackets on the day, because it was so hot, and it actually looked nice that Jamie was the only one in the full suit.

I did my own make-up for the day, which helped me to feel calmer, and I could focus on just doing my make-up and not really think about anything else.

We had a secular ceremony and one of our best friends married us. We had the ceremony outdoors, under a big tree. And it was really chilled. Because dad wasn’t there, my mom walked me down the aisle and my dad was on Zoom for the whole thing.

The weather was a beautiful 32 degrees with a light breeze. We handed out parasols to our guests, and we had our programme made into a fan, so guests could use them to keep cool.

Holly Carpenter: 'We had such a laidback morning, playing music and drinking iced coffee out on the balcony.' Picture: Susie Kelly.

Our friend Ronan, who married us, lives a couple of doors down from us. He was very much around when I first met Jamie; he was in the house with me while I was doing my make-up to go on the first date. He saw our whole story happen, and he was able to weave in stories about us in to the ceremony.

We also incorporated a few traditions into the ceremony. We did the ‘tie the knot’ tradition and we used the Cork colours, as Jamie is a proud Cork man.

We also did the rose tradition, where our mothers had one white rose and one red rose, and they gave them to each of us as a symbol.

Holly Carpenter: 'We also incorporated a few traditions into the ceremony. We did the ‘tie the knot’ tradition and we used the Cork colours, as Jamie is a proud Cork man.' Picture: Susie Kelly

After the ceremony, we had a band playing while we were getting our photographs. After that reception bit, we went into this indoor area, which had all these exposed stone walls from when it was an old farmhouse.

We had fairy lights and beautiful chandeliers; it looked magical. We had really colourful flowers and candles on the table, and we had selected a scent from Voya, because we wanted a few Irish brands and products in the mix.

We found a band called Detroit Rumour on this platform called Fix the Music. We both love Robbie Williams, and the lead singer kind of looked like Robbie Williams. Actually, the week before we flew for the wedding, we went to see Robbie Williams in Croke Park. And then, for our first dance, we had She’s The One.

For our day two, we had a pool party, and our friend DJ Glamo was the DJ. We also had a surprise performer: It was Ronan Keating’s nephew, Josh Keating. I’m convinced he’s going to be a huge star. When he’s famous, we can say he played at our wedding!

When I look back, I think I only took in that it was happening when we were sitting at the top table, holding hands with our mums on either side of us. Looking out at everyone having so much fun together, it felt like all the planning and stress was so worth it. It was a beautiful day and so much fun.