My Wedding Day with Orla Hopkins: Our ceremony was short and focused on our families coming together

One of my favourite memories of the day was my dad's speech. Sitting there and listening to my dad and how he talked about bringing the two families together was just really special to me

Orla Hopkins married her husband Tommy at Lisnavagh House and Gardens in Carlow in 2008. Picture: Lili Forberg.

We got married on June 20, 2008 in Lisnavagh House and Gardens in Carlow. We actually had the second-ever wedding there. At the time, the family who own it was just in the process of opening it up for weddings. It was early days for them, so our wedding looked a lot different to what they do now!

We wanted somewhere where we could hire out the whole place; where we weren’t limited by curfews or worrying about disturbing other guests. We hired our own marquee and our own caterers. I say we, but we did work with a wedding co-ordinator, who was brilliant.