My Wedding Day with Clíona Standún: I was a bit overwhelmed — I’d have preferred to be a guest

Clíona Standún and her husband David on their wedding day in September 2017.

We got married on June 24, 2017. We had the wedding in Cloughjordan House in Co Tipperary. My husband grew up about 15 minutes from Cloughjordan, and I didn’t really want to get married in Spiddal. I wanted to go further afield.

The big attraction too was Cloughjordan House, which was exactly what we were looking for.

It’s a beautiful old house, nothing too fancy but with all the elegance you’d expect. It was relaxed, rustic and old-world-y, and we both love those things.

We had the ceremony in the church in Cloughjordan. We had tried to find a different church as the one in Cloughjordan is quite big and has a really long aisle, and I was nervous about walking down such a long aisle. But actually, it was so close to the venue and everything that in the end it made the most sense, and I got over the length of the aisle!

We had about 150 at the wedding, which I suppose was big enough, but we both have big families, so the numbers totted up quickly. We planned the whole thing ourselves. When I say “we”, I really mean I organised it all! But I really enjoyed that part of it. I’m used to organising events with work and I really enjoy that side of things. So I spent a long time looking online and the different little things other people did for their weddings and getting inspiration from them.

As much as I enjoyed planning the wedding, the wedding dress shopping wasn’t my favourite part of the whole thing. It was something I wanted to get ticked off the list. The day I collected my dress, my husband and the dog came with me in the car!

For the wedding, I wanted to have a really nice day with my family and friends; that was my main goal. We’d been to six weddings that year and six the year before, and I suppose we wanted our wedding to be a bit different from the ones we’d been to.

Clíona Standún: "The parish priest from Spiddal had travelled to do our ceremony, and that was lovely."

I was okay on the morning, but a bit nervous. Getting ready was a really nice part of the day. It was quiet. It was calm. There were just a few of us. I gave my husband a gift of my granddad’s pocket watch, which I’d had repaired and had the date of our wedding inscribed on the back.

The parish priest from Spiddal had travelled to do our ceremony, and that was lovely. The ceremony itself was as Gaeilge; I grew up speaking Irish at home so it would have been strange for us to have the mass in English. We also incorporated a hand-fastening ceremony using traditional Irish woven crios belts — one of them had the Tipp colours. A close friend sang seán nós songs in the church with my cousin accompanying her.

As a joke, my little nephew was sent down the aisle carrying a sign that read “Last chance to run, Uncle Hanno”. Everyone was laughing at that — my poor little nephew thought they were laughing at him.

Clíona Standún: "The meal was in a big marquee at the side of the house. They had three long tables, which was great; it meant it was all very sociable."

After the ceremony we all popped into the local pub on the way to Cloughjordan House for a pint, and that was great fun. The weather was perfect, so we had the drinks reception at the venue out in the gardens; they have lawn games like table tennis, croquet and things like that, and everyone was having great fun.

The meal was in a big marquee at the side of the house. They had three long tables, which was great; it meant it was all very sociable. And then the venue is known for its food, and it was delicious. They had a lot of sharing platters for the starters, and that kind of added to the social side of it all.

It’s funny, before the wedding everyone was saying, “It’ll be the best day of your life” and “It’s going to be your favourite day ever”, and because I was really enjoying the organising of it and putting our own stamp on it, I expected it to be the best day, but I actually found it quite overwhelming. I found it quite hard to relax into it. I would have loved to have been a guest at the wedding but found it really hard being the bride at the wedding.

Clíona Standún: "The ceremony itself was as Gaeilge; I grew up speaking Irish at home so it would have been strange for us to have the mass in English."

We had discussed having a really small wedding with just immediate family, but when we thought about it, we did really want to have everyone there. The night before, we had a meet-up with everyone in Cloughjordan House; they have this beautiful barn building that they do up with lights. We all had food and played music and chilled out, and everyone kind of settled into it. I think that was my favourite part of the wedding; it was so much fun.

Despite the way I was feeling, I was delighted that everyone was having a great time, and once we all started on the dance floor I did relax into it. Our first dance was to To Love Somebody by the Bee Gees. The dance floor was packed and it was a late night for a lot of people, although I didn’t stay up too late myself!

• Clíona Standún is the managing director of Standún, which is celebrating 80 years in business in Spiddal on September 12 with an in-store event showcasing Irish fashion, design, and craftsmanship.
• Visit standun.com/en-ie