Inside My Wedding: The NI couple’s big day at Tullyveery House

An NI couple have shared a glimpse of their casual and timeless wedding day.

Laura McBride (29) and husband Chris (34) from Temple had their big day at Tullyveery House, Co Down on June 2, 2022.

In Be Inside My Wedding’s weekly feature, couples dive into their special day to give the bride and groom some advice.

Read more:Inside My Wedding: the beautiful day of the NI couple at the Corick House Hotel & Spa

Laura told Be, “Chris and I met through Tinder…He’s the biggest romantic and planned a series of surprise dates before he made it official.

“Our life together has always been a bit of an adventure, and on our third date we had planned a firecracker rally in Africa. Six months later we were in Tangier, Morocco, in a dented Renault Mégane. ‘was unbelievable !

“Chris had originally planned to propose on our second anniversary in Venice, Italy, but unfortunately Covid got in the way. After much planning and worry on his part, six months later, he proposed in Gocek, Turkey on October 6, 2020. He was a lovely surprise.”

Laura told us all about their big day!

Tell us all about your wedding day!

Our wedding day was at Tullyveery House, Co Down. We had always wanted a relaxed and warm atmosphere with the ceremony and reception in the same location and that is exactly what Tullyveery provided. Luckily the weather remained fabulous all day and we had Steve Ames’ most beautiful outdoor ceremony. This will forever be my favorite part of our day.

It was so amazing to take a minute and watch all of our family and closest friends have a great time together.

How did you start planning your wedding?

We knew 2022 was going to be a manic year for weddings, so we actually tried to pick a few dates we liked first, then reached out to venues and vendors. When we found out about the Platinum Jubilee, we jumped at the chance to have our wedding on Thursday!

I think the first vendor we booked was our photographer. Leanne Magill is amazing and we were so lucky to have her on the day.

How did you choose your location?

We had booked most of our suppliers for Thursday June 2 and visited places that still had this date free. It’s not the easiest way to do things, but we had faith and it definitely worked!

We had visited a few beautiful places but they didn’t tick all the boxes. We were ready to accept that maybe the perfect venue for us didn’t exist until I saw pictures of my friend attending her cousin’s wedding in Tullyveery.

It looked perfect and it was even better in person. Charlie and the team couldn’t have been nicer and we knew before we left that this was the one for us!

Tell us all about your wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses and costumes!

I bought my dress at Dream Weddings, Coleraine after visiting a few shops. Sue couldn’t have been more helpful and I ended up stuck between two dresses. Naturally, I realized a week later that I had picked the wrong one, and luckily Sue did everything she could to accommodate this change.

I ended up opting for a custom Eva Lendel dress and couldn’t have been happier. I loved that it was unique to me.

The bridesmaids dresses were from Th&Th which couldn’t have been better after a sizing error. The dresses arrived just in time, a week before the wedding. What I loved about them is that they fit every girl perfectly and they were super comfortable to wear. I was very cool with the theme and the color, I just wanted the girls to feel amazing in whatever they wore!

Chris’ suit was from Suitor Brothers which couldn’t have been more helpful. Anyone who knows Chris will know that he was never going to wear a plain navy blue suit! He looked amazing.

What was the best part of preparing for your day?

My bachelorette parties were some of the best times of my life. I’m so lucky to have amazing friends who all got on well together.

For my hen at home, my husband Chris and my bridesmaids completely surprised me with a hen festival. Chris spent days creating a full festival set up in one of the fields near our house. The amount of effort and planning took my breath away and we all had the best time.

Another highlight was making our wedding rings together during a workshop with Tanya Ireland. We collected gold coins from the amazing women in our families and used them to create our rings. It was such a beautiful and touching moment to have a piece of our loved ones with us on this journey together.

What was the best moment of your day and your other favorite parts?

The ceremony was easily the best part of our day. Seeing Chris expecting me melted away all the stress and worry we had before the day. I don’t remember seeing anyone other than him.

Steve Ames (married by Steve) created the most beautiful personal ceremony for us. Chris attributes his tears to the high pollen count that day!

My second favorite part of the day had to be Chris and my wonderful mother-in-law who surprised me with the ABBA lovelight number!

I have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with ABBA (there really is a song for every occasion) and when they came down the stairs and started singing I collapsed into a heap. Chris had planned many surprises for me over the years, but this was definitely over my head.

What would you tell other newlyweds to plan first and what are your top tips?

I would definitely try to figure out what your non-negotiables are for the day. What do you want the day to look and feel like?

Once you know what it’s like for you, it’s much easier to find venues and vendors that are right for you.

We focused on the location, the entertainment and put a free bar for our guests as a thank you. We didn’t care too much about the wedding favors or the little details.

What were the hardest parts to plan?

Chris and his dad Joe have always been amazing party planners, so honestly, I’ve had it pretty easy! They took the lead on 80% of the planning which I was so relieved and quite refreshing.

Did you encounter any difficulties?

Unfortunately, we were let down by our florist the morning of the wedding. They stopped answering our calls and we were left without many flowers! My poor bridesmaids had to run to the local garage that morning to get something to put in their hair.

As disappointing as it was, our other suppliers really went out of their way to help us. Charlie and Gwen from Tullyveery put up our wedding arch and it was so much better for the pictures!

Did you have a theme?

We really wanted everyone to have a good time and not sweat the small stuff. I would say our wedding was laid back and our final look was quite timeless.

I just want to say a big thank you to all of our amazing family, friends and vendors who made our day what it was.

Read more: Inside My Wedding: The NI Couple’s Timeless Day at Killeavy Castle

Read more: Inside My Wedding: A Belfast woman returns from the US to have her special day

Want to tell us all about your wedding day? Email be@belfastlive.co.uk to be featured!