Sam and William's perfect wedding
“The friendship was the perfect foundation for the amazing relationship we have had ever since. Now he is my best friend.”
Those were the words of Sam Twomey (née Sanjana Mehjabin) from Blarney as we caught up with her to hear all about her amazing wedding to William Twomey, from Cathedral Road. Here’s what she had to say.
Where did ceremony take place and why?
We had a civil ceremony in Oriel House Hotel on 31 May 2019. We had both our ceremony and reception in the Ballincollig hotel. We wanted to spend as much time as possible with our guests. We just can't put into words how amazing this hotel is. Because the civil ceremony was only 30 minutes long, we didn't have any singers.
Instead, we had a playlist playing our chosen songs while the guests were arriving. We had ‘How Long Will I Love You’ by Ellie Goulding for my walk up the aisle. The ceremony was beautiful with some lovely readings, poems remembering lost ones and also plenty of laughs and love.
We walked down the aisle as husband and wife to George Ezra’s ‘Paradise’. I had my three year old Pomeranian dog, Milly, dressed as a bride walking down the aisle with my flower girls. The room was decorated with cherry blossom trees provided by Twilight Entertainment and flowers by Papillon Flowers. My bouquet and William's buttonhole consisted of peach roses while we had cream gypsophila for the bridal party. Pat from Diamond Limousine provided our transport for the day and was great to deal with. After the ceremony, we got some of our wedding pictures taken in the hotel and Ballincollig Regional Park. Our photographer was Vytenis from CarrigPhotos. He is so amazing and put us at ease. William and I can't recommend him enough.
Where did reception take place and what drew ye to that location?
As previously mentioned, we also had our wedding reception in the Oriel House Hotel. We fell in love with this venue the first time we saw it, and nothing was too much trouble for the management and staff. Everything was fantastic.
We had a fabulous drinks reception with prosecco, alcoholic fruit punch, bottles of beer and canapés for our guests.
Our guests were entertained by a piano player provided by the hotel. At the entrance to our reception, we had a white tree which we called our 'Adventure Tree"; it was full of photos of adventures we had had together.
The reception room was just beautiful. We kept the lights blue and had fabulous centre pieces of feather plum trees and cherry blossom trees on every second table. The food was excellent, and we received so many compliments in the days after the wedding about how many guests had enjoyed the whole experience. Our band were The Aristocrats and our DJ was William's friend Darren Lynam.
We had our first dance to 'Kiss Me' by Ed Sheeran. Both the band and D] had everyone dancing their socks off all night. The party was sensational.
We had a flower wall behind our wedding cake and we also had a photobooth. After the wedding, we were given a book with everyone's selfies in it which we thoroughly enjoyed looking through. Tracy from Trace of Cakes made our cake and was so easy to deal with.
For party favours, we had scratch cards and loads of the guests won €25-€50 which was a huge success. We continued the celebrations on the second day in The Courtyard on Sober Lane where we booked the Clann Eireann band.
Where did ye meet?
Sam and William met through mutual friends in 2013. The very first time I saw William was in Cubins nightclub. I was taking a picture with a friend on the dance floor and William photo bombed me. I still have that picture. We chatted on Facebook for a while before we exchanged numbers. We became good friends for the first few months and eventually, it turned into the most amazing relationship after he asked me out on a date.
How long were you going out before you got engaged?
Five years we were together before he popped the question.
How long was the engagement?
We got engaged in 2017 on 25 November at William's 30th birthday party. It took me by huge surprise, I never thought William would propose in front of his family and friends, especially at his 30th birthday party. When I was walking over to give William his 30th birthday kiss, he went down on one knee and popped the question. It was the most magical night when I said yes. There were fireworks outside and we were both in tears.
What was the memorable part of the day?
Walking up the aisle to meet my husband to be at the ceremony. We planned this wedding for a year and a half and for the day to finally arrive felt so surreal. Seeing William at the altar waiting for me and smiling was the best moment of the whole day. We also enjoy taking a few minutes' time away from everyone, just the two of us, to enjoy each other’s company.
Was it hard to keep the guestlist down?
We had everyone at our wedding who is our nearest and dearest. We didn’t have a limit on numbers so it wasn’t hard.
Would you change anything about the day?
Nothing. It was the most magical night ever.
Any tips for couples currently planning a wedding?
Relax and take it all in. It all works out in the end. Trust your suppliers. They are the ultimate professionals. Try not to stress over little details. It will all fall into place on the day. Make sure to put aside a few minutes for the two if you so that you can take in the day. It really is such an exciting and happy occasion so enjoy every moment of it.