SCHOOL sweethearts, Edel McBride and Stephen McMenamin have tied the knot in the Villa Rose Hotel after being together for eleven years.
The couple met at Stephen’s 18th birthday party in 2015, when they both attended St Columba’s College in Stranorlar.
After a couple of hints, Stephen, who is originally from the Crossroads in Killygordan, gave Edel a Christmas present she won’t forget by proposing to her in the house they now live in on Christmas Day.
“He called me and told me to come up for my Christmas present and I thought “this is such a handling, I have to come from Castlefin up to Ballybofey”, Edel joked.
“But it was worth it,” she said.
Planning made easy
The pair got married in Castlefin, where Edel is from, and when it came to picking the venue, one visit to the Villa Rose wedding fair was enough to convince them.
“As soon as we went in we met Emma”, Edel said, “We knew straight away once we met Emma that we wanted to have it in the Villa Rose.
“She made us feel right at home.
“She spent time talking to us about everything and we both just agreed that yes, we were going to have it in the Villa Rose.”
Edel beamed of how Emma Browne, the wedding coordinator, made everything so easy.
She said: “I had poor Emma’s head tortured I’d say.”
“Anything I asked for or any question I needed answered, it was never too big or too small.
“She had no problem answering it or getting anything sorted for me. She was brilliant.”
Edel explained that when it came to decorating the venue, she wanted to keep things simple, and she was happy for Emma to take the lead.
When Edel and Stephen went to their menu tasting at Villa Rose back in January, they met Declan from Simply Devine Weddings.
Edel said: “He had these Chiavari chairs and I decided I wanted them.”
Declan also dressed the windows with fairy lights as well as providing flower arches for the wedding cake stand.
Edel added: “On the Wednesday before the wedding we realised we needed chairs for the chapel.
“So we thought we’d call Declan and see if we could get the same chairs and thank God he said it was no problem, he had extra.
“So even with the last minute things everybody was so easy going, nothing was a problem.”
Tastes to suit everyone
For food, the couple decided on the Villa Rose’s package number three, which allowed them to pick three mains.
Edel, mum and some of their guests were gluten free and dairy intolerant, but that was no problem and the chef prepared a different option to suit them.
For everybody else they chose beef, chicken with pesto, salmon, and a vegetarian option.
Edel said: “I think everybody cleaned their plates.
“The portion sizes were unreal and it tasted beautiful.”
And guests couldn’t get enough of the three-tier wedding cake that was made by Terri of Terri Pie in Castlefin.
Edel said: “We had red velvet, lemon drizzle, and then the top tier was gluten free and it was vanilla with buttercream and jam.”
They even had some cake left over for their day two in Edel’s family pub, McBride’s in Castlefin.
Edel added: “They couldn’t get enough of it.
“It really went down a treat.”
Edel and Stephen at the thatched cottage in Villa Rose Hotels gardens. Photo by Paul Doherty.
Thankfully the weather held up on the day and the couple could make the most of the beautiful Villa Rose gardens, with photography and videography by Paul Doherty.
“It had been raining all that week and I think there was about four Child of Pragues out on the Thursday night” Edel laughed.
“So I must say, we got a great day.”
She continued: “I’d always heard about the gardens but I actually couldn’t get over the size of them.
“They were huge.
“They’re beautiful and they’re so well kept.”
Back at the reception, the couple and their guests were greeted by prosecco, which was always refilled, bottles of beer, a seasonal punch, and “ample” food.
Edel said: “There was so much food and the guests commented on that too and they said the food was great.”
Edel also got special attention from the staff who would always make sure she had enough gluten and dairy free food.
She said: “Every twenty minutes or so they would come up and make sure I was ok or if I needed anything. So we were very well looked after.”
As part of their wedding package, the hotel provided a sweet cart as well as drinks for everybody attending.
Edel explained that on the day before the wedding she dropped up a box of toiletries, flip-flops for guests and a list of some last minute bits to the hotel, and added that everything was “just perfect” on the day.
The hotel even distributed goodie bags of water-bottles, crisps and Panadol that Edel had bought, to the rooms of guests staying over.
For music, guests were welcomed to the reception by Adam and Jess Hannigan from Ballybofey, the main band was Bridal Wave.
Conor Clinch provided music after dinner to keep everyone up-beat, before the DJ started.
Edel said that out of 280 guests there were always around 200 people on the dance floor.
The next morning, there was a great catch-up over a “fantastic” breakfast.
“It was really good and so fresh.”
For their honeymoon, the McMenamins travelled the islands of Greece.
“We went to Athens for two nights, Rhodes for four nights and then Kos for four nights.”
“It was beautiful.
“It was 34 degrees but there was a nice breeze.”
Now settling into married life, Edel said they felt “really spoilt” throughout the whole week and had a fantastic time celebrating with their family and friends at the Villa Rose.