This month’s Real Life Wedding goes up north. I first met Ruth when we were on our J1 in New Jersey in 2007! Thanks to Facebook we were able to keep up with what each other has been getting up to over the years. When I saw her wedding pics I was keen to feature her on Lisa’s Wedding World and I was delighted that Ruth and Ryan agreed! Here’s all the details of their big day.
The couple: Ruth Allen and Ryan Martin
Ceremony Venue: Trinity Presbyterian Church, Ahoghill, Co Antrim
Reception Venue: The Wild Duck, Portglenone, Co Antrim
Date: 3rd July 2015
Dress: Paloma Blanca, bought in Logan’s, Cloughmills
No of Bridesmaids/Groomsmen: 5 Bridesmaids and 3 Groomsmen
Bridesmaids Dresses: Coast
Groomsmens suits: Next
Photographer: Jayne Lindsay
Flowers: Sally’s Floral Studio, Ballymena
Band: The Breakfast Club
Hair: Claire Fulton
Make-up: Andrea McCaughern
Length of engagement: 18 months
How did you find planning your wedding?
I found planning the wedding really straightforward and easy. Neither of us wanted a lot of fuss or a big over the top occasion and I definitely think these things are as stressful as you want to make them. I made a list of things I needed to sort out and just worked my way through and once a decision was made that was it, no more looking around!
Was your groom hands on?
The groom definitely wasn’t hands on lol! Ryan wanted even less fuss than I did, we had originally wanted to head off to Vegas or Hawaii to get married but in the end it was decided that we would have a small family wedding at home that I would organise and he would tackle the honeymoon – all he had to do was show up on the day and I got to have all the decisions my own way and then head off on a 3 week holiday, perfect!
Favourite moment of the day?
As amazingly soppy as it sounds my favourite moment of the day was standing in the church saying our vows and Ryan giving my hand a squeeze. It felt like there was no one else in the room but us. Although on a more amusing note another favourite was seeing my new husband, who doesn’t really drink, come staggering across the farm yard after being too polite to refuse the ‘wee’ gin that the farmer’s wife had insisted he take to congratulate us!
Were there any hiccups on the day of the wedding?
We were amazingly lucky as everything ran so smoothly on the day. The weather really made the day I think, it was so sunny and warm and our venue had a fantastic beer garden/sun terrace that all the guests could sit out on and relax and have a few drinks between the ceremony and the reception.
Do you wish you had done anything differently? E.g. booked something earlier, different supplier, invited more/less, etc?
If I had to do it again I would do it all exactly the same, except perhaps to have made a small wedding gift list. Ryan and I just asked that if guests wished to give us presents that they gave us dollars to take away on honeymoon or vouchers that we could go and buy things for the house. When we got home however I didn’t realise that some people really prefer to give a gift so it would have been a little easier than trying to think of things we needed when asked on the spot and remember how many people I had given the same answer to!
Anything unusual that you want to promote the supplier?
Nothing unusual to promote but we had pictures taken on a family friends farm so a big thank you to Alistair for getting the tractor washed up and bringing out the calf!
Thanks so much to Ruth and Ryan for being my September Real Life Wedding.
Love from my world,
Lisa x