Niamh + Max | February 2025
“You made our wedding beyond anything we could have ever hoped for. It was just so personal and sentimental and hilarious and raw and JOYFUL and fun and so very, very, very special. I never wanted it to end.”
Oh my goodness this wedding was so fun, and I emerged from Stone Barn floating so high in the air, that I ended up getting on the wrong train, speeding two hours in the opposite direction down towards Cornwall rather than London. But that’s another story.
It was the bride (Niamh’s) sister (Catriona) who recommended me to the couple, having known each other back in a previous life when I worked for Liz Earle Wellbeing magazine in Battersea and Cat and her husband lived next door. Cat is a sunshine-smile, sarcastic Irish dynamo so I knew I’d love her sister too. And I was right. We hit it off from the first chatty zoom.
They’re from a big family of four siblings, like me and my sisters, and when I arrived on the wedding morning I couldn’t wait to meet them all. And - as I went to check on Niamh in the venue’s bridal dressing room - they all welcomed me with squeals of delight. I was there to excitedly check on them - on the huge occasion of the last family wedding - but they were just as excited to see me. The megababes they are.
And by babes, I don’t just mean personalities…I mean, look at these photos.
Photography by talented Stephanie Green
The other person I was excited to meet was their much-loved octogenarian uncle, Catholic priest Father Tom. He had officiated at the other sisters’ weddings and was to play a role in this ceremony too, but with me leading, as it was important to Niamh and Max to have him bless the marriage, whilst keeping it inclusive to those less religious. I loved Fr Tom immediately as he cheekily noted this was the first time he was to play second fiddle; “I can be your altar boy!” he said, with a friendly grin.
Like Batman and Robin (image by Michael Meade)
In the end we were like Morecambe and Wise, Ant and Dec, thunder and lightening…whatever your favourite duo. Friends and family were facing inwards each side of the wide, central aisle, cosily ensconced in the tealight-lit barn as February rain poured down outside. Fr Tom was smiling up at me from the front row. Towards the end of the ceremony, I welcomed my priest-partner up to lead the lighting of the unity candle, and to do a personal blessing and prayer for the bride and groom. He was a hit, with his tangential stories and paper props, and I was thrilled to share the responsibility of the day with someone so beloved by everyone there.
Niamh and Max’s wedding ceremony was a real family affair, including a sweet mass of flower girl nieces (whose theatrical petal-chucking was met with much laughter from the front rows), sisters Sinéad and Catriona as two of the bridesmaids and her talented brother-in-law on piano. I always love when there is live music during a ceremony, it’s a much more fluid way of building up and fading out as the couple arrive and leave.
On Max’s side of the family there was much excitement as it was the first time in almost 10 years his mum’s side were together, having flown in from New Zealand.
In a further inclusion of family, and another nod to their Catholic upbringing, Niamh’s brother read a beautiful prayer written by Robert Louis Stevenson:
Lord, behold our family here assembled
We thank you for the place in which we dwell
For the love that unites us
For the peace accorded us this day
For the hope with which we expect the morrow
For the health, the work, the food
And the bright skies that make our lives delightful
And for our friends in all parts of the earth
And for those we love
And may look upon no longer
For those whose path will not be ours
For those we teach
And from whom we learn
And for those who hold us in their hearts
And call us home
And we were all home, in that moment, in that snug room.
The bride and groom were fully at home in each other’s company, their vows even making that promise to always be home to each other, no matter where they are.
Guests were at home, encircling a couple they know so well and love so well and revelling in their tangible happiness.
And I was at home in this incredible job, this privilege, this thrill to be part of a day like Niamh and Max’s.
“Everyone was gushing about you and how perfectly you captured our union. We love you!!!!”