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REAL WEDDINGS

It was work that brought Eileen andBrian together, when they met in 2006and were placed on a number of

projects together, and Eileen says simply, “It alldeveloped from there.”

Brian was very creative when it came topopping the question. “The proposal hap-pened on Christmas eve. Brian had gone topick up a few last minute bits and pieces. Hecame home and said ‘I bought you someflowers …take a look’. He followed me intoour living room and told me to go over andsmell them. I went over to smell them andnoticed the engagement ring in the centrerose of the bouquet. Brian then got down on

bended knee and asked me to marry him!”The couple decided to marry in Malta, but

found that organising a wedding in a foreigncountry could be complicated, so decided toenlist the help of a wedding planner. “As bothof us work full time and due to the fact thatwe were coming from Ireland, we knew thatwe would be limited in what we could do.”

They soon discovered Sarah Young, who isbased on the island of Malta and met her inSeptember 2009. “We were ultra-impressed.Sarah went above and beyond for our meeting.She organised a very reasonable rate of stay forus in one of Malta’s top hotels and champagnesent to the room on a number of occasions.

The coupleEileen & Brian

Eileen Kiely, 30, engineerand Brian Coffey, 28,

engineer

Laidback wedding in the beautiful sun-soaked island

of Malta

PHOTOGRAPHY: Jenny McCarthy, www.photosbyjen.ie

The Maltese Falcon

When Eileen and Brian’s boss paired the two up to worktogether on various projects in 2006, little did he knowthat he in turn would be engineering the perfect lovematch of these two individual’s life’s. They married insunny Malta last September

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She could not have been more hospitable.Immediately after meeting Sarah, we knew thatMalta was the place for us to marry.”

Eileen and Brian quickly discovered thathiring a wedding planner removed all ele-ments of stress from the organisation of theirbig day. “Sarah and her team shouldered allour worries and took care of every little detailfrom transport, to accommodation for ourguests and ultimately provided us with anextremely amazing and memorial day. Sarahthought of everything, including a seamstresswhich was a gift, as this lady had everyone’sdress looking perfect.”

There was also the issue of the relevant

The detailsDress Maggie Sottero,www.maggiesottero.comBridesmaids LK Bennett from Brown Thomas, Grafton St, Dublin, T: 01 605 6666,www.brownthomas.comMenswear Supplied by Sarah YoungWedding Planner, Shop 1, DiodorusSiculus Street, St. Julian’s, STJ 1620,Malta, T: 00356 9925 3265,www.weddingplannermalta.comFlowers Supplied by wedding planneras beforeCake Three-tier consisting of madeiraand chocolate fudge. Stationery Julie from BandidoOrginals, Greystones, Co. Wicklow, T: 01 2016733Transport Supplied by wedding planner, as beforeRings Irish Rubies Ltd, 78 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, T: 01 8742047, www.irishrubies.ieMusic Supplied by wedding planner,as beforeReception ‘The Villa B’, St Julian’s,MaltaWedding Planner Sarah YoungWedding Planner, Shop 1, Diodorus Siculus Street, St. Julian’s, STJ 1620, Malta, T: 00356 9925 3265,www.weddingplannermalta.comPhotographer Jenny McCarthy from‘Photos by Jen’, Unit 24, Fashion City,Ballymount, Dublin 24, T: 01 4295748,www.photosbyjen.ieVideographer Supplied by weddingplanner, as beforeHoneymoon Rome

documentation to arrange, however the duo’splanner stepped in and made sure there wereno problems. “The most worrying thing for uswas trying to determine the correct and rele-vant documentation to complete with regardto getting our marriage recognised underboth Maltese and Irish law. Sarah, our plannerprovided us with all of the necessary docu-mentation and guided us throughout thewhole process. We could not have done it allwithout her.”

It was cocktails by the seaside as Eileen andBrian’s guests arrived at the welcoming reception the evening before the wedding.“Our day went without a hiccup. Our recep-

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“The ocean provided a nice,

cool breeze for us all while we

relaxed outside”

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Meanwhile, Brian was oblivious to the stormas himself and the guys were having a greatnight-before-the-wedding in one of the localpubs and noticed nothing!”

Eileen believes that the photography on theday of your wedding can be one of the key ele-ments to organising a successful wedding.“Photographs are so important when re-livingyour wedding day, that we felt this was not anarea we would compromise on. For this reason,we brought Jenny and her work partnerBarbara all with us to Malta. Both ladies were adream to us all. We have recently received ourwedding images and we were overwhelmedwith what we saw.”

REAL WEDDINGS

tion venue was decorated so beautifully ittook our breath away. All of our guests reallyappreciated the view over looking the ocean.It provided a nice, cool breeze for us allwhile we relaxed outside having our wel-coming cocktail reception.”

Malta threatened to undermine its sunnyreputation however, when a massive thun-derstorm struck the night before the wed-ding. “It rained up until 6am the followingmorning, our wedding day. This had me onmy last nerve! However I later found outthat this was a freak occurrence in Maltaand that these storms generally occur atnight and pass over before morning.

}{

Menu

Chicken and mushroom vol au vent

Fruit sorbet

Fillet of beef or grilled seabream

Trio of desserts

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