John, a musician in the band The Abrams, met Alexandra, a teacher, more than 10 years ago at a hockey game in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario.
After five years together, the couple went for dinner on New Year’s Eve to ring in 2014. In temperatures of minus 16 degrees, they watched the fireworks and John proposed.
They planned to get married in Canada but they liked the idea of a wedding in an Irish castle.
“We always assumed it was a bit beyond our reach,” said John. “Our dream became possible after we spent Christmas and New Year’s holiday at Springfield Castle in Co Limerick last year.
“We fell in love with it immediately, and felt compelled to move our ceremony to the castle. We knew we would need to have a much smaller wedding… but we knew we couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”
Castle owners Jonathan and Betty Sykes got the renovations to the 15th-century tower finished in time for the wedding. And on August 26th, 2015, John and Alexandra were married there.
Thirty people were in attendance including the groom’s parents – Brian and Tanya Abrams and Alexandra’s mother Bonnie, father Eric and stepmother Shelley – and the couple’s grandparents.
Alexandra walked down the aisle to her favourite song, Falling Slowly by The Swell Season.
The reception was a family-style meal prepared over three days by John’s grandparents.
After dinner each parent, the maid of honour and best man made speeches before the newlyweds stood up to thank each person who was there for their role in their lives and their contribution to the wedding.
Their first dance as a married couple was to The Luckiest by Ben Folds.
After dinner, they danced to music from an old jukebox that, coincidentally, only accepted Canadian money.
The following day, Alex and John drove to the Dingle Peninsula to enjoy their first days of married life together before flying back to Canada.
Photograph: Taylor Clark Photography, taylorclarkphotography.com
