Gwen Taylour and Michael Cotter Gwen, a graphic designer from Westmeath, met Michael, from Killiney, through mutual friends in 2009. On their second date Michael asked Gwen, “so are you my girlfriend or what?”
After over four years together Michael moved into a house with Gwen and her housemates. Eight months later he proposed during a break in Budapest.
The wedding date was set for October 3rd, 2015. The couple wanted to get married in Ardgillan Castle in Balbriggan, a house built by Gwen's family over 200 years ago where her father Terence grew up. The estate, owned by Fingal County Council since the 1980s, is open to the public and registered to hold civil ceremonies but the venue was too small for the guest-list of 150 people.
So they had the official ceremony in Ardgillan that morning with immediate family and the wedding party, followed by a longer ceremony – presided over by Gwen’s mother Lindy’s best friend, Mag King – in the afternoon at Thomas Prior Hall in Ballsbridge. Michael’s parents are Michael and Josephine.
“The second was much more personal with our mothers speaking, friends singing and saying poems,” said Gwen. “We considered that the ‘real’ ceremony as it was much more special.”
Huge fans of the Game of Thrones series, Gwen and Michael based their table-plan on a map of the fictional continent of Westeros and each table was named after the Great Houses. Felt flowers on each table, made by the bride, matched the colours of the sigil of each family from the series.
Michael's favourite band is AC/DC and instead of a traditional guest book, the couple asked their guests to sign the back of a cream dinner jacket which had a taped off area in the middle. During the speeches Gwen ripped off the cover to reveal MC/GC, their initials, in the same font as the band. The newlyweds live in Terenure and honeymooned for a few days in Santorini, Athens and Istanbul.
Photographs: Elisha Clarke
Correction: A January 30th wedding entry incorrectly spelled the names of Linda Finnan and Andrea Rocca. The couple met in 2012 and not 2013.
