Our Wedding Story: ‘Home is wherever I’m with you’

Primary school teacher Sadhbh and carpenter and joiner Rob, who are both from Celbridge, Co Kildare, met at a local GAA disco when they were both 14 and have been together ever since. They left Ireland in 2011 for Sydney, Australia where they got engaged in 2015.

“We went to a wine region north of Sydney called Hunter Valley,” Sadhbh says. “Its a beautiful place, and the scenery and pace of life are a welcome change from Sydney . . . I know we were together over 13 years at that stage but I didn’t see it coming as I had done most of the organising of the trip myself.”

The couple decided to come home to get married in Co Kerry.

“We chose Killarney as we haven’t lived in Ireland for a few years and were toying with the idea of a destination wedding, so we thought, ‘why not a destination wedding in Ireland?’,” says Sadhbh.

With long-distance wedding planning help from their parents – John and Brenda O’Shaughnessy and Philip and Margaret McKay – Sadhbh and Rob were married by Fr Paddy Hennessy, a former teacher of the groom, at Prince of Peace Church in Fossa on September 30th, 2016.

A favourite part of the day for the couple took place before they even said their vows.

“We did ‘first look’ photos before the church and it was a great way to steal a bit of time away together and relax before the madness of the day began.”

The groomsmen were Rob’s brothers Paul and Adam, while the bridesmaids were Sadhbh’s sisters Orla and Caoimhe. Rob’s aunt, Orla, made the three-tier cake.

At the reception in Muckross Park Hotel, the band Acoustra performed a cover of Home by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros for the newlyweds' first dance.

“The message of the song is ‘home is wherever I’m with you’ and it fitted our circumstances perfectly.”

Photographs: Insight Photography