Wedding of the Irish Weirdos

Wedding of the Irish Weirdos - those are the words of Robert Fulghum and his words were referred to at the end of the very beautiful wedding ceremony of my niece Sabrina Moris and her fiancé, Declan O'Dea.

Earlier this year, I got word that there was to be a wedding in Ireland. Sabrina and her boyfriend, whom I had met late in 2018 at Sabrina's graduation, got engaged.  The wedding was to take place in the Irish country village called Trim.  Roughly 1½ hours outside of Dublin.

Sabrina's mother, Cathy, wrote to me to tell me there was a bus from Dublin airport with a change to a direct bus from down-town Dublin to Trim.  Then at the last minute, Cathy wrote to me again to say they were getting a car and that I could drive along with them.  Cathy arrived in Dublin about a week before me and my brother Michael arrived a few days after Cathy.  They ended up picking up the rental car the same day that I arrived.  They knew of my flight schedule landing time and we agreed to meet at the auto rental agency desk.  It was all too convenient.   Then came the real challenge for my brother: driving on the left side of the road with stickshift on the left.  Not an easy job.  From the airport we drove to Sabrina and Declan's home. 

ok - sorry Michael. I am going over this for the 4th time and I just can't resist telling the story.  

Cathy rented a car but Michael forgot to pick it up - too funny.

Then Cathy is ticked because the big car is too small - so she gets a bigger one.

Then Michael gets behind the wheel, Cathy in the passenger seat and big brother, Eddie, in the back seat.

Then we all get whip-lash as Michael tries to figure out 1) how to get into first gear and 2), how to get out of the parking garage.

Then we get whip-lash to the 3rd degree while trying to figure out the GPS and where to go and how to get to Sabrina and Declan's home.

Then we have to roll down the windows because the smell from the motor is suffocating us.

Then we have to roll the windows up because the smell from the motor is coming into the car from the outside.

Then we have to roll the window down because we are about to die.

Finally we get to where Michael and Cathy had their BnB and we all gasped for fresh air. 

We opened all the doors of the car because everything stinks of burned motor.

Something is seriously wrong with the rental car.

We call the agency to say come pick up your shitty shitty bang bang car.

They put us on hold for at least 35 minutes.

Then the woman on the phone says: well send someone out to look at it.

NO! you send a new car!

Either they send a new car or we are just gonna melt this cheap piece of shit car to the ground!

About an hour or so later,  an auto mechanic finally shows up.

Everything still stinks in the car.

It turned out to be the clutch - who knew you couldn't start a car in 3rd gear?

ha ha ha

oh it was all too funny - looking back on it now.

At the time we were like the car - fuming.

Finally we pulled in to Sabrina and Declan's driveway. We packed the car with luggage, and boxes and what-not for about 6 or 7 people plus the wedding dress which was the last thing in the car and very carefully placed on top of everything else as if it were a golden magical fairytale dress.  In a sense, it really was.

From Dubin we made our way to the counrty highway which ended up backing up with Friday late-afternoon traffic.  On the GPS we found a long cut and took it.  This helped us by-pass half of the traffic that presented itself on my google maps app.    There fell major amounts of rain on the way.  But when we arrived to the hotel parking lot, we were greeted with flowers and sunshine.

 

 

 

 

The hotel specializes in wedding events.  The place was so charming and basically rented out entirely to the wedding party.  We all checked-in, got our bags & luggage put in place and then we were ready we meet in the hotel bar for a nice black Guinness and to chillout and thank god that we had survived left handed, whiplash driving.  It was hard being a backseat driver and not panicking.

The plan was that in a short time from our arrival, we would all head out to a StockHouse Restaurant where a party room was reserved for those who had already arrived and were staying at the hotel.  Mostly close family and close friends. We would say hello, have a few drinks, chit-chat, catch up and celebrate the "to be newlyweds".  Then we would sink our teeth into a very tasty meal.

 Stockhouse Restaurant on the left and Trim castle ruin on the right.

  

 The groom in blue shirt, his father in purple checkered shirt, his younger 

brother in gray sweater, the bride and next to her is her brother in white shirt.

 The bride and her mother.

After dinner, I walked around town to snap a few pictures and see what the town had to offer.  It's a very small village which I wondered through a bit on each day I was there.  I will save all the village photos towards the end of this story.

The following day was the wedding day.  In the hotel, there is a banquet room and wedding room.  To say "wedding chapel" would be incorrect, as you will see in the photos.  There were really no religious symbols which was very refreshing.

Before the start of the wedding, most of the guests met in the hotel lobby for a drink and/or in front of the hotel for a smoke.

 Sabrina's parents: Cathy and my brother, Michael.

Then it was time to make our way up to the wedding hall.

Ok... so now I am crying because I just lost 4 hours of blog work.  My computer lost connection to the internet server but then it came back on a bit later.  It did this twice in the 4 hours that I was working.  My blog showed that the work was, in fact, being saved - but it lied directly to my face.  So now I have to try to pick up where I left off - and actually I left off one week ago.  I just now returned from Germany but that's another blog in itself.  Plus a new car. Plus a protest in front of the US embassy.  Plus a real job.  Plus a sick hubby.  Sick I tell you, Sick!

Ok, unfortunately I will have to do the short version to try to catch up to speed.

Here we go.....

Let's start with the wedding hall, shan't we?

So after all the guests are in their seats, the groomsmen walk in with the bridesmaids. My camera is not adjusted correctly to the low lighting and that is he reason for my blur.  So sorry.  Also while snapping photos in Germany just this past week, I discovered that my camera was set for close-ups.  I never claimed to know what I was doing.  I just point and shoot.

Anywhoo..... here are a few pix of the wedding party arriving into the wedding hall.

 Then the father (my little brother) walks in with the bride.

And then the groom takes over.

The bride and groom then sit in chairs off to the side while the Humanist Celebrant, Sally O'Kelly, welcomes everybody and briefly tells a bit about herself, the ceremony and how she is connected to Sabrina and Declan.

And then there are spoken words of care and joy, with hopes, best wishes and sincerity.

Then the mothers of the bride and groom are invited to come forward to light a candle which represents the beautiful couple individually. 

The 2 "candles" shall now become one.

Now the couple is officially married and presented as husband and wife.

As a symbol of becoming one, the newlyweds now take their individual candle and bring them together to light a single unity candle.

Official documents are now signed.

The humanist now gives her closing words and then Declan and Sabrina depart the wedding hall to loud cheers and applause.

CONGRATULATIONS DECLAND AND SABRINA ! ! !

Now maybe this may appear to be a rather simple wedding; a room draped with white fabric and a few lightbulbs.  For sure there is no Las Vegas flash to it.  No beautiful Pacific island with swaying palm trees.  No water falls with synchronized music.  Nothing Hollywood about it.  And though it does take place in the country village of Trim, Ireland with one of the most important historic castles from the late 1100's, (which kind of beats out Vegas, Hollywood and Hawaii), this wedding could have taken place anywhere and still not be more beautiful than it was.  It was a totally non-traditional wedding yet a wedding you wish you would have had for yourself.  It was a very personal wedding.  One that keeps with modern times.  One that can be related to your life - their life, that is.

For those of you who really wanted to be there but couldn't, I just happened to snag the entire wedding in form of text and will now share it with you.  For those of you who were there, you too can now re-live the moment.

Here is where my eyes got wet -  at the last half of page 9.  

And I noticed a few others passing the tissue around as well.

And here at the bottom of page 11 you can read why I gave this blog the title that it has.

You're welcome.  And I must say it again - it was a very, very beautiful wedding.

Then.... after the wedding ceremony and in the hotel lobby:

And then it was time for official professional photographs.  I just hung along side of the camera man and snapped along.

 Sabrina's mom and dad.

 

 Declan's mom and dad.

 

 

 

all the brothers

Yes, yes.....  all these people have names but you just need to know who these people are.  This is Uncle Larry and Aunt Karen.  Very sweet and kind people.  I had the privilege of having them as guest when Jens and I lived in our house on Gladiolusvej.  They are the ones responsible for this mess.  So if you don't like the way things turned out - blame them.

All that photographing worked up an appetite.  So now it was time to go back into the hotel banquet room to find our designated seats at the numbered tables.

Then the wedding party of groomsmen and bridesmaids are seated.....

Then in walks the newlyweds.

 And now the fun begins with good laughter, good food, and encouraging speeches.

Sorry, forgot to snap the appetizer which was a really lovely creamy chicken in a pastry shell.  Well that's the way I remember it and I remember wanting more of it too.

But of course I had to leave space for cake.

After a wonderful dinner, it was time to...….. to...…. 

Well, I don't really remember what happened after dinner.  I think I was overly stuffed and overly Champaigned  so I went for a walk to St. Mary's to say a few abracadabra's for my hubby, Jens.

When I returned, there was some serious celebrating going on.  

It was great fun and really interesting to see that the Irish enjoy dancing as a group instead of just one on one.  That made it so much fun.

Here are just a few of the many dance photos I snapped.

And Yes, they are all dark and blurry.

 The parents in a group dance-hug.

names of people

names of people

yadda, yadda yadda

And then fianlly it was newlywed time.  

Man! that Declan was smokin'.  

The whole night he was the coolest kid on the dance floor.  

He's got the moves like Jagger. He's got the moves like Jagger.

 And his reason for dancing?

Well..... it's pretty obvious, ain't it?

There was more group dancing than couples dancing.

Then it was time for the father - daughter dance.

 

 

 

And then the mother-son dance.

 

Then the tossing of the "bow-kay" as the dj pronounced it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then some more group line dance.

The night went on well into the wee hours.  Everybody was so happy.  Everybody was having a great time.  Not just a nice time, but a great time.  Lots and lots of celebrating of the wonderful newlywed couple.  It made me feel so nice, all the love that was shared between everybody.  Just amazing.  And I know my brother, this evening, was a very, very proud father.

Eventually for me, I had to call it an Event.  So up to my room to crash and then up early the next day for breakfast and then off to discover the village of Trim.  The map below shows the points of interest, hotel, welcome dinner restaurant, after wedding pub, bakery and bus stop back to Dublin airport. (which by the way.... Aunt Karen gave me a personal guided tour to the bus stop - really.  I was so honored)  According to Google Maps, it is only a 10 minute walk from our hotel to the James Griffen Pub - which is where the after wedding party was held.  Walk 5 minutes more and you'll be out of the village.

Just around the corner from our accommodations, Arch Castle Hotel, is Saint Patrick's Church.

But before you get to the church, you pass this monument which is just a 2 minute walk from the hotel.  If you get lost in Trim (that's a joke) you can use the 75 foot / 23 meter high colum as a reference point.  Atop of the Corinthian colum stands a statue of Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington.  Wellesley, born in Dublin in 1769, is most noted for his victory role against Napoleon in the battle of Waterloo of 1815.  He was a leading military and political figure, serving twice as Prime Minister in 19th century Britain blah blah blah.  Google it yourself like I'm doing right now for more info.  The colum was paid for and erected by the residents in the area in 1817, just 2 years after the victory battle.  It is here in Trim because Wellesley lived in the area.  But while you are Ooooing and Ahhhhing over this war hero, I of course hate him because he also had a main role in the 2nd battle of Denmark.  This is because Denmark sided with France and was protecting the French merchant ships.  Britain wouldn't have it and eventually the British basically sunk the Danish fleet and burned Copenhagen down to the ground.  But at the moment, it's the British who are sinking with Boris Johnson and his ideology.   

 In under 10 minutes you can walk from St. Patricks church to the River Boyne.

Trim Castle - Ireland's largest Anglo-Norman castle.

Built in 1172 and took 30 years to build.

 

 Top of the castle

The wall surrounding the castle with Yellow Steeple of St. Mary's Abbey in the background - from 1368.

The tower wall/steeple of the abbey is 40 meters / 130 feet tall.

Along the river's edge is Sheep Gate.

In the 13 century, a wall was built around the village.  Sheep Gate is the only one of 5 gates into the village that has survived the test of time.

In less than 3 minutes walking from Trim Castle is Irelands oldest bridge.

  

  

First they sink the Danish ships....
then they burn down the town to the ground...
and then centuries later they sell Danish beer everywhere.

From the bridge, I walked the streets. It took all of 25 minutes to cover the entire village.   It was Sunday and just about the entire town was closed.  Less than a handful of shops were open including pubs and restaurants.

It was windy and getting cold.  At this corner on the right, there was a tiny coffee shop.  I went in just for coffee to warm myself up.  I ended up sitting in a seat right next to the cake/pastry window display.  So of course I had to order a slice of cheesecake to go along with the hot coffee.

Harvest Home Bakery and Cafe.  

There's no webpage but if you google it, 

you'll get some tasty photos to make you fat.

Eventually it was time to take the castle tour.

Here are a few photos from the inside of the castle

as well as looking out from the castle at the amazing views from the roof top.

There were 3 different models from different building periods.

And here are some of the views from the top of the castle.

The green building in the middle of the photo is the hotel we stayed at.

The day started out sunny but eventually built up to a heavy dark sky.   After the castle tour, I headed back to the hotel and was hoping that I would not have to use the umbrella.   I didn't.   Just a few steps away from the castle, I heard a message come in on my phone.  It was Cathy asking me to come and join the family for lunch.   As luck would have it, they had just sat down at the restaurant where we ate our welcome dinner.  I knew where the place was at.  I was just a few steps away from the castle and a few steps away from the restaurant. When I walked in, the waitress was just beginning to take the orders. Just moments after I sat down, the sky opened up and it poured like crazy.  We wondered if we were going to get washed away.  It actually started to drip down onto our table.  Luckily however, the weather was actually warm enough that with the use of the hanging heating elements, we could very comfortably have our lunch in the covered patio.

 Notice Aunt Karen in the back on the left.

Now Aunt Karen is on the right because the water was dripping on her and you can see the wetness running down the wall.

 A baby Guinness in Aunt Karen's hand.
  And here you can really see the walls are all wet.

Yet it was a really cozy spot, out on the street with the front side open, facing the sidewalk.

The match makers.
It's all their fault.

Now take a look at this map again.............

.....and see just how close we are sitting to the 12th century castle.  We are at the StockHouse Restaurant where from the upper floor, you can see the castle. The whole thing was like a very colorful dream.  

And if you have the feeling that you have been here before or you feel like you are experience déjà vu or  maybe even thinking that you were King Henry II in a previous life; if all of this seems very familiar to you, it's most likely because you fell in love with Mel Gibson in the lead role of Braveheart.  The movie was filmed here in Trim.

I haven't seen the film nor do I plan to see any such movie with homophobic actors.  And I wont say more about that here on this blog - but feel free to ask me if you have questions.

On purpose, the photos are a bit out of order but now I want to show you the beautiful colors, tile work and arches inside of St. Peter's Church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later that same day was the after-wedding party which I had no idea was going to take place until just shortly before hand.   Again, just a 10 minute walk to James Griffin Pub, a private room was reserved for Sabrina and Declan and a few of their closest fans.

What is so special about this bar (above and below photo)  (my brother was impressed and mentioned it twice) was that out of the big picture window above the pink wall, the Yellow Steeple from St. Mary's Abbey could easily be viewed while chugging down glasses of Guinness, making for the perfect Irish experience.  I think there are few bars/pubs in the world that offer this kind of experience.  Of course the steeple didn't turn out in the photo so ………...

…..so I went out to the pub's huge patio to snap a photo.

I zoomed in on the top because it looked like there was a stairway leading to heaven but I couldn't quite see it.  But my camera could.  As tall as this steeple is, it must have been even higher when it was built.

 

All in all, it was an amazing wedding, beautiful location, once in a life time experience and a huge congratulations is due to Sabrina & Declan and their families.

I took just over 3000 photos.  Seriously.  Though I must say, I had my camera set so that it would record 3 shots of everything at low, medium and high exposure. Unfortunately it was 3 blurry shots of everything. This would enable me to choose the best one (or should I say the least blurry photo).  But basically I snapped just over 1000 different subjects.  Then just this week, 1 month after the wedding, while adjusting the camera in Germany, I notice that my camera was set for flower close-ups.  Therefore, a large number of pix were too blurry to use.  Why some photos were ok and others not - I don't know.  But you get the main idea - right?

Now - if you really are totally bord and want to view all 577 photos that I've kept of the 3000, you can do so by clicking onto this link which will take you to my Shutterfly photo home site.
Or this link, to take you directly to the photo page.

Either link will allow you to view photos in large full screen in auto play so you don't have to click 577 times.  You can adjust the speed of the photo show as well.  You will have to search and play around with the settings to work best for you.

tip:
click onto title of photo album
click "all"
click on the first photo (of my departure in Copenhagen)
click "slide show"
click "options"
choose your speed
now relax, lay back and fall asleep.
Sweet dreams.

And don't forget to send the newlyweds a congratulations gift !