Ever After Issue 3 - Aaron & Claire Heaney

EVER
AFTER
A REAL WEDDING FEATURE BY RYAN PATRICK DESIGN
ISSUE 3
WWW.RYANPATRICKDESIGN.CO.UK
AARON & CLAIRE
9TH SEPTEMBER 2016

EVER
AFTER
Ever After is a brand new in house
publication from Ryan Patrick Design
featuring the real weddings of our some
of our wonderful clients.
hope you will take some inspiration from
their stories.
In this issue we are sharing the beautiful
wedding of Aaron & Claire Heaney.
We’ll be giving our couples the
opportunity to share details and special
moments from their wedding day, and
learning about their unique journey from
their engagement, through their wedding
planning and up the aisle.
As always, we hope you enjoy it and if you
would like us to feature your wedding,
please just get in touch!
We’ll be sharing details of some of the
suppliers they have worked with, who

SWEET, SWEET LOVE!
On 9 th September 2016
Aaron and Claire became the
new Mr & Mrs Heaney, as
they took their marriage
vows in a beautiful traditional
ceremony in Christ Church,
Limavady. Their wedding day
was magical, filled with
laughs and love, as the couple
celebrated surrounded by
their families and close
friends.
Aaron and Claire first got to
know one another after a
chance meeting on a night
out in Sweet nightclub in Limavady
over 5 years ago,
when, encouraged by a few
glasses of wine, Claire made
a beeline for Aaron to make
his acquaintance! They
shared a drink and a little
kiss, which soon led to a budding
relationship as Aaron
stuck to his promise to get in
touch the next day.
Their first date took them to
The Anchor in Portstewart,
where awkward babbling
soon gave way to a real connection.
The couple were living
together just five months
later, and it was on their third
anniversary that Aaron took
the leap and asked Claire to
be his wife. They had
planned a trip to Belfast together
for the Carl Frampton
fight in September 2014, but
when they arrived Aaron surprised
a delighted Claire by
leading her to the Merchant
Hotel rather than the Premier
Inn she was expecting.
The surprises continued
when they were upgraded to
a suite, but the ultimate
shock came when Claire
found Aaron on one knee,
with champagne and a stunning
diamond ring. Claire
said, “In a river of tears and
joy I said yes, of course. It
was an amazing moment I’ll
never forget.”

When they began to plan their wedding they
found they shared a lot of the same ideas –
family plays a key role in both of their lives,
so they knew they wanted to be married at
home surrounded by their closest friends
and family. They were also certain they
wanted a church service, and knew Christ
Church was the perfect choice for them.
Claire describes herself as overly organised,
and someone who wants things done right
away, and true to her word their wedding
date was set within a fortnight of their engagement!
The newly engaged couple were
immediately caught up in full on wedding
planning – having set a deadline of two years
to the very date of their engagement, they
had lots of plans to put in place and lots of
saving to do. Claire joked, “Aaron by this
point was in a haze of wedding frenzy that I
had created and probably wished he had
never asked!”
Despite friends and family assuring them
they had plenty of time to plan, Claire was
not to be deterred, and with the ceremony
venue in place their attention turned to the
reception. Claire had attended a friend’s
wedding in the stunning Waterfoot Hotel in
2013, and after having had such a wonderful
first hand experience knew it was the perfect
venue to host their celebrations. They
met with the hotel just a month after their
engagement to secure their booking. While
their plans were coming together at a rapid
pace there was no stopping them. Claire immediately
reached out to her own two sisters,
Emma and Kayleigh, and Aaron’s two
sisters, Kerri and Laura, and asked them to
be her bridesmaids. They were all delighted
to accept, so they quickly turned their attention
to helping Claire find the wedding dress
of her dreams.

Bubbling with anticipation, they set off together
on a mission to ‘Say Yes To The
Dress.’ She had always imagined herself in
something fitted but flowing, and so this was
the style she was immediately drawn to. To
her disappointment she discovered it didn’t
suit her at all, but disappointment soon
turned to excitement when a beautiful, crisp
white ball gown caught her eye. Surprisingly,
both Claire and her bridesmaids fell in love
with the style, which was the total opposite
of what they had expected.
Hesitant to choose a dress in the first shop,
Claire decided to keep looking, determined
to find the perfect ball gown. This time she
enlisted the help of her sister, her mum and
her Aunt Oonagh, who she calls her second
mum. Claire said “We skipped into Ultimate
dresses as I wanted to see a ball gown I had
noticed in a photo on their Facebook page...
they pulled it out and WOW! When I tried it
on that was it, instant Princess!” They all fell
in love with the beautiful dress, with its gorgeous
sweetheart neckline, cinched waist
and tulle skirt, and were in total agreement
– it was The One. With still 18 months to go
until their big day, the perfect wedding dress
had been found.

Finding dresses to suit her four bridesmaids
turned out to be a slightly more challenging
task than expected. While there was no set
colour scheme, Claire was keen to ensure
they all looked and felt their best and so she
set out to find the perfect dresses for them.
Having ordered a couple of samples online,
which turned out to be disastrous, the pressure
was growing until her sister spotted the
most gorgeous, elegant, sage green dresses
online. Claire fell in love – they were stunning,
and featured the perfect subtle diamante
detail to match her bridal gown. She
snapped them up on the spot, and in her eagerness
to tick another box, forgot to consult
her bridesmaids! Thankfully, the dresses
lived up to her expectations, and all four
ladies looked beautiful in them.
With one half of the bridal party now in
hand, Aaron and Claire turned their attention
to the men. Claire said, “Aaron has a
very specific style and he is particular about
his clothes so I knew I had no worries about
selecting the suits.” Together they settled on
navy fitted suits from Tweedy Acheson, with
a tweed waistcoat for Aaron, while his best
man, his son Bradley, and his groomsmen,
Ian, Andrew and Gary, wore matching navy
suits but with navy waistcoats and tweed
ties to complement the groom.

They had chosen pastel toned bouquets and
button holes from Mark Carton Flowers,
which helped bring the overall look of the
bridal party together. The combination of
the sage bridesmaid dresses, classic navy
suits, traditional tweed and soft floral arrangements
was perfect. Their bridal party
was completed by Claire’s son Evan as page
boy, and her two nieces, Lucia and Lois as
flower girls.
Ever keen to be organised, Aaron and Claire
had chosen their stationery almost immediately
following their engagement, but as
their wedding day drew closer they found
their tastes had changed. Aaron made the
final decision, and settled on Invitations and
Order of Service from our “Summer Fair”
collection. With its modern styling and subtle
tones, they matched their colour scheme
perfectly, while the unusual patterned band
ensured their stationery stood out.
Claire said, “Ryan Patrick Design were brilliant
from the start and even though they
were crazy busy they were able to sort any
last minute adjustments in good time. They
were so nice to work with and nothing was
too much bother for them.”

Finally, after two years of planning, their big
day arrived. The bridal party hair was styled
by Claire’s bridesmaid and sister in law, Kerri,
while their make up was perfected by Julie
Smith of Make Up By Julie. Finally, they
were ready – as Claire sadly lost her father a
few years ago she was accompanied to the
church by her mother, Audrey, who is naturally
shy, and was understandably nervous
about the daunting task of giving her daughter
away.
Claire said, “My wee Daddy would have
been as proud as punch of both of us I know,
the day brought mixed emotions, it was
bittersweet. Of course every girl dreams of
walking down the aisle with their Daddy but
Mum couldn’t have done a better job. I was
so proud of her.” She had her father in
attendance in her own special way – she
commissioned a personalised locket from
Yours Sincerely, and had brooches made for
each of her sisters to adorn their bouquet,
so they truly felt he was there with them.
Claire walked down the aisle to “A Thousand
Years,” sang beautifully by Nicola Doran.
Even the driving wind and rain outside
couldn’t dampen her spirits, as she recalls
feeling overjoyed with happiness. She said,
“I floated down the aisle in a bubble and remember
just thinking that this is it; it’s all
come down to this moment where I walk
down to meet the man I can’t wait to spend
the rest of my life with. Once I saw Aaron
we just grabbed each other’s hands so tight
and I felt completely at ease – the best feeling
I ever have experienced and one I don’t
think either of us will ever forget. It may
have taken me some time to get to this
amazing point in my life but all that time was
worth it to find Aaron.”

Finally the couple were pronounced husband and
wife, while their nearest and dearest looked on.
While they had intended to have photographs taken
in both the Roe Valley Country Park and at Ballykelly
Sea Wall, the weather forced them to remain indoors,
but they credit their fantastic photographer,
Clement Dealey, with managing to capture some incredible
shots despite the challenging conditions.
Following the ceremony, their guests travelled to
The Waterfoot Hotel where they were entertained
by a beautiful acoustic set by Paul McFeely while
they waited for the new Mr & Mrs Heaney to arrive.
Their room had been dressed by Canterbury Tails,
who provided a gorgeous starlight backdrop, candelabra
table centres and ruched chair covers with a
simple diamante brooch on the back. Green mood
lighting added to the affect, and complimented their
overall theme perfectly.
Kathleen Crossan Cakes provided the beautiful three
tiered quilted effect cake featuring a simple diamante
brooch which completed their styling perfectly.
Their speeches delivered both hilarity and heartfelt
welcomes in to one another’s families, with the love
and deep bonds shared by both families apparent.
The atmosphere was sparkling, and it was obvious a
party was starting – a dance off by the bridal party
set the tone, while band Legacy ensured the guests
were well entertained. Aaron also had a little surprise
for his new wife – magician Rodd Hogg was also
in attendance, blowing their guests away as he
went table to table.
Claire said, “We both knew we really wanted our
guest to have a great time and great craic. We had
heard great reports about Legacy and they did not
disappoint! We had given them a list of songs we
would like played, as well as some dance classics for
the DJ afterwards and they went down a treat! I still
remember the incredible buzz of everyone crowded
round us on the dance floor at the end of the night.”

Reflecting on their special day, Claire said, “Our
wedding day was perfect and ended up being
just what we wanted. We had our close family
and friends in attendance, we had our beautiful
church and we had each other at the altar.
That’s all we needed!”
While the couple enjoyed planning their wedding,
it was by no means a stress free process.
They honeymooned in the Now Sapphire Resort
on the Riviera Maya, Mexico for ten days immediately
after the wedding, where they worked
their way through every cocktail on the menu
while they finally had time to relax!
Their advice for any other couples in the midst
of wedding planning is “to try and remember
that underneath all the stress of table plans,
guest lists, ribbons, bows and bouquets that at
the end of the day all that really matters is that
the two of you are making this amazing commitment
to each other. Everything else will fall into
place so just enjoy the day as it does go by so
fast!”
2017 is set to be an equally exciting year for the
new Mr & Mrs Heaney – they are preparing to
welcome a new baby into their family. From
everyone at Ryan Patrick Design, congratulations
Aaron and Claire, we are truly delighted
for you and wish you a wonderful married life
together with your family!

DIRECTORY
Ceremony Venue............................ Christ Church, Limavady
Reception Venue.............................Waterfoot Hotel ,L’Derry
Wedding Dress................................Serenity, Ultimate Dresses, Dungiven
Bridesmaids Dresses....................... Debenhams
Bridal & Bridesmaid Accessories.....New Look Luxury Range
Bridal Hair........................................Kerri Heaney
Bridal Make Up................................Julie Smith, Make Up By Julie
Menswear........................................Tweedy Acheson
Photographer..................................Clement Dealey
Videographer.................................. Wheatfield Video Productions
Room Dressing................................Church; Trica Miller, Trica’s Treasures
Hotel; Canterbury Tails
Transport.........................................Curran Cars, Greysteel
Entertainment.................................Paul McFeely Music
Legacy, Derry
Rodd Hogg Magician
Cake ................................................Kathleen Crossan Cakes
Florist..............................................Mark Carton Flowers
Memory Lockets…………………………..Yours Sincerely

EVER
AFTER
A REAL WEDDING FEATURE BY RYAN PATRICK DESIGN
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