The lovely Annie met James while in college in UCC, they were in the same class but were friends for a few years before making things official in final year. They lived together in Cork before moving to Toronto in 2019. Planning a wedding from abroad is no easy job but Annie told us that 'Ann and the team at Fernhill were always so helpful & reassuring, answering our many questions and were always so flexible - nothing was ever a problem!'
We love a romantic proposal and this one certainly didn't disappoint - 'In December 2022 we had spent a weekend down in New York with my brother and his family (whom we hadn't seen in years due to covid etc!) and after a wonderful weekend catching up, we went for a walk through Central Park to pass some time before our flight back to Toronto. It was a beautiful NYC day & after taking in the view of the lake I turned around & James was down on one knee. I was totally surprised & speechless, but it was the most magical moment! We had a great Christmas celebrating & started planning our wedding in the New Year.'
'It was the most incredible day, so chilled & so personal to us. We had stayed down in Clonakilty the night before with our family & wedding party. We kicked off the celebrations with dinner and a (small) few drinks. I got ready onsite in Fernhill the morning of the wedding with my Mam & bridal party - which was amazing - we had the best, most relaxed morning and we were so well taken care of. The highlight of the morning was when Ann came in at 11am saying we were good to go for an outdoor ceremony! (This was something we were really hoping for but it had been pretty cold that week so we were unsure it would happen!)'
'Our ceremony was so special, our celebrant Alison tailored it to us and we were so happy with it. Our guests also loved it and Fernhill's gardens are just such a magical setting. We also had stunning music from 'Something Blue Acoustics' who were absolutely amazing. We went to the beach for some photos after the ceremony, something we had really wanted to do as the beach is so special to us. It was also so lovely to have some downtime just the two of us before returning to the drinks reception and getting the party started!'
'Our dinner was absolutely fabulous, everyone is still raving about how good the food & service was! Neil & the whole team had everything coordinated to perfection. We had so much fun catching up with all our friends and family, some of whom had travelled from Toronto, London, Melbourne & Doha to celebrate with us. We had the amazing Ian Hendricks band and once they started we partied until the wee hours!'
'The whole day was just so much fun, it was so relaxed and it was exactly what we wanted.'
We asked Annie & James - what was important to them about their wedding - what were the priorities from the very beginning?, they told us ' we knew we would be having our ceremony onsite at whatever venue we chose, so the setting was important to us, and Fernhill's gardens are just second to none, knowing that should the Irish weather not play ball, the marquee is equally as beautiful a setup! Food & service was probably next on our list of priorities, and while we had not been to Fernhill previously, we had heard nothing but good reviews from so many people. We wanted our day to reflect us, relaxed and good fun, and that's exactly what it was thanks to our wonderful suppliers.'
What made Fernhill the one for you? 'We did a lot of venue research and after narrowing down our options we had calls with 3 or 4 different places. From our very first zoom call with Ann we knew Fernhill would be 'the one'! She was so warm and welcoming, and also very flexible on different requests that we had, nothing was ever a problem and we could tell from the off that weddings are what Fernhill do - they are experts and we were in such good hands! This was so important to us as we were organising everything from Toronto. When we visited for our menu tasting and met Neil we were blown away by the food and also the service. The whole team at Fernhill should be so proud, everything is top class.'
What advice would you give to brides & grooms planning their day in Fernhill? 'You have made the right choice! If you are unsure about anything or if there is something you would like on the day, just speak to Ann or Neil, if they can make it happen they will! We had zero stress on the day and that is all down to the expert coordination of the team at Fernhill.'
Annie & James went to South Africa on honeymoon for two weeks, 'we visited winelands, stayed in Cape Town and did Safari in Kruger which was a bucket list trip for us! We spent the last days relaxing in Zanzibar before returning to real life!'