Destination Wedding (Part Two): Who's Who

I thought you might like to know the cast of characters in the destination wedding in Northern Ireland, my recent post.  

Main characters:  The bride Rebecca (my first cousin, twice removed) and the groom Thomas.

Thomas and Rebecca (Photo by Chad Frey.)

Father of the bride:  Kenneth, the Colonel

Father of the bride, Ken.

Mother of the bride:  Robin
Maternal grandmother of the bride:  Joan

Robin the mother of the bride.  Joan the maternal grandmother of the bride.

Maternal grandmother of the bride:  Joan

Joan, the maternal grandmother of the bride. (*Joan had a destination wedding too.  Future blog will cover that.)

Father of the groom:  David

David, the groom's father.

Mother of the groom:  Ann

Ann, the groom's mother.

Maid of honor:  Kate

Kate, the maid of honor. (Photo by James Laker.)

Bridesmaids:  Elizabeth and Emily

Ken with his three daughters.  Bridesmaids Elizabeth on left and Emily on right.

Best Man:  Aidan

Aidan the best man with Thomas. (Photo by James Laker.)

Groomsmen:  Stewart and Eddie

Groomsmen Eddie on left, Stewart (Thomas' brother) in the middle, Aidan, the best man on the right.( Photo by Helen Hillis)

Family of groom:

Thomas with his parents and sibs.  Sister Val on left and Helen on right and brother Stewart.(Photo by Helen Hillis)

Nephew and nieces of Thomas:

The nephew and nieces of Thomas enjoyed the wedding too.

This wedding brought together two wonderful families.  Blessings on the bride and groom for a long and happy life together. It was a fun wedding.
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A Destination Wedding in Northern Ireland

Rebecca and Thomas were married in Northern Ireland.

When Rebecca and Thomas recently were married in Thomas' native Northern Ireland, it was a destination wedding for Rebecca's family (from the US) and what a lovely place for a wedding.  The destination wedding theme was carried out from the invitation (a Northern Ireland "passport" and plane ticket) to the globe that was signed by the wedding guests to the compass received as a favor for the guests at the reception dinner.


The clever invitation to the wedding established a destination wedding "theme".

Instead of signing a guest book, wedding guests signed this globe.

The compass was the favor for each wedding guest.  

The venue, Parkanaur Manor, could not have been more lovely. 

Parkanaur Manor (Photo from their website.)

Because it was a wee bit windy, the ceremony was held indoors.

The wedding arch. (Photo by James Laker.)

Bride and groom at the altar.(Photo by Kate Beiler.)

I thought many of the guests would be wearing fascinators, but I learned that fascinators are usually worn when the wedding is in a church.  At least one guest did wear a beautiful fascinator though.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Glass (Photo by Chad Frey.)

It really was a beautiful wedding and fun reception.  I enjoyed it very much.  The reception will be covered in my next blog.  Stay tuned.   

Brookvale Farm in Northern Ireland

Brookvale Farm, the house.

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Northern Ireland for the wedding of Thomas and Rebecca was visiting with Thomas' parents Ann and David at their lovely Brookvale Farm.  The main crop of the Farm is the orchards of Armagh Bramley apples. 

Young apple tree.

The last of the apple blossoms in early June.

Mature Bramley apples in the fall of the year.  (Photo from the internet.)

We had two wonderful dinners out at Brookvale and a barbecue on Sunday after the wedding.  Ann and David are marvelous hosts and they have a wonderful extended family.  The whole family was there for the wedding festivities. 

David (father of the groom) cooking potatoes on their Aga stove. 

One of Ann's delicious dinners.

 

The cozy fire in the dining room.

In the yard are two gorgeous copper beech trees.  I am partial to copper beeches, because Dan and I were married in Halifax, Nova Scotia in the beautiful garden of one of Dan's friends under a copper beech. 

A beautiful copper beech tree in the yard at Brookvale.

The leaves of the beech tree are copper colored hence the name copper beech.

The beautiful house has been in the family for several generations.  Soon Thomas' older brother Stewart will be taking over the farm.



Ann greeting Joan and Robin in front of the Glass house.

The parlor:.  Left to right:  Ann(mother of the groom), Joan (grandmother of the bride), Robin(mother of the bride)..

The grandchildren were here for the barbecue on Sunday and they enjoyed playing with the little Jack Russell farm dog, Jack. 


Thomas' niece, Scarlett, playing with Jack the farm dog. 

Visiting with the Glass family at their farm was delightful. . 

The Food in Northern Ireland

Pavlova, a favorite dessert in Northern Ireland.

Why are you not surprised that one of my first blogs about my recent trip to Northern Ireland would be about "food"?  After all I am a "foodie" (I seek new food experiences as a hobby rather than simply eating out of convenience or hunger.)  Okay I do sometimes eat out of hunger or convenience. 

The Ryandale , a restaurant in the small village of Moy, was where I had my first meal (and several more) in Northern Ireland.  I opted for the traditional meal of bangers and mash.  The sausage was prepared by the local butcher and was made of pork and leeks---very tasty.  All of the meals we had there were very good and quite reasonably priced.

Bangers (sausages) and mash (mashed potatoes) with gravy.

The best meals were those we had at Brookvale, the home of Thomas and prepared by Thomas' mother Ann.  A typical dinner was roast beef  (or chicken) served with gravy, a green vegetable such as broccoli, carrots and parsnips, and always Irish potatoes mashed or baked (or both). 



One of Ann's marvelous dinners.  Roast chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli, carrots and parsnips.

Thomas' dad, David, mashing the potatoes. 

At the wedding dinner after the ceremony at the Parkanaur, a Caprese salad was followed by a traditional dinner of roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potato and peas. A bowl of mashed potatoes was passed around as well. 

A traditional Irish dinner of roast beef, gravy, baked potato, green peas and Yorkshire pudding.

Sweets are very popular in Northern Ireland.  On one of our day excursions we happened upon the Donut Tree (their version of our Krispy Kreme) where fresh donuts were available.  Most of our group had a donut (I later regretted that I didn't).  Elizabeth had an apple filled one that looked mighty good. 


Elizabeth at the Donut Tree. 

Elizabeth's apple cinnamon donut. 

One evening at the Ryandale, I ordered Honey Comb Ice Cream for dessert.  I am always up for a new flavor of ice cream, and boy this one is good.  I want to share this with our local ice cream vendor with the hope that he can duplicate it. 

Honey Comb Ice Cream, a favorite in Ireland

I have always thought of Pavlova as the national dessert of New Zealand and Australia, but it sure is popular in Ireland as well.  At every turn there seemed to be Pavlova available.  It was the first dessert at the wedding dinner, and it was as scrumptious as it looked. There always seems to be two desserts at every meal.  After the wedding cake* was cut, slices of both the top lemon layer and the bottom chocolate layer were served. 

Pavlova at the wedding dinner at the Parkanour. 



The wedding cake at Thomas and Rebecca's wedding. 

The absolute best dessert I had during my week in Northern Ireland was the rhubarb pie made by Ann.  Rhubarb is a favorite of mine, and this one was to die for---and the best pie crust I have ever eaten.  I must get the recipe from her.  I was so busy devouring the pie I didn't get a photo of it : (. 

*The wedding cake was made by Ann's nephew in England and brought over to Ireland by boat.  The marzipan "bride and groom" atop the cake are so appropriate.  Thomas is a photographer who often takes pictures of Rebecca, the fashion blogger, for her blog. 

A Creative International Wedding Invitation

Invitation to Thomas and Rebecca's Wedding in Northern Ireland

Rebecca my first cousin, twice removed (her grandmother is my first cousin), is marrying Thomas in Northern Ireland, and their wedding invitation is the most creative I've ever received.  Rebecca is the talented blogger,The Clothes Horse , and Thomas is a documentary film producer so I'm not surprised that they designed this clever invitation.  I am so looking forward to the wedding in June.

Front of the "passport" invitation. (Designed by Rebecca and Thomas.)
 

Inside of "passport".  Notice every little detail on this. (Designed by Rebecca and Thomas.)

Our "boarding pass" and stub for RSVP. (Designed by Rebecca and Thomas.)

The wedding will be outdoors at the Parkanaur Manor House in Northern Ireland (inside if weather dictates) with reception to follow.

Parkanaur Manor wedding and reception venue. (Photo from Parkanaur Manor Website.)

Reception area at Parkanaur Manor. (Photo from Parkanaur Manor Website.)

Rebecca and Thomas (Photo by Epic Love Photography).

I know this is going to be one beautiful wedding.