We flew back on Wednesday afternoon and enjoyed a few days of activity before the wedding itself, which was on Saturday. I'd never been at the business end of a wedding before and this was our first big family wedding and it was really wonderful. We started the day early, the bridal party going over to Moy to have our hair done. Kelly had bought us these fetching fresian print onesies to wear in the morning:
Me and Kelly, only up and ready to get our hair done
It was actually a very practical choice, as well as being fun to wear. We were at the salon for 8am to have our hair done and they did a great job on all the rest of the bridal party. MY hair? It was an absolute disaster. Having short hair is apparently socially unacceptable when it comes to wedding. I don't know what the hairdresser's experience was but she looked at me like I was a deviant, and I came out looking like Rod Stewart's ugly sister. NOT GOOD. Thankfully Colleen used to be a hairdresser so I got home, got my hair washed and she sorted me out. By the time that was done, the photographers had arrived and so had the makeup artist and things really started happening. It was chaos in our house, not helped by the dog's incessant barking!
This was the only way to get the dog to stop barking 
Me and Daddy - this is before I got my makeup done, but Daddy looked so handsome in his suit!
All too quickly, it was time to get dressed. I had seen a photo of Kelly's dress, but not of her in it.
This one is blurry because I took it with my phone - I promise there are better ones further along....
Here Kelly is with my parents. I think her bouquet of baby's breath was really unusual and so pretty
We got into the cars and went down the road to the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Tullysaran, where Kelly's husband is from. It's customary to marry in the bride's parish, but Kelly decided she'd rather marry in Tullysaran and I can understand why. The church was gorgeous and the priest, Father Kevin Donaghy, was a lovely man. The wedding ceremony itself went by in a flash, and thankfully all I had to remember to do was to stand up and kneel down at the right moments!
This is me with my beautiful sister Colleen and our Daddy, outside the church after the service.
Our dresses were by Sorella Vita - Colleen and I had the same dress and Sami, the other bridesmaid, chose a different style. I had my reservations about the colour but I have to admit, I loved the dress! I wore my Carvela Australia shoes underneath and the stress over hemming was worth it (especially when I saw the job the 'professional seamstress' had done on Colleen and Sami's dresses!)
Another photo of me and my cutie pie Daddy - so you can see the detail on the bodice of the dress
We were so lucky to have had such a beautiful day - especially after all of the rain during the week! The very bright light made it a bit more challenging to get good photos but the day was warm and beautiful.
Nic and I
The wedding reception was at the Four Seasons hotel in Monaghan. The function room was absolutely beautiful (although the hotel rooms were NOT, sadly) and the meal was delicious. It felt so strange to be sitting at the top table, especially as it was on a raised stage! The wedding reception was so much fun - Kelly and Mickey had hired a photo booth for silly photos and there was plenty of drinking and dancing and general mayhem. An Irish wedding is a lot less genteel than an English wedding.
My parents at the top table
The wedding cake! The top layer was carrot cake...
Me, Nic and Daddy in the photobooth
Happy dancing folks
Yes, we rocked the boat.
Obviously I have about 30,000 more photos but I don't want to send you all totally to sleep. It was a really beautiful day and I am so overjoyed to have Mickey as a brother-in-law. Spending the day with my wonderful family was really special, and so was catching up with extended family members! I had a great dance with my uncle Colm, a lovely long chat with my cousin Melissa and lots of fun laughing with my aunty Tish! Just after midnight we got the news that my cousin Brian's girlfriend had a baby boy, which made the day extra special.
Congratulations, Kelly and Mickey!
Nic and I have another few days left in Northern Ireland and we're planning to make the most of it, with some visits with friends, a trip to Belfast and maybe even a day out at the seaside. So I'll check in with you all soon, and I'll leave you with one final photo of my beautiful baby sister, Kelly:
Mrs Daly
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