Wedding of the Week: Secondary school sweethearts tie the knot

AFTER 14 years together, this Mayfield couple became Mr and Mrs.

Michelle Walsh and Brian O’Sullivan met at secondary school, in Mayfield Community School.

The couple now live in Rathcormac, with dog Chunk, a golden lab that they brought home with them from Canada, where they lived for two and a half years.

They were engaged on Willows Beach on Vancouver Island during a trip to a friend’s wedding. Brian brought Michelle back to their favourite beach and proposed on May 22, 2018.

The couple had a civil ceremony in Vienna Woods Hotel, Glanmire, followed by their reception there, on March 5, 2021.

Their original wedding date was July 24, 2020 but they had to move it, as they both had family living abroad and they were not able to travel.

Michelle said: “We both agreed that, no matter what happened and no matter what the numbers were, we were getting married on March 5, 2021.

“We are absolutely delighted with our decision and can start our lives as a married couple.”

The bride’s dress came from Diamond Bridal, where she also sourced the bridesmaids’ dresses. Brian and the lads’ suits were from Suit Distributors.

In attendance at the ceremony from the bride’s side was her sister Tracy, who was her maid of honour, also Maria (a lifelong friend) and her parents Catherine and Willie and nephew Jack.

The groom’s side included Brian’s dad Denis, his brother, best man Denis, and the bride’s brother Jamie as groomsmen.

The bride’s sisters were on Facetime from Australia and both did a reading live.

The couple also had close friends pre-record readings that they could include in their wedding ceremony.

There was a wonderful surprise for the bride and groom after the ceremony. As they were not allowed to have live music, due to Covid restrictions, their wedding singer, who is also a friend, had pre-recorded her singing their special song, for their first dance, and the couple played it.

Michelle said: “It was actually a surprise for myself and Brian — she sang Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing.

“She’s an amazing singer, she’s also in a band called Sparkle.”

Photographers on the day were Ray and Irene Terry, and Ian Armstrong of Story Begins Videography, who the couple say were both fantastic to deal with.