Wedding of the Week: Cork couple met on holiday in Crete

A HOLIDAY in Crete brought this Cork couple together. Kieran Quinlan and Natalie Murphy were married in a civil ceremony in Midleton Park Hotel.

Kieran is from Ballinhassig and Natalie is from Carrigtwohill, where the couple now live with their two children, Sam, aged six, and Charlie, aged two.

They met on September 6, 2013, on the Greek island of Crete. Natalie recalls: “We were both on holidays with different groups of friends flying from Cork and got on like a house on fire from the get go.”

Natalie recalls their engagement at Kieran’s family home in Kingsland, Ballinhassig, on August 29, 2020.

“Kieran was working in Limerick at the time, he usually only worked the odd Saturday but this Saturday in particular he got dressed in his work clothes and left for work as normal. He had arranged for his sister to ask me to lunch so that I would be dressed and ready to celebrate when he got home. He went up to get a ring that I had spotted (and hinted at) in a shop up in Limerick months earlier, I was totally surprised, when I went up thinking I was going for lunch with his sister he was there with the ring and got down on one knee.”

They were married in a civil ceremony in Midleton Park Hotel on August 26, 2023.

Natalie said: “Everyone important to us was there to share our special day and we really made the most of it with all our friends and family.

“My younger son walked me up the aisle with my dad.

“Our son Sam did a beautiful reading, it was a bit long but he did it so perfectly, we included a sand ceremony and lit extra candles with the kids, I wanted to try and include them as much as I could.

“I did a lot of DIY for the wedding and I loved how everything turned out. I did all the flowers, bouquets and signs myself and with the help of my father-in-law made the arch also. I had a vision in my head of what I wanted and with the help of our families it all went to plan and turned out even better then I had imagined.”

Trace of Cakes in Ballincollig made the cake, with matching cupcakes and donuts.

Their first dance was to Love by Nat King Cole. Darren, from Sax Appeal, did the music and was amazing.

Recalling the special day, the bride said: “Just sitting in a room full of people that were there to celebrate us was just a feeling like no other, it really meant the world to us, people came from far and wide and we appreciate and love every single person that made the effort to attend.”