Wedding of the Week: Surprise 40th birthday party turned out to be wedding reception

A crowd gathered at a pub in Cobh to celebrate a surprise 40th birthday party got a shock themselves - when it turned out the surprise was on them and the birthday girl had just got married!

Cobh couple Ruth O’Brien and Eric Brannigan ended up celebrating their special day and her big day among friends and family in The Roaring Donkey in their home town.

“The most memorable part of the wedding day was surprising everyone when we arrived into the Donkey,” the couple said. “The complete shock and surprise on people’s faces was absolutely priceless.

“Everyone thought they would be surprising Ruth, but the joke was truly on them. We got them good. It was complete carnage!”

Earlier that day, October 11, 2024, the couple, who had known each other for over 20 years and met on a night out in The Rob Roy pub in Cobh, had got married in an intimate ceremony at Greenes Restaurant on MacCurtain Street in Cork city, officiated by Marian Dooley.

“We had 22 for the ceremony and dinner, which was absolutely amazing,” they said. “We took a stroll through MacCurtain Street for some pictures by our super-talented photographer Amy Frahill. It was a day we will never ever forget.”

Among the guests were the couple’s two daughters, Ellen, 13, and Sophie, 10, and both sets of parents, as well as both sets of twin sisters on each side.

The couple had got engaged in 2016 at  The Europe Hotel in Killarney.

Among the highlights of the wedding was a sand ceremony with four separate lots of sand taken from different areas. One from Alicante (a family favourite of Ruth’s family); one from White Bay, Ellen’s favourite beach; one from Ballymacoda, Sophie’s favourite place; and one from Powers, where Eric bought tonnes of sand through the years, while building and renovating the house and back garden.

The couple said: “We spent the night before the wedding baking in the oven all the sand so it was dry enough for the ceremony. Very romantic!”

Another highlight of the ceremony was Ellen and Sophie doing readings, with Sophie writing hers in her own words. They had dinner at Greenes after the ceremony, “which was out of this world. The food and staff were exceptional”.

Ruth’s aunt, Norma Lynch, made the wedding cake - she had made a cake for Ruth’s father’s 60th birthday a few years back, that was brought out to Alicante from Cork on a flight.

Molly Fawl, a college friend, performed some beautiful music at the wedding ceremony.

At the party in Cobh, the couple said: “We had our super-talented friends, Jamie Stanton, Barry Wilson and Brian Murphy - amazing performances from superb musicians.”

They had dried flowers from a new business in Cobh called Downstairs, on West Beach. “Damira is exceptionally talented and made the most amazing bouquets and flower arrangements for the tables,” they said.

Food for the party was sourced locally from Ellen O’Driscoll of Ellen’s Kitchen, Cobh. “An absolute gem of a café with amazing food,” the couple added.