Bride Of The Week: Máiréad

#GLBride

Written By Kaileah Christine

July 4, 2022

Máiréad's Wedding

Our #GLBride of the week is Máiréad, who wore our Fabiana gown on her special day. Máiréad and her fiancé, Joe, celebrated their nuptials at the stunning Finca Monasterio resort in Spain's beautiful Cadiz countryside. In the following interview, Máiréad shares with us the moments she’ll cherish forever and the experience of finding her dream gown.

"I felt like an absolute princess the moment I put it on."

Máiréad

How did your husband propose? Did you know it was coming?

A few months before the proposal, Joe followed tradition and flew to Belfast to meet my Father at the airport to ask for my hand – I had no idea!

He then booked a surprise trip to Lough Erne Hotel in Ireland for my Christmas present. We had been to the resort before, my 30th and my brother’s wedding – it’d become quite special to us. When we arrived, he asked the hotel to tell us that the room wasn’t ready yet so he could take me for a walk around the lough.

He was frantically checking the map looking pretty grey, I tried to put the thought of a proposal out of my head in case I was wrong and I would end up disappointed. We walked for a while before coming to a lovely little jetty which Joe suggested we walk out on. We walked out and took in the views. When I was walking back off the jetty he was behind me and said ‘Oh, one more thing’ and pulled me back.

When I turned around he was on one knee and asked me to marry him. We then took a few hours to ourselves soaking it all in before calling all of our friends and family. The next day, my family drove down to surprise us and we started the celebrations!

How did you know your dress was the one'?

I actually saw a picture of the dress long before our engagement on Tali Photography’s Instagram page. At the time, I didn’t know the dress designer and hadn’t started my search yet but I saved the picture for future reference. When I started my search, I hadn’t looked back at the picture but I think it must have been in the back of my mind because I was definitely searching for something similar and naturally, nothing could compare.

I then hunted the dress down and found it was stocked in Browns Bride in London. I visited during a covid lockdown and had to go to the first appointment on my own. After that, my lovely Mum flew over from Ireland so she could see the dress in person. She had been to a few boutiques with me previously and hadn’t seen anything she thought was the one either – she’s very picky. I think I was really waiting for that reaction from her to confirm what I already knew. As soon as I walked into the room wearing Fabiana, she said ‘That is your dress, Máiréad!’ and I knew it was the one from that moment.

"It’s the most romantic and feminine dress I have ever seen."

Máiréad

What was your favorite part of your wedding dress experience?

I loved the day I found the dress at Browns. I hadn’t seen my Mum in quite some time and Laura at Browns made the appointment very special and exciting! I also loved my fitting appointments as they were an opportunity to bring one of my lovely bridesmaids each time and we were always made to feel super special. It was like a mini celebration each time I had a fitting appointment.

Who had the best reaction to your dress?

I think my new Husband Joe. He was so overwhelmed with emotion when I got to the top of the altar and said it was the best dress he’d ever seen in his life.

"It was an amazing from start to finish."

Máiréad

Credits