A commanding presence perched on the breathtaking West Clare cliff line, the Armada Hotel at Spanish Point has stood since 1809 (Although originally named the Atlantic Hotel). Roisin Mac Mahon married Shane O’Connor on the 16th of June, in a stunning wedding planned from across the world in Australia. Photographed by Michelle Prunty and featured in the Spring issue of SOCIAL & PERSONAL WEDDINGS, we're madly in love with the laid-back charm of this wedding day. And we think you will be too!
The couple were always on each other's radar despite not knowing each other well, Roisin worked the gym Shane went to so the two would say hi now and again. Roisin was moving to Dubai to work as an air hostess and Shane was moving to Sydney. She remembers meeting him out one night shortly before they both left, it was probably the first proper conversation they had ever had, "I remember thinking it was such a shame we were both moving away!" A few years later, she ended up working on a flight to Sydney around St Patrick's Day. "I had a 48-hour layover in Sydney, so arranged to go out with some friends and Shane was in the pub too. We got to talking, and the rest is history!" The pair did long-distance for nearly two years but thankfully because of her job, Roisin was able to fly back to Sydney relatively frequently. Shane came to Dubai a few times, and the two arranged holidays together in places like Bali and the Philippines when they had time off. "We made it work, but eventually, I decided to move to Sydney. Eight years on and I’m still here!"
The pair got engaged in January 2020. "We had just spent Christmas apart - Shane and his friend had been in Africa climbing Mt Kilimanjaro. (He said he decided at the top of the mountain he was going to propose the minute he got back; so I might have the altitude to thank for that!) He drove us to a park in Sydney that has amazing views of the city at Observatory Park Hill. He had covered the rotunda in fairy lights and when we got close enough I saw a Marry Me sign. Took me a minute to realise it was for me! We stayed and drank champagne in the park for a few hours. Covid hit a few weeks later. When we realised Covid wasn’t going away any time soon, we put all wedding plans on hold. Instead, we decided to take a year off work, buy a campervan, and do a lap of Australia. It meant we had a pretty long engagement (3.5 years!) but it was the best thing we ever did."
Roisin's beauty journey wasn’t particularly intense. "One thing I wanted to do was look after my skin a bit more, so I tried to be as consistent as I could with that. I invested in a good retinol and added that into my skincare a couple of nights a week, which I think made a difference." In the two weeks before the wedding, she booked herself in for a series of facials with Bernie Costello at Advanced Skincare Clinic in Galway. "My main advice to brides would be to look after your immune system! I know so many brides, including myself, who got sick in the run-up to the wedding. A lot is going on, and you can get run down so I would highly recommend investing in a multivitamin!" For her perfume, Roisin wore Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia. "I had never worn it before, so it’s nice it takes me right back to the wedding day."
Having seen some dresses online, Roisin was sure one of them would be “the one”. However, after the fourth dress appointment, she started to get a bit disheartened. "Then one day a dress popped up on my Instagram that I was obsessed with! I loved how simple it was, and the addition of the sleeves just elevated it. I noticed it was a California-based designer, so didn’t think it would be an option, but I checked online and they had one stockist in Sydney, only about an hour away from where I lived." She went with some friends to try it on, it was hands down her favourite out of everything so far. Roisin booked another appointment to go and try it on alone, and decided to get it that day. "I’m in love with my choice, and recommend going alone if you find the process a bit overwhelming."
Shane knew he wanted him and his groomsmen to wear tuxedos, so it made things easy. The couple rented them all from Corless Formalwear in Galway. "They’re amazing and made the whole process so easy, and great value."
"I had five bridesmaids. My two sisters, Sinead and Deirdre, and three of my friends, Grainne, Louise and Katy. They were honestly the best bridesmaids I could have asked for. They made everything so special, not just on the day but in the run-up to the wedding. There was even a surprise trip to Paris thrown in the mix!" For their dresses, Roisin was drawn to the idea of the bridal party all in white, but it was proving hard to find white dresses that weren’t completely see-through! Eventually, after a lot of research, Roisin came across Bec & Bridge and was delighted by their bridal party range. "The quality is amazing and they do multiple styles in the same colour and fabric, so it’s easy to mix and match styles, without it feeling too messy or mismatched. It also meant the girls had a choice of what style they could wear, which was perfect."
The couple got married in St Joseph’s Church in Miltown Malbay, in a traditional Catholic ceremony. "The priest was great, kept it pretty short and sweet which I think everyone appreciated! My favourite part actually had nothing to do with the ceremony, My nephew was 2 at the time, and he pretty much stole the show. He was walking around on the alter playing with his toy truck. I feel like, for me anyway, it really broke the ice and made the whole thing relaxed."
Shane & Roisin originally wanted to get married in Galway, but the venues they were looking at just weren’t working with available dates and capacity. "My family has ties to West Clare, so we did a day trip down to look at a few places there." The Armada initially wasn’t on the list as Roisin's older sister had gotten married there a few years ago, so the pair were trying to avoid doing the same thing! "We were driving past and said we’d just pop in out of curiosity to see if they had any summer dates for 2023. They had maybe three available weekend dates for 2023, and one was the date we wanted to get married." Talk about a sign from the universe! "I honestly can’t say enough good things about the Armada, and all the staff that work there. The venue itself is just incredible from the setting, the ocean views from the reception room, the interiors, and the food. Above all though, I think it’s the staff in the Armada that made our experience so memorable. They go above and beyond at every stage in the process, and their attention to detail is amazing. They made the whole process so seamless, especially considering we were arranging everything from overseas. And they made us feel like VIPs on the wedding day!"
For the music in the Church, the couple had singer Nicola McGuire. "She has the most amazing voice, perfect for a church ceremony." Their reception band was Beggars Velvet, they had played at Roisin's sister's wedding, so the couple knew they were good. "We wanted a band that would get people on the dancefloor and knew they would do that. For our DJ, we had DJ Paudie Walsh. We had found his website online, all the reviews were amazing and you could tell he would be a great entertainer. My friends have said they think it’s the most they’ve ever danced at a wedding, so I think we picked it well!"
Regarding the best decision, Roisin had to say, "The best decision for us was getting married in the Armada. The venue is stunning, and I don’t think we would have enjoyed the process half as much without all their help. My personal best decision was to have a short dress to change into for the evening! I loved my wedding dress but was so happy to have something to change into for the dancefloor."
Regarding the worst decision, Roisin had to say, "I honestly can’t think of anything. I think we were pretty true to ourselves and what we wanted throughout the decision-making process, so that helped."
- Gráinne