Nestled in the medieval village of Castlebellingham along Ireland’s Ancient East, Bellingham Castle is an elegant 17th-century Castle set on the banks of the glistening River Glyde. Nestled at the heart of the 17-acre estate, owners of Ace Hairdressing and Ace Barbering, Zoe Gilmour and Gerard Earley, celebrated their wedding on the 14th of Sept 2024. Captured by Jude Browne Photography, we couldn't imagine a more beautiful day if we tried!
The couple met in the local nightclub, Sallys in Omagh, and from the moment they met, the couple were end-game. "Gerard went home that night and told his parents he was going to marry me."
"I was heavily pregnant with our little girl, so the last thing I expected was a proposal. We were just at home one evening having a Chinese, and I turned around, and there he was on one knee in the kitchen; I first thought he was joking, then I looked closer at the ring and thought, omg, that’s real! Gerard picked the ring and all himself, and I couldn’t be more in love with it."
For beauty prep for the big day, Zoe booked herself in for regular facials and peels with Rebecca Hamill from Beauty Within in Omagh. "She had my skin looking fabulous, which I was so happy with as I would typically suffer from breakouts." The couple visited House of Fraser in Derry to choose their wedding scents. "I actually let Gerard pick mine! He must have had every woman in the shop over helping. It was hilarious." After (quite literally) sweating over his choices, Gerard chose Tom Ford's Velvet Orchid for Zoe and Black Orchid for himself.
For her dress journey, Zoe only visited two shops(!), finding her dream gown in Pippa Bridal in Coleraine, "The girls there were amazing and made the whole process feel so fun and easy, and they’ve recently opened up a new shop!" Suffice it to say that her friends and family were shocked by her choice; "I knew from the start that I wanted to wear a plain dress, but I never would have thought that I would wear such a traditional ballgown!"
For her bridal party, Zoe had her three sisters, Leanne, Cheryl, and Charlie. Believe it or not, her bridesmaids' dresses were Next Online's phase eight dresses! "I knew I wanted black dresses, so I never had any thought of possibly swaying from that. So we ordered, and amazingly, they all fit perfectly; no alterations were needed."
"We got married in St Mary’s Chapel in Killyclogher in Omagh, with Father Declan; he christened our little ones, so it meant so much to us for him to do our service for us. My favourite part of the ceremony is definitely walking down the aisle. Every girl dreams of that moment from a young age, and when I looked up and saw Gerard at the altar, it was all I ever dreamt of and more."
The couple chose Bellingham Castle as their venue on the recommendation of several of Gerard's clients and knew before laying eyes on the castle that they had found their dream venue, "We went to view it, and the moment at the gates, we looked at each other in the car and said this is it!" Not only did it tick all the boxes visually, but their guests were still talking about the quality of service months later! "What I loved most was that it was an exclusive venue; knowing that a good few kids would be at our wedding, we thought it would be safer."
For their entertainment, Zoe and Gerard knew that they didn’t want the usual traditional wedding bands, so we went for the Mad Ass Mules. "We found them on YouTube one night and booked them; they were fantastic. The dance floor was never empty; we had to clear the dance floor to do our first dance, and our guests were up dancing to the sound check!"
Regarding the best decision, Zoe had to say, "Our best decision was to do what we wanted and liked and totally enjoy the day. We honestly have nothing we would change, from the first thing that morning to the people involved in getting us ready, fed, cars, the whole lot. We wouldn’t change a thing. It really truly was the best day of our lives."
- Gráinne