Anthea Feeney and Sarah Mulhall
Photographs Courtesy of Wojciech Koza
By John Harty
Meeting online in 2014, both Anthea Feeney and Sarah Mulhall were immediately infatuated with each other and it wasn’t long before they had their first date that only fanned the flame they both had for each other.
However, it was after Sarah had her appendix removed and Anthea appeared by her side after the surgery, having drove all night from Sligo to Dublin, that their feelings for each other were solidified, having only spent one day apart since then.
Both knowing that they were hopelessly in love, the girls decided to get engaged two weeks before the marriage referendum, travelling to the Cliff of Moher on the morning of the results and proposing to each other.
“We both knew we wanted to marry each other and didn’t want to wait for the outcome of the vote to impact our decision, the morning of May 13 we drove to the cliffs of Moher and proposed to each other at the top of the tower.” The girls explain.
Wedding Details
Now engaged, the pair decided that wedding venue would be Castle Dargan hotel in Ballygawley Co. Sligo on December 16, 2018. With the girls having a mutual love for Christmas, they accordingly themed their wedding after the season of love, with Santa and Rudolph being among the guests that attended.
“We had Christmas movies as our table numbers, Santa and Rudolph made an appearance and the hotel was decorated with Christmas trees and beautiful lights.” Anthea, who took Sarah’s last name Mulhall, remembers of the big day.
The dazzling dresses were gotten at Mc Elhinneys Bridal Rooms in Ballybofey Co.Donegal and the girl’s hair was done by Gemma Crossan and their make-up was done by Anthea’s cousin Lydia from Lydia’s Beauty rooms, who made them feel like queens.
Sarah’s bridal party was Sarah Ryan as Maid of Honour and Jenny McAdoo, Sarah Fidgeon Cush and Lauren Howley as the bridesmaids. Anthea’s bridal party consisted of Nicola Currid as Maid of Honour and Zoe Feeney, Daynah Feeney and Samantha Feeney as bridesmaids. Flower girls included Ailbhe Drimbarean, Clodagh Howley Mulhall and the Page boy and page girls were Oliver Feeney and Maisy Drimbarean respectfully.
The bridal bouquets as well as eight bridesmaid bouquets were designed and created by their amazingly talented friend Roksana Racka.
The entertainment and music was provided by DJ Scruffy Duffy, who had everyone up dancing on their chairs even before the starters had arrived during the reception as well as fantastic Aoife Anderson and Sarah Crummy, who were the wedding singers for the ceremony. The perfect wedding photos were taken by Wojciech Koza.
The wedding cake was made by Sarah, a chef by trade, who made a spectacular seven tier pride themed showpiece which took almost a week to put together, and as she described it a “labour of love”.
Favourite Memories
Anthea’s favourite moment was when her mum walked her up the aisle as well as turning around to see Sarah walking towards her during the ceremony. Sarah’s favourite moment was meeting Anthea on top of the aisle and embracing each other before they both started laughing for no reason.
The girls’ shared favourite moment was standing at the top table when the party was at full blast with all their guests singing and dancing and having a ton of fun.
Special Touches
The now happily married wives worked hard making their wedding unique to great success, with an array of personal touches such as the flower girl throwing roses as well as snowflakes, fluffy socks in the girl’s bathroom for those in heels and a card making station for the kids so they could make Christmas cards.
Special Mention
Both Anthea and Sarah are extremely grateful to Anthea’s mother Beatrice, who was a massive help throughout the wedding planning process.
“A special mention has to be given to Beatrice, Anthea’s mum who went above and beyond for both of us from the moment we got engaged until we said ‘I Do’, she was our best friend, our therapist, our wedding planner, our fashion advisor, our dress fitter and our sanity through everything.” The two extremely grateful girls explain.
“Advice we would have for same sex couples getting married is to embrace the fact we are ‘non-traditional’ we found having to think more about every aspect of the wedding such as writing our ceremony and planning a reception made it a whole lot more personal” The two madly in love wives reveal.