Trim Castle Hotel, Co. Meath
In early Spring 2022, the wedding of Roscommon native Eddie Butler and James Skillen,
a resident of county Down, took place in a beautiful ceremony at Trim Castle Hotel in Co.Meath.
Photos courtesy of David Moore Photography
The Meet
Enter Tinder in 2016. Student James was on his way back to college in Derry when he had a sneaky look
on Tinder to see if there were any matches within close proximity. Enter Eddie who was working in
Monaghan at the time. Thanks to a mutual swipe right, they matched with one another and quickly things
took off. Soon after, they went on their first date to the Omniplex in Omagh and the rest is history.
The Engagement
Three years on, Eddie organised a romantic getaway to London to celebrate James’s birthday in style
with a surprise ticket to the musical “Come From Away” on the West End. They enjoyed dinner and drinks
beforehand followed by taking in some of the wonderful London-bound sights.
After a thrilling performance and wonderful rendition of “Welcome to the Rock” on the West End, the pair
headed back to their hotel as Eddie continued to try and muster up the courage to pop the big question.
After a tremendous evening of touring and theatre, Eddie, riddled with nerves, handed James a jigsaw
puzzle. After quickly putting it together James looked to see a picture of the two of them with the word
“Will you marry me?” written across it. James, overcome with joy, immediately said yes.
The Wedding
On February 19, 2022, James and Eddie, along with 120 other family and friends, said their I do’s at the
stunning Trim Castle Hotel, becoming husband and husband. Accompanied by two grooms maids, the
nuptials began and Eddie and James were wedded in a beautiful ceremony with musical accompaniment
from the Dublin String Quartet. The couple praised humanist celebrant Niamh Davis as being “fantastic
and perfect for the day.” James cites that one of his favourite memories was “marrying the love of my life” as he and Eddie relished in the first few moments of married life together. After enjoying a fabulous meal, the couple took to the floor for their first dance to “So Close” by Jon McLaughlin from the infamous Disney film “Enchanted”. After serenading their guests with a true display of romance and passion, they treated them with little jars of jam as a wedding favour. Their wedding cake, made by French Wedding Cakes, was truly astounding as it stood three tiers high. It consisted of a Victoria sponge cake, vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam, followed by a layer of passion fruit cake with vanilla buttercream and topped with a layer of lemon cake with raspberry and vanilla buttercream. A true masterpiece to say the least. Soon after the nuptials the pair flew to Miami for their honeymoon and then ventured to Orlando and Clearwater Beach.
How was your experience with Trim Castle Hotel?
“Geraldine, Joe and the whole team at Trim Castle Hotel were amazing. We had originally booked our
date for February 2021 but with the pandemic, we wanted to push it out by a year. The hotel were more
than happy to accommodate. Right from the start Geraldine was on hand with any questions or queries
we had and sent us on any info we needed promptly. Even with the extra year, there was a lot still up in
the air with Covid restrictions and up until the month before we were limited to 100 people. The hotel
team always reassured us that we’d make something work if there were changes with restrictions or
problems. On the day Geraldine and Joe were there to help when we needed them and they expertly
guided us to wherever we needed to be. The dinner was amazing and we still have family that rave about
how good the food was.”
