Wedding of the Week: Mary and Paul met in Sydney but came 'home' for their wedding
Lingwood Mary Walutek Pictures: And Paul O'sullivan Jakub
They may have got engaged on Bondi Beach — but for Mary O’Sullivan and Paul Lingwood, the port of Kinsale was their dream wedding destination.
You could say this Cork couple travelled to the ends of the earth to find one another.
Mary, from Parklands, and Paul, from Ballinlough, are both based in Australia.
“I’ve been in Sydney for 15 years and Paul has been living there for nearly 20 years and we met when we were introduced to one another by mutual friends on a night out in 2016,” says Mary.
A year later, on December 18, Paul popped the question on Bondi Beach.
“It was a complete surprise," says Mary. "We flew home the next day to celebrate our engagement in Cork."
The pandemic made it challenging to organise the big day, particularly with lockdowns.
“We had our legal marriage ceremony in June of last year in Sydney, under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, with 18 friends and family members present. We were planning our wedding for the past two-and-a-half years and we had to keep postponing the date but finally, it was a case of third time lucky — and it was worth the wait.”
They exchanged vows in Pier One restaurant in the Trident Hotel in July, in a humanist ceremony led by Deirdre Hegarty, celebrant, with Aoife Blake, harpist, providing music, and the reception took place in the hotel’s Harpoon Room.
Mary looked stunning in a Maggie Sottero gown sourced in Sydney with her bridesmaids in Folkster dresses and the groom looked dapper in an MJ Bale suit.
Mary chose her childhood friend, Rachel Kelly, to be her maid of honour with her sister, Valerie Lynch, and niece Amy Lynch and her friend Vicky Fogliaresi as bridesmaids.
Faye and Sadie McCormack were the flowergirls.
The bride and groom’s son, Ollie, took centre stage as the pageboy.
Paul’s brother-in-law, Eoghan Dinan, and his Sydney-based friends, John O’Hare and Paul Callaghan, were his best men.
The groom’s sister, Lisa Lingwood, and the bride’s niece, Amy Lynch, did the readings during the ceremony.
“The general manager of the Trident Hotel, Trish Grey, was outstanding from start to finish,” adds Mary.
Toasting to their future happiness were Mary’s mother Teresa O’Sullivan and father Tony O’Sullivan and her stepmom, Betty O’Sullivan, as well as her brother, Scott O’Sullivan; and Paul’s parents Treasa and John Lingwood.
Later The Dream Band, Dublin, followed by DJ Sax, ensured the dance floor was full.
“Our first dance was Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together,” says Mary.
Jakub Walutek, photographer, captured the entire occasion on camera.
Bloomsday Flowers created the floral arrangements and the cake was by Brian Roche, Baker Boy Cakes.
The bridal makeup was by The Makeup Doll with hairstyling by Tricia O’Sullivan.
Mary, who works in aesthetics, and Paul, who runs his own courier business, live in Sydney.
- If you would like to feature in Wedding of the Week contact eve.kelliher@examiner.ie
