‘It’s moments like this you realise what’s truly important’

Gerard and Catriona O’Doherty had to alter their Spring wedding plans after restrictions meant they would be unable to proceed with their chosen venue. Catriona (nee Doherty) from Culmore and Gerard, from the Chapel Road area, were however eventually able to go ahead with their dream day recently.

The couple were married at St Columb’s Church in the Waterside before regrouping with guests at their new venue, the City Hotel, and the joyous occasion was captured in these beautiful pictures by James Aiken Photography.

Explaining how their romance blossomed, Gerard said: “We first met at a birthday party in 2009 – I asked her to dance and for a man with two left feet I knew when she said yes it must have been love at first sight. We dated for a few months but sadly Catriona already had her flight booked for Australia and circumstances dictated that we would have to part.

“Fast-forward to Christmas 2013, I spot a familiar face waiting for a taxi in the rain. Luckily for me she needed a coat and I needed a taxi!

“From that night on we never looked back. In 2015 we bought a house together and by April 2018 I found myself at a beach in Donegal on one wet knee asking for Catriona’s hand in marriage.”

With the help of their families it was time for the couple to start planning for the big day, and a few weeks after the engagement they had the date booked – Shandon Hotel on May 23, 2020 “to give us ample time to save and plan”.

“We couldn’t have been more excited.... what could possibly go wrong? We spent the rest of 2018 and all of 2019 planning and saving.”

And then everything changed. “January 2020 our year had arrived and so did the news of a virus outbreak in China. Like everyone else we were oblivious of what was to come,” the couple recalled.

By mid-March the UK government had announced a lockdown and across the border the Shandon Hotel in Dunfanaghy like everywhere else had been closed until further notice.

“With the news of the lockdown not likely to be lifted by May we made the decision to rearrange everything for October 17 in the hope that the virus would be a distant memory,” the couple said.

“July arrives and things are looking positive for October but by September, the R number starts rising and on September 24 the Irish government announce further lockdown measures for Donegal until October 16, but with no guarantee the restrictions would be lifted, we made the tough decision to change our venue closer to home. We spent the next week rearranging our plans and luckily enough the City Hotel agreed to host us.”

The day of the wedding finally arrived, and there was no more waiting to be done as Gerard and Catriona exchanged their vows in St Columb’s chapel at 12.30pm Mass. And despite all they had to go through, the couple said they had a dream wedding. “We couldn’t have been happier, surrounded by our loved ones. We truly felt like the luckiest people in the world. Every set back, worry and disappointment just faded into the background. Finally, and most importantly, we became husband and wife.

“We would just like to thank the Shandon Hotel for being so accommodating and the City Hotel who gave us and our 23 guests the day we will never forget! 2020 has been such a tough year for everyone, us included, but its moments like this you realise what’s truly important.”

*The Bridal Party included Mark O’Doherty, Elaine Hogan, Daniel McColgan, Jennifer Doherty, Christopher Towe, Isobel Durkan, and flower girls Edith Doherty and Amelie O’Hare Doherty.