{"id":405681,"date":"2026-04-18T21:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T21:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/405681\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T21:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T21:12:10","slug":"the-cliche-is-true-it-was-the-best-and-fastest-day-of-our-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/405681\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The clich\u00e9 is true \u2014 it was the best, and fastest, day of our lives\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now enjoying settling into their newly renovated country home in Meath, Aoife McCarthy and Ciar\u00e1n Jones met six years ago when Ciar\u00e1n moved to Cork.<\/p>\n

Aoife, from Ovens, Co Cork, says: \u201cMy bridesmaid, Rebecca, introduced us in the summer of 2020 \u2014 despite my living in Canada at the time! We arranged to meet for a drink in between lockdowns, and the rest, as they say, is history.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and Ciar\u00e1n, from Dundalk, Co Louth, were wed in St John the Baptist Church, Ovens, by Fr Liam \u00d3 h\u00cdci and held their reception at Fota Island Resort.<\/p>\n

\"AoifeAoife McCarthy and Ciar\u00e1n Jones. Pictures:<\/p>\n

Just over a year and a half earlier, Ciar\u00e1n had proposed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was on March 16, 2024 \u2014 the same day we received the keys to our new country home,\u201d says Aoife.<\/p>\n

Mid-attempt to open a bottle of bubbles on the patio, she was completely surprised when he got down on one knee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe celebrated that evening with a gorgeous stay in Carton House,\u201d says the bride.<\/p>\n

Aoife\u2019s sister Cl\u00edodhna McCarthy was her maid of honour, and her sister-in-law Sandra McCarthy \u2014 together with her friends Sin\u00e9ad O\u2019Neill and Rebecca Wagner \u2014 were the bridesmaids.<\/p>\n

\"AoifeAoife McCarthy and Ciar\u00e1n Jones.<\/p>\n

Ciar\u00e1n\u2019s brothers, Pete Jones, best man, and Brian Jones, groomsman, were by his side \u2014 as were his friends Cormac \u00d3 Brolch\u00e1in and Rory Liston as groomsmen.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur little attendants were my nephew, Culann McCarthy, as pageboy and my niece, Aoibh McCarthy, as flowergirl,\u201d says Aoife.<\/p>\n

The five-star reception venue provided a stunning backdrop for their photos, by Shane O\u2019Neill, Aspect Photography (Aspectphotography.net<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Aoife McCarthy and Ciar\u00e1n Jones.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beautiful gardens and woodlands on the grounds of Fota \u2014 too stunning to pass by,\u201d says Aoife.<\/p>\n

They wanted their wedding to be \u201ca big, joyful party surrounded by family and friends\u201d, she adds: \u201cThe clich\u00e9 is true \u2014 it was the best (and fastest!) day of our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ciar\u00e1nCiar\u00e1n Jones with his family, including his parents Olive and Ted, on his wedding day.<\/p>\n

Celebrating with them were the bride\u2019s parents, Joan and John McCarthy, and the groom\u2019s mother and father, Olive and Ted Jones.<\/p>\n

\"AoifeAoife McCarthy with her dad John McCarthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith large families and wonderful friends, the atmosphere was full of energy, laughter and pure joy. Sharing the day with the people we love most made it unforgettable,\u201d says Aoife. \u201cFriends and family travelled extraordinary distances to attend \u2014 including Ciar\u00e1n\u2019s brother Brian from Bermuda and groomsman Cormac from Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AoifeAoife McCarthy and Ciar\u00e1n Jones with the Aoife’s parents Joan and John McCarthy.<\/p>\n

The bride looked elegant in an Edwina O\u2019Gorman design, and her hair was styled by bridal hair specialist CathyAnn Kelleher with Rebecca O\u2019Donovan as the makeup artist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wore pearls that belonged to my grandmother, Mary McSweeney,\u201d adds Aoife.<\/p>\n

\"AoifeAoife McCarthy and Ciar\u00e1n Jones.<\/p>\n

The groom was dapper in a suit sourced from Louis Boyd Menswear.<\/p>\n

Videographer Colin Hickey, Orchid Pictures, captured the occasion on film, and Ailish Calnan (@FloralSculpture) created the floral arrangements. Aoife and Ciar\u00e1n honeymooned in Croatia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Now enjoying settling into their newly renovated country home in Meath, Aoife McCarthy and Ciar\u00e1n Jones met six…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4998,93,61,60,55665],"class_list":{"0":"post-405681","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-weddings","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-wedding-of-the-week"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}