{"id":622815,"date":"2026-09-12T21:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T21:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/622815\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T21:56:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T21:56:16","slug":"wedding-of-the-week-we-had-an-irish-wedding-with-elements-from-both-our-cultures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/622815\/","title":{"rendered":"Wedding of the Week: We had an Irish wedding with elements from both our cultures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although she\u2019s now living in Dubai, Aisling Fitzpatrick always wanted an Irish wedding<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Aisling, a primary school teacher, and her husband Saeed Gul, a senior account manager, first spotted one another four years ago, in September 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe met in a bar called Aloft in Al Ain, in the United Arab Emirates,\u201d says Aisling. \u201cSaeed\u2019s friend asked my friend and me if we could answer a joke, offering 50 dirhams if we got it right. Saeed gave me the answer, so I won the 50 dirhams, and later we started talking and realised there was an instant connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AislingAisling Fitzpatrick and Saeed Gul. Pictures: Dermotsullivan.com<\/p>\n

Over two years later, Saeed surprised Aisling with a romantic proposal at the luxury five-star Dubai resort Anantara on The Palm in May 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a private table set up on the beach, with a red carpet, rose petals everywhere, and a big light-up \u2018I love you\u2019 sign,\u201d says Aisling. \u201cIt was very extravagant, and he was so nervous that he proposed before we even had dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AislingAisling Fitzpatrick and Saeed Gul. Pictures: Dermotsullivan.com<\/p>\n

Aisling, from Killimer in Co Clare, and Saeed, from Afghanistan and raised in Al Ain, were wed on July 16 at The Lodge at Ballygarry Estate Hotel & Spa in Tralee, Co Kerry, by solemniser Daragh Doyle. Singer and guitarist Tracy Gallagher performed for both the ceremony and at the reception. Leading the celebrations with the couple was Aisling\u2019s mother, Mary Fitzpatrick.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a remembrance candle for my dad, Brendan, who passed away in November 2018. Saeed and I lit the candle together during our ceremony, and it was a really meaningful moment for us to have him remembered and included in our special day,\u201d says Aisling.<\/p>\n

\"AislingAisling Fitzpatrick and Saeed Gul. Pictures: Dermotsullivan.com<\/p>\n

The bride\u2019s childhood friend Eilise Brennan was her maid of honour, and her sister Aoife Fitzpatrick and friend Gr\u00e1inne Mulqueen, along with her cousin Geniene Baker, were the bridesmaids. The groom\u2019s friend Mustafa Tariq was his best man, and his brother Osama Gul and Umar Khar were his groomsmen. \u201cThe day was honestly even better than we could have imagined,\u201d says the bride.<\/p>\n

\"AislingAisling Fitzpatrick with Eilise Brennan, Aoife Fitzpatrick, Gr\u00e1inne Mulqueen, and Geniene Baker. Pictures: Dermotsullivan.com<\/p>\n

\u201cWe loved being able to have all the traditional parts of an Irish wedding while also bringing in elements of both of our cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bride wore a Maggie Sottero dress she selected from Rebekah\u2019s Bridal in Dubai, and the groom sourced his tux in Dubai too.<\/p>\n

\"AislingAisling Fitzpatrick. Pictures: Dermotsullivan.com<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoyed dress shopping. It allowed me to have a special moment with my close friends Nida and Courtney in Dubai. I tried on maybe 10 dresses before finding the one,\u201d says Aisling.<\/p>\n

Laura Boyle was the bridal hairstylist, with Annette O\u2019Brien as the make-up artist. Photographer Dermot Sullivan (dermotsullivan.com) was behind the camera, with videographer Uray Novotny also capturing the occasion on film for posterity.<\/p>\n

Wedding band J90 kept everyone moving. Saeed\u2019s brother Osama added to the fun, according to the couple.<\/p>\n

\"AislingAisling Fitzpatrick and Saeed Gul. Pictures: Dermotsullivan.com<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very quiet at the beginning and almost wanted to stay in the background but, when the band started playing, a completely different side of him came out,\u201d says Aisling.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe got everyone onto the dance floor, started conga lines, and had everyone having the best time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leona Fitzmaurice, of Every Occasion Florist, Tralee, created the floral d\u00e9cor, and artist Rachel Leahy was also on site to do portraits of the guests.<\/p>\n

Pristine Classics Occasions supplied an ice cream cart, and Theresa Foley, of Heavenly Baked, Tralee, made the wedding cake.<\/p>\n

The newlyweds plan to honeymoon in Japan. <\/p>\n

If you would like to feature in Weekend Wedding of the Week, email eve.kelliher@examiner.ie<\/a>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although she\u2019s now living in Dubai, Aisling Fitzpatrick always wanted an Irish wedding. Aisling, a primary school teacher,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4998,93,61,60,55665],"class_list":["post-622815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-weddings","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-wedding-of-the-week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622815","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=622815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}