{"id":663793,"date":"2026-10-24T06:08:30","date_gmt":"2026-10-24T06:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/663793\/"},"modified":"2026-10-24T06:08:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T06:08:30","slug":"wedding-of-the-week-cork-couple-who-met-at-the-gym-tie-the-knot-in-nerja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/663793\/","title":{"rendered":"Wedding of the Week: Cork couple who met at the gym tie the knot in Nerja\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"contextmenu internal_BodyInitial\">Love can often bloom in unexpected places, and that was the case for one Cork couple who met at the gym at Sarsfield Hurling Club.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Eight years ago, Orla Rall walked into the gym looking for a personal trainer and met Damien Long for the first time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cThe minute I met Damien, I knew there was something special about him,\u201d Orla recalls.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5268356_2_articleinline_ECHO_20FEATURES_20Wedding_20of_20the_20Week_20Orla_20and_20Damien_205.jpg\" alt=\"Orla with her daughters.&#9;Picture: Marbella Wedding Moments&#10;                    \" title=\"Orla with her daughters.&#9;Picture: Marbella Wedding Moments&#10;                    \" class=\"card-img\"\/>Orla with her daughters.\tPicture: Marbella Wedding Moments<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The pair soon became an item.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">It was during a holiday in Nerja last year that Damien, from Ballincollig, proposed to Orla, from Mayfield.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cWe fell in love with Nerja and knew we had to get married there,\u201d the bride said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The couple wed at the Church of El Salvador in the Spanish city last month in the presence of their closest friends and family.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The bride sourced her gown at Diamond Bridal on Maylor Street. \u201cIt was the second dress I tried on and I knew it was the one. It was giving me Spanish vibes, and I knew it was made for me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5268362_2_articleinline_1000155556.jpg\" alt=\"Orla and Damien returned to Nerja for their wedding after falling in love with the Spanish town.&#9;Picture: Marbella Wedding Moments&#10;                    \" title=\"Orla and Damien returned to Nerja for their wedding after falling in love with the Spanish town.&#9;Picture: Marbella Wedding Moments&#10;                    \" class=\"card-img\"\/>Orla and Damien returned to Nerja for their wedding after falling in love with the Spanish town.\tPicture: Marbella Wedding Moments<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The couple were supported on the day by Orla\u2019s mom Phil, her four sisters and her brother as well as Damien\u2019s mom Marie, his sister, brother, and brother-in-law.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Orla\u2019s dad John, and Damien\u2019s father Paddy and his daughter Shaunagh were not far from their thoughts on the day and Orla said there was \u201cno doubt they were looking down on us\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Orla\u2019s twin daughters Gracie and Alex gave her away and were her bridesmaids.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cThey were so proud walking me up the aisle, gave me away to their stepdad who they adore,\u201d said Orla.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Damien\u2019s nephew Nathan, who currently lives in London, and works as a paramedic in the police force, was best man.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5268365_2_articleinline_ECHO_20FEATURES_20Wedding_20of_20the_20Week_20Orla_20and_20Damien_206.jpg\" alt=\"The couple were supported by their closest family and friends on the day.&#9;Picture: Daro Gallo Photography&#10;                    \" title=\"The couple were supported by their closest family and friends on the day.&#9;Picture: Daro Gallo Photography&#10;                    \" class=\"card-img\"\/>The couple were supported by their closest family and friends on the day.\tPicture: Daro Gallo Photography<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">After the ceremony, the couple held a reception for their guests at Cochran\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The couple\u2019s first dance was to  Always Remember Us This Way by Lady Gaga.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cWe had the most amazing day, made happy memories for life. We laughed, we cried and we took it all in,\u201d the couple said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5268368_2_articleinline_ECHO_20FEATURES_20Wedding_20of_20the_20Week_20Orla_20and_20Damien_204.jpg\" alt=\"\u201cWe had the most amazing day,\u201d said Orla.&#9;Picture: Marbella Wedding Moments&#10;                    \" title=\"\u201cWe had the most amazing day,\u201d said Orla.&#9;Picture: Marbella Wedding Moments&#10;                    \" class=\"card-img\"\/>\u201cWe had the most amazing day,\u201d said Orla.\tPicture: Marbella Wedding Moments<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Today, the couple live in Glanmire where Damien has two gyms, Damien Long Personal Training &amp; Nutrition, and Orla, who is a personal trainer and qualified stylist, runs Orla\u2019s Fashion Closet, an online clothes shop.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cOur wedding day was everything. There was so much laughter, so much love, so much joy,\u201d said Orla.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5268371_2_articleinline_1000152715.jpg\" alt=\"The couple, who first met eight years ago, were wed in September.\" title=\"The couple, who first met eight years ago, were wed in September.\" class=\"card-img\"\/>The couple, who first met eight years ago, were wed in September.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cMyself at 47 and Damien at 52, we found our way to each other.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\u201cIt took us eight years to get here, but we got there in the end.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Love can often bloom in unexpected places, and that was the case for one Cork couple who met&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":663794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60,11344,55665],"class_list":["post-663793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-wedding","tag-wedding-of-the-week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663793","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=663793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/663794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}