{"id":664655,"date":"2026-10-25T06:02:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T06:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/664655\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T06:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T06:02:19","slug":"wedding-of-the-week-west-clare-whirlwind-wedding-after-an-initial-encounter-in-dubai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/664655\/","title":{"rendered":"Wedding of the Week: West Clare whirlwind wedding after an initial encounter in Dubai"},"content":{"rendered":"

As they said their \u201cI dos\u201d on a sun-kissed West Clare clifftop, Edel Hickey and Matthew Barber realised just how far their \u201cwhirlwind\u201d celebrations had whisked them from their day-to-day routine.<\/p>\n

The shimmering tides of Spanish Point beach below were a long way from the iconic Burj Al Arab, under whose gaze Edel and Matthew\u2019s first encounter took place.<\/p>\n

\"EdelEdel Hickey and Matthew Barber. Pictures: Black Diamond Photography<\/p>\n

Edel, a teacher, and Matthew, a firefighter, spotted one another six years ago at popular Irish expat venue McGettigan\u2019s in Souk Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got engaged in Amsterdam, in January 2025,\u201d says Edel.<\/p>\n

The bride, from Tipperary, and groom, from Merseyside, Liverpool, were wed on July 19 in an outdoor ceremony at the Armada Hotel in Co Clare, performed by celebrant Gr\u00e1inne McGibney of Atlantic Vows.<\/p>\n

\"EdelEdel Hickey and Matthew Barber. Pictures: Black Diamond Photography<\/p>\n

The couple were determined to have a big day with \u201clots of fun and laughter\u201d, says Edel. \u201cIt was phenomenal from start to finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked to sum up their emotions as they arrived at the edge of Europe to tie the knot? \u201cSurreal,\u201d says the bride.<\/p>\n

\"EdelEdel Hickey and Matthew Barber. Pictures: Black Diamond Photography<\/p>\n

Hitting a spellbinding note was award-winning Limerick-based professional singer and musician Claire Heffernan. \u201cClaire performed as we walked down the aisle,\u201d says Edel. \u201cShe was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bride looked elegant in an Enzoani design which she sourced at Diamond Bridal, Cork City, and the groom was dapper in a suit he had custom-made in Dubai for the occasion.<\/p>\n

R\u00ed Weddings created the floral d\u00e9cor, and Sax Appeal provided the music at the drinks reception.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sunshine made the day extra-memorable,\u201d says Edel.<\/p>\n

\"EdelEdel Hickey and Matthew Barber. Pictures: Black Diamond Photography<\/p>\n

Wedding photographer Kaspars Sarovarcenko of Black Diamond Photography (blackdiamond.ie<\/a>) was behind the camera, as was the videography crew from SeaForest Films.<\/p>\n

After dinner, the newlyweds took to the floor for their first dance to You\u2019re Still The One, after which The Bentley Boys kept everyone in the groove until the small hours.<\/p>\n

Clare hairstylist Chloe Cornu, The Upstyle Girl, created the bride\u2019s elegant updo, and Tipperary and Dublin makeup artist Theresa Bradbury of Coco Rouge Makeup was Edel\u2019s makeup artist.<\/p>\n

\"EdelEdel Hickey. Pictures: Black Diamond Photogrpaphy<\/p>\n

Edel chose Lucy Grier, Leanne McCormack, and Ciara Hickey to be her bridesmaids, with Lily McCormack as her flowergirl.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Mike Babar, Stuy Clegg, and Sam Francis were by Matthew\u2019s side as his groomsmen and Theo Clegg was his page boy.<\/p>\n

The couple have since returned to their home in Dubai after honeymooning in the Maldives.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has felt like a whirlwind,\u201d says Edel. <\/p>\n

\"EdelEdel Hickey and Matthew Barber. Pictures: Black Diamond Photography<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As they said their \u201cI dos\u201d on a sun-kissed West Clare clifftop, Edel Hickey and Matthew Barber realised…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4998,93,61,60,55665],"class_list":["post-664655","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\/664655","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=664655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}