Unfortunately we haven’t had many weddings in Ireland since COVID-19 decided to show up to the party without an invitation. However, newlyweds Sophie and Claire were one of the lucky ones who had their dream wedding at The Millhouse in County Meath just weeks before lockdown set in.

The couple sat down with GCN to speak about their relationship and nuptials.

How long have you been together and how did you meet?

We’ve been together for five years. We met through friends. I think we met at a Halloween party, and Claire thinks we met at a brunch. We still haven’t managed to settle it!

What is the most romantic thing you have done for each other?

Neither of us are really ones for big romantic gestures! We tend to do lots of little things for each other instead.

Who proposed to who?

Claire proposed to me up at her family’s cottage in Ontario, but after she did, it turned out we had both brought engagement rings for each other. So really she just got there first!

Was there one of you who did most of the organising for the big day?

It was a team effort. We each took care of different areas of planning. We were lucky in that all of our vendors were so great to work with that a lot of the planning was just fun.

Why did you choose The Millhouse as the venue for your celebration?

Firstly, The Millhouse is beautiful! It had a mix of what we both wanted for the day – I (Sophie) was looking for something with history and Claire was looking for something a bit different than your typical wedding venue. All of the spaces are so beautifully designed and there are unique touches everywhere.

The ceremony room is very special and the perfect size, and the main house is so well laid out that all of our guests were chatting in no time. Having everything onsite was fantastic too. Finally the staff at The MillHouse are just outstanding. Every visit was so special and they couldn’t have been more accommodating throughout the whole process.

If you could describe your wedding in one word – what would it be?

‘Lucky’ – we got married on Feb 29th 2020 when Covid had barely registered with us. Claire is Canadian and I am Irish so we had a lot of guests from overseas. We knew we were lucky on the day because it was amazing to have so many people we love in the same place, but looking back we were even luckier than we realised.

Where is your dream honeymoon destination?

We both love Iceland. We’d love to go to New Zealand too someday.