Wedding of the Week: We met on a dating app – and married in a stone circle
A megalithic stone circle in Kerry gave a sense of timelessness yet intimacy as Marion Le Maitre and Owain Plumb exchanged vows.
The bride, who is French-Australian, moved from Sydney to Ireland two years ago, and the groom relocated from Newport in Wales eight years ago. They now live in Kenmare.
“Like most millennials, we met on a dating app, when I was visiting Ireland,” says Marion, a nurse.
“I drove from Clare to Dublin for our first date and moved in with him that weekend. When you know you know, they say!”
Owain, who works for a tech company in Dublin, popped the question in summer 2020. “He just asked me in bed when I woke up. He later did a ‘proper’ proposal down on one knee and with the ring in Dublin — he made me walk up a hill but I was complaining the whole time and he knew I was getting hungry for lunch so he just found a little spot through the bushes and popped the question. We then had lunch at a fish-and-chips place on the beach,” she adds.
They were wed at Uragh Stone Circle in Kenmare on June 12, 2021, in a ceremony led by celebrant Garrett Ledwith, organised by Eloping in Ireland and followed by a reception at the Brooklane Hotel. “I wanted something embracing the Irish culture with a handfasting — we’d bought the ribbons months prior in Paris,” says Marion.
The couple live just up the road from the stone circle and go for weekly walks there with their dog so decided on the spot very early on. “But we didn’t know how to organise the rest so we found Eloping in Ireland and Stephen [Neary from Eloping in Ireland] organised the rest! We wanted something low-key without stress and that’s exactly what we got,” says the bride.
The celebration was attended only by Owain’s parents, Kevin and Paula, the groom’s two daughters Florence and Eloise and the bride’s son Liam.
Michelle bg Photography and LM Wedding Videography captured the occasion for posterity on camera. “It’d been raining all week leading up to the wedding but the forecast was predicting an amazing weekend,” says Marion.
“The day itself was so warm and sunny. Everything went smoothly but we’re a bit sad about how quickly the day went. The kids behaved, the grandparents helped a lot with everything, we managed to sneak in a cheeky pint of Guinness during the photoshoot, and our faces were cramping from smiling so much. Everyone in Kenmare was so nice and clapped as we walked past and the traffic stopped for us on the main street as we took pictures in the middle of the road.
“And we’d like to give a shoutout to the Horseshoe pub in Kenmare for giving us free drinks!”
The bride wore a Jenny Yoo gown teamed with silk flowers from Etsy and her hair and makeup were by Tricia O’Sullivan from Dingle, while the groom wore a Remus Uomo suit.
“I bought my dress very last minute online in New York and it turned out perfect!” she adds.
Liam, four, had other ideas about the occasion. “He thought it was my birthday the whole time because of my ‘pretty dress’ and the wedding cake,” says his mother.
The newlyweds plan to honeymoon in Nepal and the Maldives once it is possible. “I’ve always wanted to see Everest,” says Marion.
