Real Weddings: Gillian & Liam McGarrity

The Story Begins

Gillian and Liam’s love story begins with what we can only describe as a ‘movie like’ scenario. The couple met at Gillian’s sisters’ engagement party where they both grew a quiet liking towards each other. Afterwards the pair went on a couple of casual dates, but it wasn’t until they visited Florida for Gillian’s sister’s wedding that their romance blossomed. Just like in any good romance film, Gillian and Liam couldn’t deny their chemistry during their time away, they completely hit it off and haven’t looked back since!

Gillian and Liam built an amazing relationship together in the following years, they spent a year travelling the globe with a special stop back at the beach in Florida where Gillian’s sister and Liam’s best friend got married. Liam got down on one knee here and popped the question on this special return visit! Since the couple both love travelling so much, getting married abroad was the obvious choice for them…until covid of course.

It Must’ve Been Fate…

After 2 cancelled dates abroad, the couple decided to start their hunt for a Scottish venue. They visited Lochside for an overnight stay and spa experience and just knew this was the place for them. A big dream of theirs was to have magical views and obviously not much compares to the views at Lochside. The couple loved the views in the Glen Coal ceremony suite and although the new Lochview Function Suite was a building site at the time, they could envision the breathtaking views that would be surrounding them here too. Gillian and Liam were amazed by the entire hotel and on the day of their showround a cancellation came up for their preferred date – is that a sign or what?! Everything they wanted was suddenly available including plenty of accommodation for guests with lots of bedrooms available and even our luxury lodges.

The Inspiration

In general, the theme was quite simplistic, the rooms at Lochside are so decadent that the couple felt not much extra was needed. They went with a white, silver, and blue colour palette and were sure not to make anything look too ‘over done’. Some inspiration did come from the iconic Bridgerton with a wonderful string quartet playing for guests just like you would see in the series. Liam opted to wear a classy tuxedo and Gillian chose a gorgeous, form-fitting, embellished gown which all fit perfectly with this sophisticated theme!

The Process

During the planning process things weren’t 100% straight forward. Liam works away so it was hard to schedule tastings, showrounds and other important meetings (not to mention the additional stress of covid). To add to this already challenging process, the couple were let down as they found out that the décor they had dreamed of would not be possible with their original supplier. However, JAM events saved the day as they managed to pull out all the stops at short notice and deliver exactly what they had envisioned. Gillian tells us “If I was to recommend anything it would be to book JAM Events” – we couldn’t agree more!

Personal Highlights

One of the couples’ favourite things on the day was the “Singer Secretos” everyone loved it and it brought a nice bit of excitement to the reception. In general, it was just amazing to have everyone in one room singing and dancing after all that had happened with covid, everything turned out far better than they expected, and the day was much more amazing than it would have been had they went abroad!

Top Tips from The Newlyweds

“Try and stop during the day at several points to take it all in. Our wedding coordinator Jenna really helped encourage this.”

“In the lead up try not to stress. It’s only one day, the little things won’t matter, and they are not worth fighting over!”

From all of us here at RAD – Congratulations! We’re so grateful to this lovely couple for choosing us to be a part of their magical day & for sharing their story with us.