The Chupi Journal

Wedding

The Chupi Wedding Series: Cian & Amanda

By Emily,
Fri, Apr 09, 2021

Tags: Wedding

Cian and Amanda's love story began nearly 7 years ago when they started new careers in the same company but if it wasn't for their induction day, they might never have met! Amanda tells us about their gorgeous wedding day in Kilashee House last November and how although Covid altered their origin

al plans, all that mattered to them was getting married.

We met in June 2014, I had moved back to Dublin having spent the majority of 6 years away. I just started an exciting job for a big company and I was eager to get a good seat for the induction day so I got there 10 minutes early. Cian also started that week but in another department and had the same idea. We were the first 2 people in the room, we smiled and introduced ourselves and sat next to each other.

Cian had spent most of his 20s travelling and we were both ready to grow up and start our careers. This led to lunch, then to dinner and drinks with the other new starters. Two weeks of emails later he offered me a ticket to Arctic Monkeys to go with him and his friends. Of course I went and we had the best time, but only as friends. We spent 2 months emailing each other back and forth building a friendship before he asked me on a real date.

Cian had fallen off his bike the day before and to my surprise showed up with a black eye. I thought he would reschedule but 2 months was a long enough wait already. Almost 7 years on, we both still work for the same company today but have never worked together. We may never have met only for the induction day.

When Covid struck, we said we would go ahead with our wedding regardless so we held tight with our date. We just wanted to be married to each other.

We had bought our forever home a few months before and had both been working really hard. We finished up work for a couple weeks as we were going on a mini Eurotrip starting in Berlin the next day. I came home and went straight out the back garden on the sunny evening with a drink to sit down and Cian had music playing.

He handed me a stamped envelope along with my post. As I was opening it I joked 'Oh not another wedding invite', we had 6 weddings to go to that year! The invitation said you are invited to the wedding of 'You and I' , it didn't click with me straight away as I was trying to figure out who had sent it. I looked up and Cian was on one knee with the pink Chupi box in front of him and asked me to marry him. I was completely shocked.

We spent the next few hours laughing together, a few tears, and texting our friends. We realised we had to make a flight to Berlin in a few hours so threw a bag together and off we went on our trip. We didn't see family and friends for 2 weeks so we were totally loved up together travelling around Europe.

We were married on Friday 13th November 2020 in Killashee House in Naas, just 20 minutes away from our home in Dublin. Cian is from Tipperary and has a lot of family and friends there so we wanted somewhere that was easy to travel for everyone. We fell in love with the Original House and thought it was the perfect setting for our guest list of 100 people. Thankfully they were incredibly accommodating to us during Covid and were more than happy to cater for us at 25 guests.

When Covid struck, we said we would go ahead with our wedding regardless so we held tight with our date. We just wanted to be married to each other. We quite liked the idea of a Friday 13th wedding, and it's also the same anniversary as my grandparents.

We entered the 2nd lockdown 3 weeks before the big day but were relieved when they said 25 guests were allowed. We decided to flip the day around to make the most of it. We had all our photos taken before the ceremony so I arrived at 1pm and we had our first look. We spent a couple hours getting all our photos taken and had some lunch, before making our way to the ceremony room nice and relaxed at 3:30pm. My little brother Sean walked me up the aisle. He was so excited to have a big job on the day and was so happy to be dressed the same as the men.

Our favourite part of the day was our first look. We sat together for 20 mins holding hands, laughing and catching up on the day so far. Having that time to relax with each other before it all kicked off really put us at ease.

We had all our other guests on Zoom right beside us so they really had the best view in the house. I waved to them constantly during the ceremony as I noticed faces that were truly missed on the day. After that we had a small drinks reception with our 25 guests and some speeches.

Our dinner was served around 6pm which was exceptional and as we were not allowed to have live music under the restrictions, my sister Rachael, Maid of Honor, held a table quiz so we could have fun while distanced at our tables. This was great fun and quite competitive. She included a round on 'How well do you know the married couple.' The entire day was breathtaking and we spent the weekend in Killashee and made the most of having a hotel to ourselves.

Our favourite part of the day was our first look. Cian was waiting in the snug for me with a pint of Guinness and I couldn't believe how handsome he was. I was speechless. We sat together for 20 mins holding hands, laughing and catching up on the day so far. Having that time to relax with each other before it all kicked off really put us at ease. We also loved saying hello to everyone on Zoom, we spent 10 minutes after the ceremony to say hello to every person on the call and tell them we missed them. We felt connected with them even though they couldn't be there.

My dress is from Barnardos Bridal. The thought of donating the cost of my wedding dress to such a fantastic cause meant so much to me so I was determined to find a dress there. When I slipped into it I couldn't believe it fit me so perfectly. I am very petite but I didn't need to adjust any part of the dress. It was a perfect fit and didn't need to alter anything. I am told this never happens.

We wanted our guests to feel safe most importantly so we had our friends and family seated in their groups to limit the people they mixed with. Everyone had a personalised hand sanitiser and we opted for cupcakes instead of a wedding cake. We did buy a small cake from the shop though just so we could say we cut one.

My engagement ring is the Crown of Love. Cian picked it out because he thought I would love the hawthorn twig design and the subtle grey diamonds. I loved it and thought it suited my personality perfectly. We visited the store some time later to look at wedding bands for us both and one of the lovely sales reps said that the Crown of Love was sometimes worn as a wedding band that would sit with one of the diamond rings.

I was instantly drawn to the sapphire and emerald Love is All ring and couldn't choose. I then tried on the Grey Diamond Love is All and fell in love with it. It complimented my engagement ring perfectly. So as usual we did things backwards. Wedding band for an engagement ring, Diamond ring for a wedding band! Cian had never worn jewellery in his life so was nervous on whether to choose gold or white gold. After trying a few pieces he picked the Driftwood Ring and has gotten very used to it now. I also wore the Hope & Magic grey diamond necklace to tie all my grey diamond pieces together and I love how subtle it is.

I was initially drawn to Chupi because I love all things Irish and the hawthorn design was so unique. When I heard how the company aims to be more sustainable and only uses conflict free stones I knew I always wanted a Chupi piece. That was very important to me. All our pieces were found in the store from browsing and with help from the staff.