The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
‘We still had our big day out’
Couple celebrate , even with nuptials on ice until ‘21
RATHER than let the pandemic completely ruin what should have been their big day, Listowel couple Eddie Horgan and Sarah Curtin carried on with a great party!
For nurse Sarah and Kerry Group employee Eddie, Saturday, June 20 was to have been the day they stood before family and friends to tie the knot.
It was also to have been the start of a year-long adventure touring Southeast Asia and living in Australia.
“We made the call to cancel it all in early April as it was just getting too complicated and it wasn’t the build-up we wanted, obviously,” Sarah said.
“We were sad that it didn’t happen, but all we were doing was worrying, so we said we’d call it and move it to April 30 of next year, the May Bank Holiday.”
But as Sarah said, ‘the party had to go on!’, with the couple inviting their close family and a handful of friends around to their Listowel home for a night of socially-distant fun (they only got close for the group picture above, right). And they even got special t-shirts printed saying ‘Corona Groom/Bride, Same Woman/Man, New Plan!
“Everyone was delighted to come to the house on Saturday to have a little bit of food and a few drinks marking what should have been our big day,” Sarah said. “It was just the family group, and we kept to the social-distancing rules because my mother’s best friend is dealing with breast cancer. Her treatment is working, so for her sake we kept our distance, except for taking the group photograph!
“We had our one-way flight booked to Bangkok on June 24, going backpacking in South East Asia. My best friend, Serena O’Donnell, is out in Australia, and we were going to go out to her as she wasn’t going to have made it home for the wedding. At least now she will be able to make it next year.
“My mother is also happy we’ve postponed as it has given her more time to perfect the mother-of-the-bride outfit!” Sarah joked.
As a nurse at Lystoll Lodge, Sarah steeled herself for a scenario that thankfully never came: “We were worried because of residents going in for hospital appointments, but the benefit here was that we locked down very early, meaning there was no one else coming in or out but the staff. Everyone here is safe, thank God.”