THE A-Z OF McILROY’S BIG DAY
The fairytale castle is booked, the golf clubs have been put away and Stevie Wonder is expected to serenade the happy couple. With a €250,000 price tag, RoRica’s nuptials look set to be Ireland’s wedding of the year ...
HE’S the popular superhero of the Irish sports scene, and she’s the high-flying golf executive who turns heads wherever she goes. It stands to reason that sports star Rory McIlroy will be pulling out all the stops for his wedding this weekend, but only now are we realising that he and fiancée Erica Stoll have secretly been planning the bash of the decade.
With the Holywood man and his New Yorker bride bringing a touch of Hollywood to the West of Ireland, the RoRica wedding, said to be at Ashford Castle in Mayo, promises to be nothing short of spectacular. Many of the details of the big day are shrouded in secrecy (not joking: you’d be quicker getting the US nuclear codes), but what little we do know of the nuptials point to a belter of a big day for the Irish golfer. Our spies have been able to garner a lowdown on what the couple’s lucky guests can expect this weekend...
Ais for amenities. Guests arriving at Ashford Castle early may well want to make the most of their stay, and the castle has no shortage of fun stuff to do. There’s falconry, tennis, a cinema, a pool, a spa or even a stellar cruise on Lake Corrib to avail of if the weather holds up. Golfers on the invite list won’t be left wanting either as there’s a top golf course on site.
Bis for the bill. RoRica are said to be splashing out a cool €250,000 for their celebrations. The private cottage on Ashford Castle, booked out since last weekend, costs around €25,000 for a week’s stay. A Mail on Sunday report also uncovered that the presidential suite in the hotel, which costs €4,000 a night, is also booked out, while all other 80 rooms in the stunning castle are block-booked since Wednesday.
Cis for Cong, the traditional Irish village which is home to Ashford Castle and is famous for being the set of the John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara film, The Quiet Man.
Dis for Harry Diamond, Rory’s childhood friend, who is hotly tipped to be taking on best man duties this weekend.
Eis for engagement ring and where else to debut a rock than on the red carpet? After Erica stepped out wearing the whopper at the charity Christmas Ball in Belfast, it was revealed that the oval-cut diamond is worth an estimated €600,000 — more than double the estimated price of the engagement ring presented by Rory to former fiancee Caroline Wozniacki.
Fis for food. As part of Ashford Castle’s VIP deal, wedding guests will rise to a full Irish breakfast and will be fuelled throughout the weekend by cold and warm canapés: smoked Connemara salmon rosette on brown bread and lime jam crouton, James’ air dried lamb with fresh mint and melon, or seared scallop on chargrilled potato with carrot- mayo. At Ashford Castle, there are options of 16 types of four-course menu for the main meal — ranging from crepinette of barbarie duck and foie gras, to fillet of beef or roast supreme of guinea fowl. And for those peckish after a few hours on the dance floor, fish and chips and Irish beef burgers will be among the choices brought out around midnight.
Gis for guest list. Expect celebs aplenty: among those rumored to attend are Niall Horan of One Direction, and Padraig Harrington and his wife Caroline. Horan famously caddied for McIlroy at the 2015 Masters Par 3 in the US, and the pair have also hung out on a number of occasions on this side of the Atlantic.
His for honeymoon. McIlroy has said that the couple will go on a 10-day honeymoon ‘in the middle of nowhere’ following the wedding. The destination in question remains a mystery, but if they leave the day after the wedding that would still give McIlroy a full week to prepare for the Florida-based Players Championship.
Iis for Irish Open. The pair famously made their first public appearance at this event in May 2015 — they were engaged in Paris by the year’s end.
Jis for judgment, which, says McIlroy, is the one thing that is blissfully missing from his relationship with his wife-to-be: ‘I could speak to her about anything, we ended up spending a bit of time together and realised that there was something more there. I love that she knows everything about me, and there was no judgment there. There was no judgment from day one, which is huge, because that’s very hard to find for someone in my position.’
Kis for K Club, a favourite of Rory’s. The 7,350-yard Palmer Course at the Kildare hotel resort has enjoyed a boost through McIlroy’s promotion of the Irish Open event via his own foundation.
Lis for Lake Corrib. Expect Ashford Castle’s gorgeous waters to feature prominently in the happy couple’s wedding photos pics.
Mis for music. Rory has famously commented that listening to music helps ‘throttle back my tempo’ — whatever that means — so it stands to reason that it will be a big part of this weekend. Stevie Wonder flew in on Thursday night for the event and will perform with an 18-piece band. Some also believe that Ed Sheeran will do a surprise performance at the reception, even though he is playing Manchester the same evening, while others are counting on close pals Coldplay to make an appearance. According to a Variety article detailing the cost to book some of the world’s most famous pop stars, Coldplay charge around €700,000 for a private concert, while Sheeran’s musical presence would cost more in the region of €115,000. Nice work if you can get it.
Nis for New York. Erica grew up in upstate Rochester and Rory has commented that their respective hometowns have more in common than meets the eye: ‘Erica loves Ireland,’ he is quoted as saying. ‘It’s very similar to the place where she grew up, where it’s also very green and leafy.’
Ois for onlookers. As would befit any big-name wedding, members of the public will be no doubt hoping for a peek of the golf star and his bride. Yet with the wedding resort set on 350 acres, they’ll need a long lens if they’re to sneak a snap.
Pis for proposal. McIlroy had planned on proposing in Paris for a number of months, but was apprehensive about returning there after the terror attacks in November 2015. ‘We had planned to go to Paris since May, we were always going to go,’ he said after he got down on bended knee. ‘Then what happened made us unsure
what we were going to do. So we decided to go and if we didn’t like it, if we didn’t like the mood of the place, didn’t feel comfortable, we would go somewhere else. When we got there and walked around, it felt great. There were searches going into a few shops and a bit more of a security presence around, but people were just getting on with things. So we felt comfortable, but I still thought at least at the start of the trip, it might make the rest of the trip even better. So we went out for dinner and that was that. It was a nice trip, a nice way to end the year.’
Qis for quiet life. There will be no shortage of highoctane glamour this weekend, but usually Erica is a fan of the low-key approach: ‘For me, Erica brings such a level of normality to everything,’ McIlroy has enthused. ‘She has a calming presence, a serene-ness and that’s not just on me, it is noticeable in any company. She never wants to be the centre of attention and is always very comfortable in the background. She is a very low-key person, not the kind to broadcast stuff.’
Ris for Ryder Cup. The couple initially met at the 2012 Ryder Cup tournament in Medinah Country Club. Erica was working for the PGA of America at the time and was famously helpful in getting McIlroy to his Sunday singles tee time after he slept it out. At the time, McIlroy was seeing tennis pro Caroline Wozniacki. They would eventually get engaged, but called it quits in 2014.
Sis for stag parties. Last weekend, the sports star hit Miami Beach for a bloketastic celebration. Before Christmas, McIlroy celebrated an ‘early stag’ with his pals based closer to home in Dublin. That included a private tour with Dublin Bay Cruises and a night out in Xico on Baggot Street.
Tis for team. Although Ashford Castle offers guests the services of a wedding planner, the venue did not comment on any speculation that RoRica had availed of this service. Still, the team’s package is fit for the A-list, and prices for weddings start from €80,650 in low season (January-March) to €130,000 in high season (May-September).
Uis for understated. It’s precisely his wife-to-be’s lack of airs and graces that the golfer fell for. We’re not sure if he was taking a dig at anyone in particular when he was moved to comment: ‘I found it refreshing being with someone who was living a normal life rather than, “Oh! My jet is 30 minutes late!”’
Vis for very closeknit family. The golf prodigy has been kept down to earth by a family that simply wouldn’t stand for any cocky carry-on. Rory was famously introduced to the game by his dad Gerry, a golfer in his own right who once played a scratch handicap level. His mother Rosie worked the night shift at a local factory, while Gerry taught his son the beautiful game.
Wis for what will they wear? What designer Erica will plump for this weekend remains a closely guarded secret. McIlroy missed out on winning the coveted Masters green jacket, meaning that his wedding suit plans also fell by the wayside. ‘It would have been nice to walk down the aisle in a green jacket,’ he reflected recently.
Xis for ex-girlfriends. Tennis player Caroline Wozniacki (pictured) was McIlroy’s fiancée before he broke off the relationship days after they’d sent out invitations to their own wedding. While Caroline was heartbroken, she has said she is happy they didn’t tie the knot now. The Danish blonde said in a candid interview with OK! Magazine: ‘I think I’m just a different person. Obviously it was hard at the time, but it was a great experience to go through and come out the other end of. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.’ Rory’s other exflame, Holly Sweeney, appears to be much happier for RoRica. ‘Of course I’d wish him well with his big day,’ she told a newspaper recently. ‘She’s lovely. I’ve met her a couple of times, she’s really dead on.’ Holly, too, has moved on: she tied the knot with Belfast Giants hockey player Jeff Mason last year and they have a threeyear-old son, Max.
Yis for yoga. By all accounts, Rory is a fan, which keeps his physical conditioning and mobility at optimum levels. Will he end up doing a downward dog or two before kick-off on the big day? Probably.
Zis for zipped. No doubt hoping to retain an element of excitement for their guests, RoRica have remained incredibly tight-lipped over the specifics of their wedding day. Naturally, all the glamour, romance and attendant celebrities will be revealed in due course.