Inside My Wedding: My Wedding Day in NI at Roe Park Resort

The Northern Irish couple shared their beautiful wedding day at Limavad’s Roe Park Resort.

After 13 November 2021 2017 by Lucy (27) Straban and Matthew Coe (30) Bangor.

In the weekly broadcast of Be’s Inside My Wedding, couples explore their special day to offer some of their best advice for their future husbands.

The couple planned to marry in August 2020, but the wedding was postponed due to the outbreak of the pandemic.

Lucy told Bee, “Matt and I met when I was 18 in Turkey, and he was 20. He was at the boys’ party and I was at the girls’ party.

“Me and I were at Bangor Beach on October 10, 2017 and on October 12 we learned that we were expecting our first child, a baby girl we call Mara. Plan and enjoy the birth of our first child.

“When our plans changed due to Covid, we decided to expand the family and get our little Jonah.

“Having our kids at the wedding was great! I highly recommend doing things “the wrong way”.

Tell us all about your wedding day!

Our wedding day was unreal! All the tension, planning and confusion was worth it. We had a party at Straban Chapel and then at Limavad Roy Park. We had about 130 families and friends there and would do so again in a heartbeat.

How did you start planning your wedding?

We set an appointment in October 2017 and started planning almost immediately. I wanted to make a lot of reservations and make an appointment before our first child got here. We started planning at first by looking for a place. We discovered Roe Park Resort and thought it was perfect because it was close enough to the party, about an hour drive from the Bangor guests and also near Derry City Airport to pick up other guests who were traveling. In December of that year we went to the wedding market and fell in love with the place and the staff. Roe deer park looked wonderful in all respects. It was the only place we saw.

We reached out to the parish priest and asked for the dates in August 2020 and almost got in touch with Roe Deer Park and left. All this is very dangerous, but as soon as you start, everything will work out and fall into place.

Tell us about your wedding dress, wedding dresses and fashion!

So this is dangerous. Personally, I am not a big fan of wedding dresses and the whole experience was very strange to me. I’ve tried all shapes, sizes, and designs – you name it! I would never have imagined a “bride” and never fell in love with a dress.

Then I continued designing and making my dress. I found this amazing tailor in Glasgow (Nutmeg) and immediately fell in love with Megan and her work. We’ve been hanging around for a while, with ideas, concepts, etc. And I hadn’t actually seen my dress a couple of weeks before the wedding when I went to Glasgow to do my first alteration, and I think it’s my last! Loved! This may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but it was “me”.

The wedding dresses came from ASOS – a one-shoulder tulle bespoke dress that was royal blue. I think it worked around the time of the year we got married. The outfits came from the Italian NEXT collection with beautiful details and a gorgeous tuxedo. Seeing my dad in a tuxedo was so cute that he was like James Bond.

What was the best part about the build so far?

My husband and I – let me tell you actually – my husband and son-in-law are very creative and made many of the decorations and small details themselves. It was great seeing Matthew and his dad. I think doing things and combining our vision was a great experience. Don’t get me wrong, removing something from an endless list was awesome. Lots of pre-holidays like chicken and venison were great for both of us.

What was the highlight of your day and your other favorite parts?

I don’t think I can pinpoint a particular moment that I consider the best. This was a great day. Obviously finally getting married to Matt was amazing but just having fun with everyone, having our kids out there, all in a lifelong relationship and love. [was great] also.

However, there is a special moment. Before the guests entered the dining suite, the manager led us to the banquet hall to see if we were all satisfied. Everything was beautiful and perfect of course, but the manager said, “One thing we don’t know is where to put it.” Then I went to pick up my sister and best friend, Imogen, a life size story. He lives and works in China and unfortunately has not been able to get married.

They were tears of joy, sadness, laughter and everything. Obviously he should be sitting with us at the highest table. I don’t even bother to admit that all the cartoons were cut out at the wedding. It was the life and soul of the whole day.

What would you tell other couples to plan in the first place and what are the top tips?

I would say definitely book your servant or priest or whoever will marry you and take your place for the first time. Like I said, everything else is in place.

I would definitely say don’t worry about bullshit and don’t try to please everyone. First, not everyone likes you and second, remember who they marry and why!

As much as you think you notice every detail throughout the day, believe me, you won’t, so don’t worry about dirt.

Another key tip I would say is to try to prepare your own decorations and little things. We made all the decorations and made all the bouquets for me, my bridesmaids and the flower girl.

Finally, the most important tip: Enjoy! The day goes by very quickly, and you don’t do it anymore, so make the most of it.

What are the hardest parts of planning?

The hardest thing was trying to get all your picks from the best sellers on a date. Our start date, August 8, 2020, was easy as it’s been three years since we were hired. Many of our first choice suppliers were free and at this point [when organising]Covid did not exist. When we had to change the date it was a little tricky, but in the end everything was great.

I don’t think any of them were particularly difficult, but I like to think I’d be cool enough to take things slow.

Another thing I discovered while planning a wedding while talking to other people was discussing whether I should have a VCR. Me, I was one of those people who thought “that’s a lot of money and we’re really always watching it” and so on, but the video totally takes the picture today and you see things that you absolutely miss today. Her replay is amazing and I’ve never met anyone who regretted getting a wedding video!

What was your argument?

Our theme was a rustic-type atmosphere. We had a lot of tree decorations and white flowers. I don’t want a lot of color in the theme at all – just nice, fresh and clean.

Would you do something different or don’t you want to worry about it?

When planning a wedding, many people think “that’s how it is”. This was sometimes annoying in terms of “work done”. When those moments came, which were very few, I always had to remember that marriage is basically me and Matthias. I don’t think I would change anything.

How do you feel about the date change?

In all honesty, I didn’t bother changing our date. In between those two dates we had our beautiful seven-month-old son Jonah at the wedding.

There were no quantity restrictions on the wedding day and only three people were missing due to Covid. We consider ourselves lucky because we know that this has not been the case for many people.