It’s an East Galway tradition (and maybe in other parts of the country too) to light bonfires along the side of the road after a wedding in the area, and that tradition was upheld in the village of Cortoon after Joanne and Frank’s big day last Friday. In the case above, the bonfire was a petrol-fuelled bucket of flames – easy to light, easy to extinguish, I guess – and the neighbours braved the rain to wave on the bride and groom as they drove past en route to the Salthill Hotel – a journey that took longer than any of us had planned.
Before we hit the road from Cortoon though, we went back, briefly, to the Cortoon Inn, run by the bride’s family, for an obligatory pint-pulling photo and an unusual bridal portrait:
Our plan, due to the rain, was to stop in NUIG (the university) to get at least some outdoor photographs of the bridal party, under the cover of the arches around the Quad. The bridal party was four cars, plus my car and the videographer’s car, meant our convoy was substantial. Traffic in Tuam saw us being split up, and for close to an hour and a half we inched, separately, towards NUIG as Galway’s famous Friday afternoon traffic seemed to put on a special show for us. I was on the phone regularly to John Murphy, the videographer (a pleasure to work with), and Colette, one of the bridesmaids (whose wedding I photographed last October) and the reassurance that we were all in the same pickle helped keep me calm. And we all got there in the end, albeit at 5pm – making us much later than I had hoped. A word of thanks, at this point, is due to the wonderfully understanding staff at the Salthill Hotel – I rang them from the traffic jam when it became clear we were running late to give them a heads-up, which I think they probably appreciated, and they repaid the favour by allowing us as much time as we needed for the family photos when we did eventually get to the hotel. It certainly took the pressure off me, but more importantly allowed Joanne and Frank some time to mingle with friends and family (and catch their breath) before the meal kicked off.
When we did eventually make it to NUIG I was rewarded with some lovely light, even if it did still keep raining:
My coverage ended as the bride and groom sat down for dinner at the hotel, which allowed me to photograph their welcome into the room (a shot I always look forward to taking) and on this occasion, because they cut the cake before dinner, there was an opportunity for a paparazzi shot too:
One of the first shots I took on the day became the last shot in the slideshow I sent them – Joanne’s mother, Carmel, pointed these two out to me when I arrived at the house so I took them outside for a quick photo that makes for a fitting end to the wedding coverage:
From Galway I headed to Cork, where the following morning I would drive to Ballydaly near Millstreet for Margaret and John’s big day. More on that to follow.
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