Real Wedding – Carlha and Brian

I have had the pleasure of working with this lovely lady Carlha on many ocassions as she is a top model with Mandy Maher at Catwalk Models. I’m so thrilled to share her real wedding to Brian today. Covid restrictions did not stop their wedding going ahead! Carlha is from Colombia and while her family could not travel to the wedding, they made sure that all of the troop in Colombia could tune in and enjoy the day.

How they met

Carlha and Brian met via Tinder believe it or not! Carlha was had a hidden agenda with her profile….she was looking for English lessons! Brian was the perfect candidate and it was pretty much love at first sight on both sides. Brian was on his last 3 days in Bogota Colombia and Carlha offered to give a free Salsa lesson. It was an offer Brian couldn’t refuse and he ended up staying in Colombia for a few months after. After eight months together, it was time for Brian to come back to Ireland. They couldn’t be without each other and of course Carlha joined him here on this fair isle.

The proposal

During their first week in Ireland, Brian gave Carlha a tour of Ireland and they stopped in Cong. During a scenic walk at Ashford Gardens, Brian got down on one knee….and here we are today.

“After our walk when I turned, and I saw him in one knew asking me to marry him in Spanish. Then he surprised me saying that we were staying in the castle, still the most magical day of my life.”

Planning

Everything was set to take place in July 2020 but due to Covid ’19, Carlha and Brian had to rethink their whole wedding planning. They were certain that they wanted to be married and that was the most important thing. The big celebration can still happen next year so they postponed their wedding reception to March 2021 in Ballymargarvey Village. For their real wedding today, they had a party in Brian’s family home.

“The hard part was the uncertainty when COVID started. As my family is from South America they needed to apply for visas 3 months in advance and all the embassies were close. After a few weeks, it was an easy decision to postpone the reception for next March.”

Carlha being the style icon she is, took all of the detail in to her own hands, she ordered a dress online and customised it. She adapted all of her pieces to suit her style and both herself and mother in-law made the wedding cake together.

“I did a painting with a map of Colombia and Ireland with our team name Callinares (our two last names together). Balloons and candles everywhere. Pinterest is full of ideas for boho/rustic ceremonies.”

Every single detail was made with love and included the family. Etsy played a big part in the planning of this wedding! Carlha sourced everything from craft suppliers across the globe.

The Big Day

“It was more than I imagined, and I imagined a lot. It was so intimate that now I can’t imagine our ceremony in any other way.”

When the big day came around, Carlha of course missed her family but to ensure everyone was present virtually, they were able to stream their religious ceremony from the church all the way to Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Dubai and USA. The morning was very relaxed and Carlha took to doing her own hair and makeup.

They were blessed with glorious weather and made sure to soak it up during their photos. They had a latino themed meal with Paella and Sangria from the couples favourite restaurant in Galway called Sangria. They also included cheese boards from mad hatters cheese platters. A special touch was speeches from both mums. Their dads are going to do speeches at their postponed wedding date. They surprised their guests online and in person with a salsa dance. They left everyone speechless!

Parting Advice

“Your wedding is not going to be exactly how you planned. Something is going to be slightly different. Once you make peace with that, the whole journey is more enjoyable. Once the show starts there is nothing you can do to change it, so try to enjoy every single minute (it goes very fast). We were engaged for two years and a half at the end everything sums up in what you have in front of you, the love of your life.”