Malta Wedding Stories

Desmond & Grianne from Ireland

We met in a disco bar back home in Ireland 2 ½ years ago, our eyes met across the bar, when des came over to talk to me I decided to him only because I had recognised one of his friends from when we were in infants school. My sister wasn’t happy as we were on a girl’s night out, but in the end she was ok and ended up as my bridesmaid.

We both felt it was right for us, the right time, you just know these things. When you meet the right person. It took us about a year to plan our wedding, with the help of our brilliant wedding planner Rosemarie

Rosemarie helped us with organising our wedding and when we went over to visit Rosemarie and Malta we fell in love with the country. It has something for every one.

We got married on Friday 2nd May 2008 and the ceremony was held in a cute church called St Paul, Shipwrecked church followed with the dinner and reception in a beautiful palace over looking St Paul’s Bay and Mellieha.

We had 30 guests that travelled over from Ireland to be there. Catering was done by the Palace including our wedding cake which was a traditional Maltese wedding cake. We took a sugar paste flower arrangement with us to add to the cake and the figurine was one that we had got in Malta on a trip there a Christmas.

We had no stress thanks to Rosemarie. We both knew exactly what we wanted; we both like the same things which are great, it made planning a lot easier, and we both got the wedding that we wanted.

We went for as old and traditional wedding, and we mixed some of the traditions from Malta with some from home. E.g. at the meal the bride gives the cake to the male guest and groom gives it to the females, this was different because at home once the cakes is cut at the hotel take it away and plate it and serves it to the guests, so this was different.

All our families and some friends came over. This was part of the reason to have a wedding abroad was that we could enjoy the day ourselves and spend time with those that made the trip over from Ireland.

I got my dress in New York in the same shop my sister got hers. I wanted to get an old style dress in keeping with the place and our surroundings.
- Yes it was difficult to find what I wanted because I had so much choice.
- My sister Karen did my make-up, I was so lucky
- My hair was done by Christine

Extra tips;
Don’t panic things will and do work out perfect and, most important, enjoy yourselves. Because its only a few hours and the day goes so quick. Try to remember every moment of it (we did)

Louise and Niall from Ireland

We were married on the 01 October at St Paul’s Church followed by a reception at the Carlson Suite

Niall and myself are going out together 7 years this month. We first met in Gran Canaria in 2001 while Niall was on a boy’s holiday and I was there with my sister Michelle. We then started going out about 6 months later.

When we were going out 2 years, we designed and started building our house and 2 years later we moved in. In early December 2007, we got engaged and both wanted a short engagement.

Niall proposed over dinner one night at home and we both felt it was the right time for us to take the next step in our relationship.

We always fancied the idea of going abroad to get married; we felt that Malta was similar to Ireland in many ways, with the added bonus of guaranteed sunshine on our wedding day. We also thought that it would be lovely to spend the day with our two families and relax in a more personal and idyllic setting.

Both our immediate families travelled from Ireland – 24 in total – Everyone stayed in the Radisson for the full week enjoying the sunshine and the Maltese hospitality.

It took 8 months in total, which would not have been possible without the help of Rosemarie our wedding planner.

Rosemarie of Sun Dreams Travel was recommended through a friend of a friend and it was the best decision we made.

We both knew what we wanted and with Rosemarie’s input it made all the preparation a little easier and stress free

My mum, two sisters, niece and myself had arranged to go dress shopping, we visited a local bridal shop, I wasn’t sure what style of dress I was looking for, but I knew a few things that I definitely did not want, I tried on loads of different styles just in case - Once I tried on my dress, I completely fell in love with it – it was designed by sottero midgley, - white corset style dress with a sweetheart neckline, with loads of diamante detail. I also got my sister Michelle’s bridesmaid dress in the same shop, which was a floor length cerise pink dress with a sweetheart neckline.

Becky, a local beautician and Christine a local hairdresser came to our room to do hair and make-up.

We got married on Wednesday 1st October 2008 at 4.00pm in a beautiful little Church and we had lovely music in the church provided by a duo that sang, played the organ and violin and they also traveled back to the hotel and played music during the stand up reception.

We had a champagne and canapés stand up reception, followed by a beautiful 5 course meal, and then later in the night we had a small individual wedding cake and a glass of champagne for all the guests.

Flowers were made by Fabien a local florist, In keeping with the pink color scheme, my bridesmaid and I carried cerise pink roses for the bridal bouquets, and the flower girl carried a little basket with pink rose petals, the men all wore pink button holes, we also had altar flowers and beautiful posies for the tables

After the meal, a local DJ played a range of music to suit all ages, and we danced late into the night.

We both wanted to stick to the traditional wedding but also had a few small ideas of our own. As a thank you to all the guests we broke from tradition and gave them gifts for traveling to our wedding in the form of earrings for the ladies, cufflinks for the men and toys for the 4 children.

We also gave all the guests a pink and white wedding fan to keep cool in the Maltese climate

After the disco finished, the wedding guests had a lovely surprise for us – Our Bestman Damian Callaghan and Bridesmaid Michelle Blake, showed a dvd they compiled for us which was filled with childhood photographs and video messages / greetings from family and friends back home. It was the perfect ending to our perfect day.

Our photographer was also amazing – she arrived to our room at 12.00 on the wedding day and stayed till the wee hours snapping away and then the following day Jessica organised to collect us from the hotel and bring us to local beauty spots to have more photographs taken, it was very exciting as I got to wear my dress for a second time.

Our families are already talking about planning a return trip to celebrate our first anniversary.

We never once doubted that our wedding would be perfect, but it was so much better than we ever imagined, thanks to Rosemarie.

We would like to thank everyone who travelled to Malta and who was involved in our special day – it’s one we will never forget.

After returning home from Malta, we then flew to New York and Florida for a 3 week honeymoon which was also amazing.

Steven and Lisa from England

Lisa and I met 4 years ago when I was asked if I could coach Lisa on her golf swing. Although Lisa was married at the time I still found her intoxicating and I helped her over the next 12 months with her golf being very aware that she was married and our relationship was based on friendship.

Back in August 96 I got a phone call from Lisa asking if I would fix her husband’s car while they were on holiday which I said I would be glad to. When she came to give me the keys she told me that they had decided to divorce but were going away anyway because it was all booked. I told her how sad I was for them both as they had been married 10 years.

While Lisa was away I got a few texts from her saying that for a while she had feelings for me, bombshell wow. When she got back from her holiday we met up and told each other how we felt, and that was the start of a relationship which I will treasure for the rest of my days.

We moved in together in February 2007 and moved very quickly to Wolverhampton so Lisa’s daughter could be closer to school. We decided to have a holiday in August 2008 in Malta so we could see my Nan who had lived there for 20 years. Sadly when we got to Malta, my Nan was in hospital due to a fall and a broken hip, all said and done. The look on my Nan’s face when we walked into her hospital room was priceless we had some photos taken and went to see her several times.

Then it was time to go home again, sadly she passed away 2 months later but Lisa and I where so glad to have been able to see her beforehand, god bless Nan. Not long after the funeral I proposed to Lisa. Lisa accepted with one condition she wanted to put her bridal posy on my Nan’s grave, I don’t mind admitting I wept.

Not knowing how you go around getting things done in Malta. I contacted the registrar’s office in Malta and they were fantastic; they had told me the best way to do everything with a wedding planner, so I sent off several requests via email, which they had recommended.

Unfortunately at that time I had just lost my job so it was a little tight on money. I received an email from Rosemarie, sun dreams travel wedding planner, that rather than going for a registry office wedding they offered us a terrace wedding at the Radisson in st. Julian’s at the right price. I jumped at the chance because this was exactly what Lisa wanted for a dream wedding.

I’ve got to say Rosemarie was fantastic, she organized everything to perfection, and we had the ceremony in a room full of art, overlooking the pool and the sea. I was a bag of nerves; Lisa was stunning and made me very proud, the venue was mega perfect. If one had to imagine the perfect moment this was it.

The meal after the ceremony was mega perfect, the whole day was perfect. We cannot thank Rosemarie enough for everything she did for us and it will never be forgotten. As for recommending Rosemarie as your Malta wedding planner you will never make a better choice, thank you again Steve and Lisa.

A few days later we went to my Nan’s grave and we put Lisa’s bridal posy on her grave as promised. We will always cherish our wedding in Malta and plan to go back many times in the future.