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)
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Lisa &
Glenn from Ireland
Glenn and I met in
January 2001 through mutual friends, we
had a kiss on a night out but did'nt see
each other again until the end of March
2001. We then started going out,
Lisa say's; i instantly fancied glenn boyish
good looks.
After going out together
for a year and a half we moved into together
and after a year or so we started planning
our house. We moved into our new house in
January 2008.
we had talked about getting married for
a while and on the 19th of March 2007 Glenn
proposed an Grianan of Aileach - a local
historic landmark
We knew we wanted
our wedding to be personal, something different
and an occasion we would celebrate with
only the people we were closest to. Getting
married abroad was a obvious choice for
us with guaranteed good weather also a mojor
attraction. Malta was a highly recommended
location and on that we decided it was the
place for us.
We knew we wanted
to create a wedding of simple elegance but
first we had to find a wedding planner.
We were recommended Rosemarie of Sun Dreams
Travel and this turned out to be the best
decision we made.
Through correspondence
we chose a venue and how we wanted all aspects
of the wedding to be arranged. We decided
on the villa for the 3rd of September, where
we had both the ceremony and the reception.
Rosemarie organised
everything, our flowers were done by a local
florist, and we had a DJ for the reception
who really got our guests all up dancing
we were joined by 38 guests, family and
close friends, most traveled from home some
from england and glenns brother and wife
came all the way from New Zealand. We had
the most fantastic photographer, Jess, who
made the photographs so much fun.
I knew exactly what
style of dress I wanted but failed to find
anything like it in the bridal shops, so
after hearing about a fantastic local bridal
dress designer, I went to her with my ideas
of a hollywood glamour style dress. She
was so enthusiastic and she made the perfect
dress for me. Her name is Patricia given
and is not only extremly gifted but a lovely
lady she also made my mum's dress which
fitted in with our colour scheme and pearl
theme.
My friend Cathy did
my makeup which was great as i knew i could
trust her and christine a local hairdresser
did my hair who was also so much fun.
We knew our wedding
in Malta was going to be special but it
was so much better than we had ever imagined.
It truly was a perfect day that we will
alway's to remember and we have rosemarie
to thank for this, she made the whole experience
fun and stress free.
We would like to
thank everyone in Malta who made our day
the best day of our live's
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Angela and
Thomas from Ireland
Angel and Thomas
met 10 years ago in college. They decided
to get married, after 12 years. Angela says
“I think it was time for us”.
We decide to choose
Malta for our wedding because even though
it is a small island it has a lot to offer.
The weather is much better than Ireland
and the prices are lower. The local people
are very friendly and helpful. The choices
of the wedding venues were just what we
were looking for. The laws and customs in
Malta were similar to Ireland, which made
things easier for us.
We decided to get
married on the 21st August 2009 and after
a brain storming evening, we decide to choose
the Gazebo surrounded with lavish gardens
and stunning views of the harbour. After
the civil wedding ceremony our wedding planner
Rosemarie organised the transport to take
us back to the Radisson St Julian’s
were we had the sea side venue booked for
our dinner and celebration. The celebrations
went on until the early hours of the next
morning. Everything went as we wanted, the
venue was beautiful.
We had a typical
Irish wedding with no restrictions; all
our friends and family came along. All our
guests really enjoyed it.
We first contacted
Rosemarie our Maltese wedding planner in
April 09 of this year, she had less than
6 months to organise our wedding in Malta.
Rosemarie provided an excellent service.
She was extremely helpful when it came to
choosing a venue and organising all the
legal documentation.
I bought my dress
when I was in America, I had an idea of
what I want so it was easy to pick. Rosemarie
did all the rest; she booked everything
for us including our accommodation, my hairdresser,
make up, entertainment, flowers, transport
and all services involved.
We couldn’t
have asked for a better day. There was little
stress, Rosemarie done most of the organising
for me, she had thought of everything.
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Hazel &
Phillip from England
When we first met
we decided to have a week's holiday in Malta
to get to know each other.
Phil also lived in Malta as a child and
is fond of the place.
Date of the wedding
was the 13th Sept 2008.
Originally we had booked our wedding with
Rosemarie from Sun Dreams Travel at the
Marriage Registry Office in Valletta. A
few months prior to the wedding Rosemarie
proposed to us if we would like to have
our wedding ceremony at the on a terrace
with full seaview on the beach instead.
We totally trusted Rosemarie so we left
her to decide for us.
Two days prior to
the wedding Rosemarie met us in the morning
to confirm all the details of our wedding.
We went to Valletta together and after to
the beach venue for confirmation of the
venue. On arrival we were amazed by the
beauty of the place. What a surprise!
On the day Rosemarie
came to meet us at Cirkewwa, early in the
morning. We had a room booked at the Radisson
for the day. On our arrival we had to go
to the hairdresser for the hairstyle and
make up. Rosemarie stayed with us all day
and she was of great support and help. Excitement
ruled on us.
The Cermony was at
noon on the Essence Terrace overlooking
the fabolous beach.
The ceremony took only few minutes, it was
magical and shall never be forgotten. Thanks
again to Sun Dreams.
We met on a night
out and got chatting, next thing she was
inviting me back for coffee (Only:)) We
found out later that my son had recently
bought a puppy from Hazels daughter before
we had met and we had also both stayed in
the same hotel on holiday in Turkey as we
both had the same photo's.
We got married because
we wanted to make a commitment to each other.
Phil proposed to me and I said "Get
your coat!" Joke (she said yes and
dragged me off to the jewellers!)
Although we started
to plan our wedding in 2007, we delayed
it as we bought a house together. We had
Rosemarie from Sun Dreams Travel as our
wedding planner and was our best choice.
There was no stress
with the preparation as our planner did
all the work.
We knew what we wanted and kept it simple
to keep it stress free and to enjoy the
moment..
We had a civil ceremony
conducted on the Essence suite balcony overlooking
a gorgeous sandy bay. It was fantastic and
breath taking at the same time. After the
ceremony we had an intimate meal for two
and the service was superb.
We came to Malta
on our own to get married as it was 'Our
day'. There were no guests except the 2
witnesses and Noemi Jade who was our bridesmaid.
When we returned to England we had a big
party with all our friends and family to
celebrate.
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Naill Callaghan
- from the groom's point of view
Niall Callaghan from
Bonagee may know a thing or two about ‘cost-cutting’,
but there was no expense spared when it
came to arranging his wedding to Rareagh
girl Louise Mc-Monagle last month.
As owner of the new
‘Costcutters’ on Letterkenny
Main Street, Mr Callaghan took a well-deserved
break from work and jetted off to the Mediterranean
climes of Malta with Louise, a clerical
officer with the HSE, and 24 family members.
The wedding, which took place on October
1, came almost seven years after the couple
first met on another holiday an equally
exotic location.
“We actually
met while we were both on holiday in the
Canary Islands but we didn’t start
going for about six months after that,”
said Louise, a daughter of Catherine and
Eamon Mc-Monagle, Rareagh.
“We thought
about getting married in either Italy or
Malta, and then we heard great reports from
a few people who got married in Malta. We
always just thought a wedding abroad would
be beautiful.”
They settled on St.
Julians, a popular fishing village on Malta’s
east coast, as their wedding destination,
and drafted in the services of a Maltese
wedding planner, Rosemarie Azzopardi. “We
did some work from home but overall, she
did everything - she was fantastic. The
whole thing was completely stress-free,”
she said. The contingent arrived in St.
Julians on a Saturday, leaving plenty of
time to sight-see before the wedding, which
fell on a Wednesday.
A 4pm ceremony allowed
guests to top up their tans, while the bride
was being attended to by an entourage of
hairdressers, beauticians and photographers.
“We wanted to stick to tradition,
so myself and Niall didn’t see each
other before the ceremony. He also went
to the spa with his brother Damien while
we got ready in the room.
On the whole it was
very relaxed,” she said. The sun was
shining when the bride pulled up to St.
Paul’s Church in Naxxar in an Austin
with her parents, who both gave her away.
She wore a corset-style dress with a sweetheart
neckline while her bridesmaid and sister
Michelle Blake, wore a cerise pink gown.
Both women held pink rose bouquets, while
flowergirl Ellie Callaghan held a basket
of pink rose petals. The pageboy was Ruairi
Dowds.
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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.
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Thank you for choosing Sun Dreams Travel
and Malta weddings as your wedding planners
in Malta to organise your wedding from the
beginning till the end and be your side
on the most important day of your life,
Rosemarie.
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