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When they were both graduate students at Cornell University, Inish O'Doherty – who grew up in Donnybrook, Dublin – and Elizabeth McClean "met by chance, thanks to a beer mile, a Facebook message and a late night out. It was love at first pint." That was July 2013.
In March the following year, they got engaged on a kayak while traversing the waters of Cat Island in the Bahamas.
The couple decided to have a Christmas wedding in Ireland and once Elizabeth saw Borris House in Co Carlow online, that was that. They booked it without seeing it themselves, instead relying on Inish's mother Kay to give it the go ahead.
The date was set for December 31st, 2014. "We relied a lot on our caterer, Eunice Power [eunicepower.com]. She was way more than a caterer. And it was lovely having friends in Dublin, particularly Sorcha, who was able to help us with logistics and details while we were far away," says Elizabeth, who is an assistant professor at the University of Arizona.
The bride’s best friend Scott was man of honour and the groom’s brother Oran was best man. Some favourite memories from the day for the newlyweds include how the Irish and American friend groups bonded on the dance floor until 4am, the costume changes (Elizabeth wore two dresses on the day) and best friend Tami’s retelling of the couple’s story.
“Both of us had been chatting a lot with Tami during the early stages of our courtship via Facebook message,” says Elizabeth, “so she had a million messages between herself and me and her and Inish. She went through all of these messages and picked out the lines that best told our story. It was absolutely hilarious, honest and perfect.”
The couple live in the US, where they split their time between Tucson, Arizona, and San Diego, California.
Photographs: Weddings by Kara weddingsbykara.com
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