PUBS -- we meet in them, fall in love in them, break up in them -- so it was probably only a matter of time before we started getting married in them.Yesterday a young couple made history by being the first to exchange marriage vows in a traditional Irish pub.
Mervin McHugh, from Claremorris, Co Mayo, and Malgorzata (Gosia) Klinaszewska, from Poland, chose the Laurels, in Killarney, Co Kerry, as the venue for their big day out.
Registrar Mary O'Shea officiated at the union, which was held in the pub's adjacent restaurant before the bride and groom travelled just a few feet into the pub proper to toast each other with champagne.
Mervin said the Laurels was his local, so they thought it would be fun to have the ceremony there and then simply keep celebrating.
And while they might have skipped the walk down the aisle, the couple both opted for traditional wedding garb -- he wore a dark morning suit, with white rose buttonhole, while she was in full-length ivory silk with a bouquet of red roses.
Once the official business of the day was complete, the seating was quickly rearranged and the 30 guests sat down to lunch in the same room where the couple had just swapped "I dos"
Omen
And what better omen for the newlyweds than a chance encounter with marriage veterans Gay Byrne and Kathleen Watkins, who just happened to be having lunch in the pub and posed obligingly for photographs with the bride and groom.
Mervin and Gosia met a few years ago in the pharmaceutical packing plant where they work and selected the rather unorthodox venue for their nuptials just a month ago. Following the change in the law last year, which allows for weddings outside churches and registry offices, they only had to fulfil some requirements before getting approval.
All drink and food advertising had to be removed before the ceremony and they had to make a room available in case there were any objectors.
Proprietor Con O'Leary said the whole event had "a lovely atmosphere".
"There was not half the hoop-la that you have at a traditional wedding. They were all there and it was nice and quick and quiet," he said.
No church, no fancy cars, no pricey flower arrangements -- just a simple exchange of vows and pints on taps. It just might catch on.
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