Harvey’s Point Hotel hosted one of the first Humanist Weddings to be held in Donegal following the passing of the Civil Registration Amendment Act .
Swans floated gracefully on Lough Eske, a piper played traditional airs and the sun shone brightly when Catherine McGeehan from Finntown, Co. Donegal and Paul Murray from Dublin exchanged vows before Humanist Solemniser Billy Hutchinson.
The Humanist ceremony took place just a fortnight after the General Registry Office added all Humanist Association of Ireland-accredited Solemnisers to its list of approved wedding celebrants.
Harvey’s Point Hotel responded with delight to the invitation to host the Humanist Ceremony, creating a romantic and magical setting on the pier in the hotel gardens which reaches out into Lough Eske.
The Bride and Groom joined the Solemniser under a lakeside canopy specially created for the occasion while guests were seated on the pier , looking onto the still waters of Lough Eske and a background of the Bluestack Mountains.
Following the Marriage Ceremony which was devised in consultation with the Bride and Groom, the Wedding Party celebrated in the hotel’s Banquet Suite, enjoying the gourmet food for which Harvey’s Point is renowned.
Since the passing of the Civil Registration Act, Harvey’s Point Hotel, which was voted ‘Wedding Venue of the Year’ in 2012 and 2013, has been receiving many enquiries from couples wishing to have Humanist and Civil Weddings.
‘The new Act offers couples additional options regarding the type of wedding they wish to have and we are delighted to enable every Bride and Groom to experience their Perferct Day’, says hotelier Deirdre McGlone.
A new addition to Harvey’s Point Hotel’s romantic setting is the ‘Lover’s Bridge’ spanning an inlet from Lough Eske where couples (not just newly weds) are invited to fasten ornamental padlocks to the paparet as a symbol of their commitment to each other.
‘The new bridge is very popular and we are watching the number of “love locks” grow’, says Deirdre.
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