it is done.

They are married. It was a wonderful day. The officiant/good friend and spouse landed in Shannon and were successfully delivered to the hotel, everyone who'd had baggage lost had baggage found. We left the hotel an hour and a half late, but with our party in tact and in good spirits. The bride, her father and the matron of honor rode out in a white Benz limousine and we all rode the charter bus (33 passenger) to the castle - Newtown Castle. It is a single tower structure over looking typical (spectacular) Burren countryside. The ceremony was held in the top room, up 52 narrow, spiral steps. The walls are white washed with a hint of mold and mildew that add to the feel of it being unmodern and gothically romantic.

The room for the ceremony, the main room of the three in the tower castle, was heated by an extremely effective peat fire. The minister stood in front of the fire and behind him, on the mantle, were the flowers. A profusion of pink and white roses with lovely green and pink flowers interspersed with baby's breath and ferns and other greenery. I think it met with the fairy tale expectations of everyone involved. The ceremony sermon was moving, particularly as it came from a man the groom met on the debate team in high school.

After the wedding, we boarded the bus for a 5 minute drive to Gregan's Castle Hotel. A wonderful venue for the wedding dinner. Gregan's is a grand house (the castle was across the street) with spectacular views and gardens. And gourmet dining. The vegetarian option was beautiful, if too flavorful. There were caramelized shallots in excess, but the greens and the potatoes and the goat cheese tartlet were lovely. After-dinner coffee included divine chocolates - one of which seemed to be a tiny, sweet, yellow tomato dipped in dark chocolate. Yes, it was good.

After dinner we again boarded the bus for the hotel and cake. The cake was simply beautiful, but not as tasty as I had expected. The fondant was laid on in too thick a sheet and the cake had to be peeled before it could be eaten. Still, the cake did make for some darned fine photographs and I did finish my peice, so it couldn't have been that bad. Though, I have been known to eat cake others have refused...

I stayed up very late chatting. Good people, good times.

This morning everyone was moving a bit slowly. After deciding that 7 minutes wasn't enough time to get ready to go to the pier to catch a boat, we chatted at leisure. Around 1, we headed to the Cliffs of Moher as most in the group hadn't been there. It is grey and chilly and fantastically windy today, providing a different experience at the cliffs than when we went earlier in the week with R.'s family. I didn't retake pictures, but I'm glad to have gone if only for the company.