VOWS: EIMEAR MORAN ANDGerard McPhillips were married on September 5th in their local church, Kilbride Parish Church, Co Meath, by Fr Liam McClarey who taught the bride in secondary school. The Dublin String Quartet accompanied their friend, mezzo soprano Kate Englestad, during the Mass.
Eimear is the daughter of Thomas and Marie Moran of Blanchardstown, Dublin, and she has one older brother, Derek. She attended Riverside Community School and received a diploma in media studies and journalism at Griffith College. She later studied marketing at DIT Aungier Street. Her first job was in 98FM and she is currently a key account executive for advertising agencies in The Irish Times. She was attended by Aisling Blee and Noreen Cullen; the three joined the newspaper at the same time 13 years ago and became fast friends.
Gerard is the son of Ellen McPhillips and grew up in Finglas, with one older brother John, and two sisters Linda and Sandra. He attended St Finnian’s School and then went on to the local Patrician Brothers’ secondary school. He works for the Italian food company K and C Norton. His groomsman, Jason Groarke, travelled from Sydney to take part and his best man is a friend of 10 years standing, David Gaskin.
The pair met more than four years ago after being introduced by a mutual friend; the attraction was “fairly instant”. They became engaged in Bermuda in September, 2007 while visiting David Gaskin and his wife, who were living there at the time. “He only got as far as ‘Eimear will you ...’ before I said ‘Yes I will’, ” the bride remembers.
Eimear describes the ceremony itself as the highlight of their wedding day. “I remember being in Mass the previous week and thinking ‘next week this church is going to be full of all the people we love’ – and that felt special. So when I stood there on the morning, about to walk down the aisle, I remember having a burst of excitement waiting to see them all and, of course, especially Gerry.” Kate Englestad’s singing was particularly personal and memorable.
Their reception was held at Dunboyne Castle.
“The day felt seamless, from our driver who acted like a third bridesmaid, telling the girls when to walk down the aisle and fixing my veil before my turn, to our photographer who captured all the fun, and not forgetting the fabulous band The Big Chill who had the 15- to 50-year-olds on the dancefloor all night and the Irish dancers called Celtic Dance Fusion who tried to turn Gerry into Michael Flatley.”
For their honeymoon the couple travelled to the US for three weeks, starting in New York before moving on to San Diego for a few relatively quiet days. From there they began an adventurous road trip along Route 101, stopping in Laguna, Santa Barbara, Big Sur and Carmel. They came to a halt in San Francisco, before returning to their home in Castaheany, beside Clonee, Co Meath.