ALEXANDER JOSHUA SLAZENGER (24) and Ruby Ann Karen Murray (22) were married in the ballroom of Powerscourt House in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, on August 29th by a family friend, Bishop Tomas Kennedy, of the Evangelical Episcopal Church.
Tourists visiting the gardens lined up to watch the wedding party as they arrived at the front door of the house. The bride walked up the aisle to Tiny Dancer by Elton John and back down again as a couple to You Saw the Whole of the Moon by The Waterboys, both performed by Gavin Glass, who later played for them at the reception, along with other friends.
Ruby is the daughter of John Murray and along with her brother John, grew up in Sallynoggin, Co Dublin. Her mother Karen died in 1995. She attended Rockford Manor in Blackrock, Co Dublin, before studying at Dún Laoghaire College of Further Education. She currently works for Hewlett Packard in Clonskeagh. Her bridesmaids included Hazell Robbins (maid of honour), Jessica Gormley, Nichola O’Connell and Jennie Weafer. Flower girls Sophie and Eleanor Donnan and page boy Nathaniel Miller are Alex’s nieces and nephew.
Alex is the son of Peter and Sallyann Slazenger, proprietors of the Powerscourt estate in Enniskerry, where he grew up with his older sisters Chloe, Lara and Emily and younger brother Andrew. He attended Wesley College in Ballinteer, Co Dublin, and also studied at Dún Laoghaire College of Further Education. He now works as a landscape gardener for Johnny Ronan of Treasury Holdings. His best man was Phil Kendrick and his groomsmen included Andrew Slazenger, Jonny Miller and Martin Murphy.
The pair met at a party more than four years ago. Although Alex had known Ruby’s second cousin Phil Kendrick, the best man, since they were teenagers, their paths had never crossed. In fact, Ruby did not know much about Alex when she first met him, so she was surprised when he brought her to Powerscourt for the first time and said that his family owned it. “She was very preoccupied with the Leaving Cert at the time and thought he was just showing off,” explains his sister, Chloe Dannon. “You could almost say this was a Cinderella-type story.”
They got engaged on the grounds of Powerscourt in the summer of 2007 and surprised their friends by deciding to marry so young. When they announced the date, they immediately enlisted all their friends to help with the wedding. Readings were by Lisa Mc Mahon, Colm Broughal and Emily Lynas. John Murray read The Art of Marriage by Wilfred A Peterson and Alex’s father read an excerpt from The Shack by William P Young.
After the ceremony, they zoomed off in a golf cart, first to the gardens for some photographs and then on to the golf club for their reception. Everyone returned to the ballroom after dark for some late-night dancing.
The couple went to Bali for their honeymoon and were to spend two nights in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. They plan to live just outside Enniskerry, where they are in the process of building a house.