Tully Mill in Florencecourt was the venue for newly weds Philip and Noirin King recently.

The couple had a ‘surprise wedding ceremony’ at the christening of their youngest child Grace.

Guests at the christening were stunned when Philip and Noirin, dressed in white, appeared at St Patrick’s Church, Corlough in Cavan. 

Together with their two young children Philip aged four and Grace, just seven months, they walked up the aisle to meet Fr Sean Maguire, one of the few who knew of the couple’s secret plan.

The double celebration was months in the planning with the nuptials kept tightly under wraps until the big day last Saturday.

It was just after their daughter Grace was born this year, sitting at their kitchen table planning the christening, that they hatched the plan to ‘marry’ the two events.

Noirin told the Anglo Celt, “We just went about our business planning things nice and quietly.”

The only others that knew were Noirin and Philip’s sisters Cathy King and Joanne Roche and the venue at Tully Mill Restaurant. 

Noirin went on, “We were at the church that day and it was happening. The way it all fell, it was meant to be. We are a family, there’s the four of us in it and our thinking was, let’s do it as a family. 

The owner of Tully Mill John Roche was delighted to host the surprise wedding and kept it all a secret.

“Initially it was booked for a christening but was the numbers were coming in and rising I had to go back to the bride telling her the numbers were changing and going up.

“Eventually she told me it was going to be a wedding, but we still had to keep within the restricted numbers. 

“It was definitely a surprise and we told nobody. We had everything planned between us and nobody knew,” said the restaurateur.

“We had a great day and we finished within the restricted time. It was a lovely wedding and the family all got a big surprise. Everything went great. 

“It was a very relaxed day and it was all about the family,” said Mr Roche.