Meath bride stuns in mam's 62-year old dress

Louise Walsh

A Meath wedding became even more emotional when the stunning bride walked down the aisle wearing her late mother's 62 year old dress

When Olivia Farrelly and her then fiancé Freddy Belliard went to visit her dad Richard at her childhood home in Navan to tell him of their marriage, they saw a picture of her parents on their wedding day and knew instantly what to do.

"My mam Gerry and my dad got married in 1964. When we went to tell dad that we were getting married, Freddy saw the picture and nudged me. I knew straight away what he was trying to say.

"I knew mam's wedding dress was still in the house so I asked Dad if I could wear it and he was delighted."

The wedding dress was even more special as it had been made by a neighbour of her mam's when she got married at 21 years of age. Over six decades later, the dress had been perfectly preserved in a box in the house and was almost perfect when it was retrieved from an upstairs wardrobe.

"It was a two-piece satin embossed dress. It was full-length on Mam but I'm a lot shorter than her so I had to get it taken up. There was a jacket as well, which buttoned at the back.

"I got it altered and put a tulle skirt underneath it to give it a fuller look. The dress was as perfect as the day she wore it, except for a small yellow stain at the very bottom of it which was removed when I got the dress taken up to be mid-length."

Olivia's mam passed away almost 13 years ago, in December 2013, so although the wedding was a bittersweet day, she felt her mam was really included in the wedding through the dress.

"It felt amazing to be able to wear the dress and for everyone to see me in it. To have the chance and opportunity to wear it over 60 years after the original day, it was very special.

"It was so special for everyone, but especially my dad to see his daughter wearing it on her big day. It brought back a lot of memories for him."

Olivia and Freddy got married in recent weeks in the Bellinter House Hotel after a whirlwind romance.

"We only met last year, on March 4th and we have had a fairytale romance since then. He proposed when we were only four months going out and of course, I said yes. We haven't stopped smiling since we met."

The couple were on honeymoon in Japan when the recent earthquake hit, but it didn't phase them one bit.

"We had only arrived and were so jet-lagged so we were lying in the bed at 5pm local time. We heard noises. It sounded as if there was furniture being moved about upstairs, like creaking sounds.

"And then we looked out the window and could see that the building was actually moving. So, yes, we went to Japan and experienced an earthquake.

"And within five minutes, we were fast asleep because we were so tired. We weren't worried at all because the foundations of the buildings are built to withstand the earthquakes."