Emma and Bianca

The place where all good love stories start; Emma Behan and Brazilian native Bianca Soares Martins met on a night out at the George in Dublin and instantly knew they were right for each other. In March 2015 Emma and Bianca had a civil partnership after the Brazilian beauty popped the question. Unfortunately Bianca’s family couldn’t come to Ireland in March so the newlyweds decided to have a second ceremony in December while the family were visiting for Christmas. The marriage equality bill passing in May meant that the girls could make the wedding official and everyone was there to celebrate.

They booked Cellbridge Manor Hotel for December 28, 2015. The excitement was building in the lead up to the wedding. The couple decided to go for a rainbow theme with a “bit of a winter wonderland feel to it too.” Bianca designed the invites, printed them and sent them out to 100 of their family and friends. For their day, Bianca chose to wear a stunning two piece ivory suit with a blue silk top underneath. It was made in The Bridal Lodge in Athy. Emma wore a stunning House of Mooshki short ivory dress with blue underneath the layers of tulle. This dress was bought in Frilly Frocks, Drogheda. Bianca carried a white rose bouquet and Emma opted for a rainbow rose bouquet.

There were a few special touches throughout the couples’ day including Caipirinhas (a Brazilian cocktail) for the guests, made by Bianca. They also had a fingerprint tree as their guestbook with rainbow fingerprints. Emma’s dad made a rainbow photo booth for people to use with rainbow and Christmas props. The pair also had charity pins for Down Syndrome as their favours. Emma’s favourite memory of the day is “coming down the stairs in my dress, seeing Bianca so beautiful waiting at the top of the aisle and finally being married.” For Bianca it was when she recorded a special video before the wedding to send to her sisters who unfortunately couldn’t be there. She also shared that when she “saw Emma come down the aisle looking gorgeous, and when my mam made a personal reading at the ceremony. Those two moments stand out for me.”

To officiate the ceremony the girls went with Spiritual Ceremonies and Berenice Farrell was their solemniser. “She put us at ease from the first time we met her. She took time to ask about us both so she could make the ceremony more personal for us. She sent us lots of sample ceremonies and readings and made it all so easy. She performed the ceremony beautifully and all of our guests commented on how lovely the ceremony was.” Both Emma and Bianca had the perfect day and shared their first dance to Jesse Glynne, “Hold my Hand.” For their honeymoon the pair jetted off to Rome for a long weekend in February.