A celebration in the heart of Ireland's capital, beginning at City Hall on Dame Street and ending at Fallon and Byrne on Exchequer Street, with a brief stop for pints at The Stag's Head, the wedding of civil servant Róisín Fanthom to mechanical technician Dean McAvinue on the 6th of December 2025 was a non-stop party, shot by Anna Y Photography.
The pair met on the 10th of December 2016, in a nightclub in Maynooth called Mantra. Despite both being from the town and having mutual friends, it wasn't until Dean moved back from Canada that their paths finally crossed. One first date in Picaderos restaurant later, and within a year, the two decided to travel to Australia together, where they shared an amazing three years.
"Dean's granny is from outside Dingle, and her home sits at the foot of Mount Brandon with stunning views over the Dingle Peninsula and Brandon Creek. We love taking a drive over the Conor Pass to our favourite beach in Castlegregory, on the other side of the mountain, where Dean proposed. The morning we were driving across, a large grey cloud appeared, and the heavens opened. To my surprise, Dean wanted to keep driving, and as we did, it totally cleared, and we had beautiful blue skies. We made it onto the beach with our dog Ruby and some pastries from a bakery in Dingle. We sat down on the sand, and Dean popped the question. Afterwards, we returned to Dingle and our families were waiting for us for brunch and champagne prepared by my mom, followed by a dinner in Doyles seafood restaurant and dancing in Foxy Johns pub for the rest of the night."
"My beauty journey was quite relaxed and last-minute as I had our son Finn in October 2024, so I didn’t have much time on my hands. I have worked as a beauty therapist in the past, so I did a lot of at-home treatments when the baby was in bed. Six weeks before the big day, I started getting LED treatments twice a week at Sarah Warren Skin in Maynooth, and two days before the wedding, I had an incredible 2-hour bespoke treatment with her, which made a huge difference to my skin. My nails were an easy choice, as I have always liked to keep them short and neat, with a micro-french done by my lovely therapist, Aisling Travers Beauty, who even threw me a little party the day she did my nails and brow lamination, with prosecco and flowers waiting for me when I arrived."
"My wedding scent was ‘Róisín Dubh’ from Galway brand Cloon Keen, it wasn’t what I would usually go for, but it has made it really stick out for me when I spray it and brings me right back to our weekend."
With an affinity for simple cuts and fabrics, Róisín had a general idea in mind when choosing her dress. "I have always loved the Australian bridal style and, in particular, the brand Khya chose. I have also always wanted a long, dramatic veil, and I found their Edith veil with beautiful lace trim, so I decided to build my look around it." With a dress-shopping posse of her mum and sister, things went remarkably smoothly. The trio originally travelled to Belfast to try on dresses, and from the moment she put hers on, it was love. "I decided to try on another 6, but none compared to the first. I then found that the Suite in Rathmines also stocked Khya, so I bought the dress from there and had a lovely experience. I loved being able to remove the sleeves from my dress in the evening, and I added a larger earring from One Dame Lane to change up the look after I removed my veil."
"Dean has great style and likes to make sure his clothes fit him well, so he wanted to find a suit that really worked well for him. We spent a day in Dublin City going around a few shops and trying on different styles, but both agreed that a tux would look best in a venue like City Hall. Our last stop on our shopping trip was Protocol For Men on Dawson Street, where Dean found a great tux and had it tailored exactly how he wanted it fitted."
"I just had my sister as my only bridesmaid and maid of honour, as we are so close and best friends. She was an amazing help to me in planning the wedding, including organising hair and make-up as well as a gorgeous hen party in the Dean Hotel in Galway. I knew I wanted a nice, light-coloured dress for her. We had been looking at a few different styles online, and I then came across dresscode. We made an appointment where we had such a good experience. They have multiple styles in a range of colours, and I let Sarah choose what she felt most comfortable in, so she went for a champagne colour."
"Our ceremony surpassed all expectations. The weather was terrible leading up to our day, but the sun appeared just as we left for City Hall. I stood on the steps with my dad and sister, and a crowd had gathered across the road, giving us cheers and wishing us well. When the doors opened in City Hall, there was a magical atmosphere in the air. Our celebrant, Emer Dillon, wrote a beautiful script, and Tracy Gallagher's music was so special with the songs we had chosen. Dean's grandad Frank wrote a beautiful speech about love and marriage, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. As well as a poem created from Roisin’s close family friend, Breedge, which brought a great bit of humour to the ceremony."
The pair had always said they would get married abroad, but when it came to planning, the desire to ensure family and friends could attend won out. Róisín had always admired city weddings, and when she brought the idea up to Dean, he loved it too. City Hall was always the first choice. "We had our reception in the ballroom of Fallon and Byrne and loved how different it was to your usual function room space, a lot of our guests had never heard of it, so were so surprised to walk into a supermarket and then find the beautiful room on the top floor. We love a cosy pub, so we decided to have our drinks reception at The Stags Head, which was such a fun way to kick off the celebrations after the ceremony. We had our band do an acoustic set upstairs, and the happy atmosphere was so nice to feel."
"Dean was in charge of finding our wedding band. He spent a lot of night shifts at work listening to sets from different wedding bands, and then came across The Suitcase Trio, and we loved them! We visited Fallon and Byrne for dinner exactly a year before the wedding and decided to take a peek into the ballroom, and, as fate would have it, they were setting up for an event that evening. They were amazing, from their set at The Stags Head to the whole reception, where the dancefloor was full all night long! I came across Tracy on Instagram with a video of her singing ‘Can’t help falling in love’ on guitar, and she was exactly what we were looking for for our ceremony. She even learned "Flying Without Wings" by Westlife for me to walk up the aisle to!"
"The best decision was deciding to have our wedding at home in the city, it was just so fun walking around Dublin and getting well wishes from people walking past us, and our guests all seemed to love the day too."
- Gráinne