A Big Fat Irish Wedding

30 September 2011

On Thursday 29th of September, just a day after flying in from Marbella, Aisleyne was flying out again for a few nights in Dublin.

She was going there for Ireland's Wedding of the Year on Friday, between her Celebrity Salon co-star Alan Hughes and his long-term partner Karl Broderick. She was also booked to appear as a guest on RTE's "The Saturday Night Show".

Now both of these events of course meant that Aisleyne was going to be very much in the public eye. However, she hadn't even left the airport terminal before she found herself being papped! And as she was in "travelling mode" and devoid of make-up the snapper found he was dealing with an unusually camera-shy Aisleyne.

Friday saw Aisleyne setting about the complex logistical task of preparing herself for the wedding - tan, hair, make-up, clothes etc. As she made her way through Dublin's Temple Bar, still looking some way from "the finished article", once again the paparazzi caught up with her. Cue more camera-shyness!

And so to the happy event. Eighteen years to the day after they first met Alan and Karl entered into a civil partnership in a ceremony at the Unitarian Church on St Stephen's Green, followed by a wedding reception at the Mansion House.

After the reception they were joined by another 150 personal and celebrity friends for a champagne supper buffet, and a party which went on until the wee small hours.

For the occasion Aisleyne had opted for a glamorous full-length royal-blue dress with a rouched skirt, with her hair down. Among her fellow-guests were Celebrity Salon co-stars Georgia Salpa (who had been with Aisleyne in Marbella) and Rosanna Davison as well as their CS mentor Elaine Butler-Doolin, producer Johnny Norton and many more showbiz luminaries.

The happy crowd was kept well entertained by a host of entertainers including drag artistes Davina Devine and Dolly Grip, X Factor's Mary Byrne and Eurovision singer Niamh Kavanagh. Aisleyne later said "You know how at some weddings there's a lull - well not at this one, it was non-stop!"

Aisleyne was (of course!) one of the last to leave and was snapped struggling with her stunning blue dress in puddles of rain in the early hours of the morning, and she gave everyone a laugh after getting into the driver's seat of a waiting taxi - "by mistake", as the Irish Herald rather charitably put it! We noticed some pictures of the incident also made it into a Croatian tabloid, though we suspect that their explanation was somewhat "lost in translation"!

<< Back