For their wedding in Enniscrone, Co. Sligo last June, Louise Brennan and Serena Gordon drove into the ceremony on a motorbike. The move stunned their guests, but it shouldn’t have – a shared love of biking is what made this couple fall in love in the irst place.

Words by Ellie Sell.

“As we were getting to know each other, we used to go to motorbike enthusiast races. That’s how we fell in love, really.

“We knew that we wanted to do something different with our wedding, and we hadn’t heard of anyone else who had arrived to their venue on a motorbike,” says Louise Brennan, who married her wife, Serena Gordon last June. The couple grew up in the same hometown of Sligo, but only got together years later, after they’d left home.

“Our families knew each other and I went to school with Louise’s sister,” says Serena.

“We hadn’t seen each other in years and years. Then we met up on a night out in The Broken Jug in Ballina, and we just spent the whole time talking. From then on, it grew and grew and grew,” says Louise.

Despite the instant reconnection, neither had any inkling that they would end up together while they were growing up.

“I’m a firm believer that things happen for a reason, and when our paths crossed again, it just felt meant to be,” says Louise.

When it came to getting engaged, it was Louise who popped the question. “I told Serena that we were just going to go for a walk on the beach,” she says. “It’s one of our favorite places. That morning I’d gathered stones and written out, ‘will you marry me?’ on the sand with them, but when I came back with Serena someone had come along and ruined my masterpiece. All of the stones were moved!

So I was like, “Oh gosh, turn your back for a second!” And I kind of had to gather all the stones again. Then I turned around and got on one knee and did the whole traditional thing. And she said yes!”

Despite knowing for certain that they wanted to be together forever, it took the couple a while to find the right venue for them. They got married at The Diamond Coast Hotel in the picturesque seaside town of Enniscrone last June.

“The minute we walked in to the hotel we just looked at each other and we were like, ‘This is it. We have to get married here,’” says Louise. “The staff in the hotel were absolutely fantastic from the very beginning. They were so relaxed and couldn’t do enough for us on that day.”

Both Louise and Serena received full family acceptance and support. “Every single one of our family members came to our ceremony,” Louise says.

The couple’s incorporation of one of their shared passions, the aforementioned motorbikes, provided a personal detail to their wedding.

Photos by Condoh photography

“We had bikes coordinated into an entourage when we arrived to the hotel, and a few of the lads led us in on bikes. The only people who knew that we were riding into the room to walk down the aisle, were myself, Serena, Serena’s brother, and Mary, the coordinator,” says Louise. “It went a hundred times better than we thought. And everyone’s faces! It was something special and it’s something that will live with us forever.”

“Growing up, motorbikes were a big part of my life,” says Louise, ”and it was the same for Serena, she’s also from a family of bikers. As we were getting to know each other, we used to go to motorbike enthusiast races. That’s how we fell in love, really. Bikes are a huge part of our lives.

“It was nice to show people that part of us as well. It was kind of like starting our new journey together on the bike.”