Real Bride Feature; Lyndsay Butler.

In the first of our real bride features, we learn that the love of your life could be right under your nose! 

Today we’re featuring our lovely real bride Lyndsay Butler. We contacted Lyndsay to get the low down on her and her husband Kevin, their proposal and advice on everything from choosing a dress to being yourself on your wedding day!  

Lyndsay and her bride tribe!

How did you meet your partner? 

Kevin and I met through work. We are both biomedical scientists at the Royal Hospital and had worked together for years before we ever really spoke to each other. 

Tell us about the proposal! 

Kevin booked a holiday for us to Sorrento in Italy in September 2022. On our first night there we went for dinner, and when we got back to the hotel he brought me to these underground caves. There was no one else around, so it was just us. He got down on one knee and the rest is history! 

We celebrated in the hotel bar with shots of Patron XO Cafe. The best part? I had no idea it was happening! I even packed the suitcase for us both so I thought I would have noticed a ring, but he kept it in his hand luggage the whole time.  

Lyndsay and Kevin

Can you describe your vision for your wedding day? How did it come to life? 

Initially, my plan was for Kevin and I to go to Vegas and do a ‘low-key’ wedding. We wouldn’t tell anyone, just come home and announce we were married. All I wanted was the marriage and I wasn’t overly fussed with a wedding as such. But Kevin was and expressed that he would regret us not having a wedding party in years to come. 

The first wedding venue we looked at was the Merchant Hotel in Belfast, and while we did look at others, we always found ourselves comparing it to the Merchant. So of course we had to book it! 

Regarding aesthetics, I always wanted a minimal wedding day. Therefore my flowers, dress, decorations and bridesmaids all stuck to a minimal theme. 

I wanted to challenge myself to try and find vendors who were smaller and perhaps not as well known as others. The thought behind this was to help them grow as a company and give them the opportunity to work on a wedding. 

When it comes to your dress, tell us about your experience with Forever Bridal. What was your vision? And what made you say YES to the dress?

Where do I start with the dress? I still love it! When I first went to Forever Bridal, I had a few photos of the dresses that I had seen on their website and showed them to Leondra, Natalie and Rachel during my first appointment. I was very specific in what I didn’t want and they were completely in tune with just the style I was going for. 

Thanks to their knowledge and my specific requirements, the first dress I tried on ended up being the one. And while I did try on a few others, I always came back to Eva Lendel Algera. 

I always knew that I didn’t want a veil, more because I didn’t want to look like every other bride. I was determined to be different! And as for the sleeves, I always knew I wanted them to try and cover up my arm tattoos. The girls helped me find and try on a few different pairs until I found the perfect set. In the end, I feel the sleeves I ordered were quite risky as they were rather puffy, but I took a moment to look beyond that to the altering stage. And you know what? It all came together perfectly in the end! 

Lyndsay’s gorgeous Eva Lendel Algera.

Thinking back to your wedding day, what was your favourite moment? 

We had many beautiful moments, but thinking back, my favourite had to be getting our photos taken in the Cathedral Quarter. It was a wonderfully sunny day, a rarity in Belfast, our wedding party was with us and we had the most amazing time! We even went into the Dark Horse where the staff allowed us to pull pints and use their courtyard for photos and videos. 

When planning a wedding and choosing your dress, what advice would you have for other brides? Is there anything you wish you had done differently? 

Regarding the wedding day and choosing the dress, the one piece of advice I would give is to be you! Don’t listen to others! Go with your gut regarding your personal style choice, your vision and the theme that you and your partner want. 

By all means, bring your friends and family to your dress appointment, but don’t let them influence your opinion. In the end what you want trumps all else! 

Finally, are there any vendors that helped your dream come true that you’d like to mention? 

All of our vendors were amazing and, as I mentioned, I wanted to use vendors who weren’t as well-known within the wedding industry. 

Check out more of Lyndsay & Kevin’s big day!