Our Northern Ireland Trip To Celebrate My Sister's Wedding

At the end of June, we took our last flight pre-baby to Ireland for my sister Lauren’s wedding. My sister actually lives in Northern Ireland with her husband, James, (who is from and lives in the area- hence why they’re there!) and we love getting to go visit them every year. You might remember our last trip there for New Year’s here (it’s full of her recommendations if you’re visiting). The wedding was up north in a town called Portrush, one of my sister and her husband’s favorite spots. They actually took us there on our previous trip and we got to see the location and venue that they were then considering, and explore the surrounding area. If you’ve been to Ireland, but never up north, it’s 100% worth an extra trip. The Northern Coast is absolutely breathtaking, with bright blue waters, crumbling old castles and lots of scenic attractions (and drives- the Causeway Coast), like Giant’s Causeway, Dunluce Castle, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Dark Hedges and more.

The day before driving up, we had a little bit of downtime, so my brother, George, Thomas and I drove to Murlough Beach, another spot my sister took us to on our last trip. Thomas I fell in love with this particular spot- it has these great big dunes with walking paths filled with tall grass and a sprawling sandy beach. Afterwards, we headed into Newcastle, a small seaside town where we grabbed lunch before heading back to join everyone.

Once we were all up in Portrush, the activities began! Lauren and James booked a boat to take the group on a tour via water of the Northern Coast. We left from the harbor in town, stopping at many of the attractions that we’ve visited in the past (Giant’s Causeway, Dunluce Castle, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge), plus a whole lot more. Seeing the Coast from the water brought a whole new perspective and we couldn’t get over how beautiful the water was- sometimes appearing to be deep blue, other times looking bright turquoise. Everyone had a blast, holding on tightly to brace the huge waves and only getting a little (okay, a lot) wet at the very end just before we got back to town. That evening, everyone joined together again for the rehearsal dinner, filled with excitement and anticipation for the following day.

The wedding was everything my sister and James are- relaxed, romantic and filled with love. I can’t even put into words how happy I am that the two of them found one another. Thomas and I were so happy to be there to celebrate with them and we’ll never forget what an incredible week it was! I’ve rounded up some of the photos that Thomas took throughout the trip and a few iphone snaps that I took for today’s post for a small glimpse inside our trip…