It is often appropriate to wear a hat to a wedding, but last week Reverend Lorna Dreaning wore two hats – the hat of mother-of-the-bride, and the hat of a minister officiating a marriage.

They were two hats which she was happy to metaphorically wear as she celebrated with her daughter, Joy, and now son-in-law Adrian at their bohemian festival-style wedding on the shores of Lough Erne.

Speaking to The Impartial Reporter, Rev. Dreaning – who is minister of Enniskillen Methodist Church, and circuit superintendent minister – said she was delighted to have been asked by her daughter and son-in-law to officiate their wedding, calling it "an honour".

"[My daughter Joy] came to me and asked me could I marry her? It was a lovely honour to do it, and it made it very special, very personal," said Rev. Dreaning.

"It'll never happen again to us, as I have four sons, so it was just a lovely, unique opportunity for us as well as a family," she told this newspaper, adding: "Even just to have my name on the marriage licence, it ended up very emotional, and I'm not normally an emotional person."

The wedding celebrations took place over three days, starting with the intimate ceremony by the lough side at Carrickreagh on the evening of Wednesday, August 17.

"It was beautiful and very romantic. There were lots of lanterns and fairy lights; it was sort of a boho festival-style wedding.

"There were sofas and chairs, and lots of rugs," laughed Rev. Dreaning, noting that there was "nothing traditional" about the wedding and that her daughter Joy never wanted a traditional wedding.

"She always wanted something very different. It was never going to be at a church or hotel or anywhere like that, and she just decided on Fermanagh here, probably last November. She just always wanted an outdoor wedding."

The wedding. Photo: The Three Bears Photography.

The wedding. Photo: The Three Bears Photography.

The wedding reception was then held at the pods at Carrickreagh Bay, which is owned by Richard and Roisin Cathcart.

"It was just such a beautiful setting," said Rev. Dreaning, going on to explain that the set-up was a "real community effort".

"There were a lot of people that came on board and helped us out big-time, just with the setting of it. They were making stuff for us; there were wooden pallets and signs.

"We had a Lego theme at the reception, because the groom was into Lego, and the toy shop in town [ToyTown], they lent us two big Lego men, they were four or five feet [tall]. So there was a lot of sort of community help here.

"Jenny Humphreys, she was the wedding co-ordinator for us, and Phair Grylls did the barbecue. It just all came together, and I have to say, a lot of churches gave us tables and chairs and things like that.

"It was lovely, and it was so nice to have a community spirit to it as well, here in Fermanagh," said Rev. Dreaning.

On Thursday afternoon, August 18, photographs were taken at Florence Court and the family went for a lunch cruise on the lake on Friday, August 19, completing the three days of wedding festivities.

Talking about juggling her two roles at the wedding – that of minister, and also mother-of-the-bride – Rev. Dreaning said: "I really wasn't mother of the bride until Thursday! I sort of went into the ministerial mode on the Wednesday night.

"Then, on the Thursday, I got the mother-of-the-bride outfit on," she said, adding: "It was lovely to have it over the three days, because it meant that we all had more time."