Bealtaine ’25 she wrote a letter to a man she hadn’t met yet.
Bealtaine ’26 she married him.
A year before this wedding, Candy went to the Bealtaine fire festival and wrote a letter — to a partner she hadn’t met yet. She described him line by line: someone who’d be her quiet, her rest, her shelter, her companion. She threw the letter in the fire. She decided, out loud, that by the next Bealtaine she’d be married to him.
In August she met James on Tinder. They chatted for a week. On their first date she looked at him, didn’t wait for hello, and kissed him. They both knew. They told each other later that they both knew that first night.
He proposed on Halloween. She jumped on him again. The date was the only thing they didn’t need to discuss: Bealtaine. May 2nd, 2026 — exactly one year, to the day, from her letter.
The wedding was almost entirely DIY and somehow still felt like a film. A handfasting ceremony in Massy’s Woods, conducted in Portuguese and English by their wonderful celebrant Kamila Simplicio. A civil ceremony at Arklow Bay Hotel after. Dinner and a long, loud party — The Trips playing late, Candy singing to James, Karen’s cake gone in about twelve minutes.
James was a little wary about a photographer following him around. By the end of the day he was telling me I was capturing exactly their love — that I saw moments and angles others didn’t. That sentence belongs to him now. I’ll keep it in my pocket for the rest of my life.
Coverage · Full-day photo
Celebrant · Kamila Simplicio · @kamilasimplicio.celebrant
Film partner · Oak and Oak · @oakandoak (Arthur Janowiski)
