Stylish Leap wedding for former NASA artist Aoife

A WEDDING that was bigger, brighter and bolder than anything Bollywood could imagine was celebrated in Leap.

Irish artist Aoife van Linden Tol was born in Skibbereen and lived in West Cork as a child but, in later years, only had her summer holidays in which to nurture that sense of belonging.

When the time came from the 39-year-old former artist-in-residence with space agency NASA to name the day and the place, she said it had to be West Cork in general, and Leap in particular, because her mother, Anne Sheridan, relocated permanently to Leap in 1998.

It is hardly surprising that an artist with such a magical and polemic touch as Aoife would do something so special for her wedding, but her husband, Sebastian Heroiu, who is from Romania, managed to keep some of his traditions.

As customs dictate, he called to his mother-in-law’s house only to be blocked by friends who try to pass off an old woman and a man dressed in women’s clothing as his future bride.

‘He had to persuade them to let him pass,’ Aoife says of a ritual that is intended to demonstrate his devotion. When they finally met, the couple danced and everyone joined in a parade to the humanist ceremony, which was performed by Melissa More, in Anne’s garden.

The 150 guests, which included relatives from Dublin and Romania, as well as friends from London, where Aoife now lives, America and Switzerland, partied afterwards in the Leap Parish Hall, and it proved to be memorable for everyone present, as well as those who witnessed the colourful and joyful spectacle.