Wedding bells in Laois for Electric Picnic stage manager
Electric Picnic crew take time for romance and celebrate wedding in Stradbally
For the crew working behind the scenes at Electric Picnic it takes a village to keep the show on the road. No one knows that better than Ian Kelly who plays a central role in keeping the stages running, meeting bands, doing gear drops and making sure everything runs smoothly at the festival in Stradbally.
While he is a busy man there was still time for romance with his bride-to-be Shelly McFarland.
The couple were walking past the famous inflatable chapel when Ian said “will we get married?” and that was that. Preparations got underway quickly with outfits to be organised and a bridal party to gather up.
It was fellow Electric Picnic crew members that stepped in as bridesmaids and groomsmen for the ceremony on Saturday afternoon.
“They all took the time out from work to come see us get married,” said Shelly.
“Please god all the stages are still running,” laughed Ian.
Although it’s not a legal wedding the engaged couple, who have been together for three years, treated it as if it was.
“We went through the whole rigmarole of a normal wedding. Life’s too short,” said Shelly.
Telling us how Ian popped the question she said: “It was before we were flying out somewhere. We were going to Holland and we were in a shopping centre before we left Ireland. He got too nervous so he ended up asking me in the shopping centre.”
Congratulations to the happy couple!