Golfer Shane Lowry has said his family supported his decision to elope with his fiancée when they realised they didn't want "the big white wedding."
Offaly man Lowry married his fiancée Wendy Honner in what has been described as 'a small and intimate' ceremony in New York. Lowry had been engaged to the Laois nurse since popping the question in Dubai in 2014.
Lowry revealed that their decision to elope stemmed from wanting to cut back on the stress of their big day.
"The guest list [was spiralling] and I get stressed very easily," Lowry said on The Eoghan McDermott Show on 2fm. "So we decided the big white wedding at home was not what we wanted."
The idea of eloping came to them after seeing online that another Irish couple had done so and they "thought it was cool."
"We cancelled plans and told our families, and as long as they were pretty happy, we were happy to go ahead," he added.
Their nuptials were witnessed by a New York-based Irish photographer.
Lowry scored an incredible hole-in-one on the 16th hole at the recent Masters in Augusta, and a few days before that his fiancée Wendy caddied for him in the pre-Masters Par-3 tournament.
He has since donated his hole-in-one ball for auction for Danny O'Carroll's fundraiser for the Buncrana victims and Pieta House, Preventing Suicide and Self Harm. The auction takes place on Friday, May 20. Bids for the golf ball can be made by contacting gkeating@gkevents.com.
