The key facts

  • After splitting from her fiancé, Bridget Devaney organised a women's trip to Northern Ireland via social media
  • 11 strangers from the US, Canada and Wales responded and spent a week together, including a 'non-wedding day'
  • 11 strangers from the USA, Canada and Wales responded and spent a week together, including a 'non-wedding day'
  • Photographer Rob Dight postponed the shoot by two years and learned the women had met only three days before the shoot
  • Photographer Rob Dight moved the shoot back two years and learned the women had met only three days before the shoot

The wedding fell through — so came a 'non-wedding' instead

When Bridget Devaney's fiancé suffered a medical emergency, and the planned elopement and the relationship itself fell apart, she could simply have closed that chapter. Instead, as BBC News NI reports,she turned to the internet with a proposal that sounded both naive and bold: come to Northern Ireland and celebrate the wedding that never happened. Eleven strangers answered the call, and the story spread around the world.

How the participants came together

Bridget lives between the US and Killarney in Ireland. The idea came in April this year, when the photographer wrote to her about the postponed shoot. A friend suggested posting an announcement for a women's group trip from an anonymous profile — hundreds of responses came in. 'When these women signed up, they didn't know my name, what I look like, nothing about me,' she said. Janae Pettit, a designer from Utah, stumbled across the post on 1 April and at first took it for an April Fool's joke. Over several months, Bridget used questionnaires to select women from the US, Canada and Wales. Their motivations varied: Janae, approaching her 40th birthday, was looking for 'a gift to herself', while Shana Johnson from Minnesota wanted to travel while her friends were busy with their families.

A week on the north coast

Earlier this month, the group spent a week exploring the north coast: the Giant's Causeway, the Dark Hedges and Londonderry. For Bridget, the trip became a way to 'reframe' the places she had once planned to visit with her fiancé, and the culmination was the 'non-wedding day'. Photographer Rob Dight, founder of Epic Love Photography, had received a deposit for the shoot back in 2024 and, after the groom's injury, offered Bridget a two-year extension. He was 'blown away' to learn, right during the shoot, that the women had met only three days earlier. Later, the participants took part in a session about new beginnings — 'there wasn't a dry eye in the room', Bridget recalls. The group keeps in touch and is planning a reunion and new trips.

Context: elopements in Northern Ireland

The story fits into a trend that has been notable for the region, which the BBC wrote about back in January 2023,: elopements — secret weddings for two — have turned into wedding-moons, and more and more couples are crossing the Atlantic to exchange vows against the backdrop of the rugged Irish coast. The outlet has also previously reported on a wedding with nearly a hundred bridesmaids and on a jilted bride who went ahead with her wedding anyway and later got engaged again. This story has no connection to Uzbekistan — it is published as a world news item about people and communities.

A group of 10 women stand in a close embrace on a grassy hillside overlooking the sea. Several wear formal dresses in dark and red colours. Behind the group, rugged coastal cliffs rise under an overcast sky.Image source, Rob Dight / Epic Love Photography
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Eleven strangers from across the world travelled to Northern Ireland to celebrate Bridget's 'non-wedding'

A woman with long brown hair in an off-the-shoulder green dress and dark flowing skirt stands on a grassy lawn in front of a stone building. The skirt billows outward in motion, a stone wall forms the backdrop.Image source, Rob Dight / Epic Love Photography
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Now based in Killarney, County Kerry, Bridget says she chose for the photoshoot to be a 'reframing day'

A group of 11 women, all wearing colourful jumpers, standing together in a cottage environment smiling widely at the camera.Image source, Bridget Devaney
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Janae (bottom left wearing a hat) says she initially thought the post was an April Fool's joke

A group of women in colourful dresses move through the roofless stone interior of a historic ruin. One person stands near the centre in a green dress and black cloak, while others walk around her, creating a sense of motion. Tall stone walls and a pointed arched window frame the scene, with grass covering the ground inside the building.Image source, Rob Dight / Epic Love Photography
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The group are now planning a reunion and say they are 'lifelong friends'

Black-and-white photo of several people gathered around a table, raising pint glasses in a toast. One woman wearing a decorative crown-like headpiece sits near the centre, while others lean in with outstretched arms holding drinks. The indoor setting is softly lit, with blurred figures and tables visible in the background.Image source, Rob Dight / Epic Love Photography
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I feel like we got something very special out of this trip, says Bridget

A group of 11 women in colourful gowns pose around a low stone wall in front of a traditional stone cottage with a thatched roof. The cottage sits in a grassy rural landscape surrounded by trees and hillside vegetation, while the people are spaced across the scene in various standing and seated positions.Image source, Rob Dight / Epic Love Photography
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Bridget's family and friends found out about the trip once the group's social media posts gained traction online

Eleven women wearing colourful dresses stand between two dry stone walls in a rural valley. Trees frame the group on either side, while a steep rocky hillside rises in the background.Image source, Rob Dight / Epic Love Photography
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Photographer Rob Dight says he was 'blown away' to learn the group had met as strangers

Couple pictured at Dark HedgesA bride, with blonde hair, a white dress with an off the shoulder detail carrying a bouquet, smiles as two young bridesmaids help her with her train and veil as she walks towards the camera. Behind them is a large group of women, including young girls in the front row, wearing a mixture of champagne, cream, white and tan dresses. The crowd, including the bride and the two bridesmaid, are standing in the middle of a large garden, with tall trees and a leafy tunnel to the left.Kayley is wearing a white dress at her wedding and is stood next to a tiered cake, laughing