Will you marry me . . . again? Proposal recreated 20 years on

Colm and Rose McGuinness on their wedding day

By Barry Hartigan

THE staff at the five-star Conrad Hotel helped one Dubliner make his 20th wedding anniversary an even more special event - by recreating the night he proposed to his wife.

Colm McGuinness popped the question in the hotel in 1995 and decided to return to the same spot on Earlsfort Terrace.

"I proposed to my wife in the restaurant of the Conrad 20 years ago and it was a very special night," Colm told the Herald.

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"We live in Galway and will need to travel up to Dublin and I thought it would be a nice surprise for her if I booked a stay at the Conrad and we could dine restaurant as we did on the night of the engagement."

Colm (51) said that it was a huge deal to visit the hotel at the time and to plan on popping the question.

Colm and Rose McGuinness recreate 20th anniversary Conrad Hotel

"Twenty years ago I had never dined at anywhere as exclusive as the Conrad. However, as faint heart has never won a fair maid, I bravely decide to book a table," he said.

"I cycled up to the door, put my bicycle clips in my pocket and walked in nervously. I was greeted by a marvellous manager who listened to my plan and assured me that all would be fine on the night. After dinner I presented the ring and my she said 'Yes'."

Colm then decided to recreate that special evening for the anniversary earlier this month.

"When I was talking to the manager I thought we may as well go retro all the way so I asked could they serve us the same meal we had 20 years," he said.

"She said 'Not a problem at all. Why don't we make a little menu for you?' which they did.

"They have that lovely five-star trick to make you feel really special and then caught us on the hop and upgraded us to the Presidential Suite, which is massive," Colm added.

Rose (52) knew that the couple, who live in Galway city, were going back to the Conrad but had no idea what was in store for her.

fuss

"I knew we were booked into The Conrad but I didn't know that they were laying on the same lovely menu that we had when we got engaged and I certainly didn't know we were going to get the Presidential Suite," she said.

"We hadn't been to the hotel in 20 years as whenever we come to Dublin we tend to stay with Colm's family in Greenhills so it was really lovely to go back.

"The staff made a fuss of us - it was unbelievable how nice they were as we are just two ordinary people, we got movie star treatment, it was really wonderful, and they made us feel so special."