Sabrina and Patrick hit the ‘Dream Wedding' bullseye
Sabrina Archibald and Patrick Burke (a county darts player) were the couple who hit the bullseye in the 2014 Dream Wedding Giveaway at the Annebrook House Hotel on Friday night. They won the €13,000 prize after four weeks of voting and an emotional final few moments as Berty Dunne, proprietor of the Annebrook, conducted the countdown with the top five couples.
He named Michelle Johnson and Keith Hannon in fifth place, Rebecca O’Callaghan and David Penrose in fourth, and Stacey Daly and Mark Sheilds in third: that left Sabrina and Patrick along with Teresa Fox and Derek Muldoon. “Now we’re down to two,” said Berty, “and there won’t be a dart thrown tonight!” “And there won’t be ball played either,” responded Derek. Martha Clancy, Sales and Marketing at the Annebrook, asked who would do the honours in announcing the winner, and while Berty admitted he was shaking with the nerves, he was well up to the task – and there were roars of excitement and congratulations when Sabrina and Patrick were announced the winners.
After the photos and congratulations from friends, family and Dream Wedding Giveaway sponsors, and when things were beginning to calm down again, we had a word with the happy pair. “It means the world to us and our children,” said Sabrina, explaining that they were planning a wedding on August 6 regardless of whether they won the Dream Wedding Giveaway. The prize means they will now have a bigger, better day, and instead of having to limit the number of guests, they will be able to invite so many more. “It’s like winning the Lotto,” said Patrick, who used his contacts as a county darts player to canvass support from all over the country. “I’d love to thank everyone who voted for us, by text and with the coupons – we even had people who were collecting coupons for us and ringing us to go and collect them.
“We had supporters in Trim, Navan and Longford, I was getting text messages from Wexford and all over Ireland from people saying they had voted for us. “We weren’t even expecting to be in the top five, so we’re delighted to win.” Sabrina and Patrick have seven children: Jessica (21), Naomi (20), Thomas (18), Simone (13), Aoife (14), Sorcha (who was 10 last Thursday, May 1, and said that would bring them luck in the competition), and Isabella (11 months), and the whole family are now looking forward to a big day at the Annebrook in August.