Fernando Klein, 37, a financial controller for a hotel group, and Gary Quane, 39, a private banker, were married on October 27, 2023, at Adare Manor in Co Limerick.
Fernando was genuinely surprised when Gary proposed in their back garden — but then he startled Gary by announcing that he had already booked a wedding venue. “I’m a little bit of a control freak,” Fernando admits.
Confident about their future together, he had secured a date for their wedding at Adare Manor, a luxury hotel set in 840 acres. They had stayed there with friends and loved it. Fernando liked the idea that it was close to where Gary grew up. And he wanted to marry in a castle.
The couple met at a nightclub in the Temple Bar area of Dublin in 2014. Gary approached Fernando and they chatted all night. “He had these amazing green-blue eyes,” says Fernando. “He also has a lovely dimple. He is very tall and handsome.”
Gary took Fernando’s number and contacted him a few days later. Their first date was a stroll in St Stephen’s Green, a historic park in the city. Their second date was for ice cream on Dun Laoghaire pier. “We agreed on lots of things and had similar stories about our early life, albeit in two different countries,” says Gary.
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Fernando, who is from Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, was studying international business when he came to Dublin at the age of 21 for six months to learn English in 2007, and ended up staying. To support himself, he worked at the Fitzwilliam Hotel as the penthouse butler, looking after the likes of Beyoncé and Chris Martin. He went on to study accounting and finance in Dublin and is now a financial controller for a hotel group.
In 2016, two years after they met, Gary moved into Fernando’s flat in Temple Bar. They are both family-orientated, enjoy musicals and travel. In 2021, they bought a house, part of a converted boys’ school dating back to 1895. In 2022 they went to Brazil. It was Gary’s first visit and one that had been delayed due to the pandemic. He had secretly been learning Brazilian Portuguese with an online tutor.
“Marriage wasn’t something I ever gave much thought to as for most of my adult life it wasn’t legally possible in Ireland,” says Gary, who is a private banker. “The referendum changed everything, not just because it was legally possible, but that our relationship was equal and deserved the next step of commitment when the time came.”
Fernando had thought Gary might propose on Lake Como that summer. Instead, Gary surprised him when he went down on one knee with a Cartier ring in their garden. Fernando had booked Adare Manor without consultation on discovering that they had only one date available. By chance, it was 16 years to the day since Fernando arrived in Ireland.
They invited 160 guests and went for a glamorous vibe. Fernando flew to New York to secure the Tom Ford tuxedo that he wanted in his size. The couple were legally married on September 1 at Dublin register office and hosted a small lunch party afterwards at Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud.
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The couple stayed apart the night before the 2pm ceremony in the ballroom of Adare Manor. They were married by Gary’s godmother, Karen. Her daughter sang Chantal Kreviazuk’s Feels Like Home as Fernando walked in with his mother. Gary, at the top of the aisle, avoided looking at their guests because of nerves, but turned around after they had said their vows.
“The amount of love in the room was palpable,” he says. “It was the best feeling ever.” Everyone joined in as they walked out to Karen’s son singing Shania Twain’s You’re Still the One.
After a drinks reception serving Brazilian caipirinhas and Gary’s favourite cosmopolitans, they had a “room reveal” for the wedding breakfast. “Gary had no idea what it was going to look like,” says Fernando, who had worked with a wedding planner, Colin Fagan. There was an ivory and pink colour scheme, with touches of gold and light blue, plus disco balls that moved up and down from the ceiling.
Fernando gave his speech half in English and half in Portuguese. Brazilian brigadeiro truffles were served among the petits fours. There was a live band and as guests moved on to the lit-up dance floor, the couple’s neighbour, who had performed with Riverdance for ten years, put on a show for them. “It was just an unbelievable day,” says Fernando.