From saying 'I do' to the first dance at a Teddy Swims concert

For most couples, their wedding day celebrations end with a farewell to their guests, not a front row seat to a Teddy Swims concert.

But that's exactly what newlyweds Neil and Leighann Hanna experienced on Monday night.

Last October, Neil bought tickets for the American singer-songwriter's appearance at Belfast's Ormeau Park. While the date was marked in the calendar, it slipped Leighann's mind when she booked their wedding for the same day.

"We've been together for a while," she said.

"I just said 'right, let's just do it', so I booked the wedding about a month ago and I messaged Neil at work and said 'this is the date we're getting married'."

But when Neil checked his work calendar, he said he was already off that day for something else.

Speaking to BBC News NI Leighann said she thought her now-husband was "just trying to get out of it".

"And then he went no, honey, we've got the Teddy Swims concert that night."

The couple live in Neil's home town of Bangor in County Down, but Leighann is originally from Musselburgh in Scotland.

With just 12 guests due to attend the wedding, including their three children, they decided to go ahead with both events.

"That was not in question, I was not missing Teddy Swims for anything," Leighann said.

Neil joked that he was "just doing as I was told".

"We moved the time of the wedding to 12 o'clock. We had our little ceremony. We went to a restaurant in Bangor for our little lunch and straight after it Neil and I went up to Ormeau Park," Leighann said.

"This is going to sound strange, but we don't really like big gatherings … unless Teddy Swims is singing."

As the couple - still in their wedding outfits - made their way up Belfast's Ormeau Embankment for the concert, they began attracting attention.

"There were that many people who were like 'are you guys for real?'," Neil said.

"Everybody wanted a photograph with us and to congratulate us."

He said the staff at the concert "enhanced" their experience by taking them to a VIP area and giving them free drink tickets.

They were also treated to access to the front standing area of the concert, which is directly in front of the stage.

"We actually had our first dance right in front of Teddy Swims," Neil said.

The track they chose for that moment was Lose Control, the song that skyrocketed the singer to global fame in 2023.

Leighann said: "Nobody could believe that we had just been married that day and we were there".

Neil added that "everybody wanted a photo and wanted to shake hands and give Leighann hugs".

"I had plenty of girls telling me that I was punching above my weight, which is true," he joked.

"Really good, lovely, light-hearted stuff, like people were just amazing."

The newlyweds also said people were "tooting their horns" at them as they headed home from the gig.

Reflecting on their unique wedding day, they said anyone thinking of having a small wedding should "just go do it".

"We had it small deliberately and we did it our way," Leighann said.

"We got all the dressings for the table ourselves. I made up all my bouquets by myself, with the help of my eldest daughter Paige, and it was more personal because we did it ourselves."