The Bold and the Beautiful actress Maeve Quinlan has married her longtime partner Derek Chatterton in an intimate elopement in Ireland.
Maeve wed Derek on Saturday, June 10 at her brother's home in Wicklow, Ireland – but the wedding will come as a surprise to her close friends, including A-listers Rob Lowe, Courteney Cox and Gavin Rossdale, after she postponed her original Malibu wedding following the devastating death of her beloved mother, Mary.
© Olga Hogan PhotographyThe 58-year-old, who walked away from her character of Megan Conley in 2006 and is now a Lifetime movies star, took her entire vision for the Malibu wedding and moved it to Ireland, even when her family questioned her.
"I had such a clear vision of knowing what I wanted that I knew it was going to look right - and it looked beyond right, everyone was blown away," she tells HELLO! for our digital cover.
As seen in stunning photos exclusive to HELLO!, Maeve wore a classic old Hollywood dress by Enzoani that featured a plunging neckline and long train, and a veil by Margaret Moreland. Her two bridesmaids wore white as well. Maeve's bouquet, created by Floral Events, was made up of white peonies with three blush pink peonies to honor her late mother and father, and Derek's late mother Judy.
© Olga Hogan PhotographyBut the one difference from the originally planned LaLaland bash was the unpredictable Irish weather.
"It was like California weather the whole week," laughs Maeve, "and then it starts to get dreary and it's looking like it may rain, and then morning of the wedding, we knew that there was gonna be little sprinkles of rain in the afternoon and the wedding was at 2:30pm.
© Olga Hogan Photography"I always joke that my now-husband should have been a weatherman because, as always, he was on the right app and we had to make a decision about whether to postpone, but no one communicated! And the next thing we know, the music starts and everyone's like, 'Oh my God, we're doing this,' and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
"It was so romantic. It was so beautiful. It started drizzling the minute my flower girls and ring bearers came out and it just continued to lightly drizzle, then we had the umbrellas up and it started to rain harder. There was no question we were in Ireland! It was perfectly imperfect."
© Olga Hogan PhotographyGiven the last-minute switch, the guest list was drastically reduced from the originally planned blowout.
"When my mom died, everything just completely fell apart for me," Maeve tells HELLO!, sharing that there were only 23 guests on the day, all of whom were immediate family.
"I went to film a movie for Lifetime in Greece, which kind of shocked everyone but I said, 'This is what I need,' because I was so devastated." the actress continued.
"At her funeral we really started talking about eloping and going to Ireland, and then with my sister-in-law's help, I started putting things in motion from Greece."
© Olga Hogan Photography
© Olga Hogan Photography
© Olga Hogan PhotographyMaeve spent one long weekend in Ireland visiting The Bridal Outlet Dublin looking for her perfect dress, and meeting with florists and caterers. The whole enterprise came together in the seven days after she landed following the wrap of her movie, My Big Greek Nightmare.
The morning of, Maeve and her family got ready in the main house, while Derek and his three sons, Connor, Avery, and Davis, prepared in a guest house. "I really wanted to keep the mystery and all that romance alive," said Maeve, who was previously married to late Saving Private Ryan actor Tom Sizemore.
"I wanted this to feel like it was my first wedding."
© Olga Hogan Photography
Derek, 54, and his sons made their entrance to an instrumental version of Coldplay's 'Ink' while a cover of U2's 'Beautiful Day' by Jillian Edwards played as Maeve walked down the aisle on the arm of her brother.
As they were pronounced husband and wife, they walked back up the aisle to Coldplay's 'A Sky Full of Stars,' and "as Derek dips me and kisses me, you can see our family behind boogying to the song and it was the perfect moment," says Maeve.
© Olga Hogan PhotographyMaeve and Derek's connection is reminiscent of the Gwyneth Paltrow film Sliding Doors, beginning years before they ever met; they went to the same high school four years apart, and their parents both belonged to the same country club in the north Chicago suburbs, although at different times.
Most astonishingly, years after Maeve's parents sold her childhood home, Derek and his then-wife purchased the property, and he raised his own sons in the same house Maeve and her brothers grew up in.
© Olga Hogan PhotographyYears later, and now single, while on a work trip to LA Derek remembered Maeve from the time when she took a tour through the home with her mom, and thought she might be a good connection for client networking. A friendship over shared experiences formed, and love blossomed.
"We were best friends first," says Maeve. "It really began with us having things in common, and looking out for each other, and I think we both understood what we wanted was a strong friendship."
© Olga Hogan PhotographyHe proposed in 2019 and they planned to have a long engagement, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed it back even further.
"He has three sons and I never wanted them to feel like we were rushing anything. I wanted them to feel so comfortable," Maeve acknowledges, sharing how the pandemic allowed her to be based out of Chicago where the boys were living, even driving them to school.
"I've never tried to be a mother figure to them whatsoever, but – and I said this in my speech – it's an honor to be a small part of their journey and I'm here if they want me and I love them and I care for them."
© Olga Hogan PhotographyBut the pandemic also meant that her concerns over her mother's health were heightened; Mary had dementia and was living in a nursing home in Illinois in her final years. On Easter Weekend 2023 Maeve, in a white dress, and Derek had a "fake intimate wedding" in her mom's room.
"It was such a blessing, and mom was exclaiming, 'Hip Hip Hooray!' and then later that night she began to let go. I think she was waiting for that." Mary died on April 13 at the age of 99.
© Olga Hogan Photography
© Olga Hogan PhotographyTwo months later, Maeve's brother walked her down the aisle, and her wedding band was the ring her father gave her mother decades prior.
Derek's wedding band is a brushed white gold, chosen by Maeve, from New York Jewelers, who also designed her engagement ring. Her something blue was a blue topaz ring gifted to her on her 21st birthday from her parents, and her something borrowed was a garter from her nieces. Her something new was a stunning Art Deco Diamond Bracelet.
© Olga Hogan PhotographyHer mom Mary was also there in other ways: "My brother was giving his speech, and every time he would mention our parents, and Derek's mom, there would be a burst of sunlight through the room, it was unbelievable."
The speeches were held during dinner – a buffet-style service of beef tenderloin and seafood – while the pair later cut their red velvet cake with buttercream frosting, baked by Nadia Tuckett, and performed their first dance to the Pink and Kenny Chesney song 'Setting the World on Fire'.
© Olga Hogan Photography
© Olga Hogan PhotographyFor her Hollywood friends, Maeve is still planning a California wedding, complete with a bachelorette party with her 'Bride Tribe' out in Palm Springs, where she is building her dream home. "I think I'll have maybe a spa day, and I think Derek wll do the whole golf thing with his guys," she said - but it won't be for some time.
"I'm going to just take this next month and kind of just chill and enjoy married life," laughs Maeve, who this year has seen the death of her ex-husband Tom Sizemore, the passing of her mother, and then immediately went to film a new movie in Greece.
© Olga Hogan PhotographyShe and Derek are planning a honeymoon – "maybe Bora Bora where no one can find us!" – but for now, they're just getting used to their new normal.
"We keep saying 'husband and wife,' and it just feels really good to say that."
© Olga Hogan Photography
© Olga Hogan Photography
© Olga Hogan Photography
© Olga Hogan Photography
