WeddingDates.ie

The results are in! Thank you so much to all the Irish brides (and grooms) who helped us with data for this survey. Over 100 of you let us peer into your wedding finances, and we really appreciate it. It would be lovely to have 100 romantic getaways to give out but sadly we only have one, courtesy of our generous and lovely sponsor, The Blarney Golf Resort Hotel.

Winner: The lucky winner of our getaway prize is Christine Duggan of Cork, who’s entry matched a random number draw. Congrats! Stash us in your luggage?

The results of the survey (a PDF with the press release and data) are available for download, but here are the highlights:

• Despite an average price tag of €20,000 not including honeymoon, almost half (49%) of Ireland’s engaged coupled never planned to take on debt to fund their weddings.
• Conversely, 35% have reduced the amount of debt they’re willing to take on or eliminated debt altogether from their wedding planning budgets.
• Only 16% have remained comfortable with the amount of debt they’re planning to take on and made no budget adjustments in light of the recession.

So with almost 70% of couples reducing budgets, where are the biggest budget savings?

• 21.56% are DIYing more elements of their weddings.
• 17.37% are dispensing with optional extras like wedding favours.
• 17.37% are sourcing and purchasing more things online.
• 14.37% are reducing their guest lists to make savings.

Irish brides would also rather chop guests off the list than compromise on food, drink, or (God forbid!) wedding attire, and really: who can blame you? Regardless, it’s certainly possible to have a special, memorable and gorgeous wedding on a recession budget, and we’ll be passing on the tips and looking for yours, too. Thanks again!

I wish I had a euro for every bride I’ve heard say I want something different – and yet time and again the tried and tested beef and salmon turn up on the menu, and despite a lone chocolate fountain bubbling in the corner, things are pretty much kept very traditional.

Well, for the daredevils amongst you, here is a wedding idea that won’t be forgotten by your guests and will make a great story for the kids someday.

Back in April, Dinner in the Sky came to Dublin and twenty 2FM listeners had the chance to dine al fresco 150 feet above the city.  Well, the same team from Belgium are now offering Marriage in the Sky where you can actually tie the knot mid-air:

Marriage in the Sky is hosted on a platform, where 20 guests are strapped in an aircraft seat, suspended at a height of 50 metres by a team of professionals. Marriage in the Sky may include a second crane with a platform (or more if required) at the same height as the marriage platform, for entertainment such as music or dinner.

And for the truly dramatic couple, you can finish the ceremony with a double bungee jump as you take the plunge into married life together:

Not for the faint hearted!

It’s traditional to give your wedding party gifts. It’s also stressful to give your wedding party gifts, because it’s one more thing to plan, one more thing to organise, and yes, one more thing to pay for. Here’s a less expensive solution that your bridesmaids will love – individually chosen cosmetics bags stuffed with a variety of handmade goodies.

Online retailer Etsy is stuffed to the gills with unique and gorgeous cosmetics bags and wristlets so you can choose whatever style you fall in love with. I’ve bought from Dalinda’s shop Plonka and I love the wristlet I got. She makes bags in a range of fabrics, so you can choose a different fabric to suit each bridemaid and make your gift really individual. (I like these little zippy purses at $13.50 each.)

In it you can put lots of little goodies, like luscious handmade soaps and lipbalms from Cherry Blossom Co. Ciara and I both have products from Cherry Blossom Co and love it; the products are very natural, really pretty and great quality. She charges $11.30 for international shipping for the first product, but each item after that is only one cent – so for large orders, it’s super cost effective.

Finally, you can pick up loads of little samples on Etsy that fit perfectly into small bags – check out the super-cute perfumes from Theme. You get seven minis for just $7, and they come in a whole range of scents and colours, perfect for coordinating with bags and soaps for a really lovely themed gift.

All of this stuff – pouches, lip balms, soaps and perfumes – comes to $172 including shipping if you’re buying for half a dozen bridesmaids, which is about €134 these days. For a party of six bridesmaids, that’s €22 each, which is a bridal bargain if there ever was one.

When I was a little girl, I used to draw wedding dresses for my imaginary princess self, fully expecting that I would one day be able to wear a similar dress when floating down the aisle.  Without exception, these dresses were massive, physics-defying frilly creations, roughly the size of a small planet. Or of this dress:

Liana’s Paper Dolls is a website that lets you indulge your inner five year old (no matter how frilly or humongous) and dress her up in every kind of costume imaginable, including all kinds of bridal creations – from the historic to the fantastic:

You start with a basic paper doll, and simply print and cut out Liana’s charming, beautiful hand-drawn dresses. There’s even a set from Titanic, that previously blogged wedding theme of doom, for complimentary bridesmaids dresses.

Should you become bored with bridal attire, there’s zillions of other fabulous costume creations, from go-go outfits to gypsy dresses, cocktail attire to ballgowns. After all, you have to wear something after the wedding.

At WeddingDates.ie, we’re interested in all things bridal, and of course, all thing bridal budget! Given the state of the Irish economy, we’re keen to find out: is the Irish recession eating into your wedding budget?

The survey takes less than two minutes to complete, and you can automatically be entered to win the fabulous prize sponsored by the Blarney Golf Resort Hotel:

Prize: Escape to the luxurious, four-star Blarney Golf Resort Hotel. Enjoy a Four Ball Golfing Day package, a gorgeous gourmet dinner for two, one night’s accommodations in a stylish guestroom, and breakfast the next morning. It’s the perfect engagement get away!

And really, with all the craziness and stress of planning a wedding, who doesn’t need a four star resort get away? To be eligible for the survey, you simply need to be living in Ireland and be engaged. We’ll select one survey respondent at random as our winner and announce the results on 26 November, 2008. Good luck!

The worst example of “everything must be perfect on my perfect day” drama I have ever personally witnessed is the bride I saw having a melt-down because the toilet paper in the bathrooms had not been changed to match her wedding theme colour.

I sat there with my jaw on the floor – not because she was throwing a bridal tantrum, but because the idea of coordinating toilet paper had seriously never occurred to me. But apparently it has occurred to any number of brides, because you can actually get toilet paper custom printed with your names.

In case you are thinking for even one moment, “Well, that’s pretty cool” let me be the first to remind you of the actual purpose of toilet paper – and then consider if you really want your guests swiping your names across their nether regions.

Right. Probably not.

Other bad ideas:

Yes, you can actually get embroidered toilet paper. Don’t.

And while your first anniversary is indeed your paper anniversary, I can almost guarantee that if you gift your spouse with this, you will not have a second. (On the plus side, the second anniversary is cotton, and that’s sort of boring to shop for anyway.)

On a lighter (softer? more absorbent? quilted?) note, here is one of the winning dresses from the Cheap Chic Weddings dress contest. Unbelievably, this incredible dress – like all of the dresses in their insanely popular annual contest – is made entirely of toilet roll:

Very cheap, very chic, and very not recommended for Ireland. It rains here. A lot.

People in their mid to late 20’s organising weddings now never lived through the really hard times of the eighties like our parents had to.  We are used to everything on demand.  Jobs, money, holidays….for most, we have become an instant-gratification culture.  Safe to assume this trend can only continue into how we plan our weddings.  Costs of weddings have spiralled in the last 10 years, with people spending in excess of €20,000 on the day (and that’s not even considered unusual!)

However, with the economy starting to decline, it may be time for young couples to think sensibly about how to get the most out of their money and make more frugal decisions.  Here’s 10 tips on how to save money on your wedding:

1. Email out invitations. Not only will this save you on Stationary costs, it’s also ‘Eco-Friendly’.  Plus you can guests to RSVP by return email or via a webpage, so you can track guest acceptance instantly instead of waiting on snail mail.
2. The Dress (and bridesmaids’ dresses).  For affordable options in Ireland, consider buying your dress second hand from one of the charity shops.  More and more people are opting to recycle their dresses after their big day and you can get some beautiful gowns second hand nowadays.  Check out Oxfam’s Bridal Department website @ www.oxfamireland.org/oxfambridal/about.htm.  If you are handy with a sewing machine or have a reliable dressmaker you could alter the dress and make it into something very unique.  Alternatively, you could consider heading Stateside to buy the dress and get the bridesmaids dresses over there as well.  You can choose the dress from bridal catalogues, call the shops in the States in advance and then go over for a simple collection of the dress of your dreams.  Bridesmaids are getting fussy and don’t want to wear meringue shaped concoctions the colour of candy floss anymore, so please them all by buying nice dresses ‘off-the-rack’ that are up-to-date cut and colours.  This is particularly easy to do if you are having a summer wedding because of the range of beautiful summer dresses available in the shops nowadays.  There’s always the benefit of them being able to re-wear the dresses after the wedding too!
3. The Cake. Is your Mum a handy baker?  Or are you yourself a budding Nigella in the kitchen?!  Get your cake homebaked and then bring it to be professionally iced afterwards.  This could save you a fortune and let’s face it….we all prefer Mum’s home cooking!
4. Do your own make up. We have all had the experience of getting our make up done professionally, only to come out looking like something from a Las Vegas Drag Show afterwards.  Invest in some really good quality make up products like MAC, Benefit etc and then PRACTICE getting the look you want yourself.  Or get a friend who is a dab hand to do it for you.
5. The Wheels. These days nearly everyone knows someone who has a Beemer or a Merc, why not ask them to borrow the car for the day and get it valetted for the occasion.  Once you are in your dress and the car is draped in the traditional ribbons, you’ll feel like a princess no matter if it’s a vintage car, luxury Bentley or not.
6. Wedding Favours & Table Centrepieces. If you are creative and have plenty of time on your hands, why not make your favours or centrepieces yourself.  You can buy supplies in bulk from hardware stores, garden centres, or even online and save a fortune making them yourself.  The only thing to consider is that this can’t be done too early; because remember – you have to store them somewhere before the day itself!
7. Renting Seat Covers. Don’t let the hotel fool you into thinking that you HAVE to use their seat covers.  These are often charged at a ridiculous rate and this is only because prospective brides don’t know that they have other options.  Seat Covers can be rented much cheaper for the day, the only drawback is that someone has to physically go to the hotel or venue and put them on all the chairs themselves.
8. Wine. I guess most Irish people are pretty savvy when it comes to this one, but nonetheless: consider taking an empty car or van to France and fill it up with wine for the wedding.  Just make sure to check with the hotel what the corkage fee is if you are bringing your own wine.
9. Photography. Most couples will want the professional photographer for the wedding photos on the day, particularly after the ceremony.  However, expenses can escalate quickly if you require the photographer for the entire ceremony and reception, not to mention if you are having a videographer as well.  Get guests to upload their digital pics to a website after the event.  Alternatively, put disposable cameras on each table at the reception, to allow the guests take memorable pictures of their group for the night.  Just don’t do a Monica-and-Chandler on it and forget to collect the cameras at the end of the night!
10. Flowers. If you are getting married mid February forget about Red Roses or you will be paying a premium rate.  If you want a simple affair, consider wildflowers, or if you aren’t fussy about having fresh flowers then you could get Fake flowers.  I know, I know – not exactly the most romantic thing in the world but artificial flowers have become increasingly more popular as an alternative to fresh flowers for wedding bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres, and center pieces as they allow you to express your individual taste and style.  Not only that, fake flowers have HUGE implications in terms of budget too, they are much cheaper than the real thing.  But won’t they look really fake and tacky, I hear you say?  Luckily, the answer is “No!” – fake flowers have evolved tremendously in the last few years. In fact, their look is so similar to that of fresh flowers that most people will never even notice the difference. Artificial flowers are also exceptionally great for out-of-season weddings as you can have beautiful bouquets which you would not be able to get if you were opting for the real thing.

If you truly are serious about saving money where you can on your big day…rest assured…it CAN be done!!!  Spend some time thinking about everything involved in the wedding and everyone you know (or who your friends or your family knows) and rope them in!  People are generally delighted to be included in the wedding plans or the day itself and won’t be put off by your enquiry at all.