WeddingDates.ie

Well, I am just in the door from Dublin after my appearance on Ireland AM on TV3 this morning!  I am still on a high after it, what an amazing experience and a fantastic way to plug weddingdates.ie on National TV.

I got the call yesterday afternoon from one of the researchers on the show, they are doing a weekly slot on doing business in the recession particularly focused on entrepreneurs and people who have set up their business in this difficult time.  Well, the researcher didn’t have to ask twice!  I jumped at the chance and hopped in the car to Dublin yesterday evening.

Arriving in TV3 studios was so exciting early this morning, and I was just a tad nervous when I was in the make up room, but once we walked into the studio and sat down on set I relaxed and Mark and Elaine really put us at our ease, chatting easily and they both genuinely seemed interested in our business ideas and remarked on our energy and enthusiasm.

My frist time on d’telly was a fantastic experience, one I hope to repeat again soon!  RTE here I come!

Watch the full clip here: Ciara from weddingdates.ie on Ireland AM

Yesterday I met with Gillian O Sullivan a former Olympian and World Silver Medallist who now runs her own personal fitness company to hear about how she helps brides (and indeed grooms) to be get in shape to look their best for their big day.

Gillian is based in Cork and runs her personal fitness sessions out of the Hayfield Manor Hotel near UCC in the city.  She does personal & group training and has a special ‘wedding package’ to help the bride, groom, bridesmaids and even the mother of the bride/groom prepare for the wedding.  She recommends starting about 4-6 months out from the big day to make sure you have adequate time to get trim and look great in the dress.

She will meet you once a week (usually in the mornings, or after work) for 1 hour and does some cardio (jogging down to Fitzgearlds Park in the city) and then back to the gym in the hotel for the weight training which helps with the strengthening and toning (and lets face it, the bingo wings).  Also included is an assessment of your overall diet & exercise routine and she gives food advice as well as an exercise schedule for the week before you are back to her again.  And don’t worry, she’s not a screamer – no cheesy Mr Motivator one-liners here!

The good thing about Gillian’s program is that you don’t have to be a gym member already, the exercises she gives you can be done at home or out in a park – you may only have to invest in a small set of hand weights.  With benefits such as increased energy and stress release, to be honest I think it should nearly be mandatory for all brides-to-be!

Gillian will devise a healthy programme to get you in shape, slim down and tone up to look your best on the big day.  She will guide you in the right direction to achieve your goal….of fitting into the all important dress!

Last year, before I took the leap into starting my own business I had a hankering to do some solo travel and have always wanted to go to Africa, so settled on volunteering in Ghana, West Africa which would provide me with the solo travel experience but also afforded a little bit of structure and stability having a volunteering organisation behind me.  The experience was fantastic and one that I would highly recommend to anyone who is thinking of helping out abroad.  I have yet to meet someone who came back from volunteering who DIDN’T find it a worthwhile and enjoyable experience.

Many couples are now shying away from the typical lazing-on-a-beach honeymoon and vounteer-honeymoons are becoming increasingly popular for the couple that wants to ‘give something back’ as well as have an amazing holiday experience.  I recently met with Aileen Cussen from Enterprise Ireland who not only volunteered instead of the typical honeymoon…but also decided to have the wedding there while she was at it!  Herself and her (now husband) Ian weren’t into the whole big-Irish-wedding and when they decided to spend their honeymoon volunteering in a community development project in Uganda, they said why not integrate the wedding itself into the experience.  And what an experience it was, from what Aileen told me the whole town turned out for their wedding and threw them the most amazing and unforgettable ceremony.

For their volunteering, Aileen taught in the local school and Ian helped with building projects and work in the community.  They worked on putting some structure into the community and also provided them with some solar-powered battery chargers to use after they were gone.

But it wasn’t all work and no play – It was one of Ian’s dreams to see the mountain gorillas of Uganda and he had his wish when they went on a guided gorilla tour and got right up close and personal with the giants.  They also had a week break in a resort hotel to give them a taste of the traditional honeymoon too!

Tell us about your honeymoon plans or what do you think about volunteering for your honeymoon??

My cousin is getting married in June, and last weekend we decended on the town of Carlow for her hen party.  Girls came from all over Ireland (the bride is from Mayo but works in Kildare) and chose Carlow as a central location.  I was initially dubious I have to say (The Stag got to go to Liverpool!) but turned out to be a fanastic location! We stayed in the fabulous Golf Lodges at the Killerig Golf Resort 10kms outside of Carlow.  The lodges were a great option as we had a base for the weekend and were able to order in Chinese, cook our own food and of course, bring in plenty of our own drink!

Fancy Dress theme for the night was the 80’s and all of the girls put in a great effort!  We had lots of fun in the lodges doing our hair & make up and drinking Cosmopolitans!  It is a cheap alternative to going out, particularly if you are doing a 2 night hen.  The chief bridesmaid organised some hen-games which we had great gas doing and they were also a good ice-breaker as not everyone at the hen knew each other before hand.  One of the games was to split the group into 3 and each team had to design and dress one of the 3 bridesmaid ‘models’ using masking tape and toilet paper!  Vera Wang eat your heart out…

We hit the town on Saturday night, going out for a meal and then clubbing to the Foundry, one of the biggest nightclubs in Ireland.  As a student-town, there was plenty of buzz in the place and a choice between live band or DJ inside in the massive club.  Everywhere was very hen-friendly and I could highly recommend both the Killerig Golf Resort AND Carlow town as an ideal hen destination.

For DIY hen ideas and games (and of course to buy the hen paraphernalia), check out: www.hen-party.ie and to take the hassle out of organising the hen, have expert hen planner Jenni from www.poshfizz.com take over and possibly even organise some really ‘different’ hen ideas!

Tell us about your own hen experiences?  Any good games/locations you have been to?

Leave a comment!

So the results of our Valentine’s Day contest are in, and sadly it seems what Ireland’s women want more than anything is a little more help around the house. This is, apparently, the height of Irish romance in the modern age; out of all out contest entries, the most common response to the question “What do women really want for Valentine’s Day?” was “him to do the dishes.”

Our lucky contest winner is Marlene Linnie of Dublin, who offered up this suggestion for her fiancee:

Clean the house from top to bottom, bring me breakfast in bed and not moan once the whole day so we can just enjoy being together with no worries like finances for the wedding!

We wish Marlene and her other half a brilliant weekend at the four star Blarney Golf Resort and Hotel in Cork. Congratulations!

Our next contest is a weekend away for two at a fabulous four-star hotel: The Malton in Kerry. Spend two night in a newly refurbished junior suites with two nights bed and breakfast and one evening meal. What could be more relaxing or more romantic?

To enter: All you need to do is be a subscriber to Love Letters, our (semi) monthly newsletter – so sign up on our sidebar and add yourself to the draw. (if you are already a subscriber, you’re automatically entered to win.) We’ll pick a winner at random from our mailing list and announce the winner in our next newsletter. Tell your best friends to sign up too, and they can be in with a chance to win as well!

Today I met with the lovely Morgan and Mary from Daimler Wedding Hire based in Kanturk, Co. Cork.  With a real focus on you and your day, when you rent the car, you have it (and Morgan) for the whole day.  He arrives early and decorates the car (and other family cars) with ribbon and makes sure everyone is at ease.  The bride and father then get a lift to the church and Morgan waits on hand to allow the car be photographed with the wediding party either at the church, photo location or after the journey to the reception venue.

They have white, ivory and cream umbrellas – just in case you need them with this Irish Climate!  They also provide the bride and groom with a complimentary bottle of champage and chocolates to toast their newlywed bliss.  With a choice of Gold Daimler, Maroon Rolls Royce or Silver Limosine, you have the pick of the car for your big day and because they have a fleet of cars, in case anything happens on the day mechanics-wise (they are vintage cars after all!) there is a back up ready.  Based in Kanturk, North Cork and servicing Cork and Kerry they have a showroom where you can go and view the cars before you decide.  At €450.00 for the car for the day, you may want to have viewed it in the flesh beforehand!  There are some great pics on their website though, and it might be a nice surprise to have it roll up on the day without having seen it first hand.  With Morgan at the wheel, you will certainly be in good hands anyway!

Had to give a mention to the girls in www.weddingrunner.com who were on the Dragon’s Den on RTE last week.  They did very well answering the dragons questions and while they didn’t manage to secure investment in their innovative new product, they certainly came across very well on the show.

The concept behind the business is an individual, customized carpet running the length of the aisle for the bride’s walk down the aisle.  In their own words: “Each rug is custom made to match a bride & grooms wedding theme, or colours. The bride & groom’s name or initial are hand woven into the rug thus creating a unique entrance”

Their website is currently running a competition to win your own customized wedding runner – so nip over there to check it out and you could be walking down an aisle with your own names on it!

It certainly is something ‘different’ and with celebrities such as Pink jumping on this product, it could be the Hot Item for the weddings of 2010!

No wedding is complete without a wedding cake – whether they are eaten or not is another thing!  What many of you may not have heard of out there is – The Groom’s Cake.  This is a seperate cake to the main wedding cake and is usually decorated in a fun and quirky way, often in a theme that brings out the hobbies or personality of the groom.

You can be as creative as you want and some fun ideas include:

• Favorite football team logo
• Piece of sporting equipment (think football, surfboard)
• Beer can for the beer-minded groom
• Treasured guitar/musical instrument

Just make sure you have a good cake-icer!

The concept of the Grooms cakes started in Deep South in the States, all based around a superstition that applied to any single woman who attended a wedding.   According to the legend, if the woman took home a slice of the groom’s cake and slept with it under her pillow that night, she would dream of the man that she will marry while asleep and she’d know by morning who she would be spending the rest of her life with.

Regardless of whether or not the superstition holds any truth, the tradition is coming back into style…and I think it’s a nice way to honour the groom and have another fun and unique element to your wedding!

Trash the Dress is a relatively new concept that many brides-to-be that I’ve met haven’t heard of yet (and most of them seem shocked and horrified at the suggestion!)  “Trash The Dress” began in America (where else?!) and basically involves the bride (and sometimes the groom) in a photoshoot totally different to the posed, perfect photos on their wedding day.

Photo Credit: Artur Lastowski (Poland)

Many trash the dress shoots take place at the beach, with the bride walking into the ocean or splashing and floating in her gorgeous white gown.  But, as with anything – the only limitations to Trash the Dress photoshoots is your imagination!  They can be taken in any setting, urban or rural and are usually more fun when you inject a little of your personality into it!  I’ve seen photos where the bride and groom are wearing converse and sunglasses, holding shooting rifles, going bowling etc etc.  Be creative and you will love the results!

Photo credit: Marcin Labedzki (Poland)

There are some photographers in Ireland who will do Trash The Dress shoots, check out www.trashthedress.ie for more info or watch this TV3 Xpose piece on the photographer and hear from a real bride who has done it! Xpose on Trash the Dress

The second installment of the Brides of Franc series couldn’t have been more different to the last with an altogether ‘blingtastic’ wedding in The Westin Hotel in Dublin’s city centre.  Dee and Graham’s brief was very specific (they even brought along a folder with photos of things they ‘like’ and ‘dislike’).  They wanted an exclusive, VIP, bling wedding and wanted Franc to help them get there.

Known to their friends as D&G, Franc knew he was dealing with a power-couple here and relished the chance to work with Dee as her “taste was just like his – expensive!”  Dee’s dress was a Vera Wang number, a slim silk dress, with detail on the back.  It was topped off with a fabulous full length veil and killer stillettos, covered in – you guessed it – Diamonds!!!

Franc planned a lavish event with huge centerpieces on the table iwth 6 tiers of candles, a 5 tiered wedding cake and even a D&G ice sculpture!  The room was to be turned around after the meal and transformed into an exclusive VIP-only ‘nightclub’ in 40 minutes while the guests were treated to a comedy club performance.  The nightclub was very unusual and special with funky lighting, neon colour and the D&G logo projected onto the ceiling.  Mini bottles of pink Moet & Chandon champagne were offered to the guests of the ‘nightclub’ and they danced on till the small hours on the specially set-up white dancefloor!

The Westin was the perfect venue for their event, and the huge Chandeliers in the Banking Hall were the prime inspiration for Franc when creating the theme for the night.  He covered the tables with mirrored tops to reflect the glittering lights above.  the chair covers were brought in from LA and each were decorated with an individual swarovski crystal.  Franc said he was trying to create sophisticated high end glamour and the night certainly sparkled and glittered.  With the glamourous setting of the sit down meal and then the funkiness of the ‘nightclub’ it was a mix between high glamour and fun.