Bride’s vBlog

After over a year of planning and plenty of video blogs detailing her progress, our blogging bride Liz Killeen tied the knot on Friday to her handsome Cornish boyfriend Steve Perring. Both Paul and I were so delighted to be there and share their big day with them surrounded by their family and close friends.

The ceremony in Fossa Church was lovely, it had a real relaxed feel which perfectly reflected the couple themselves and Liz even giggled during her vows!  She was the happiest bride in the world as you can see by her beaming smile as she walked down the aisle!

It was quite a blustery day on Friday so not much dilly-dallying around outside the church – all the ladies were freezing in their dresses!  It did give me time to go check into my hotel though, the gorgeous Randles Court Hotel right on the Muckross Road in Killarney.

The reception was held in the 5 star Killarney Hotel, the Muckross Park and we had the drinks reception of Mojitos and Cosmopolitans in the large glass Atrium at the side of the hotel.  Even though the weather outside was pretty wild, we had great space and light in the Atrium so there were plenty of snaps taken there, we even managed to get this one of the bride with the WeddingDates team!

The meal was served in a gorgeous wood panelled room upstairs which was decorated beautifully with chair covers and big floral centerpieces.  The room itself looked fab and we all settled in to the meal without too much delay!  The starter choice was Ceaser Salad or Soup and I am so glad I went for the soup, it was SO tasty!  For the main, we had a choice of Beef or Monkfish and I went for the Monkfish and really enjoyed it, but others at my table were raving about how tender the beef was.

After the meal and speeches, they asked us to go back downstairs to the Atrium for a surprise and we were faced with a full casino set up, blackjack tables, roulette and poker!  It was a brill way to entertain the guests while the hotel staff cleared the tables from the dancefloor and we all gambled away to our hearts content with the fake money & chips! wedding entertainment is a great idea for those lull periods in what is such a long day.

We then danced the night away to a great wedding dj who even played some games and we did the Seige of Ennis for all the English visitors!

A fantastic occassion and I am so happy for Liz and Steve who are currently enjoying the pure luxury of their honeymoon in Kenya.

Congrats guys, and thanks for an incredible weekend!

After months and months of wedding planning, the big day is finally here!! Liz and Steve will tie the knot in Fossa Church, Killarney today with a reception to follow in the Muckross Park Hotel.

I am so thrilled to be sharing this special day with them and wish them a lifetime of fun, laughter and (knowing this pair) plenty of mischief along the way.

To the bride and groom!!

Missed any of Liz’s journey?  Catch up on her bridal video blogs here >>

With less than 2 weeks to go (eek!!), Liz talks Mass Booklets and readings for the wedding ceremony.

As they are tying the knot in the Catholic Church, Liz and Steve had to undertake the Pre Marriage Course.  Here Liz gives us an insight….

Tom Murphys Suit Hire in Cork city is the location for this weeks video blog from our blogging bride!  Liz talks us through her experience getting her groomswear for the wedding….

Been putting off this blog post for a week or so coz I really wanted to do it justice!!  The weekend before last, our blogging bride Liz Killeen had her Hen Party.  And boy, what a weekend it was!! THe whole thing was organised by her best friends and bridesmaids Alison and Claire and they kept the whole thing a secret from Liz, and even managed to keep alot of the hens in the dark too!

So…what did we do that made the weekend so great?!

Firstly, we all met in the Headfort Arms Hotel in Kells, Co. Meath.  Random spot eh, for a bunch of women travelling from Kerry, Cork and Dublin.  Well, they definitely didn’t disappoint.  The Headfort is a very unassuming hotel on the main street in Kells, and what it lacks in impact from the outside it more than makes up for it with the wow factor once you step through the door.  The staff couldn’t do enough for us and made us feel so special and welcome.  A far cry from when many establishments were turning down Hens and Stags.  The team in the Headfort were top class.

On the Friday night, we all checked in and had a drink in the bar before going up to Liz’s large suite-style bedroom ( the plaque on the door read “Hens Nest”!)  The girls had brought along the playstation and Liz’s favourite, Singstar Superstar.  The girl is a karaoke queen!  We got the mics out and after half an hour or so of warming up the vocal chords came a knock on the door.  Oh shite we thought to ourselves – the first complaint of the weekend!  But no, it was one of the managers Edel delivering pizza and cosmos to the room!  Sipping from our martini glasses we felt very Sex-in-the-city I have to say!

No surprise after the potent cocktails getting up on Saturday morning was not pleasant for most of us, but after a full Irish breakfast we managed to get our act together in time for the bus at 12.  Decked out in tracksuits and hoodies we landed at  Causey Farm to do their farmers wife course!  We did some Irish Dancing in a barn and learned the Seige of Ennis , we milked a cow and petted lambs.  We each baked a loaf of brown bread and then went for a ride in a tractor trailer.  We hiked in the bog (and one of us even fell in a bog hole!)  What an absolute scream of a day, one of the funnest things to do for a bunch of women to relax and get to know one another.  By the end of it all we had walked off our hangovers and had laughed so much we had pains in our sides.

Back to the hotel and we were whisked into the bar and offered a glass of wine each and they brought out platters of paninis for us to share.  We ate and drank our way through the weekend, in the Headfort you couldn’t get hungry!  Afterwards, exhausted but happy we chilled out in our rooms for awhile (they were really quaint and had great character – I think we were in the old part of the hotel, so there was a lovely feel to the rooms which were all different).

And then on to the evenings entertainment.  Well, we provided most of it ourselves dressing up in Glam Rock 80′s Madonna style and what can I say…we looked like utter lunatics! It didn’t help the fact that the hotel was hosting a hunt ball that evening so all the other residents and guests were in black tie!  Thankfully the hotel gave us a private dining room and decorated it with pink balloons, fresh flowers on the table and a special Hen Party Menu with full 3 course meal options.

After the delicious meal and some fun with photos etc we headed to Navan to The Palace late bar/nightclub to dance the night away…. with 1 male addition to the party!! ;)

All in all a fantastic weekend and incredble value at €199 per person for all accomodation, food, the activity and everything.  I would highly recommend the Headfort Arms and Causey Farm for any hen party looking for something that bit different and for everyone that looks for great service at a good value price!

You don’t have to take my word for how much fun it was….I put together this short vid to share with ye all!

Last month Liz headed down to Citywest to check out one of Ireland’s biggest wedding fairs, The Wedding Journal Show.  Hear her thoughts on the fair and see some footage from the day…

Naturally, Liz won’t give us a sneak peek of her wedding dress before the big day as she wants it to be a surprise for Steve (and all of the guests!) but this week Liz was uber excited showing off her wedding shoes!!

Check out what she went for in the footwear department:

Liz talks us through her inspiration for her wedding invites and her own attempts to DIY, as well as the great deal she ended up getting online.

Check out a list of wedding invitation specialists here.  Any other advice for brides DIYing invites or recommendations of your own – let us know in the comments!

We catch up with Liz after a long hiatus during the summer and she opens up to us about the realities of wedding planning and the stresses involved. She divulges all of the updated wedding plans!

Check out availability for the Muckross Park Hotel, Killarney’s 5 star wedding venue here >>