WeddingDates.ie

We have finally had a little taster of spring over the last few days with blue skies and sunshine (though it is still freezing cold!)  Well, we heard word here in WD HQ about a new workshop happening in West Cork this May called “Face into Summer”  Brides, to be….it’s time to look after Number One!  Why not treat yourself to a fun weekend with friends and learn something new!

Saturday workshop 10am – 5pm:

• Learning how to make beauty products from your Kitchen Cupboard and how to use essential oils
• Making a product yourself to take home & enjoy
• Tips on how to do the perfect Facial and look after your skin

The weekend includes two nights Bed & Breakfast, Saturday workshop, lunch on the Saturday, Bubbles Reception & Four Course Dinner in Druids Restaurant on Saturday night, followed by music in the Kingfisher Bar and costs only €135 per person!! Ideal for a girly break away or even a hen party idea…the hopping town of Clonakilty is nearby, so you can hit the tiles if you want after the workshop!

Sally Miller is a qualified Nurse Aroma Therapist and Massage Therapist. She has many years of experience in skin care and muscular problems. Sally has created her own range of Natural Cosmetics Collection. www.sallymiller.ie

To make a reservation contact The Celtic Ross Hotel a great West Cork Wedding Venue on 023 8848722 or email reservations@celticross.com

We all know most brides and grooms planning their wedding are pretty vocal on what they want and don’t want, good service vs bad.  Well, we are a fledgling start up company so we love to hear from users of our site!  We recently launched our new review tool and we are dying to get a few more reviews up there.  How do you find using weddingdates.ie?  Do you like the blog?  Is there any other things you would like to see featured or things we could be doing better?  C’mon guys…share it all with us, it only takes 2 minutes to write your review of weddingdates.ie!

You can also have a gander at what some of our other couples have said….

Wow, another FANTASTIC Competition for you loved up brides and grooms to be out there!! I’d love to enter half these myself!! Here’s some info I got this week for the competition between Kildare Village and The K Club…

Kildare Village Outlet Shopping has become romantically entwined with The K Club 5* Golf & Spa Resort to seek out the most hopeless romantic and discover how deep is their love for their partner.  Our true lovesick lady or gent will be rewarded with the wedding of their dreams to share with their partner and 100 of their nearest and dearest guests at one of Ireland’s most aspirational wedding venues, The K Club Golf & Spa Resort in Straffan, Co.Kildare.

To win this incredible prize all you need to do is visit www.wedding.kildarevillage.com to enter the ‘How deep is your love?’ online competition and tell us the lengths you would go to show your love for your partner by uploading a picture, a video or simply tell a story. And we don’t want anything in return. Except, perhaps, your undying devotion to Kildare Village for ever and ever…

We want you to show the world what true romance is all about. We’re looking for those gestures - both tiny and grand - that stir our emotions.  If you are the girlfriend who ruined her killer heels watching him pay his beloved sport in a mucky field? Tell us about it. If you sent a teddy bear in a taxi to your girlfriend’s work because she was feeling poorly, we want to know. The tone can be sweet, romantic or dramatic, in text, photo or video format but it has to win the hearts and minds of the public and our judging panel.

You only have till March 14th to compose and upload your entry.  Next comes VOTING WEEK which begins at 9am on Monday 15th March 2010 so you will need to rally all your friends and get as many votes as possible before the closing time on Monday 22nd March 2010.  At the end of the voting week, the ten entries with the most votes will be reviewed by our team of judges who will select their five favourite entries. During Easter Week the five remaining couples will take part in a live final in Kildare Village to decide who will win the luxury wedding.

What are you waiting for? Take the plunge. Log on to www.wedding.kildarevillage.com today.  G’luck!!

Attention happy couples!!! How would you like to win the Ultimate Job in Ireland (And probably the World!)

You might have heard about this during the week on Ray D’arcy and other radio stations, but RunawayBrideandGroom.com and The Irish Times are searching for applicants to apply for what they are calling the Ultimate Job in Ireland.

Would you be able to sample champagne while lying in a hammock slung between two palm trees on a white sandy beach with your lover beside you without spilling a drop?  Well, then you may just have what it takes for the Ultimate Job in Ireland (and probably the World!).

www.runawaybrideandgroom.com and www.TheWeddingPlanner.ie, have teamed up with The Irish Times to look for the ideal candidate for the Ultimate Job in Ireland. The six month position will involve visiting some of the most romantic, exciting and luxurious wedding and honeymoon destinations around the world. The search for the ideal candidate is being run in association with The Irish Times GO travel supplement and the winner will have to write about each destination for publication in GO.

“We are looking for the right person who we can send to destinations such as Zanzibar, Mauritius, Thailand and sample wedding menus, champagne, spa treatments and put some of the most luxurious honeymoon suites to the test!” explains Rosemarie Meleady, managing director of Runaway Bride and Groom.  “The job is so ‘horrendous’ that we are willing to pay the candidate 20 thousand euro for six months of their time. And, as it would be very difficult to test out the rose petal Jacuzzis, hammocks made for two, the outdoor waterfall showers and the infinity pools alone, we will pay for their romantically linked other-half to accompany them on the trip.

“The successful candidate will be required to report back their verdict (on the venues not the lover!) to us. This will involve writing about the destinations for GO and recording webcasts of the venues and destinations so our future wedding and honeymoon couples can really get a feel for the luxury and exotic locations Runaway Bride and Groom have to offer,” she adds.

Do you have what it takes for the Ultimate Job?

Essential requirements:

• Good communication skills
• Be passionate about travelling
• Appreciate good service, fine dining and luxurious surroundings
• Have a friendly personality
• Be able to work on own initiative
• Know how to enjoy life
• Have good organisational skills
• Have a romantically linked other half who also has the above qualifications and is willing to accompany you on your trip in a voluntary capacity.

The successful candidate will be employed to research wedding venues and honeymoon destinations across the world.  To qualify, potential candidates will make a 90 second video marketing Ireland as a wedding destination of choice and to say why they and their romantically linked other half are the best couple for the job. And write 200 words stating why they should be chosen for the job.

To apply go to RunawayBrideandGroom.com/ultimatejob for full details

We reckon, our Bride-to-Be Liz Killeen from our vBlog series would be BRILL at this….if she enters, I’ll be sure to let ye know so you can vote for herself and Steve!!

With the dreaded “recession” jetting off for Hen & Stag parties abroad is becoming rarer and rarer, so more people are looking around for fun and different activities in Irish towns and cities around the country. There are Greyhound Stadiums around the country and they are now actively promoting themselves as a Hen & Stag venue of choice.

They have full catering facilities and varied menus from €25 to €45 per head.

Many of the stadiums have links with local hotels to do package deals, which make things even easier to plan!  Here’s where you can head to:

• Shelbourne Park, Dublin
• Curraheen Park in Cork
• The Kingdom, Tralee, Co. Kerry
• Kilcohan Park, Waterford
• Mullingar Greyhound Stadium, Westmeath
• Dundalk Greyhound Stadium, Louth

More Infomation is available or book directly online on www.igb.ie, or alternatively call the national sales centre on 1890 269 969.

Just thank your lucky stars you aren’t getting married in the 1960’s!!

If you and your betrothed are planning on a movie date to celebrate Valentines toegether, then an obvious choice is Valentine’s Day, hollywoods guaranteed cinema-filler which is opening this weekend.  Complete with an all-star cast and plenty of eye-candy for the girls AND guys (face it, that’s probably the only way you are going to be able to get your guy to go watch this with you!)

Check out the trailer to give you a flavour of what to expect…my fav quote is Jessica Biel at the end: “My closest relationship is with my blackberry…thank God it vibrates!!”

Has everyone seen the new Denny Ad on the TV that features the real-life morning of the wedding scene?  We put out the call for couples to feature on the ad last year and I think the ad turned out really well.

Now, we have more info about a TV opportunity for some couple, COCO Television is developing a new TV series called ‘Dont Tell The Bride‘ for RTE television, based on the BBC show of the same name.  They are looking for couples who want to get married and in return they get €10,000 towards the wedding.  But, there’s a twist! The GROOM has to arrange the wedding on his own, every detail, even down to the dress!

They will be looking to present 4 fantastic couples to RTE in the next 6 weeks, with filming happening over the summer/autumn.  Timescales are very flexible so if you are interested at all, pick up the phone and chat to them about the opportunity!

If you are interested in being on d’telly and getting RTE to foot the bill for some of your wedding expenses, then contact Nicola on 01 4970817, or e mail info@cocotelevision.ie.  Good luck!

I have to hold up my hand and admit I am not a fan of cash in cards for wedding presents.  I know, I know people don’t want ten toasters, and others think the idea of a gift registry/ordering gifts is a bit cheeky and tacky.  But honestly, what is more crude than cash?

There is a new concept knocking around, dubbed the “HoneyPot“, where wedding guests can contribute towards the cost of the honeymoon for the couple.  In this way, they don’t have to go buying gifts, but don’t have the stigma with how much cash to put in the card on the day either.  From the couples point of view, they can pay for the wedding themselves and have the amazing gift of a holiday from their guests.

MyHoneymoon.ie is a unique online wedding gift registry enabling guests to give couples the ‘Gift of Travel’.  Here’s what the company themselves have to say about it:

Honeymoons make ideal gifts and in the present age where many couples already have their furnished house, pots, pans and Waterford Glass, we thought it would be of benefit to an engaged couple to enable invited guests to give the gift of travel online as a direct contribution to their honeymoon. We simply tailor-make the honeymoon, then create a free online honeymoon gift registry which allows them to direct their guests to the site above.

Wedding Guests and friends can make their monetary gift online and couples have full access to all payments. Couples can give as much or as little information on their honeymoon as they wish and all gifts are acknowledged on line.  For example, they can specify which tours and trips they want in their package and guests can buy them specific experiences eg. bungy jumping etc.

The company also offer special gift cards on which couples can write their unique access code and include in their wedding invitations.  From the day the registry is created, guests can purchase gifts. The account tracks all of the gifts and their givers for easy thank-you’s after the dream trip!

I like the concept and I have talked to a few other brides who do too….what do you think?  Comments below please! :)  You can find out more info on www.myhoneymoon.ie