WeddingDates.ie

This week, our Bride-to-Be Liz talks about the Colour Scheme for the wedding, setting the date and discussing the ceremony type with the priest.

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!!

For couples out there looking at the different choices of wedding cars heres a couple of tips to consider when making your decision:

1. Depending on the weather it can be handy if the car comes with umbrellas supplied as standard.

2. Will the dress fit?  It might sound crazy but many classic wedding cars have quite small doors!

3. Will there be drinks supplied?  Everyone needs a bit of dutch courage now and again.  Its a big day after all!

Photo Credit: Baby Skinz (CC)

Some friends of mine from Belgium were given their ‘wedding car’ as a gift.  A VW Van that they could drive around Europe on their honeymoon!  Now thats wedding gift I could go for!

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.

Not just for the rich and famous, now you too can arrive at your wedding in an uber-luxurious Bentley Car.  Munster Bentleys have the only car of its kind in Ireland (Continental Flying Spur) and the good news is, they rent them for weddings!! We were lucky enough to have this car at our launch party last February and it has a real wow-factor with all the guests, many of whom got a spin in it!

Couples can rent the car for their wedding day transportation anywhere in Munster, and Hotels can sign up for a package deal for their wedding couples.  An altogether fabulous way to arrive at your big day!  This new exclusive chauffeur service in a new Bentley Continental Flying Spur, is one of the only of its kind in the country so you can pretty much be guaranteed that it will be “different” to the traditional Wedding Car.

Check out their website: http://www.munsterbentleyhire.com or contact Loretto Kiernan on  086-1738238 for a quote.

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!!”

So lovebirds…Valentines Day is almost upon us and undoubtably you will be pondering on what to give your loved on on this the “most romantic day of the year”.  According to Wikipedia the U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas.  The association also estimates that, men spend on average twice as much money as women.  I know there are plenty of men out there that read this blog too so hopefully I can provide some inspired ideas for loverly gifts for her!!  Get yer wallets out gents!

Book Lovers:
Show her your romantic nature with the gift of Romance evocative photos by Chris Craymer.  £31.50 from Waterstones.com

Say it with Flowers:

Tried and tested a bouquet of flowers will rarely be greeted with anything but glee by the lady in your life.  Flowers.ie have a great selection of Red Roses.  I particularly like the “6 Stolen Kisses” and at €35 is a reasonable price for a gorgeous gift.

Luxury Lingerie:
However gorgeous, lingerie will be wasted if its the wrong size - so check her bra and get it right fellas!  Red is the colour requested by 95% of men, followed by pink or burgandy according to top retailer, which advises men to go for “pretty feminine and sexy” rather than practical!  Get down to the lingerie dept. of your nearest department store and don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice from the sales people, you won’t be the first man to shop for undies for your partner so get over your blushes and go for it!

Scent for a Woman:
“Rose The One” the latest from Dolce and Gabbana is rosy, flirty and feminine.  Available from all good department stores and will set you back about €45.

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!