The Bride is Always Late: Irish Wedding Blog from WeddingDates.ie » Video

Friday Fun: Very unusual Save the Date!

Ciara Crossan — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:49:53 +0000

We all know YouTube is taking over the world….so why not do your wedding invitations or save the dates YT-stylee?! Loving this stop motion effort which I came across today…check it out and lemme know what you think in the comments…

Like this? You might also like:

Brides Video Blog: Episode 14 – The Shoes!!

Ciara Crossan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 11:11:28 +0000

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:

Like this? You might also like:

Brides Video Blog: Episode 12 – Scrapping the plans!

Ciara Crossan — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:05:58 +0000

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 >>

Like this? You might also like:

Wedding Fitness: 3 Months Before The Big Day

Tommy Parker — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 17:00:21 +0000

Right Brides and Grooms, 1 month completed. I hope that the past 4 weeks have eased you gently enough into the programme and routine.

Now we are getting steadily closer to the Big Day, 3 months exactly.

Photo Credit: Candace Meyer

Again the programme focuses on:-

Core
Strength
Cardio

This time you will find slightly more difficult and challenging exercises, with more repetitions and sets you do. This will be explained in the programme layout shortly.

Again the programme is divided into 3 sessions a week. I gave you the option of completing the exercises Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If this suits you then great! But as long as you can squeeze 3 sessions in a week that is the most important thing!

The Brides

Monday (Lower body)

Warm Up 5mins Jog/Treadmill/Bike/x trainer
Step Ups 2 x10 each leg
Lunge with twist 2 x 6 each leg
Spidermans 1 x 5 each leg
10-15 minute jog
Warm down/Stretch

Wednesday (Core)

Same Warm up as Monday
15 minute run
Alternate leg/arm extension 2 x 6 each side
Leg extension on back legs at 90 degrees 2 x 6 each leg
Sit Ups 2 x 8
Warm down Stretch

Friday (Upper Body)

Same Warm Up
Single Arm row 2 x 8 each arm
Bicep Curl and Press 2 x 6
20 Minute run
Warm Down and stretch

The Groom

Monday (Lower Body)

10 minute warm up Bike/Treadmill/Rowing Machine
Deadlift 3 x 5
Leg extension machine 3 x 5
Lunges 3 x 5 each leg
15 minute run

Wednesday (Core)

Same warm up
Bike Level 6 20 minutes
Russian Twists 3 x 10
Bicycles 3 x 10
Crunches 3 x 10
Warm Down and stretch

Friday (Upper Body)

Same warm up
Bench Press 3 x 6
Assisted Chin ups 3 x 5
Bicep curl 3 x 6
20 minute run
Warm down and stretch

Example Diet

Breakfast…Bowl of fruit/Bacon sandwich/water and juice
Lunch…Pasta,chicken with tomatoe sauce/powerade/banana+apple
Dinner…Irish stew with rice/green tea
Snacks…Fruit/a sandwich/energy drinks and water

** Tommy’s Tip Of The Day **

It is crucial that once exercising your body is hydrated! You should be consuming at least a Litre of water per day. This includes winter time too. You might not feel like a bottle of water when it is cold, but you are as likely to get de-hydrated on a cold day as you are on a warm day.
So why not try the 1.5 Litre Challenge?? Drink 1.5 Litres of water per day for 14 days and i gIarantee you will be feeling more refreshed!!

Like this? You might also like:

Wedding Fitness: 4 months before the big day

Tommy Parker — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:44:30 +0000

The following fitness and conditioning programme has been specifically designed for the Bride and Groom in the lead up to their wedding.

I have decided to start it 4 months before the Wedding Day to give the brides and grooms a healthy portion of time to see the benefits of structured exercise. Within the 4 months the programme will be different every week as to avoid boredom and maintain motivation and drive. It will also become more challenging as the Big Day approaches.

It is my aim to have both the bride and the groom looking and feeling in tip top shape for what will probably be the most memorable day of their lives!

To achieve the best results from a workout, a gym is the best place to be. However if it is not convenient for you to access a gym the same programme I have designed can easily be completed at home in your comfort zone!

The programme is divided into 3 sections:-

Cardio
Core
Strength (Lower body and Upper body)

The programme is spread over 3 days in a week for both bride and groom.

Month 4 Training 3x a week

The Bride

Monday

Warm up -5mins on a Bike/Treadmill/Rowing machine or Cross Trainer
1 Legged Squat-1×5 each leg
Lunges-1×5 each leg
10 minute jog
Stretch and warm down

Wednesday

Same warm up as monday
20 minute walk /jog…jog 2 mins ,walk 2 mins
Sit ups 1×10
Plank 1×20 seconds
Side Plank 1×20 seconds
Stretch

Friday

Same warm up as last 2 days
Female press ups 1×10
Bicep Curl 1×10 (using 2kg weights)
15 minute jog straight

The Groom

Monday

Warm up 5 minutes on Bike/Rowing Machine/Treadmill/Cross Trainer
Squat 3×8
Lunges 3×4 each leg
15 minute run

Wednesday

Same warm up as monday
Bike 15 minutes
crunches 3×10
plank 2×30 seconds
side plank 2×20 seconds

Friday

Bicep curl 3×8
Shoulder press 3×8
15 minute run

This is then repeated 3 times a week for the next 4 weeks.

It is totally individual but as the 2nd 3rd and 4th week of the programme for 4 months comes, it is advised to increase your weight on exercises and add 10, 15 and 20 minutes to your time running on a bike or on a cross trainer. This will benefit you the most!

It is crucial that you enjoy putting a bit of hard work in and eat the correct stuff in conjunction with the training programme.

Example Diet for a day

Breakfast - Bowl of sugar free muesli/scrambled egg on toast/Juice/Fruit
Lunch - Tuna roll with 2 yoghurts/energy bar/Juice,water or tea
Dinner - Chicken Stir Fry with lots of veg/green tea/fruit
Snacks - Throughout the day..Nuts/Energy bars/Fruit
Last resort chocolates and crisps!!!

**Tommy’s Tip of the Day**

Everybody loves a nice glass of wine or 2 especially on the weekends!! If you can cut down on the amount of alcoholic units consumed during the week and even the weekend this will dramatically change your lifestyle for good!

Like this? You might also like:

Tying a Cravat: essential advice for the Groom

Ciara Crossan — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:09:20 +0000

Our good friends over a Tom Murphy Menswear were the ones who kindly donated the lads suits for the wife carrying competition. They have a great blog themselves with loads of great advice and tips for Grooms out there – this week I spotted a really handy video, How To Tie A Cravat. I know that this is quite intimidating for lots of guys out there (as it was for our Ruaidhri!)

You can check out all our suit hire suppliers on our supplier directory.

Like this? You might also like:

WeddingDates team in Wife Carrying World Championships!

Ciara Crossan — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:05:38 +0000

The epic journey over – 7 countries in 7 days, we finally reached Finland and managed to pick Ruaidhri up a wife on a night out in Helsinki!!

You have no idea how happy and excited all 4 of us were when we arrived in Sonkajarvi in Finland after travelling across Europe to get there! Of course the local Finnish were super welcoming as always, special thanks to Anna Huttunen and Laura and Outi our “minders”.

We competed in every race we could, the Sprint on the Friday evening and then the Team Event/Relay on the Saturday morning and were delighted we came in 3rd place! In the main event, James and I defended our title from last year, taking home “Most Entertaining Couple” again. Ruaidhri and his Finnish “wife” Annuka did great aswell and we all had a blast.

The video will tell more of the hilarity than I ever could here, so watch on….

Like this? You might also like:

Day 7: Crossing Sweden

Ciara Crossan — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:34:58 +0000

Ruaidhri tore up the highway getting us through Sweden in record time to catch our 6am ferry to Finland. Our body clocks are so messed up this stage, we don’t know if its night or day, breakfast time or dinner!!

A highlight of this journey was crossing the super bridge from Denmark to Malmo in Sweden. At €78 to cross it in the campervan, it would want to have been good!

The ferry was also gorgeous and the memory of crossing the Baltic sea will stay with all of us for ever.

Like this? You might also like:

Day 6: Copenhagen Chaos!

Ciara Crossan — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:57:16 +0000

We had an absolute ball in Copenhagen, what an incredible city! James loved the architecture and Ruaidhri tried his hand at finding a wife. We ran amok on the city streets decked out in our wedding dress finery!!

Like this? You might also like:

The Hamburg Challenge

Ciara Crossan — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:14:14 +0000

Landed in Hamburg late after stopping to catch the World Cup match, and luckily found a campsite in the city centre. It was right next to a McDonalds So, Ruaidhri decided to introduce the first “food challenge” into the trip.

10 Hamburgers each. The Hamburg Challenge!

Like this? You might also like: