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

Winners!! Social Media Awards 2011

Ciara Crossan — Fri, 27 May 2011 12:26:45 +0000

Last night was the inaugural Social Media Awards in the Mansion House in Dublin. Organised by Damien Mulley, blogging guru in a similar style to the Irish Web Awards and the Irish Blog Awards, and hosted by the inimitable Rick O’Shea (him from the radio!)

We were finalists in 3 categories:

Best Video/Video Campaign for our rugby vid and our bridal blog
Best Online PR Campaign for the Wife Carrying Tour
Best use of Social Media for a Sponsorship Campaign for the Wife Carrying Tour

I donned the guna and hightailed it to Dublin yesterday evening for what was to be an eventful night!!! I was SO thrilled when Rick called out the winner for Best Online PR – WeddingDates!!

I was so happy I nearly knocked Rick O’Shea over in the process of collecting my award! You can see the spectacle and hear my acceptance speech below:

What I WOULD have said if I was a bit more composed on stage is that the whole Wife Carrying Tour couldn’t have happened without the generous support from our Sponsors, Carlton Hotel Group, Celtic Campervans, Cork-Swansea Ferries, RedFly, MaxRoam, HairyBaby and Tom Murphy Menswear. And of course to my IT/Video genius Paul who works with me day in day out in WeddingDates. And lastly, to my 2 “wife carriers” James Kennedy and Ruaidhri Martin – travelling across Europe with 3 lads was no mean feat for me (and I’m sure them too!) but it’s something that we will remember as the trip of a lifetime for years to come.

Thanks to everyone who has supported WeddingDates over the years and offered encouragement and advice. And thank you to everyone who has been sending lovely messages on Facebook and Twitter all last night and today. I couldn’t be happier!!

Well done to all the Social Media Awards Finalists and Sponsors, it is a great event to be associated with and I look forward to many more years of these awards to come!

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Kinsale Sevens Rugby Spoof

Ciara Crossan — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:57:49 +0000

This year we have teamed up with The Star pub in Cork and sponsored our very own team for the Kinsale Sevens.

Introducing: The WeddingDates Warriors! Check out this fun promo video we did over the last few weekends. We hope you guys have as much fun watching it as we did filming it!

Feel free to share it on Facebook or if you prefer – tweet it!

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Irish Web Awards: Nominated in 4 categories!

Ciara Crossan — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:35:43 +0000

Was SO thrilled this afternoon to see that WeddingDates.ie had made the shortlist for the Irish Web Awards 2010.

We got on the nominations list a few weeks back but didn’t make too much of a flurry about it as anyone can nominate themselves and the list is super-long, but now that we have made it through first round an into judging proper I am super chuffed and already looking forward to the night itself in the Mansion House in Dublin on October 16th.

We are nommed in the following categories:

Most Beautiful Website in Ireland – Sponsored by RedFly Marketing
Online Best SME/Small Business Website – sponsored by Pivotal Communications
Best Social Media Campaign – Sponsored by Cybercom
Best (Guerilla) Social Media Campaign – Sponsored by ebow

Many thanks to all the sponsors and best of luck to everyone nominated. See y’all for a few celebratory drinks on the 16th!

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Get yer Gunas on! Join Ireland’s Biggest Bridal Fun Run!

Ciara Crossan — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:18:13 +0000

What are you doing on Saturday 11th September? How about joining me to don a wedding dress all in the name of fun and charidee?! C’mon ladies, here is your chance to be part of Ireland’s only wedding themed CHARITY RUN. Hundreds of people will dress as brides and dedicate themselves to the cause not the man, in an effort to raise vital funds for mental health. The Runaway Brides will complete a 2km dash in full bridal attire from an altar to a getaway car and will then go on to the funkiest wedding party of the year!

If you like dressing up, having fun and doing something for others – this is the charity event for you! The Runaway Bride is an all inclusive event whether you are single, married, separated or divorced. This is a great excuse to wear your dress again or trial run a dress or how about creating your own bridal costume! This is also a perfect opportunity to have the girl’s night out, family get together or the class re-union you have all been promising yourselves.

After you have crossed the finish line, you will continue on to a hilarious fun filled bridal themed party – the only thing missing will be the groom! This will be the Bridal Party of the Year, including all essential wedding reception trappings, wedding band, DJ and much much more.

I am throwing down the gauntlet to my lovely readers out there to take on this challenge and sign up to become a Runaway Bride. By getting involved you are helping those suffering from mental illness. For more info log on to www.runawaybride.ie or Download the information pack here >>

If you are out of the country, getting married yourself that day or have any other valid reason not to partake, then you can still get involved by Sponsoring ME! Donate NOW >>

St. Patrick’s University Hospital is Ireland’s largest, independent not for profit mental health service provider. All monies raised will be used to assist in funding Mental Health Matters, the 5-year strategy of the Hospital. Through this strategy, St. Patrick’s University Hospital is committed to developing a wide range of new services and treatments.
Around 1 in 5 teenagers in Ireland will suffer some form of mental illness. Approximately 5% require clinical intervention, and a number of these will need inpatient services. These services are severely lacking at present. The money raised through fundraising initiatives like the Runaway Bride will help the Hospital continue in their efforts to meet the needs of people in Ireland suffering with Mental Illness.

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Wife Carrying A-Go-Go!

Ciara Crossan — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:17:31 +0000

People, we have lift off!! As you know, were have been trying to raise sponsorship to help take us to the Wife Carrying World Championships in Finland next week. Well, the good news is, we have managed to secure sponsorship and are 100% definitely going!!

The Carlton Hotel Group, have come on board as our main sponsor and we couldn’t be more delighted!! As a company who deals with wedding venues up and down the country, I am in a great position to know the marketing people, and as a hotel group, the Carlton are one of the most active with their social media, I figured they would jump on something as quirky as this!

Being "carried" by George Hook to celebrate the Carlton Hotels Sponsorship

To celebrate their sponsorship of the WeddingDates Wife Carriers, they are running a brilliant offer at the moment: if you book into any of the 10 Carlton Hotels around the country, your wife/girlfriend/partner goes free if carried over the threshold of the hotel!

That’s not all, anyone that books a wedding during the championship in any of the Carlton hotels will also receive a complimentary 7 night stay across Carlton Hotels! Brilliant! Check out http://www.carlton.ie/wifecarrying for more details.

I have also managed to snag a top of the range Campervan for the 2 week trip across Europe and back, and this has been generously sponsored by Celtic Campervans, the top campervan rental company in Ireland. Steven, is a great guy to deal with and is so supportive of our epic plans to drive all the way to Finland!

Check out the camper we will be hitting the road in:

We are set to head off on the Fastnet Line Cork -Swansea ferry next Thursday 24th June. The captain of the ferry is even going to marry us in a “mock wedding” ceremony on board the ship!!

Here’s our route: 7 countries, 7 days – mammoth journey!! Hope we don’t kill each other along the way!

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Ireland to compete in the World Cup?!

Ciara Crossan — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 09:38:49 +0000

YES!! It’s true! Ireland will be competing in the World Cup this summer! Well, not exactly. The World Cup in South Africa won’t be seeing any Irish team, but the World Wife Carrying Championships in Finland sure will!!

We participated last year and won 3rd place in the relay race and “Most Entertaining Couple” in the main event, so naturally we are going back again this year to defend our titles!!

We are looking for sponsors to make this voyage to Finland to represent our country in the prestigious sport of “Wife Carrying”!

If you are interested in sponsoring the Irish Wife Carrying Team, then please drop me an email ciara[at]weddingdates[dot]ie or via our Facebook page.

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We Love Rugby!

Ciara Crossan — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:43:01 +0000

Here at WeddingDates.ie HQ, we are chuffed right down to the bottom of our pink cotton socks at the prospect of the upcoming weekend in Kinsale, for the annual Rugby 7′s competition! Not only for the great atmosphere, infamous Heineken tent and plethora of hot rugby males around the place, but this year….we are actually sponsoring our very own team!!

Made up of Irish, English, New Zealanders and even a South African – this is a team to be reckoned with! Today, we took to the sunshine and did a little photo shoot to whet your appetites for what you can expect if you are down in the Kinsale area this May Bank Holiday weekend…make sure you come up and say hello…these guys are NOT shy!

Photo Credit: Peter Sweeney

Kinsale is a top wedding destination in Cork, so if you are looking for inspiration on Kinsale Wedding Venues check out our West Cork waterside Wedding Venues on weddingdates.ie!

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Xposé Live Dublin 2010: The Rundown

Ciara Crossan — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:51:16 +0000

So, it has been a few weeks since Liz and i hit up Xposé Live apologies for not posting sooner. One of the highlights of the night was seeing Stacy Solomon perform and even meeting her at the Green Room afterwards! We got the full VIP treatment which was fab and enjoyed a few Tia Marias while we watched the fashion show and then got to check out the exhibitors. The wedding pavillion was of most interest to both Liz and I naturally and Liz got to talk to a wedding dress designer Fiona Todhunter and Hen Party Planner Jenni from Posh Fizz.

Ciara, Stacy Solomon & Liz

For a full rundown of the whole event in the RDS, including highlights from the fashion show and Stacy Solomon’s performance watch the video:

Liked what you saw?! Then check it out in Cork next month, in the SilverSprings Hotel from 14th – 16th May. See http://www.xposelive.ie/for more details.

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Get the Xposé Treatment

Ciara Crossan — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 08:52:37 +0000

If you are a regular viewer of Xposé on TV3, then you will have heard them talking about their show Xposé Live hitting Dublin this week and Cork next month. I will be checking out the Dublin one this weekend on your behalf ladies, and will post pics and hopefully some video next week after the event.

This year, they have added a special Wedding Pavillion to the show, so I will be having a right nosey around that to see what is hot in wedding fashion and accessories for you guys! Aside from all that, there will be a pamper zone, daily fashion shows and a health and fitness section.

Wedding Make Up is something that every bride needs to think seriously about, as it will differ from your day-to-day make up and the best thing to do is to talk to an expert so at Xposé Live you will have the chance to do just that as well as have a personal consultation with designers – this is a great chance to talk about your body shape and what dress would suit you without committing to going into a bridal shop. A non intimidating way to get the info you need right from the very start!

Entry to Xposé Live costs €20 and tickets can be bought online or at the door. It starts this Friday at 3pm in the RDS and runs till Sunday 6pm. Plenty of time to get around and see everything! Stacey Soloman from X Factor Fame will be performing on Friday and Sunday, so if you are a fan best to go on either of those days! who knows, you might even get to rub shoulders with her!

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Enter The Dragons Den

Ciara Crossan — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:27:44 +0000

Well, tonight is the night….Ciara faces into the infamous Dragons from the Den. Gavin Duffy blogged recently “Ciara Crossan makes one of the better Den Presentations, so good she gets a job offer but will she get an investment? All will be revealed Thursday at 10:15pm on RTE1”

I will post my thoughts on the Den experience over the weekend, but for today at least I am sworn to secrecy! I want to thank everyone on Twitter and Facebook for their lovely comments over the last few days in the build up to the show and if you have any feedback, suggestions, or recommendations – please leave a comment below!

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