An Irish Girl's Opinion on Everything
I was just scanning etsy for bird cage veils and there are pages after pages of handmade ones and also you can buy kits with all you need to make your own birdcage veil. There’re only $15 plus another $6 shipping to Ireland! Fab! I think I might order one myself as soon as my credit card bill is reduced a bit! I’ll keep you all informed!
I have lost 8lbs! Its slow but it working and I have discovered that bread is not my friend!
Do I look skinnier?
Not really but My hair is a lot longer!!!! I’ll keep plugging away at it!
I think I might look skinnier in the other photo! Ha Ha Ha
Music for a wedding isn’t always easy to get right and it can be so expensive at the best of times. Usually at an Irish wedding you have a live band and a DJ until the late hours. Not to forget your ceremony music on top of that. Taking all these into consideration you could easily spend a lot of money on music and entertainment.
Thankfully I have some talented friends and future in-laws. My friend Laura has kindly offered to do the church music which is guaranteed to be beautiful. Laura is also married to my future brother in law Mick who are in a wedding band called Garter Lane. They are doing the entertaining at the reception and as far as I know they are organising the DJ also. (Maybe I neglected to tell Laura that, but I’m sure they have a guy!)
Check out Garter Lanes Myspace here!
I have realised over the past few days that it is in fact impossible to get all my bridesmaids in one place, at one time. Lets pray to god I can organise them to come together at the wedding!
On Monday I decided to get the ball rolling with the dress fittings for the girls and I contacted them all with a few different dates to go on. Nothing suited anyone and I was very close to pulling my hair out when my friend Laura advised me that as a bride you just have to be blunt and make a date and tell them to be there. Let them worry about weather they are busy or not.
This is what I did and it seem to be working in my favour. The appointment is booked for Saturday week and they have been told. Grainne, Chris and Carmel are available, while Andrea isn’t sure and I haven’t told Linda as she has only given birth and I want to get her some space. I have a feeling this isn’t going to be a one trip fitting!
Roll on picking out dresses and colours!!! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeee
My maid of honor had a lovely little boy. 8lb 7.5oz. Shes calling him Eddie after her father in law who passed away a few years ago. How sweet!
Oh new babies…. who doesn’t love them!
My maid of honor is finally in labour, she started last night….. its very slow. This is very exciting! Watch this space for up dates and photos! There’s a lovely little baby on the way!!!
Last week I went and did a little window shopping with my mother and we came across the most beautiful Mother of the Bride outfit. The shop assistant insisted that my mother try it on and my mother fell in love straight away. The outfit was a perfect fit but wasn’t in the colour she liked. The assistant in the shop said that she could try get in but Mum decided to go home and have a think about it. Three days later Mum went back for a second look and a second opinion. Her trusted friend’s second opinion was a positive one so Mum gave the go ahead for the shop assistant to look for the dress in the correct size and colour. Much to my mothers dismay the outfit wasn’t to be found in her size and colour……….
I am in fact releaved that my mother did not get the outfit after all. I have yet to pick the theme or colours for my wedding and would prefer that she hold off on buying an outfit untill at least the bridesmaids have dresses.
I have been in discussions with my lovely bridesmaids and we have agreeded on a dress that we all like and a few colours but you never know for sure untill you see everyone in the same outfit. What suits one person may not suit another.
My maid of honor is going into hospital on Monday to have her baby and I’ll have to give her a little time before I drag her off to dress fittings etc! Theres no hurry anyway, the bridal shop said to order in October and they should be fine.
I have a few ideas of what I would like, something bright and fun. Maybe bright pinks and raspberry or reds and ivory or maybe black and hot pink….. too many choices.
If it were up to me I would have loved to have our wedding at home in my parents house but unfortunility due to a flood this time last year its not possible.
So what’s involved in orgainising a marquee wedding that you can’t have in you parents home…..
Think about how much you want to spend. You might be able to save between now and the wedding but don’t forget that you will have to pay deposits on everything and most places want 50% . Some of you might be lucky enough to have parents that want to help out money wise. If you do, maybe its best to have the money conversation sooner rather than later but be gentle and make it clear that any help is appreciated no matter how big or small the number.
With a budget in mind you must find a venue. There are a million country homes and estates dotted around the country or maybe you might prefer to rent a field from a local farmer or better still you might be lucky enough to be able to have the wedding at your parents home. Regardless of where it is going to be all points apply. Don’t forget to try your hand at getting the rental price down.
Find a caterer, marquee company, furniture supplier, bar company and a band. I would spend some time shopping around and testing carters food. Don’t hire someone unless you’ve seen them in action. Carters are glad to whip up some testers for potential clients and bands are happy to let you come along to a gig and check them out. Marquee companies and furniture companies usually have a website to check out their stock. Once you have all these booked things aren’t looking too bad….
In regards to the marquee, don’t forget to talk to the company about the flooring, lighting and dance floor. Also, depending on numbers you might need a generator and extra toilet facilities. Usually the marquee people can get these for you.
You will need to organise centre pieces for the tables and make sure that either the caterer or furniture people are providing table settings and table cloths.
Don’t forget to look after your guests. If your venue is in the countryside maybe hire a taxi or mini bus for the night and have a list of b&b’s around the area for your out of town guests.
Ok so the venue, food and entertainment are organized……….. what’s next?
Ok, so you want to wear a birdcage veil on your wedding day but unfortunately the bridal shops around aren’t up to scratch on current trends and don’t have any or very few in stock. Just not what you want…… so what do you do?
Why not try your hand at making one yourself?
I’m told its easy. You will need Russian Netting which is available in any good fabric shop, should only cost you about €5 a yard, this is used to go over the face so cut it to your liking. So to hold in on you can purchase a wire comb to attach to the back of the netting or maybe some cute wedding pins or why not buy a cute fascinator and attach your netting to that!
Thats all there is to it!
You not only have made something to suit you but imagine the lovely story you can tell on your wedding day of how you made your own veil!
If any of you give it a try please let me know. Why not email me a photo of your work.
According to one of the Martha Stewart emails I got recently Bridal Jackets are going to be hot, hot, hot in 2010.
Personally I love this idea, especially for us ladies getting married in Ireland……. you can’t depend on the weather. You could have a flood in August and sunshine in December. ( Believe me I’ve seen it happen. Hi Liv!!) So in this case bridal jackets are most important.
They are much handier than a shawl as you are actually wearing it, its not just wrapped around you. Also it gives you a different look, you can go from day wear to evening wear in a blink of an eye.
Some dresses come with little jackets or belero but if you can’t find what you like why not get a dress maker to make you one. Go online and find a pattern you like and get something made to suit you.