2015 brides!

Faith · 21-03-2014 4:20pm #1

Apologies if there's a thread on this already - I haven't spotted one.

This is just a general chat thread for those of us getting married in 2015

.

I'm engaged about 6 weeks now and I never imagined how tiring all the planning would be! We viewed about 6 different venues before narrowing it down to 2. We've only just confirmed our venue this week. We're currently looking at ceremony venues, celebrants, bands and photographers. I feel like I need a break from it all already! I'm loving it but I do nothing but think about the wedding!

How are the rest of you getting on?

Milly33 · 21-03-2014 4:45pm

Its like you read my mind!! Must be faith haha.. Congrats to ye on the engagement and for finding a venue. I really did not think it would be so hard to get a great spot.

Sick of looking at places too, think we have been to about 6 and had more on the backlist. We picked a date and the venue we both love and all was great until the next day when the wine wore off and we were back to thinking are we mad, is it too much. Was again going to book it today but then two other venues came into play Aherlow House and Coolbawn Quay (after reading tripadvisor though I am put off these) so back to square one.

All I think about is wedding, save the dates, more wedding, when can I get started making things.. Oh yes a holiday indeed would be nice

AMGC · 21-03-2014 4:45pm

I'm also getting married in 2015, cannot wait!! I'm engaged 10months now so I'm quite a bit further along, we have venue, church, priest, band, dj, photographer, church musician, car, hair and make up, florist and dress all sorted! I'm super excited and absolutely love planning it all, it is a bit consuming though I spend a lot of my time planning, thinking or talking about it, it's quite addictive really!!

Milly33 · 21-03-2014 4:45pm

Addictive that's the word for it

Smiley Lassie! · 21-03-2014 4:53pm

I'm also 2015! Can't wait for it now! Engaged 6 months so also have a lot done, have venue, church, priest, band, dj, car, photographer, videographer and church music picked (I think) but just have to book it! Hoping to have hair and makeup booked in the next month or so! Then I'm done till the dress shopping starts! Haven't picked a colour for bridesmaids yet so can't really sort flowers or any of that yet... plenty of time anyway!

Faith · 21-03-2014 5:02pm

It's definitely addictive! Before we got engaged, I had a clear idea of how our wedding would be, and now that we're actually planning, it's totally different!

Milly33 wrote: »

Sick of looking at places too, think we have been to about 6 and had more on the backlist. We picked a date and the venue we both love and all was great until the next day when the wine wore off and we were back to thinking are we mad, is it too much. Was again going to book it today but then two other venues came into play Aherlow House and Coolbawn Quay (after reading tripadvisor though I am put off these) so back to square one.

We're spending more than I'd ideally like on a venue, but then we're really lucky because both sets of parents are helping us out. It still makes me go :eek: when I think of the final cost though! We found it exhausting looking at venues, and we were constantly doubting ourselves, so we just said 'Enough!' and sat down, drew up a pros and cons list of our finalists and just picked one. It's not exactly what I'd wanted, but I know it'll be great.

xzanti · 21-03-2014 7:40pm

Congrats Ladies

I'm a 2015 Bride too... infact this day next year is my big day!!! Just throwing that in there..

Been engaged since early October and so far I've changed my mind on the date once, changed my mind on the venue 3 times.. finally have a deposit down on a venue, church and Priest booked.. church flowers booked, dress picked and deposit paid on that and that's it really.. still have so much to do.

I have my Bridesmaids dresses picked, just need to get the girls' measurements and then I can order them.

I have a budget planner all done out in excel with all my potential vendors and their prices on it etc, so I'm organised in that respect, but I just need to get booking!!!!

And yes, it is addictive, once I start browsing cakes, flowers, colour themes etc, I get lost!! it's endless.. but so much fun

Milly33 · 21-03-2014 11:00pm

Jes well done to ye for having it al sorted already.. Im thinking will we go see Aherlow House or will we just leave it and go with the one we have in mind for it..

I can imagine once the venue is booked ill be like bing bing lets get to the next thing haha..

Faith · 22-03-2014 1:04am

Where do you have in mind, Milly?

tread_softly · 22-03-2014 1:31am

Haha, well I definitely feel like a slowpoke reading this thread.

Myself and the fella are engaged just over 3 years and only now getting our heads out of our arses and sorting the wedding

We're aiming for April next year.

We're venue hunting this week, we've seen 3 so far and have one more to view on Sunday but think we've made up our mind already!

Nearly have our celebrant sorted then onto the rest.

I'm a bit freaked with how laid back I am, I feel really relaxed about everything! I don't feel normal

I've a friend who has been engaged since last November and has a wedding planner absolutely PACKED with things. She keeps asking me have we picked a band/colour scheme/dress etc. yet and telling us we better hurry up and get going and the two of us are like ah yeah, chill out, it'll all sort itself out!

We're only having a small ceremony and meal with about 25 people, then inviting the majority of guests for the after party so that takes a bit of the stress off.

Once everyone has a memorable and enjoyable day, that's me happy.

I am getting a bit giddy about finding my dress though. In case you guys didn't know, The White Room in Mullingar are having a sale from 4th-6th April. You have to make an appointment for Friday and Saturday but not for Sunday. They have a few lovely dresses on their site, so I'm hoping I'll get lucky!

Yay for 2015 brides!!!

Milly33 · 22-03-2014 12:54pm

Well done to you tread Softly, I suppose maybe the long engagement has you more relaxed. But well done and congrats on picking a date and all that goes.. You day sounds lovely, we would be have tempted to do that aswell with ours pending what we do now..

The place I suppose that we are stuck on is Blackwater Castle oh tis just lovely and has everything. Also like that I think we can decide to go small or big and with this that is possible we can invite however many we like. The other one that came up there aswell was Aherlow house in Tipperary. Must say for anyone looking they seem to have fab prices im wondering where the catch is. We might take a trip tomorrow maybe to see it and then choose..

Dress shopping I would think is a lot of fun. A lot of people say the one they pick is nothing like they would have thought they would like...

Pistachios & cream · 22-03-2014 2:27pm

Hi all I'm a 2015 bride too. Have the venue, church and celebrant sorted so I feel like I have loads done.

I'm not too bothered about having a colour scheme, I think the bridesmaids will be in gold but even if they change the colours will still look pretty.

Anyone planning on doing lots of DIY? I think some of my family think I'm mad but to be honest I'm a little uncomfortable about being the centre of attention all day so I want there to be lots of things on the day that I can enjoy and seeing stuff I've made will make me happy.

@milly33 I've been to 2 weddings ln aherlow, my brothers and a good friend of my OH and the catch with the place is that it is very weather dependent. My brother got married in August on a lovely day and it was gorgeous. Our friends got married on a terrible day, torrential rain! It made a big difference especially as they had the ceremony there as well and they made us enter from the outside entrance and not the one you can access from within the hotel (where we were all taking cover from the rain) it meant we were inside for the drinks reception for the whole time and to be honest the bar isn't the nicest place. What sells aherlow is their setting but we saw none of that.

jlm29 · 22-03-2014 2:30pm

Aherlow is also a bit of a pain to get to- it's one thing if everyone is going for the day, and staying there, but if youre inviting people for the evening, it's a pain for them to be traipsing out there at nine o clock!

Milly33 · 22-03-2014 3:33pm

Thank you so much Hayes!! your like my words of wisdom. We have never been to Aherlow ourselves it was just from the pics I was going by thinking we might pay a visit.. Very interesting now with the rain and the walk, as I went to a wedding and we kind of had to do the same, walk from the hotel to a marquee and it was a pain in the ass between muck, and wet and everything. We are planning for August so perhaps we might be blessed with a good day but still you don't want to take your chances. Suppose that is another thing going for the castle if we have to stay inside it is quirkly as such plenty of space even if you needed a breather from things... We would also be planning to have the ceremony in the same place so want a nice enough room for that.

Planning on doing lots of DIY too as you know, cant wait to start.. Things like the table arrangements and numbers if we need them, signs for the doors, little next day hangover kits, my mum is great we have lots of slate at home that we plan on making some signs from..

Thanks Jim too that would be something to take note of allright if people were coming to the afters,id nearly say if we had it there wed just invite everyone..

Pistachios & cream · 23-03-2014 9:10am

Milly I'm planning on using slate too. Going to make cheeseboards to serve the cake on. BIL is a tiler so he will cut it to size for me.

From what ive seen online blackwater castle is in a different league to aherlow. I looked it up when we were first planning but a marquee would have been our only option and that made it too expensive.

Had great fun yesterday making samples of my pew end flowers. Made lace covered hanging jars for holding flowers. Want something that can be prepared in advance as I'm doing my flowers myself. Have 2 hanging off my kitchen chairs now so I know they won't fall down at least!

Milly33 · 23-03-2014 3:38pm

were going to head down to take a look at Aherlow there see what the criac is.. Tis just their prices are really good and no hidden charges. Can I ask was the food nice there

Pistachios & cream · 23-03-2014 4:02pm

The wedding I was at there didn't do the traditional meal, they had a shared antipasti starter which was nice but there's no cooking in that. Main course was roast chicken, It was fine but not amazing but that's roast chicken for you. Difficult to give a good opinion on their food based on the above.

Milly33 · 23-03-2014 9:34pm

Oh we called down today and mmm I wouldn't be madly impressed Way to much carpet there, and there was a bit of an odour around the place. Staff were loverly very friendly but no it is not a winner

Milly33 · 23-03-2014 10:10pm

Incase anyone is interested the Innishannon Hotel in Cork is having an open day on the 30th of March from 4 on. Lovely hotel and staff there

rainbow kirby · 24-03-2014 1:48am

We've been engaged since late last year but the only piece of planning we've really done is that I've got my dress. We are 90% sure that we'll come back to Ireland for our wedding, so we need to pick a good time to go home and look at venues. We'll be having either a civil or humanist ceremony so we need to get our arses in gear and book that! We need to do two venue-hunting trips - I'm from Dublin and himself is from Limerick so we'll be looking in both areas before we make a final decision.

We looked into some here in London but it's coming up at literally twice the price of getting married back home, plus way too much of this "ending at 11pm" lark we're seeing mentioned elsewhere. Also, with sterling being quite strong against the euro we have more spending power in Ireland too.

Jenniflower87 · 24-03-2014 4:03am

I'm a 2015 bride too

getting married in Feb. have venue, church and dress. Have everything else picked just need to get deposits paid now! Every time I go to pay something the car breaks or car tax or something!!!!

Doing loads of DIY myself! Do invitations, cake, brooch bouquet, signs .... Was thinking bout some of the flowers but then I don't know am i taking on too much!

Is anyone finding it hard to get a priest? We live in Dublin, I'm from here, and oh is from cork and we are getting married in Kinsale. But church told us we need to get a priest and finding it hard

Congrats to you all! Great thread

CorkClaire82 · 24-03-2014 4:34am

We're getting married in April 2015, all we have so far is the church and the venue. We got engaged in June 2013 but decided to leave off planning until January and now I'm away for 7 weeks so the wedding planning is on the back burner

In one way that suits us 'cause I got so stressed looking at venues that I needed the break. I really didn't enjoy that experience at all but we got there in the end.

Before summer we want our photographer and band booked so we can relax again this summer.

Planning on doing some DIY stuff ourselves but we'll see how much I actually get around to doing in the end!!

Contessa Raven · 24-03-2014 12:00pm

I also got engaged about 6 weeks ago. I'm so excited and yet freaked out by all the things to be sorting. We haven't had much of a chance yet to organise anything but we've got our lists made so we'll start ticking them off very, very soon.
So far, we want a small outdoor wedding (35 people!) in summer 2015. We're looking at a place in Kerry but nothing set in stone yet.
SO EXCITING! =D

A2LUE42 · 24-03-2014 12:04pm

Milly33 wrote: »

Thank you so much Hayes!! your like my words of wisdom. We have never been to Aherlow ourselves it was just from the pics I was going by thinking we might pay a visit.. Very interesting now with the rain and the walk, as I went to a wedding and we kind of had to do the same, walk from the hotel to a marquee and it was a pain in the ass between muck, and wet and everything. We are planning for August so perhaps we might be blessed with a good day but still you don't want to take your chances. Suppose that is another thing going for the castle if we have to stay inside it is quirkly as such plenty of space even if you needed a breather from things... We would also be planning to have the ceremony in the same place so want a nice enough room for that.

Planning on doing lots of DIY too as you know, cant wait to start.. Things like the table arrangements and numbers if we need them, signs for the doors, little next day hangover kits, my mum is great we have lots of slate at home that we plan on making some signs from..

Thanks Jim too that would be something to take note of allright if people were coming to the afters,id nearly say if we had it there wed just invite everyone..

Stayed there a few weeks ago and found it to be lovely, but very dated..

xzanti · 24-03-2014 12:13pm

Is anyone else having nightmares about their big day???

I keep dreaming that it's my wedding day and it dawns on me that I have nothing done and I'm ringing around frantically trying to source a dress, hairdresser, makeup (not even a makeup artist.. I have NO makeup in the house) :eek:

Faith · 24-03-2014 12:16pm

xzanti wrote: »

Is anyone else having nightmares about their big day???

I keep dreaming that it's my wedding day and it dawns on me that I have nothing done and I'm ringing around frantically trying to source a dress, hairdresser, makeup (not even a makeup artist.. I have NO makeup in the house) :eek:

I had one of those before we got engaged

. It was the morning of the wedding and I realised I hadn't even bought my dress. It was horrible!

xzanti · 24-03-2014 12:25pm

Thank God it's not just me

Milly33 · 24-03-2014 2:33pm

Wedding Terrors!! Ive been having dreams about how the venue is set up which is very annoying as we are not set on one just yet.God I suppose when it comes down to it on the day you cant do anything about stuff if you forget it so best take a deep breath and forget about it

Yeah Aherlow was very dated, such a shame as it could be very pretty. It was probably to do with the weather but the whole place smelt damp and there was no atmosphere.

Id say trying to find a priest would be hard alright when you aren't in the area, I think you have to get a letter of freedom aswell from your own parish is you are getting married in a different one..Might be something to check out just incase they say it last minute.

Doing the flowers yourself is a lot of work but if you do it the night before and can set up or have someone set them up for you,you would be surprised. A friend of mine getting married soon went to a few classes in a college to get some tips on how to arrange, and she has mad some lovely pieces..

Pistachios & cream · 24-03-2014 5:23pm

Milly33 wrote: »

Yeah Aherlow was very dated, such a shame as it could be very pretty. It was probably to do with the weather but the whole place smelt damp and there was no atmosphere.

There was nearly 8-9 years between the 2 wedding i attended in aherlow and i was surprised at how little had been updated in that time. It's a bit of a warren especially by the toilets near the bar. For the first wedding i was at there it had a shabby/chic feel, probably helped by the fact that it was a beautiful day and we were all on the terrace. When i went back last year i though it was not just a bit shabby!

I know the bride and groom who got married there last year teamed up with other couples and lobbied the hotel to repaint the reception room as apparently it was in a bad state.

mslady · 24-03-2014 6:54pm

Hi Ladies!

I'm a 2015 bride too...engaged since November last year. I have my venue & celebrant booked for April. Just trying to sort out dress appointments at the moment, my head is melted...nobody will answer the phone!

I'd say I'll do a bit of DIY a bit closer to the time - trying to get the big things sorted before I start looking at those small bits, I'd get sucked in!

Anybody else feeling totally overwhelmed by how much there is to do?!!!

rainbow kirby · 25-03-2014 12:12am

mslady wrote: »

Anybody else feeling totally overwhelmed by how much there is to do?!!!

Absolutely, and trying to plan at a distance only makes it worse! :eek:

Jenniflower87 · 25-03-2014 12:19pm

Lol having wedding terrors too! In the dream, saying the girls don't have anything to wear and we have no rings lol! Then waking up in a sweat! The stresses that come with it! And then you wouldn't change it for the world!

snickerpuss · 25-03-2014 12:48pm

Also having wedding nightmares. Usually I'm late and realise I have no dress. They are the worst!

Got engaged last August, getting married April 2015 and have ceremony venue, celebrant, reception venue, photographer, videographer and band sorted. Going to look at bridesmaid dresses tomorrow but only cos I happened to see nice ones on sale!

Don't think I want a cake and no idea what to do with flowers or hair and make up. Or my dress.... So lots to do!

Faith · 25-03-2014 5:12pm

Six weeks into the engagement and I'm already mentally crossing my mum off the guestlist... :pac:

Does anyone else find they can't turn off wedding thoughts? I feel like I'm thinking about it nonstop! I'd love to put it all to the back of my mind, but because we're emigrating in August/September, we need to get nearly everything organised now.

Milly33 · 25-03-2014 5:21pm

Is mum not being to helpful then? I defo have wedding brian as I like to call him. Me thinks it has a lot to do with the fact im bored already and this is as such something to plan.. So im concentrating just on this. On that note if anyone needs any help that is not costing anything, please ask I have two days a week free, works isn't exactly mind boggling stuff so I am extremely bored with things lately, if I can be of use to anyone let me know

bubbles1987 · 28-03-2014 10:35pm

Hey 2015 brides,

Got engaged in December and getting married on the 12th Sept 15. So far I have the church and hotel booked, im super excited as now that I have my date, I can book everything. A really good band is the next thing on the list I would like to book.... but looking up bands are stressing me already?? Can anyone recommend a really good lively band/dj for the night.
Thanks xx

AMGC · 29-03-2014 3:31pm

bubbles1987 wrote: »

Hey 2015 brides,

Got engaged in December and getting married on the 12th Sept 15. So far I have the church and hotel booked, im super excited as now that I have my date, I can book everything. A really good band is the next thing on the list I would like to book.... but looking up bands are stressing me already?? Can anyone recommend a really good lively band/dj for the night.
Thanks xx

We have booked the Ratzingers they are exactly what we were looking for and are brilliant live, they really get the crowd going, but all depends what you're looking for!?

Starrgrrl · 29-03-2014 11:17pm

I'm a 2015 bride too!! June 25th 2015. And I'm soooooooo excited. It seems like ages away though. We've been engaged since December and have venue, humanist celebrant, band, drinks reception and ceromony music and photographer sorted. There's not much else apart from the 'making yourself look pretty' stuff is there really? Considering doing the flowers myself and plan to do loads if DIY, mostly to make the wedding my own and to keep me occupied between now and then. It's really hard to do anything 'different' while making sure everyone is happy enough isn't it?

xzanti · 02-04-2014 1:20pm

I just bought my Bridesmaids dresses.. chuffed to bits with myself..

I had planned on buying them from China because I couldn't find anything that I liked here... everything I saw seemed to have sequins or some detailing that I didn't like.. but today I spotted my ideal dresses in Pamela Scott..

So that's that done.. I'm sure I will need to have at least one of them taken up a little bit as they are floor length but I don't mind that.. plenty of time

Yay!!!!

bubbles1987 · 02-04-2014 1:53pm

AMGC wrote: »

We have booked the Ratzingers they are exactly what we were looking for and are brilliant live, they really get the crowd going, but all depends what you're looking for!?

Thanks for that, im after booking the Elastic band, there based in Galway,there really good and also I heard alot of great reviews about them. delighted now because its another thing of the list. This wedding planning is great fun. Cant wait to go shopping!!

mslady · 02-04-2014 3:42pm

AMGC wrote: »

We have booked the Ratzingers they are exactly what we were looking for and are brilliant live, they really get the crowd going, but all depends what you're looking for!?

Would you mind me asking how much they quoted you? I'm SO lost when it comes to booking a band!!

rainbow kirby · 02-04-2014 3:43pm

bubbles1987 wrote: »

This wedding planning is great fun

You're on your own with that one :pac:

Still trying to sort out a weekend to go back to Ireland to look at venues. Just never seems to be a good time...

Faith · 02-04-2014 4:22pm

We looked at the Ratzingers but they're not available on our date

.

We've booked the venue and the 'church', now we just have to confirm our celebrant and that's the hardest bit out of the way. We've photographers picked, but no deposit paid, and we haven't been able to get to any band showcases yet.

AMGC · 02-04-2014 7:58pm

mslady wrote: »

Would you mind me asking how much they quoted you? I'm SO lost when it comes to booking a band!!

Well we went for the 6 piece band and dj as well as a jazz duo for the drinks reception nd it is €2800 but there are a few options around how many ppl/instruments ya want etc most band now generally quote for band and dj as a package, wen we were pricing bands they wer ranging between €1500-3750 so ya could more or less pay anything ya want jus depends what you're looking for!

mslady · 03-04-2014 11:50am

Thanks a million AMGC - now all I have to do is figure out what I'm looking for!

clumsyklutz · 03-04-2014 2:29pm

Getting married June 25th 2015

. Have venue, which is civil ceremony so we won't be assigned our celebrant until May, DJ, cake, photographer, so I'm feeling quite on top of everything! I know what style dress I want, but it's just affording it, that's gonna be fun :P

Milly33 · 03-04-2014 2:38pm

Phew that is a lot done!! congrats again to all the newly engaged.

I was pondering with the civil servant. we are the same and I thought gave us an appointment very fast, reading through the details then if said to pick your civil servant but sure you don't know anything about then I just thought they would assign you one.. Which I take is the case! I hope they are all nice..

Went in to see a few dresses in Holland recently just to look not try god they are huge, so much material they must weigh a ton

AMGC · 03-04-2014 4:13pm

Faith wrote: »

We looked at the Ratzingers but they're not available on our date .

We've booked the venue and the 'church', now we just have to confirm our celebrant and that's the hardest bit out of the way. We've photographers picked, but no deposit paid, and we haven't been able to get to any band showcases yet.

What date are you faith maybe we're the same!?

What venue did ya end up going with? We found booking the band quite hard there's so many out there!!!

tread_softly · 06-04-2014 4:23pm

Got my dress yesterday

It was surreal trying them on and so much fun. It was a good thing I had an idea of what I wanted before I went as there are so many styles to choose from.

I knew I wanted something tea length but I tried on a few floor lengths for fun. Picked out this one with a big slit up the front, obviously made for someone with super long legs because the slit came up to my fanny :pac:
Had a great laugh over that one with the gang I brought with me!

The last one I tried was the one I picked, it's so funny, you really know straight away when it's 'The One'. The reaction from my family sealed the deal.
Have to go on the hunt for gorgeous shoes and a nice headpiece now

Milly33 · 06-04-2014 8:16pm

Wow!! Well done to you... Do you have to get anything done with the dress or does it fit perfectly.. I called into one shop in Holland recently and was really taken back by all different styles.. Just looking no trying but cant wait..

haha maybe that dress would be could for the honeymoon!! I can imagine..Do they shops mind you bringing in a few people with you then?

tread_softly · 06-04-2014 9:46pm

I went to a sample sale in The White Room but the dress I picked didn't fit me so I ordered one in my size!

I went to 2 shops and brought 4 people with me, both places didn't have a problem with that, plenty of room for everybody!

I was a bit scared that I found the right one so quickly I was worried that I should have gone to other places. But my mum said that if you're in love with a dress then go for it! You'll just make your mind boggle by going to loads of places.

Have you started looking for your dress yet?

2015 brides!

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