1.Where did you buy your dress and how long before the wedding?
I bought it 5 months before the wedding. As I got engaged at Easter time and had wedding booked for October, according to the experts I was told I didn’t have lots of time!! I set about making appointments pretty quickly. When I rang to make appointments to try on dresses my mind was put at ease straight away and I was told I did have time –it just depended on what designer I would choose. Some dresses take longer to order in but of all the dresses I tried on, all would have been available in the time frame.
I bought my dress in Amore in Youghal and really loved everything about the shop. The two girls there couldn’t have been more helpful, and nothing was too much trouble. I chose a Mikaella dress. The selection of dresses in the shop was fabulous and I had a great time trying them all on. Amore was the second of 3 shops that I visited, and it was really between two dresses in the end and I was delighted with my decision.
2. Who did your hair and makeup?
I go to Peter Marks in Douglas to have my hair done. I used my regular hair dresser there – Agnes – I didn’t want an up-style as I didn’t want to look too different from my normal look, so I had two trials before the wedding and was delighted with it.
Liz McCarthy did my make up. I only ever wanted one person so was delighted when she was available at such short notice. Maybe Friday 13th might be unlucky for some but for me it was lucky that Liz was free. She came into the house and just totally put everyone at ease and I love her style – Liz did my Mums make up and my sisters make up, who was my bridesmaid, and both were delighted with theirs. I couldn’t have been any happier with Liz, my make-up lasted all day and it came out great in the photos.
3. Where did you get your jewellery & accessories?
When I got engaged I called into Audrey in Azure as I always loved looking at her work before I got engaged. I spoke to Audrey and described what I was looking for. Before my dress fittings, she gave me some pieces to try and with the help of the girls in Amore, we picked the Esme Clip. I chose the Starlight Bracelet and Starlight studs to match. Again, as I was wearing my hair down, I wanted a clip that was simple yet eye-catching and Esme was perfect. I received lots of compliments on the day about it and have since worn it to a friend’s wedding!!
4. Where did you get married and did you look at many venues before deciding on that particular one?
We got married in Dunmore House in Clonakilty. We only looked at one venue! I had been at a wedding in Dunmore House years ago and always loved it. We drove down there in April and I showed it to Seán as he is from Dublin so had never seen it. He loved it also and again when it was available for October we booked it immediately. Annemarie was superb to deal with and we had such a good laugh with her during the planning. Everything went great from start to finish and the meal really was beautiful, exactly what we were told it would be.
5. How many bridesmaids did you have and where did you buy their dresses and accessories?
I only had one bridesmaid. I have one sister and my husband has one brother, so we decided we’d stick to having just one each. My sister saw a dress online from a shop in Dublin called Frock and Fabulous, so we made an appointment, headed up to Dublin, tried it on and bought it! Very simple actually – having one was handy as I just let her choose herself and didn’t have to have different opinions etc if we had more. I think the shop closed-down within weeks of getting it, so we were lucky!
6. What did you find the most challenging aspect of organising your wedding?
I must admit I did very little of the organising!!! If anything, I thought choosing the Band was probably the most challenging part. You want to get a Band that would suit everyone as we had a mixture of ages at the wedding. We went to see a few bands and the Band we chose was the Bentley Boys and they did not disappoint! We were delighted with them! Everyone was up dancing for the night and the dance floor was never empty!
7.Brides always mention how difficult it is to find shoes; where did you get yours?
I always said I would get some sort of silver shoes or sandals that I would wear again. Before I started looking one of my good friends Jackie offered me to try her shoes when I was collecting my dress. She got married 4 years ago and had got lovely silver Jimmy Choo’s in London for her wedding, so I tried them on, they fitted perfectly and matched the dress, so they were my something borrowed! Totally spoiled as there was a bag to match and I used that too!
8.Were there any individual touches that you added and that you particularly loved about your day?
I don’t really go in for all the wedding favours, but we had a friend of my sister do the flowers – Louise McSorley of Old School House Flowers and I think she really knew exactly what we wanted, and she added the personal touch.
Try not to stress too much (if possible) and take as much help as you can get!! At the end of the day it’s one day albeit a most important day but the most important thing is to just relax and enjoy it. We loved our day from start to finish and just wish we could do it over again.
