It’s springtime so that means that the wedding fair season is truly underway. Russell is in hibernation, refusing to lift his body away from the sofa and Sky Sports so I am on my own for this part of the bride-to-be ritual rite of passage…. The Wedding Fair.

Christmas is just a distant memory and the bulbs I planted in November are now showing the first of the green shoots on the patio so it’s time to marshal my thoughts into what is next on the never-ending lists of things we “really need” for a perfect wedding. The church, hotel, photographer, DJ and priest are all booked and confirmed so there’s only about 30 million things left to do in the next 20 months! On the stroke of midnight of January 1st, we turned to each other & said… we’re getting married next year! Now it doesn’t seem so far away & I can justify planning so far in advance…. It also means that we can get this years prices by booking early.

I missed the first wedding fair in the RDS because I was dying with flu, so my friend/bridesmaid Aifric had to go on her own. Aifric also announced over Christmas that she is getting married this August so she is new to this whole wedding thing… she has no idea of what lies ahead! Luckily I am there to steer her through the minefield that is “planning a wedding”. Apparently she got home in one piece with loads of brochures and an incredulous expression.. “you mean there’s more… oh god!”

I decided to give her a break & not tell her about the next small fair… it was held in Sachs Hotel on 8th & 9th Feb & was called A Fair to Remember. It had one purpose for us - a company who specialises in DIY invitations. We met Lee from Wraptures & she showed us her portfolio (did I mention that Russell VOLUNTEERED to come to this without being asked??) & we had a look through the many varied papers & designs. There were so many ideas there using ribbons, different papers, embossed effect etc. that my head was spinning.

Eventually, we chose a lovely simple project - cream paper folded to A6 size with a parchment insert on which the text will be printed. We’re going to wrap the invite in grosgrain ribbon and secure it with sealing wax before the ribbon is tied into a bow. We’re also going to print our initials on the front of the invite with a stamp before it goes into a matching envelope. And the cost of these invites - less than €250! This includes evening invites & thank you cards… what a steal! I know that it will be very time consuming but we are lucky enough to have time on our hands so we’ll just get on with it.

Then Valentine’s Day came around & it was all romantic (unlike last year, when we had a flood in our brand new house & had to get the 4 month old wooden floor replaced) with soft music, flowers and roses and a plethora of candles softly glowing all around the sitting room…. until the smoke alarm went off! One batch of little candles decided to get nasty & emit clouds of smoke which set off the smoke alarm, which made lots of noise, which refused to stop! So here we were on Valentines Night after a lovely dinner with me perched on a chair with my hand over the smoke alarm sensor & Russell pleading with me to make the noise stop! Eventually, calm was restored. The little candles then refused top be blown out & kept reigniting - sending more plumes of smoke into the air!! What a night!

The next day, I was in need of some calm so myself & Aifric took ourselves off to the Brides Fair in the Point Depot. Russell kept an eye on the house (i.e. Man Utd were on Sky Sports….). After defrosting the car… it was so cold that my central locking & drivers door lock froze & I had to climb into the car on the passenger side… I drove up to the Point. We got there fairly early so had no problem parking cars (at €6 a car, I should hope so too!) & make our way inside. I was most impressed by the whole experience - there were lots of diverse exhibitors from wedding rings that you could actually try on, to cake makers, to travel agencies.

So how was it for me…. Well I got my ring cleaned & polished for just €5 and it looks like new! I met the lovely Justine of Modern Video Techniques & formally booked her to cover our wedding after many emails. I bought a great book from Veritas on the wedding ceremony (Aifric bought one on readings & we shall share them between us!) and I got some brochures on very nice hotels in New York & Boston for the honeymoon. I also saw Frank from Acclaimed’s stand - so may good things to buy - the wedding crackers are gorgeous & are going into my “will buy if we can afford it” wishlist. We were both very impressed with the fashion show - the models looked as if they were actually enjoying themselves & the dresses were beautiful.

Speaking of dresses, I just want to congratulate my cousin Ciara Coughlin of Illusion Bridal Design who won the recent Bridal Designer of the Year competition in Jurys Hotel. I hope her talents will be of benefit to me!!!

Also, just before I sign off, congratulations to LindaH who is getting married next week and to my WOL friend Molly who is marrying Alan on March 15th next….. best wishes to you both!

I’ll be back soon!
Aoife