Christmas engagements make January a traditional time to start wedding planning. Having sorted the ring and “plighted your troth”, the next step is to find the right venue. Happily for the happy couple, there are loads of great options.
For its wedding co-ordinator Dee Smyth, a huge part of the County Arms Hotel in Birr, Co Offaly’s appeal is romantic. “You can’t help but fall in love with the house. It looks like a stately home, not a big hotel. The feedback I get from couples all the time is it just has a lovely warmth about it,” she says.
It has a selection of beautiful Georgian reception rooms to choose from, as well as a beautiful Garden Room which opens out to a lawn.
The hotel can cater for weddings of any size, from 50 to 350, and only does one wedding a day, which gives it an exclusive feel. Guests are greeted by staff as if they were family, presented with additional touches such as ice cream in summer or soup on arrival in winter.
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The property has invested extensively in magnificent light installations, including a 10-metre tunnel of love made from a gazillion twinkling fairy lights. “It’s just amazing and every couple who visits us has seen it on Instagram,” she says.
The venue is registered to host civil ceremonies and has a garden pavilion, reminiscent of a carousel, for the bride, groom and celebrant to stand on.
“Day twos” are a huge part of weddings now. The old tradition of couples leaving early to go on honeymoon is long gone. “They’re usually the last to leave. They don’t want to be having a party and not be at it,” she laughs.
Castle for keeps
For Kori Moloney, wedding co-ordinator at Kinnitty Castle, also in Co Offaly, a huge part of that property’s appeal is the experience of getting married in a bona fide castle. “It’s not a modern house or a country house, it’s a castle, full of character and authenticity. It’s something different,” she says.
Staff at Kinnitty can accommodate any kind of wedding your heart desires. “We do everything from white weddings to gothic weddings to Christmas weddings, whatever people want,” she says. It too is registered to host civil ceremonies and indeed the vast majority of its weddings take place on site. Of 55 weddings taking place there this year, only four are church weddings.
Most take place on a Saturday and guests often stay on for the “day after” barbecue or buffet. The hotel can cater for up to 200 people and can sleep 90, with plenty of B&B or alternative hotel accommodation nearby.
Among the biggest trends Moloney has seen is for memorable wedding favours, such as souvenir tea lights with guests’ names engraved on them. Increasingly, tables are set with cards that have a QR code, allowing guests to donate to a chosen charity if they so wish. She has also enjoyed seeing some wonderfully dramatic wedding dresses. “I saw my first black one last year and since then I’ve seen quite a few,” she says.
When choosing a venue, go with your gut. “Don’t think about what Mum and Dad or your friends would like, this is your day. Go with what you feel like yourself. Couples always tell me that as soon as they walk in the door of a venue they know immediately if it is right, whether the vibes are good or bad. Trust that feeling,” she adds.
The right choice
One of Ireland’s best-known hospitality businesses, the award-winning Wright Group, is well known for its wonderful wedding venues, registered for civil ceremonies. Perhaps the best known is Anglers Rest in Strawberry Beds, Dublin, a celebrity wedding haunt that can cater for up to 120 people.
“The boutique wedding venue is just 10 minutes from Dublin city centre yet feels like it’s out in the countryside,” says Veronica Duggan of the Wright Group.
Last year the Wright Group took over the much-loved People’s Park Cafe in Dún Laoghaire. It’s a wonderfully quirky and private wedding venue for smaller weddings, typically second marriages or for people who have married overseas but wish to do something back home too.
The Wright name is synonymous with Howth, where the owner’s family has a thriving international seafood business. Wright Group’s Howth venue, Findlater, is hugely popular for weddings. “It has a lovely contemporary vibe, is renowned for its food, has a Sky Bar for dancing and a lovely private heated rooftop terrace,” says Duggan.
Sustainability is a huge part of its appeal, with a locally sourced farm-to-fork food ethos. So too is romance. “Many couples get engaged on the hill of Howth,” she explains. “Often they like to come back and have their wedding here too.”
Outfits for the mother of the bride and groom
The bridal gown is the main event when it comes to wedding attire. But the outfit worn by mothers of the bride and groom matter too, says Marian McKenna of La Crème Boutique in Gorey, Co Wexford.
“We began specialising in mother of the bride and groom over 20 years ago, and have established a name for it, to the point that today clients come to us not just from all over Ireland but from overseas. We get a lot of visitors from the UK and other countries and regularly ship to places such as Canada and Australia,” she says.
The reason for its international renown is that it posts videos daily with models of all shapes, sizes and skin tones, wearing various outfits, so social media audiences can get a real feel for them. “We put a huge amount of work in to our outfits – we don’t just hang them on a hanger,” says McKenna.
The store has a diverse range, offering chic and elegant pieces in sizes eight to 22. “We’ve crafted a space where everyone can feel beautiful and confident in their own skin, no matter the number on the label,” she explains.
It has expert stylists, professionally trained to dress women for their body shape rather than their size, and a one-to-one personal service that encompasses headpieces, accessories, underpinnings and alterations.
Its collection is vast, which makes a trip to Gorey such a great day out in itself. Although walk-ins are welcome, booking ahead ensures you get the services of a stylist, even at busy times.
“We have over 50 designers in stock, so there are styles, colours and outfits to suit every taste,” says McKenna.
“My advice to anyone who is preparing to be the mother of the bride or groom is that this is your big day too, so don’t be influenced too much by shop assistants or the daughter, cousin or best friend. Just look in the mirror and if you say, ‘This is me, I love it,’ that’s the one, go with it. It’s about loving yourself in that outfit. Once you feel that, everything else will fall in to place.”
