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There is one wedding that I will never forget. The couple had their hearts set on an outdoor ceremony. Unfortunately, the Irish weather had other ideas. One minute there was sunshine, the next there was rain. We had been watching the clouds all morning, wondering what they were going to do next. But the couple wanted their ceremony outside, so we made it happen. Everything was going beautifully until they reached their vows. And then came the hailstones. Not a little shower o

Weddings have certainly changed over the years. Having spent more than 20 years working in hospitality and weddings, I have seen quite a few changes. Some wonderful, some interesting, and a few that would have been absolutely unheard of back in the day! And I have to say, I love how weddings have evolved. But God, we had some craic back in the early noughties! When 300 guests was nothing out of the ordinary I remember working in Cavan in the early 2000s, when having 300 guest

A little over a year ago, I was driving to one of my first ceremonies when the phone rang. “Could we change the music?” “Of course. No problem.” And genuinely, it was no problem. After more than twenty years working in hospitality and hotel management, last minute changes do not particularly faze me. When you have spent years managing weddings, events, teams, timings and everything else that happens behind the scenes, you learn very quickly that panicking rarely fixes anythin

Perhaps you have spotted a photograph of a couple getting married overlooking the coast and thought, “That would do us.” Perhaps a big wedding has never appealed to you. Or maybe you want a few of your favourite people together somewhere lovely, without making the whole thing more complicated than it needs to be. Whatever has brought you here, how exciting! You have a wedding to plan, and there are some fabulous possibilities. Where would you love to get married? Northern Ire

A little corner of Northern Ireland’s coastline. Sometimes the places closest to home give you the most inspiration. Planning a wedding comes with plenty of questions. Before you get too far into flowers, music and who is sitting beside whom, there is one worth asking: what do we need to do to be legally married? As a humanist celebrant authorised to conduct legal marriages in Northern Ireland, this is something I guide couples through regularly. There is paperwork involved,

I went for a walk around Lough Fea recently on one of those beautiful Northern Irish days when dark clouds suddenly give way to blue skies and sunlight. The leaves were beginning to change colour. The light was catching the blackberries along the path. The water was gently moving towards the shore. And it got me thinking about how weddings are changing too. More couples seem to be questioning the idea that planning a wedding automatically begins with finding a traditional wed

If you have looked at the cost of getting married at a registry office and then looked at the fee for a legal celebrant, you might quite reasonably ask: Why would I pay £750 for a celebrant when a registrar is cheaper? And the answer is actually very simple. They are completely different services. There is nothing wrong with choosing a registrar. In fact, for some couples it will be exactly the right choice. You might not particularly enjoy being the centre of attention. You

Wedding Fairs in Northern Ireland: What to Expect at Your First Wedding Fair If you have never been to a wedding fair before, the first thing I would say is this: Expect a lot. There will be music, people, displays, dresses, flowers, photographers, videographers, celebrants, bands, cakes, décor and probably somebody handing you a canapé while you are trying to remember what the last supplier just told you. It can be overstimulating. It can be overwhelming. But it can also be

PLANNING A DESTINATION WEDDING? Destination weddings can look beautifully simple online. A sun drenched ceremony. Drinks by the pool. Dinner under the stars. A late night celebration somewhere warm. But behind those images are dozens of practical decisions that couples need to understand before they book. While I was in the Algarve recently, I met with a local wedding planning company and visited one of the venues they regularly work with. I wanted to see, first hand, how a d

There are holidays. And then there are holidays when you somehow manage to turn a few days in the sunshine into a business idea. I am heading to Albufeira in the Algarve for a few days, and alongside the sunshine, swimming and hopefully doing very little for at least part of the trip, I am also going to be meeting some local wedding planners. Because I have had an idea. Two ceremonies. One wedding. The idea is actually quite simple Destination weddings are wonderful, but for

Ireland is an incredible place to get married. The scenery, the history, the venues, the food, the hospitality, the craic. It is no surprise that couples from Canada, the US and further afield are looking towards Ireland for destination weddings. But if you are planning your wedding here from overseas, there is one thing I would encourage you to think about before you fall in love with a castle, country house or exclusive wedding venue. Do not just plan the wedding day. Plan

There is a strange thing that can happen when you are planning a wedding. You can be absolutely delighted with everything. You have chosen your venue. You have booked suppliers you trust. The plans are coming together. You have made decisions carefully and, for the most part, you are excited about what you are creating. And then something happens. You see another wedding. Someone tells you what they paid. Another bride talks about the incredible deal she got. You discover som

Beech Hill Country House is one of those wedding venues I know from a slightly different perspective. I first walked through its doors as General Manager in the summer of 2021, just as hospitality was beginning to find its feet again after Covid. I left in autumn 2024, after more than three years and hundreds of weddings. Today, I walk through those same doors in a completely different role: as a Humanist wedding celebrant and one of Beech Hill's recommended wedding partners.

How many songs do we actually need for the wedding ceremony? The simple answer is a minimum of three: Your entrance music A piece of music while you sign the marriage schedule Your recessional music as you leave the ceremony But music can add so much more than simply filling those three moments. After more than twenty years working in weddings, first within hospitality and now conducting wedding ceremonies across Northern Ireland, I have seen music completely change the atmos

Every so often you discover somewhere that makes you wonder how on earth you have never been there before. For me this week, that place was Glenlough Bay in Donegal. I had seen photographs, but they really do not prepare you for the scale of the place. The cliffs, the Atlantic stretching out in front of you, the colour of the water and that incredible Donegal landscape all around you. It is absolutely spectacular. The hike itself added considerably to the experience! Quite a

One of the questions I hear most often is: "Who should walk me down the aisle?" The traditional answer is usually, "Your father." But today's weddings are wonderfully different. For some people, that tradition feels exactly right. For others, it simply doesn't reflect their life or their relationships. Perhaps your mum has been your biggest supporter. Maybe a grandparent, an uncle or a sibling has played that role. Perhaps you'd like both parents to walk with you. Or perhaps

One of the questions I am asked most often is, "How do you write a wedding ceremony?" People imagine I sit down with a blank page and begin writing. The truth is, I rarely begin with words. I begin by listening. Every couple has a story. How you met. The first impressions that turned out to be completely wrong. The holidays you'll never forget. The moments that made you laugh until you cried. The difficult chapters that brought you even closer together. None of those stories

People often ask me what I do as a wedding celebrant. The simplest answer is that I write and deliver wedding ceremonies. But that is not how I see it. I see myself as the narrator of your story. When we meet, I am not looking for perfect answers or beautifully rehearsed memories. I am listening for the little moments. The way you met. The stories that still make you laugh. The challenges you've overcome together. The tiny details that only the two of you understand. Those mo

One of the biggest misconceptions I come across is that there is a "correct" way to get married. There isn't. After spending more than two decades in the wedding industry and being involved in over 2,000 weddings, I have learned that every couple starts their wedding planning with one simple question: "What are we supposed to do?" Should we invite everyone? Should we write our own vows? Should we have speeches? Should we get married in a church? Should we elope? Should we fol

There is a common misconception that eloping means running away in secret. Today's elopements are very different. For many couples, they are a conscious choice to celebrate their marriage in a way that feels authentic, relaxed and meaningful. If you're wondering whether an elopement might be the right fit, here are ten signs to look out for. 1. The thought of planning a big wedding feels overwhelming. Not because you cannot organise it, but because it simply does not excite y