The Wedding Centre

” The Wedding Centre is Ireland’s first all-year-round bridal exhibition centre, and features hundreds of professional wedding exhibitors under the one roof. In a nutshell, The Wedding Centre is a one-stop wedding shop where you will find all the inspiration, information and guidance you need to plan your perfect wedding. Our simple aim is to take the stress out of wedding planning, and create an enjoyable experience in stylish, relaxing surroundings. Our wide array of professional wedding service suppliers will give you a great deal of choice, and our focus is on excellent customer service and a commitment to providing you with the finest wedding arrangements, tailored to your specific requirements.”

- Taken from www.theweddingcentre.ie

After a Call from Pat in early January, inviting me over to view the new premises in Rathfarnham and see “what it was all about”, I met with Pat, Gary and Rory in the Wedding Centre and was from the first moment I stepped into the showroom, delighted to be a part of such an exciting new venture! I was asked to help decorate the showroom for filming the following week of an episode of “Operation Transformation“, when the soon-to-be-married team would be visiting the centre with RTE for the 2nd episode in the current series.I was delighted to see my sample bouquets being carried by the brides-to-be and my logo shown in the shot several times!

So, when Rory asked me to come on board to decorate for their Official Launch Party on 10th January I was happy to help! We placed tall wrought iron stands and lanterns along the corridor along with a red carpet leading up to the entrance, where Sandra from AbFab Balloons had created an arch of balloons complete with balloon wedding party!

Inside the party venue, Hanley Events got to work, setting out pod tables, chill out area with sofas and coffee tables, an impressive Fairy Light Backdrop and draping surrounding the entire room. RosieDays provided centrepieces of glass fishbowls filled with floating avalanche roses and beargrass, on a mirror plate and surrounded by tealights. Upstairs in the Chill out Area we provided bespoke arrangements on the low tables of Minature Pink Rose Bouquets, surrounded by folded leaves and packed into tightly arranged white Dianthus.

Later on that evening, our centrepieces were paired with ice sculptures, which also featured behind the bar area and provided a nifty bottle cooler for the Champagne (of which I have to confess, I treated myself to several glasses after a hard day’s work while trying to avoid delicious Chocolate Fountain!)

The Launch Party was a great success and we were entertained by Sean Boland as we munched on delicious canapes (my favourite being the goats cheese with red onion relish, not to mention the chunks of brie…and chedder, and the mini chocolate cups filled with strawberry mousse….I digress). After a perfectly fitting speech, Lorraine Keane cut the red ribbon and The Wedding Centre was officially opened and i’m sure will provide a valuable resource to many brides and grooms planning their weddings!

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: aisle stands, Champagne, Chocolate Fountain, Hanley Events, Ice Sculptures, lanterns, Lorraine Keane, Red Carpet, Sean Boland, The Wedding Centre — Sinead @ 1:43 pm on February 15, 2011

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Trina & Ciaran’s Wedding, 4th February 2011

As a wedding service provider, it’s always our pleasure to take a small part in the planning of such an important day in a couple’s lives, but when the couple involved are friends, it’s even more special! When Trina called me last year to ask me to help organise the floral decor for her wedding, I was only too delighted.

And so, on a very, very windy stormy day, I met with one of our mutual friends (Sheena) who helped load up the Van and we set off on our way to Donegal – Road Trip!! We collected the cake and cupcakes from Anna at GiggleCakes and poor Sheena carefully held the Sponge layer on her knees for all of the 3.5 hour trip!! Anna provided 3 tiers, chocolate biscuite cake on the bottom, then madeira, then fruit, iced simply in ivory fondant and I then decorated with small fishbowls holding red roses between top and 2nd layer, and placed individual rose blooms around the cake.

Trina decided on the classic Grand Prix Red Rose, tied in a posy and finished with soft italian ruscus foliage with pearls hidden amongst the greenery. The 3 Bridesmaids carried creamy vendella roses with soft foliage throughout and finished with a little bit of diamond sparkle.

Joined in the evening by my friend Louise, we together decorated the ballroom of the Allingham Arms Hotel with silver organza sashes over chair covers, silver candelabra on each table, on a mirror base with white petals and crystals scattered for a final detail. On the two family tables we provided a fishbowl with floating red roses, surrounded by tea lights and individual taper candles. The twinkling fairylight backdrop provided the perfect festive finishing touch.

Braving the storms on Friday, we decorated the beautiful church in Bundoran – 2 Large Pedestal Arrangements, a large trailing unity candle Arrangement with gorgeous personalised Unity Candles provided by Theresa at KellyTDesigns. Along the aisle, we placed wrough Iron Aisle stands decorated with ivy and foliage, and continued the candlelight with lanterns along the aisle. Finally, Bay Trees and Lanterns graced the entrance – although I did worry they might take flight in the wind, luckily they all stayed put although we did loose some of the dressing of the bay trees in the gales!

My last job – the Candy Buffet. This was a lot of fun to put together, especially the “quality control” element – ie. tasting each type of sweet as they went into the jars to make sure they were fit for public consumption!! As you can see in the second image of the table – everything went down “a treat”.

It was 5pm before we changed for the wedding and ran in just ahead of the bride and groom to be seated, the meal was gorgeous and we danced until the small hours!!

Congratulations to my dear friend Trina and her new husband Ciaran,hope you have a wonderful honeymoon and looking forward to the catch up and photos when you are home!!

Filed under: aislestands,candelabra,candelabra hire,candelight,candles,Church Arrangement,church decoration,fairylight backdrop,petals,pew end decoration,Red Wedding,rose,wrough iron candelabra,wrought iron — Tags: aisle stands, allingham arms hotel, bundoran, candelabra, candy buffet, co. donegal, cupcakes, fairylight backdrop, grand prix bouquet, red roses, sweet table, wedding cake — Sinead @ 11:07 am on February 7, 2011

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Romancing the Snow

By the time our first wedding of December arrived, on the 4th, I could categorically tell you what footwear does not work well in the snow – firstly, Ugg boots – not waterproof, and wet sheepskin is not very pleasant, and secondly – riding boots – while they may be warmer and water proof, they have no grip – by the end of December, I officially hate snow!!

Let’s get back to our lovely bride Jennifer who was married on 4th December in AbbeyLeix Church, followed by Reception in the stunning surrounds of Castle Durrow in Co. Laois. Jennifer chose our Candlelight Package to set the scene in for the ceremony – Wrought Iron Aisle stands dressed with Ivy graced the aisle, with dramatic candelabra either side of the alter, and Bay Trees at the front entrance, the glow of candlelight adding a little warmth to a bitterly cold winters day!

Playing on the snowy, wintery theme, Jennifer chose bouquets of white roses, green mini-chrysanthemums and fluffy gypsophilia sprayed silver. The bridesmaids, who wore black satin, carried smaller posies with the same flowers as the Bride, who looked stunning on the day, complete with fur stole as she posed for a photo in the Snug Bar at Castle Durrow. We also bumped into Rhona and Susan again from the Powder Room Girls who did (as usual) a fab job with all the hair and make up.

We also dressed the Candelabra for the reception with lots of fresh ivy. This really complimented the graceful ballroom at Castle Durrow and we had a hairy few moments at the side of the N7, in the snow, in the un-water-proof Uggs gathering some fresh ivy as we ran a little short!!

After all the work was completed, we decided to warm our poor cold, wet feet by the open fire in the Snug Bar at Castle Durrow and ordered a tasty lunch – smoked salmon on brown bread and a big pot of comforting tea, before heading back to Abbeyleix to collect our stands and get back to the workshop to clean up.

Filed under: aislestands,avalanche rose,candelabra,candelabra hire,candelight,candles,Christmas Wedding,Church Arrangement,church decoration,pedestal,pew end decoration — Tags: aisle stands, Candle Stands, castle durrow, Christmas Wedding, pew ends, powder room girls, PRG, silver bouquet, Smoked Salmon, Snow, Ugg Boots — Sinead @ 9:26 am on January 11, 2011

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Going Grecian in Marino

A chance meeting with Theresa Kelly of KellyTDesigns (Handmade invites, favours and unity candles) led to the planning and design of Aoife and Gareths’ Wedding in Marino on the 5th June. Theresa, a family friend of Aoifes’ designed the wedding stationery and together with Aoife and Gareth, came up with a Grecian theme for the Big Day. RosieDays were asked to supply the bouquets and decorate the church and we were only too happy to!

When I spoke with Aoife, she had her mind set on something traditional, but a little different, with lots of ivy!! So, with that in mind, I suggested the bridesmaids carry 3 different toned pink roses to compliment the mink grecian style dresses, Aoife requested white roses for her own bouquet so we mixed avalanche and akito roses and gave the bouquet a lush variagated ivy collar with some trailing ivy to reflect the general theme in the decor of the day. The 3 bridesmaids bouquets, one deep pink “Amalia” Rose, one bright pink “Aqua” rose and one pale pink “Barbie” Rose were all finished with ivy collars.

Perhaps the cutest flowergirl ever – Aoife’s Daughter, carried a basket filled with grapes and ivy, and wore an ivy headdress.

St. Vincent De Paul Church in Marino provided the perfect backdrop for the Grecian theme with it’s bright interior and impressive columns reflecting the stands draped with white satin! We hung bunches of grapes and draped natural ivy on the aisle stands, with luxurious white satin drapes on alternate pews.

The Grand Candelabra were filled with lush foliage and grape centrepieces and we added a unity arrangement to show off Theresa’s fab unity candles! Aoife made was a stunning bride and a pleasure to deal with and the Groom didn’t scrub up too bad either!! The weather was absolutely amazing and myself and Lorraine got to take 10 mins outside the sacristy with a cuppa while we waited for the Christenings that were being held that morning to finish! Huge thanks to the wonderful Anne who let us set up the aisle stands and arrangements in the Sacristy while the Christening Ceremonies were being carried out and who fed Lorraine with tea and biscuits during the wedding ceremony.

Filed under: aislestands,avalanche rose,button holes,candelabra,candelabra hire,candelight,Church Arrangement,church decoration,pew end decoration,pink rose bouquet — Tags: aisle stands, flowergirl, grecian themed wedding, headress, ivy, marino church, pink rose bouquets, st. vincent de paul church — Sinead @ 12:18 pm on June 7, 2010

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Tulips from Amsterdam..

Did you know, Tulips are not only one of the most popular Spring flowers, they are the Third most popular flower in the world, after roses and chrysanthemums! While we were working on Caroline’s Wedding on the 19th March, Lorraine was humming the lyrics of this song, here’s a link to it Tulips from Amsterdam i’m humming it now myself!!

Having a Spring wedding meant that Tulips were an appropriate choice (and not one that we see very often). Such simply beautiful flowers need no embellishment or fuss, though the simplicity of the arrangements belies temperamental delicate stalks that can be frustrating to arrange!

Caroline’s own bouquet was composed entirely of white tulips and hand-tied in a teardrop shape. The stems were wrapped in purple satin ribbon to complement the bridesmaids’ dresses. The bridesmaids’ bouquets were hand tied in a posy style and we used white and purple toned tulips, the stems were wrapped with ivory satin ribbon with pearl pin detail.

The ceremony took place in St. Mary’s Church in Lucan Village and we provided the Unity Candle Arrangement, our large wrought iron candelabra and we provided central floral arrangements in the candelabra of tulips, roses and lisianthus, the same flowers were used in the unity candle arrangement.

We also provided 10 wrought iron aisle stands, dressed with natural ivy and using LED candles as naked flame was not permitted in the church.

Congratulations to Caroline & John!