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26th January 2024
03:01pm GMT
The amount of planning that goes into a wedding requires boss-level organisation, resourcefulness, and patience.
When you become a fiancée or fiancé, you also become an event planner, budget analyst, delegator, and negotiator as you put together the most important day of your life.
Society dictates a lot of how the day should go, from the ceremony to the reception, and with so much to plan, some smaller, but arguably more important details can slip through the cracks.
As Doireann Garrihy prepares to take on these roles with her partner, Mark Meighan - who she has been engaged to since November - she enlisted the advice of seasoned brides to avoid being left with any 'regrets' on her big day.
If you're also in the throes of planning your wedding, we see your perseverance, commend you, and wish you luck.
We also hope some of the responses to Doireann's question will help make your day all the more special.
Advice given to the 2FM presenter for her wedding dress is one likely none of us would think of in the midst of creating our dream wedding.
Well, it turns out that a lot can be learned in hindsight.
During the Instagram Q&A, one former bride warned Doireann to check if her dress could be altered after experiencing a wardrobe mishap herself, leaving her in a gown that was too big on the day.
Taking the advice onboard, the presenter also shared another nugget of advice when dress shopping.
"This would be very stressful. Also, a lot of people said when you try on your dress, sit down in it and make sure it's one that's comfortable to sit in because you are sitting for the ceremony, the dinner, whatever."
Additional advice included showing more than one person how to pin your dress for dancing, on the off-chance your designated person had one too many glasses of bubbly or meets a potential suitor (which, we hope, they will).
Doireann revealed many of the replies to her wedding day suggestions/regrets surrounded the topic of hiring a videographer.
"A lot of people who didn't get video ended up regretting it and those who did get video, highly recommended it," the broadcaster said of the replies.
If you're humming and hawing on the prospect of having your wedding day documented on video, she says one reason in favour really stood out to her.
"The most gorgeous reason that came in was that people who have since passed away are in the video and it's just a gorgeous memory and gorgeous day to have of parents or grandparents or relatives who are no longer with us."
Similarly, getting professional photos of the newly weds with their bridal and groom parties and their families is very much the done thing at weddings, and rightly so.
However, one response the media personality received was to limit the time spent on capturing the photos, and it's certainly one for brides to keep in mind.
"This has come in a lot: People wishing they hadn't gone and done their photos for as long and had been at their drinks reception for longer and had the craic," she shares.
"A great one to bear in mind. I think I would feel the same. If we arrived to the reception and there was only like half an hour until dinner and we had walked into the place buzzing and had missed that, I wouldn't like that. So this is great."
Guests will remember a wedding not for the intricate details or name places, but for the music, vibes, and food.
One user warned Doireann not to be 'scabby' with the 'bite-sized' food after the ceremony.
For her big day, feeding her guests and keeping them happy is something that is 'very important' to the Dancing With The Stars host.
"If I have ever been a guest at a wedding and you go to the reception and you are starved, you just want warm, savoury, deliciousness," she said.
She listed mini quiches, goat cheese tartlets, and sausage rolls as the foods she usually hopes for when she attends a wedding as a guest.
On the topic of food, one follower recommends that brides should eat breakfast before the day gets underway, to which Doireann agreed.
"I think I would go for scrambled eggs, a slice of brown toast with loads of butter, and maybe a rasher or two with a cup of tea. Surely that would set you up?"
With that, another bride warns not to cook this lovely breakfast in the house as the smell will stick to the dress.
Important info to keep in mind unless you want your wedding scent to be Denny's rashers (I kind of would it love though?).
Many of the replies that came in were about the cars hired to take the newlyweds to and from the ceremony.
If you find it's taking up a large chunk of your budget to hire vintage cars, perhaps it could be left out as many say they regret the expense.
"This also came in a good bit, people saying they got vintage cars and it took them, they crawled to the ceremony. That would stress me out beyond belief," Doireann confessed.
In the reply, the former bride said they wished they had asked people they knew to drive them instead, which the presenter said was 'a very good tip'.
Many of the weddings I've attended, I've always emotionally prepared myself for tears during the bride's speech.
More often than not, they don't, which always disappoints me.
While it's more traditional for the groom and parents to deliver speeches, one former bride regretted not making a speech on the big day.
This is something Doireann says she feels she will regret too if she doesn't.
"This is one I'm unsure about. I would love nothing more than to go into the day not having to worry about doing a speech but I think, long term, I would regret not doing it.
"I also think I’d hate everyone else getting the attention of making a speech and me not,” the presenter joked.
Lastly, former brides shared some touching ways to enjoy your efforts and appreciate the moment before tying the knot.
Doireann shared one that likely many romantics forget to do in the hustle and bustle of final touches before the big day.
The user advised her to take a selfie with Mark before heading to bed the night before and to take in how happy they are in that moment.
"I do kind of want to have my phone on me at certain points in the day to get those candid little moments," Doireann admitted, "So, yeah, I love that."
Another user recommended that she look around the room at all the details and work put into everything before the guests arrive.
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