Our first guest contributor to our Wedding series is Paula Cogan of Cork’s River Lee Hotel. Here Paula gives some excellent (and very impartial!) tips on picking your perfect wedding venue.

Weddings, particularly in Ireland have taken on a life of their own in the past 10 years. The days of sherry receptions and sandwiches and cocktail sausages have been replaced with champagne and strawberry receptions and chocolate fountains.

While it goes without saying that a wedding day is certainly one of the most important days of your life, there are definitely some practical tips which will allow you to plan effectively and not break the bank while doing so.

One great piece of advice that I was given prior to my own wedding was to consider who would you be willing to pay €60 a head for dinner for and then plan your wedding guest list accordingly.

When choosing a venue, again it is important to view as many venues as possible that meet your general criteria.  Consider what you and your groom have in mind.  Are you looking for a country retreat, Urban location or something with a twist? Compile a check list as to what will be key for your particular wedding e.g. outside space for photographs, plenty of bedrooms for the wedding guests or a ballroom with natural daylight.

The web has opened up so many avenues for research to the bride to be.  Check out each venue and their website.  You can download menus, packages and also check out blogs where you will get feedback from other brides as to venues that have worked for them.

You will then have a good idea of costs and the specific packages that the hotel can offer prior to meeting with the on-site wedding coordinator. In the majority of hotels, it is also worth meeting with the Chef and the Events Manager to ensure that everyone understands your vision for the day.  It is important that you feel comfortable with the staff in the hotel, as you will be liaising with them on a regular basis for a number of months.

Every hotel will be delighted to sit with you and provide a free consultation and answer any of your enquiries.  They will also be delighted to assist with recommendations for entertainment, decorations and many other items, as they will deal with suppliers on a daily basis. If you ring in advance to make an appointment, make sure to ask when the hotel is hosting a wedding and pop in to see the room and make sure that you are happy with how it looks.

Of course negotiate on price.  If you are not a good negotiator bring a mum or dad to do the negotiating for you.  Many hotels will offer substantial discounts for mid week weddings, or Autumn and Winter dates. Ask for a written quotation, as well as all terms and conditions before signing a contract.

At River Lee Hotel, we specialise in the smaller size wedding, and provide a bespoke wedding day, not as much of a cookie cutter wedding, that the larger traditional wedding hotels can provide. Some of the most special weddings that I have been privileged to have helped organise over the years, have been for smaller numbers, 50 to 60 people. The wedding couples were able to spend a little more on a superb menu, nice wines and were able to really get to chat with all of their guests and enjoy the day.

Paula Cogan is Director of Sales and Marketing at Cork’s River Lee Hotel and has enjoyed assisting wedding couples with their plans for over 14 years.

You might think that it’s more monsoon season than wedding season at the moment, but right now all over Ireland thousands of couples are frantically making those last minute preparations ahead of their big day (possibly including sourcing bridal party umbrellas).

Well we’ve our own wedding season at Curious Wines, kicking off next week with the very pertinent Top 5 Tips For Your Wedding Wine. Ahead of that, we’re conducting a short survey into the customs and preferences of happy couples when it comes to picking their wedding elixir. You know, do you pick a better wine for the top table than for the guests, or how much wine does it take the Groom’s mother to start telling the Bride what she really thinks of her?

We’ve eight short questions that shouldn’t take more than two minutes to complete, and we’re putting a case of wine worth €100 up for grabs for one lucky respondent. To be in to win, simply click the link below and fill out the survey.

Click Here to take survey (link expired)

(Unfortunately the case of wine is only available to residents in the Republic of Ireland but if you want to fill out the survey anyway we’d be really grateful!)

One of the jewels in our range, Santa Alicia has become a firm favourite with our loyal customers since we opened our doors in November of last year. And believe me, we couldn’t hide our excitement after learning we’d be stocking wine from Chilean Winery of the Year for 2007, as awarded by the International Wine and Spirit Competition. The first trophy was awarded for the Gran Reserva Merlot 2003 – named as best Chilean wine of the competition.

Santa Alicia vineyards are located in the Pirque region in the heart of Maipo Valley, where some of the best ‘terroir’ for Chilean wines is found. These vineyards are irrigated by a very small amount of pure, crystal water coming from the melting snow of the Andes Mountains, which helps in achieving a high concentration of fruit. Winemaker, David Gonzalez, has been at the winery since 1997. David’s philosophy of winemaking is not only based on good vine stock, but also on the knowledge given by enology.

Two years later, Santa Alicia continues to churn out an astonishingly superior range at low cost, allowing us to price very keenly. The wines have continued to gain notoriety, the Reserva Merlot picking up a Gold Medal at the Ottawa Wine and Food Show in Canada, and the Reserva Chardonnay (pictured) landing Gold at Vinales do’r Paris and Mundus Vini in Germany. Both were labelled ‘Best Buy’ by Wine Enthusiast.

It’s no surprise that these two keep ending up as wine of choice at weddings across the country since we introduced them to Ireland. The Santa Alicia fan base is young, but it’s growing… and growing fast.

Friday 13th wasn’t so unlucky for WeddingDates.ie and her loyal following at the meticulously planned launch night in Cork city. A wedding theme as you might expect, but I’m not sure anyone expected the bride and groom to turn up in a Bentley!

The perfect venue was the Cork Vision Centre on North Main Street, found and organised by Ireland’s money saving venue finder FindaConferenceVenue.com. And it took a big crowd (over 200 people) to fill the vast openness. Included were over 40 wedding couples and wedding suppliers, including a magical magician, a red hot band and (ahem, excuse my bias) Ireland’s best wedding wine specialists, who were supplying the curiously scrumptious vino.

The Champagne reception and pink and blue wedding cupcakes were a great touch, but the real star of the show was one of Cork’s brightest young entrepreneurs. Ciara Crossan, founder of WeddingDates.ie, enthused with her energy and all-round loveliness. And I’m told it was 7am before she hit the hay. Go Ciara!

Ciara has succeeded is making WeddingDates.ie the one-stop-shop for engaged couples who are venue hunting for their big day. Simply choose your wedding date and the county in Ireland where you want to get married, and get back an interactive listing of hotels with availability on your preferred wedding date. You can then filter the results based on guest capacity or price and send an enquiry to the venue to arrange a viewing of the property at a suitable time. Couples will save their precious time, and the best thing is the service is free to use.

While multi-national companies get up and go at the first sign of a better deal elsewhere, it’ll be the home-grown enterprises who’ll continue to form the backbone of the Irish economy. It’s brilliant to see the likes of Ciara coming on the scene with her quirky, innovative and service-driven attitude, and it’s smart concepts like WeddingDates.ie that will see us through the tough times and beyond.