Ireland has changed and our attitude to money and what we have has changed as well. We are buying less and making do with what we have. We are upcycling our furniture (why buy new items when a lick of paint and some pretty new drawer pulls can reinvent it!), and our clothes (out has come the sewing box, we are cutting, adding ribbon and embellishment and giving our clothing a second life). Gone are the days of second hand snobbery, we now call it 'thrift' and it's trendy!
You can find this DIY tutorial here.
We are still falling in love and no amount of money or lack of can change that fact. We are still getting married, but it can be an expensive ordeal. We don't want our special day to land us with a miserable overdraft which will hang over us for the next few years, so what is the solution? D.I.Y weddings, that's what! Plan out your budget and see what you can do yourself and for all the things that you can't try to support your local and national shops and Etsy Ireland sellers to try to put some money back into the country.
There is so much talent out there to inspire you, get creative and put your own personality into the finishing touches. Make memories- instead of looking back at the day and thinking about the typical meat and two veg hotel dinner that you had you could think about the delicious buffet that your loved ones and friends helped to prepare using local ingredients and recipes from your family, made with love and friendly banter?
Your wedding will be a day to remember so why not pay attention to the little details and make it as special as you can? Here are some inspirational pictures, and you can find some more ideas on my Pinterest board here. I especially love the key idea- so many people have lots of old keys lying around and ribbon is so cheap. You can get so creative with wedding favours- order hessian bags in bulk and fill them with homemade dried flowers, homemade chocolates, fill little bottles with homemade scented seasalts- the options are endless.
