Weddings by Dearbháile - Dundalk woman shares how she got started

This story appeared in the Louth Life magazine earlier this year

“I love weddings, I love working with people. I love meeting them and chatting with them, and talking about a vision, and then seeing that come to life on the day of the wedding, seeing all our hard work, seeing their faces light up when they see the ballroom, or the marquee, the venue, seeing them actually get married and just be so happy, and be there to help them in any way I can.”

Dearbháile Shiels, from Dundalk, is a wedding & events planner, specialising in wedding advice and on the day coordination, and runs the wedding planning service, Weddings By Dearbháile.

The idea for Weddings By Dearbháile came about during the Covid pandemic, when a lot of her friends' weddings were cancelled and delayed, and she helped them out with changing dates and finding new suppliers, and so on.

“Then I helped one friend who had a full marquee wedding at her house. She couldn't get the date for the venue she wanted so we did a marquee wedding. And then I was, 'maybe there's something in this', and I set up my little Instagram page, and the rest is history.”

“I offer various different services, but a lot of people would book them to be with me on the day, for on the day management or on the day coordinator.

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“I do planning, I do bespoke planning, but my main speciality is on the day coordinating and on the day management.

“I give the bridesmaids the day off, I let them go have a good time and I do all the donkey work. I fix the hair, have the lipstick in my pocket, look after the Mam, who is having a meltdown. I iron the father's shirt. I'm just that person to alleviate any stresses. I work really closely with all the vendors, I look after all the suppliers, I do any payments that are needed on the day.

“People in Ireland don't really want full planning, but recently engaged couples, they don't know where to start. I offer planning sessions where we'll chat about the wedding and I'll follow up with all the recommendations and all the planning tips, all the advice, to keep it streamlined and for them to be able to plan a stress free wedding themselves. Just a little bit of advice and guidance to get them started.”

See www.facebook.com/weddingsbydearbhaile for more about the services offered by Dearbháile.