A Week to my Wedding

Maeve O'Hara from Mayo and Brendan Kenny from Tipperary met in Galway in 2011. Maeve was on a girls night out and Brendan was on a stag. Having graduated from NUI, Galway; Maeve was looking for work in the field of Health and Safety. With jobs thin on the ground in Ireland, she was forced to look further a field. Six months after they met, Maeve made the move to London. She had successfully secured an undergraduted position with London Underground. For two years, the young couple lived for weekends; the airport, bus and train stations became their second home. It wasn't easy. Brendan, a primary school teacher moved over in July 2013 having secured a full time teaching job. Now both settled and loving their lives in London, there was never a doubt that they wouldn't come home to Ireland to get married. Many brides would be envious of Brendan! With Brendan on his summer holidays from school, and Maeve choosing to use her holidays for their honeymoon in Thailand, he starts the week to the wedding in Ireland on his own - but he has a long 'to'do' list with final hotel preparations, printing of mass booklets, collecting the right coloured ribbons and checking the cake. The theme of their wedding is based around the Jubilee and Metropolitan Tube line. They both use these tube lines to get to work and the colours worked well together Maeve loves her wedding dress and her antique brooch bouquet so much so that she didn't want to fly home with them; instead she decided to make the 12 hour journey from London home to Mayo - by train, boat and car. Their wedding ceremony will have extra important element, that means a great deal to the couple. Brendan's oldest friend, Fr. Vincent Stapleton, who recently ordained will be their second celebrant. With 225 family and friends gathering to celebrate their marriage, Maeve a grade eight pianist has a surprise up her sleeve for Brendan.

Sinead Haugh and Keith McFarlane are childhood sweethearts. The first time they went out was when they were in their late teens. They met in Charlie's - Sinead asked Keith to dance. After a year together they broke up and life went on. They reunited ten years later when Keith's sister secretly invited Sinead to his surprise 30th birthday party. That was five years ago. Sinead has a son from her first marriage and Keith has two daugthers. They have one son together. Working full time, they are both off the week before their wedding day. Sinead is the main organiser of everything, but feels its important that they some things together in the final week - from finalising the table plan, to checking the hotel, dressing fittings and suit fittings, it's a jam pack week of the couple and their families. Sinead and Keith believe in faith. The theme if their wedding is 'Lace and Twine'. They have chosen a humanist ceremony and it is important to them that the children are involved in the build up to and the wedding day.

Sinéad Norman, 28 and Paul Duffy, 30 first met ten years ago when they worked in neighbouring shops in Navan. Sinéad caught Paul's eye instantly and he spent weeks finding any excuse to pop in to see her in her shop. It wasn't until a music festival later that year that the couple had their first kiss and the rest, as they say, is history. Ten years, one baby boy and a stint in Vancouver later, the couple are planning an ambitious festival-style DIY wedding on the grounds of Sinéad's family home. Complete with a marquee, a karaoke campervan that needs decoration, wildflowers that are less than cooperative in blooming and hundreds of personal and creative touches, this wedding reception doesn't simply guarantee a day to remember but also a hectic week that will be hard to forget! Since their engagement in Hawaii the couple knew that they wanted something slightly different that they could put their own stamp on their wedding reception. They settled on the idea of a marquee wedding and started collecting jam jars, LED lights, candles, lanterns, sparklers, plants, signage and decorations. Thrifty Paul has gone to every effort to find the best deals possible - he has scoured the net for the best deals and the pair hope that his online shopping skills will come good on the day. While other couples hand over responsibility to their hotel or venue these guys are unravelling 300 metres of fairy lights; where others indulge in tasting menus and bridal suites this couple are thinking how best to decorate their port-a-loos and attempting to re-route power outlets.but will all the hard work be worth it?

Waterford couple Roisin McDonagh and Darren Ryan met at a friends wedding when they happened to sit beside each other at the reception. Roisin has been planning their wedding day since Darren proposed over a year ago. From designing their invites, to making flower girl wands, Roisin has put her heart and soul into everything. A graphic designer Roisin is currently on maternity leave. They have two daughters, Harper and Dakota. They will be flower babies on the wedding day. Solidifying their family unit is very important to Darren and Roisin. The couple do not consider their wedding traditional. With Darren working most of the week, Roisin will be in charge of all the final preparations; including getting their Golden Labrador, Roxie ready to walk up the aisle. Roxie is their ring bearer. They have chosen to have a humanist ceremony. The meaning of the ceremony is very important to them as a couple and family. Most of their guests won't have been to one before.

Clinical Nurse Manager Laura Pender and Postman Mick Lonergan met on a night out eleven years ago. Laura was celebrating the end of her Leaving Cert exams and Mick was convinced to go out for the night by a friend. The minute they spotted one another they liked what they saw. Mick wasted no time in wooing Laura in the early years of their courtship but it was a different story when it came to proposing. Having waited just under a decade to say that Laura is looking forward to planning the wedding of her dreams is an understatement. The week leading up to their big day will see the Dublin couple finishing work, finalising table plans, collecting suits, packing for honeymoon and collecting wedding rings. Laura may be the epitome of the organised bride but there are a few things that she can’t plan for – whether or not Mick will master their choreographed first dance routine or whether her emotional dad will keep it together to get his eldest daughter up the aisle.

With a keen interest in musical theatre the final couple in the series really pushed the boat out when it came to planning their wedding day. Former Rose of Tralee and New Jersey native Róisín Egenton knew almost immediately that she was going to marry Galwegian Nicky Lawless. Following Nicky’s proposal a year ago, the couple started planning one hell of a party to celebrate the occasion. With Nicky’s interest in graphic design and Róisín’s flair for the dramatic, the pair set about planning a musical theatre themed day that also incorporated Nicky’s interest in astrology that their family and friends would never forget. Secret music practises and sneaky dance rehearsals coupled with the arrival of family and friends from abroad keep Róisín and Nicky busy in the week leading to their big day.