Now you are engaged What next?

You are engaged – What next to plan your wedding?

Step 1. State Notice

Legal marriage in Ireland,

Everyone getting married in Ireland must register their Intent to Marry, NO LESS THAN THREE MONTHS prior to their intended wedding date.

Full details of the registration process are available on the HSE Website and this is the link for the site. https://www2.hse.ie/services/births-deaths-and-marriages/how-to-get-married-in-ireland/how-to-get-married-in-ireland.html

There are a number of documents of Identity required to be submitted for this registration. The couple must attend in person with the Registrar before the wedding, The Registrar will arrange this appointment with you when they are satisfied that your paperwork is in order and it can take place the day before the wedding. At this meeting, you will be given your Marriage Registration Form (MRF) (green folder), which you bring with you on your wedding day. I will require a copy of this in advance of the ceremony in order to confirm that the details are correct. During the ceremony, it will be signed by myself, both of you and your witnesses, and it is your responsibility to return it to the HSE Registrar’s office within 30 days of your ceremony to obtain your marriage certificate.
Your venue must have a clearly identifiable address and must be either a building that is open to the public or a courtyard, garden, field or piece of ground that is open to the public and is near to and usually shared with the building.

Owing to Covid 19 restrictions at the moment I recommend that couples telephone the Registrars Office and they will furnish their postal application. You can find contact details for the Registrars here https://www2.hse.ie/services/births-deaths-and-marriages/contact-a-civil-registration-service.html

A fee of €200 is payable to the state registrar for “Notification of your intention to marry”. Full details of the registration process are available on the *HSE Website.

Step 2. Book your venue

In choosing your venue remember that for legal solemnising your venue must have an identifiable address and be open to the public. Your ceremony can be outdoors providing the venue meets these criteria.

So in short, you cannot get legally married in your parents back garden, your favourite park, beach or your granny’s beautiful big house !!!!

You can however arrange to complete the legal part of your Ceremony with your witnesses in a venue that has an identifiable address and is open to the public. This can be a hotel foyer or Theatre or Café.

Step 3. Book your Solemniser / Celebrant

Meet Rev. Brenda O’Grady

Wedding Solemniser & Family Celebrant

I am an Ordained Interfaith Minister, a HSE Registered Solemniser of Marriage, a Wedding Celebrant and a One World Interfaith Minister.

I create bespoke ceremonies nationwide including legal weddings for persons of all beliefs and none. I have no agenda, your ceremony can be as humanist, spiritual, secular or atheist as you choose and may use language, music and readings of your choice.

I have taken a vow of inclusivity, welcome diversity of belief, gender, orientation, colour, nationality, ability and culture within the bounds of Irish law.

I will help to make the planning through to the delivery of your ceremony as stress-free and simple as possible.

Quality service & professional delivery,
A ceremony created with you, for you, with love.
In your venue, any day of the Year, anytime
Your ceremony, your way,

I am based in County Laois and I work nationwide.

I can legally marry you and will guide you through the process of creating a ceremony written just for you that expresses your love and commitment in a unique, personalised and meaningful way.

The Wedding ceremonies I create and hold are legal, bespoke, personal and bridge the gap between church, civil, spiritual or humanist. Whatever type of ceremony you wish for, I have no agenda, your ceremony can be as humanist, spiritual, secular or atheist as you choose and may use language, music and readings of your choice.

Your Ceremony can include *bespoke elements including Hand Wrapping/ Hand Fasting, Secret Box, Sand, Stone, Unity Candle and many more *Ceremony Enhancements. You may want your ceremony to be full to the brim with pzazz or something more low key, the choice is yours.

As a wedding celebrant, I have taken a vow of inclusivity, welcome diversity of belief, gender, orientation, colour, nationality, ability and culture within the bounds of Irish law.

I Invest In You

When you book a Ceremony with me, as you will see from my reviews, you don’t just get 30 minutes. I invest in you and you get meetings, telephone calls, face to face meetings and in these Covid-19 times Zoom / WhatsApp & Skype meetings. You get to sit with me and plan your Ceremony, not a template, not a generic Ceremony that could apply to anyone but a bespoke Ceremony that is centred on you and your partner.

As an experienced wedding celebrant, I create your Ceremony to reflect you, and I will help make the planning through to delivery as stress-free and simple as possible. You get drafts and re-drafts until we get it just right for you. You get personalised ceremony enhancements and more. You get the benefit of my years of training, my 17 years of experience creating Ceremonies and access to the resources that I have built up over the years.

You get a Ceremony that has been created with Love and you get your Ceremony held at your location on any day of the year at any time. (Just remember when choosing your venue for legal solemnising it must have an identifiable address with a building that is open to the public.)