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Posted by odiesgirl

MY FH is 100% irish. Mom is from Limerick and Dad is from Donegal. We are having a lot of his relatives from Ireland come over. I am so excited. I have researched a few traditions. Now I received a bell as a engagement gift which I love the whole idea of by the way.

Now I have also seen that some people hand out little bells at the ceremony and when it is over and we walk out everyone rings the bell. I have also heard of having everyone ring the bells instead of clinking the glasses. What do you think of either of these? I am leaning towards the bells in the church. But will the relatives from Ireland think that it is corny?

TIA

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Hi Megan! WELCOME TO THE IRISH BRIDES THREAD! my family is from donegal as well (hence my username donegal419!) where is your father from? my mom is from creeslough, which is the northern part of the county....letterkenny would be the nearest big town....but they're really closer to the gaeltacht and downings,falcarragh if you know donegal at all.

i love the ideas of the bells! that's so nice you received a bell as a gift... it's supposed to be good luck. i didn't get that, but of course mom couldn't help but give me Child of Prague statue and a holy water font at my shower!

again, welcome! :)

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bump.....anything new Irish brides????


I have 4 coming from Ireland for the wedding and FH has 8! We can't wait to see everyone SOON!

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okay so FH and I are going to Ireland for our Honeymoon! Anyone know of any good tours or company's we should go through? Even any must see stops would be appreciated!

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What a great thread! I'm 100% Irish American, used to live in Dublin, and one of my bridesmaids is from Meath! Can't wait to read about all these traditions!!

Don't know if anyone here lives in Manhattan but there is a great Irish band that plays at Doc Watson's on Sun nights....thinking about asking if they can play for my cocktail hour.....

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Posted by irishsweetheart

okay so FH and I are going to Ireland for our Honeymoon! Anyone know of any good tours or company's we should go through? Even any must see stops would be appreciated!

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I'm not a huge fan of tours... i've been all over the country many times and honestly, you have the most fun going at it on your own and taking things at your own pace. plus, all the tours go where every other annoying American tourist goes so the places are packed. and they're all running around saying 'top of the morning
and buying woolen sweaters!

but, if you do go on a tour, check out Sceptre Ireland...they have a website....they run some beautiful tours (my sister used to work there). Most Americans fly into Shannon, do Clare (Cliffs of Moher, Bunratty Castle, etc.) then down through Limerick, into Kerry (Ring of Kerry), Killarney, into Cork, then into Waterford (crystal factory) then through the mountains through Wexford, ending in Dublin city and flying home out of Dublin. there are some wodnerful things here, but in my opinion, you miss some of the most sceinc parts of Ireland. the northwesst is stunning. Donegal is AMAZING.... Galway and Mayo are gorgeous and the northen cities (Derry and Belfast) are great!!!

MUST SEE Places (my opinion) in the Republic (not Northeren Ireland, although there are great things there too):
West of Ireland: Galway City, gaeltacht area of Galway and Mayo
Knock (beautiful chapel, the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared here)
Co. Clare: the Cliffs of Moher, Ennis town is a good time too---young, fun city.
South of Ireland: Cobh, Co. Cork, Ring of Kerry,
Eastern Ireland: Dublin (obviously)

Touristy must-sees...some of these are great, but they're 'touristy':
Dublin: the whole city has many things todo and see: Trinity College, Guinness Factory, Temple Bar (the bars and restaurant section of the city) Grafton Street (great shopping) the Post Office (very important in irish history), Phoenix Park (like our central Park

Cliffs of Moher, Ring of Kerry, Blarney Castle (where stupid Americans kiss a stone , th Waterford Crystal Factory, Johnny Fox's pub.. that is awesome though... it's in the Wicklow Mountains...the highest pub in Ireland and driving distance from Dublin city...

Sorry, I rambled... hope this helps... unfortunately, i travel there often, but usually just to see family, so i am sure i am missing a lot of toursity places, but this should surely be enough! have fun! it's a beautiful country.... just be warned, the dollar to the Euro stinks right now... things will be expensive for you...

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Posted by Blondie77

What a great thread! I'm 100% Irish American, used to live in Dublin, and one of my bridesmaids is from Meath! Can't wait to read about all these traditions!!

Don't know if anyone here lives in Manhattan but there is a great Irish band that plays at Doc Watson's on Sun nights....thinking about asking if they can play for my cocktail hour.....

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a few of us on here have booked Irish/Irish-American bands... there are some great ones out there. get yourself a copy of the Echo and look at the classifieds... many of the good ones advertise in there.... I love my band! (Good Clean Fun)

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OMG thanks soooo much! Sceptre Ireland's office is actually pretty close to where I live (I've passed it quite a few times) and when we're ready to go book I definitely wanted to stop there, so I'm glad you've heard good things about it!

Yea I know the exchange rate at the moment is really high but I'm hoping that it might be better by the time we go in April of 2008 that might be possible, right?

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Posted by irishsweetheart

OMG thanks soooo much! Sceptre Ireland's office is actually pretty close to where I live (I've passed it quite a few times) and when we're ready to go book I definitely wanted to stop there, so I'm glad you've heard good things about it!

Yea I know the exchange rate at the moment is really high but I'm hoping that it might be better by the time we go in April of 2008 that might be possible, right?

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Well, I've heard good things about the tours, because my sister got to go on most of them at least a few times a year. but my sister HATED working there...the pay was terrible! but she misses working with all her Irish girls! Ask for Deirdre or Siobhan.....

yes, the Euro might go down...but doubtful..the European market is really good right now.... also, i dont' know when Easter is in '08 but the flights go WAY up right before easter and stay that way until about September... ...Aer LIngus can be okay somtimes pricewise, but Delta now flies there and Continental flies to Ireland as well via Newark. Or you could always fly British Airways (sometimes is WAY cheaper) and then you can get a cheap flight from Heathrow to Dublin... only worth it, if you save a lot of money because it does add time to your trip)

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Yea we'll be flying out after Easter since our wedding is the weekend following Easter Sunday. I'm hoping to get the best price on air fair that I can find. Thanks for the tip about British Airways. Do you happen to know when the pricing comes out for the April of 2008 tours?

Re: ---- Official Irish Bride Thread ----Irish music bands

Hi thansk for the advice of lookingin the irish echo. I will definitely do that.
I also need to know if you would reccomend a certain band over another - I need one that will play tradditional my dad will make up his list of stuff that he wants to hear,( both my parents are from ireland) some of the newer irish music like 'n17' and i used to love her' for me and my FH, and then some 60's 70's rock n roll for my FH mother. (she is from here)

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Wedding is a little over nine months away.....so far 4 ppl. have booked flights to come from Ireland to our wedding...between FH and I we have a total of 30 people that said they are planning but we'll see when they all book their flights. Being that all my family is in Ireland, besides my siblings and parents it would be great to have them all here.

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I'm 75% Irish and FH is Scottish, so we will have a lot of little Celtic details. My Father will be saying an Irish prayer, we are having bagpipers at the Church and of course, the penny in the shoe. We are getting married a week from St. Patricks day this year, b/c I had to do it in March. We are having our rehearsal dinner at an Irish pub in my town and my BMs are wearing green dresses.

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Ladies, Do any have you have a recording, or know where I coudl find one, for my Grandfather's Emigrant Eyes? I want to have that be my dance with my Dad (will have band sing My FATHER's Emigrant Eyes)....The band doesn't know it and they need to hear it so they can learn it . . ..

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bump

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Just wanted to warn my fellow irish gals that you shouldn't bother going to Quirk's irish shop in Massapequa cause they closed down!

FH was nice enough to drive all the way out there (bout a 30 min drive from my house) only to find out that it wasn't there!

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Emigrant Eyes is sung by Dolores Keane on her album called Solid Ground. You can try to order it from Amazon or dararecords.com but I don't know if you will get it on time. You can always try to download it somewhere. Good luck! It;s such a poignant song.

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Posted by irishsweetheart

Just wanted to warn my fellow irish gals that you shouldn't bother going to Quirk's irish shop in Massapequa cause they closed down!

FH was nice enough to drive all the way out there (bout a 30 min drive from my house) only to find out that it wasn't there!

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IT MOVED!!! its in west babylon now. They lost their lease there. Its off of montauk hwy in w. babylon in the Kmart shopping center near vitamin world.

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Posted by mrslouie

Emigrant Eyes is sung by Dolores Keane on her album called Solid Ground. You can try to order it from Amazon or dararecords.com but I don't know if you will get it on time. You can always try to download it somewhere. Good luck! It;s such a poignant song.

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Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!! i knew a famous Irish singer did it . . . I just couldn't remember who! thanks a bunch!!!!!!

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irish bands - any reccomodations?

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My friend had Celtic Cross at hers and they were AWESOME!!