I am a Mrs!

After the years of plotting, planning and Googling, I am now officially married.

Everyone had warned us how quickly time would fly by on the day and it was so true! The morning preparations went by in a blur. It was an absolute hive of activity. There was a make up artist, photographer, florist, neighbours, bridesmaids, family and friends fluttering around the place!

The night before, I (along with one of the other bridesmaids) slept a grand total of three hours. I was so excited and wondering how the day would unveil. I ended up getting up at 5am and pottering about til the rest of the house woke up. My Dad had organised for hot breakfast food to be brought to the house whilst we were at the hairdressers getting our 'dos done.

In the middle of all the madness, I even made time to vote! On the way back from the hairdressers with my veil fastened to my head, I trotted to the local voting centre with my Chief Bridesmaid in tow to help keep my veil off the ground. Got a few strange looks, but it was my constitutional duty, wedding day or no!

Before I knew it, we were all heading to the venue which was an hours drive away. It was only then the nerves started to hit! We chose a Chrysler 300c from Blue Ribbon, which was one of the most comfortable cars I've ever traveled in (even better when there's a Champagne accompaniment, but more about that later!)

The lovely wedding car

The running joke for most weddings is how late the Bride is going to be. I was ready to get wed at 1pm, on schedule. By the time we got pics taken and the Piper (Yes! There was a Piper, and he was awesome! It was a huge surprise and made the day even more special. I'm half Scottish, so it was very important for me to have my heritage play a part on the day) had played a few tunes to signal my impending arrival, we were ready and waiting to go into the ceremony room.

The Piper playing us into the Reception

I was a little weepy when I saw our Page boy decked out in his kilt, but I kept it together. (Surprisingly!) Here's a little secret about me. I am a softie. An out and out softie. I cry at Disney movies, soppy TV ads, a moving song, and weddings. I bawl at them all! So there was a lot of  people waiting in the room for my waterworks moment.

And it didn't happen!

I didn't cry during the ceremony at all. Little misty eyed yes, but no tears!

Instead it was my lovely new husband that got emotional. And I'm dying to see all the photos!

The Sylvanian Family wedding on the ceremony table

Our Zombie wedding couple, also on the ceremony table!

The Bridal party walked into Hoppípola, one of our favourite songs. It was only when I heard the opening bars of the song that it really hit that this was real and happening right now! We had opted for a Spiritualist ceremony and everyone came up to us afterwards and said it was absolutely beautiful. Our solemniser, Miriam did such a beautiful job in creating the ceremony and letting our personalities shine through, including a spontaneous high 5, a reading about dinosaurs and Sylvanian families and Lego decor.

Spontaneous High 5 FTW!

Little snap of our ring cushion

 After meeting up and chatting with our guests, we headed to the Japanese Gardens to get our photos taken with the Wedding party. We also had a fingerprint tree, a Lego wall, mulled cider and lots of mini scones and biscuits for our guests to enjoy whilst we were out gallivanting.Thankfully the weather seemed to work in our favour for the most part, so we made the most of it! On the way back, my new husband and I were ferried back to the hotel with champagne in the car before getting showered with confetti by our excited family and friends!

Confetti! All over the place!

The Lego Wall.. No naughty words on these ones!

By then, we were famished and ready to eat! We were escorted into the room by the Piper and after some kickass speeches from our Best Man Lady, both Dads, Mr. Ree and myself, the manging commenced! The food went down really well and there was lots of empty plates heading back to the kitchen, which is the best compliment in my book!

Wedding cake noms!

My talented sister-in-law made our cake for us, which was an array of champagne and strawberry cupcakes with a beautiful sponge cake on top. She had also created our wedding favours which were origami cranes, each holding a card with a poem she had written about the day and forget me not seeds for our guests to bring home and plant. It was such a lovely touch, and something which we hope everyone enjoyed.

One of the beautiful cranes

After all the dining and chatting, we all gathered in the lobby and bar, grabbing our inflatable Batman who had dutifully waited at the Reception desk for his big moment. After all the meeting and greeting, it was only fair that he should partake in some of the fun!

Batman on the dancefloor. He lost his head 5 times but still kept going! The trooper.

Mr. Ree's sisters (My new sisters-in-law) ushered us into the room where we had a surprise waiting for us! They had secretly put together a sweet table and even more nerdy cupcakes! The table was heaving with jars filled with fizzy saucers, jellies, marshmallows and so many more yummy treats! It went down a storm with the kids, and big kids alike! Later on we had lots of tea and coffee served with traditional Scottish shortbread. Needless to say, our guests were on a total sugar high!

Two big kids attacking the sweet table!

Just two of the wedding cupcakes on the sweet table - More pics as we get them!

A last minute purchase was some inflatable musical instruments. I found a company on eBay which were wonderful to deal with so we ordered some guitars, saxophones, banjos and microphones. Everybody had so much fun with them, which was great to see! There was a mix of kids with saxophones, grown men hopping around with guitars and karaoke fans warbling into the microphones. A must have for parties and weddings alike methinks.

The one element of the day that everyone was absolutely blown away by, was the band, Full Moon Boogie Band. They. Were. AWESOME! From the moment they started playing to their encore, the dance floor was never empty! When Batman was airborne and being danced with, they even broke out this tune, much to everyone's amusement. How can you not "Na-na-na-naaah!" along with it?

There was dancing til the wee hours, before whoever was still standing headed to the resident's bar for a traditional sing-song. By that point, shoes had been kicked off, cupcakes had been stashed in handbags and jackets had been discarded. By that point, I'd almost been awake for 24 hours, so it wasn't long before I could hear bed calling me!

A blurry pic of some musical instruments enthusiasts

All in all, we had an absolute ball! You hear Brides and Grooms look back on their wedding day and say it was the best day of their lives. So I won't say that. But it was definitely the best day of our lives so far! Mere days after our wonderful wedding day, we went Honeymooning with Mickey Mouse. But more on that next time!

I've planned a wedding, alongside my new husband. Will I stop looking at wedding things online and sniffling over wedding TV shows? Probably not. Watch this space!

Invites, Envelopes and Stamps, oh my!

Time is officially racing by at warp speed! We are mere weeks away from the wedding and this is quite possibly they busiest September of our lives!

This month alone, we have our engagement photoshoot, meeting with our solemniser to plan our wedding ceremony, Hens and Stags, Fittings, Hair and Make up trials and probably lots more besides!

A few months back I wrote a blog about wedding invitations. So it's only fair that I show you a little sneak preview of what we sent out to our guests. Ta-da!

Photo shamelessly nicked from Sue Fitzpatrick

We didn't want to go down the traditional wedding stamp route as the one for this year just made me cringe. The couple just look so awkward.

You're fooling no one, lads!

I know that most people probably wouldn't even look at the stamp, but you become completely enraptured in the little details for your wedding day. With this in mind, we scouted the An Post website trying to find something a little more 'us'. We then popped into the GPO to see what was available. Because we're such literary fans and enjoy films, including horror, how could we resist these bad boys?

 

We had been warned by couples who had trotted down the wedding planning route that in time, we would argue about something wedding related. Never in a million years did I think it would be over envelopes.

ENVELOPES!

I don't think I'd ever looked twice at most envelopes. But in my mind, only cream ones would do. Mr. Ree pointed out my previous opinion on envelopes, but now I had a colour scheme to erm.. defend? In the middle of our argument I stopped mid-sentence and said "We are fighting over envelopes." It was at that point, I knew that the wedding planning had taken over.

We laughed about it, now referred to as 'Envelopegate' and got it sorted. But it will go down in history as the most ridiculous argument we've ever had!

So what's next Chez Ree? We've to sort out our wedding ceremony next and finalise choices across the board. No-one ever said planning a wedding was easy!

Public vs Private proposals

This week, the internet has been alight with the story of the New Orleans rose being proposed to on the Rose of Tralee. The general feeling was absolute mortification for Molly Molloy Gambel, who has made history after being the first rose to be proposed to live on the show.

For anyone who hasn't seen the clip, don't say I'm not good to you!


So after saying "No!" a couple of times, and even a "please don't" for good measure, she eventually went onto say yes and they are now happily engaged.

What I noticed was the backlash that public proposals got in the land of social media. There were tweets such as "I'd kill him!" and "I'm mortified for her!" But let's face it. While it wasn't the most traditional proposal, it was certainly memorable!

Even if public proposals aren't for you, it takes guts to go out in front of a crowd and put yourself on the line whilst asking someone to spend their life with you. So I think anyone who does that should be commended.

We've all seen videos on Youtube of proposals going wrong with cringey aftermaths. Proposals are becoming more and more creative, detailed and shared. What could be a private moment between a couple can now be shared with friends and family worldwide with just a few clicks.

The way I see it, the way in which someone asks you to be their husband, wife, significant other or Zombie killing partner, shouldn't be the most important thing. The fact that they have asked you to be with them and to stand up in front of your nearest and dearest to say "This is us. We love each other and want to share our happiness with you" is far more important.

Whether your proposal was private between the two of you, in front of friends at a party or at a stadium filled with thousands of people. The most important thing should be that you've found someone that you want to spend your life with, through the bad times, good times and great times! That feel good factor trumps a red faced moment any day!

Excited face!

Make and do inspiration

I have the greatest of respect for brides and grooms who inject creativity into their wedding day with DIY projects. So you can only imagine my excitement when I came across this project on Offbeat Bride 

Shaving Cream lanterns. I couldn't believe my eyes! I'm not the most competent DIY and craft enthusiast, but I could definitely give it a bash! All you need is shaving foam and food colouring. Swirl it up and then dip whatever you want to tie dye into it. Easy peasy.. I think!

For the full list of pics from this particular bride's project, click here.

Here's a tutorial I found online. It's about using shaving foam to decorate Easter Eggs, but it can be used on all sorts of textiles and surfaces.

Will I be able to use it for something to do with the wedding? Watch this space!

Honeymoon happiness

It's official. We are almost into the final stretch!

Invites are being designed, dresses have been ordered, menu tastings are planned and decor ideas are being signed off.

When we started planning our wedding day, the one thing I didn't expect was how encompassing wedding planning can become. It quickly becomes a common ground topic to discuss with most people, so you find yourself talking about it, looking up ideas, even dreaming about it! (I've even had a few wedding nightmares, madness!)

It's easy to get caught up in all the excitement.

Yet in all this excitement, I sort of forgot that we get to go away on Honeymoon.

We had a look at different Honeymoon packages including desert island getaways to luxurious cruises and everything in between! So many beautiful locations with lots of different budgets.

For us, what we really wanted was to cut loose. We already acted like big kids, why not bring that joviality on our Honeymoon?

With that in mind, we quickly decided on a Honeymoon in Disneyland. We love the Disney films, love the songs and are basically big kids with bank accounts. Mr Ree quickly discovered that for the full month of October, Adventureland will be decorated for Halloween. As this is his favourite holiday, this got a huge thumbs up from us! The park isn't far from Paris either so if we wanted to indulge in delicious French cuisine or have a goo around the city of lurrve, then we were close to the heart of things.

Spooky Disney?! Oh HELL YES!

The flights have been booked, the hotel has been paid for and passports have been checked. All we have to do is wait just a few more weeks and we'll be leaving on a jetplane! (OK, not a spaceship, but the tune is damn catchy!)

I personally cannot WAIT to release my inner child and enjoy the whole Disney experience with my new husband. Rocking the Mickey Mouse ears of course..

When else will we be able to rock these bad boys? WANT!

Trash the Dress Inspiration

I've often wondered what I'm going to do with my wedding dress after the 'Big Day'. Do I keep it in a box so my kids can look at it and probably prance around in it at some point? Craft it lovingly into a Christening gown to become a family heirloom? (Not too sure we'd get much use out of it, as we're not planning to baptise any of our children)

Recently I've become really interested in 'Trash the Dress' shoots as you'll be giving your dress a whole new lease of life and getting some fun pictures out of it with your partner.

You can only imagine my excitement when I came across these pics from WeddingsOnline (Full link here)

Can you guess what's going to happen next?

Deep breath!

Paint + Wedding attire = Colourful, fun chaos it seems. Personally I think it would be a lot more fun to get crafty with my wedding dress rather than stashing it in a box. Chances are we'll have a naming ceremony for any future Mini Rees, what kid wouldn't enjoy rocking a multicoloured robe for the day? Think it's a no brainer really!

Colour, Confetti and Craic

Paperwork, Invitations and Attire, oh my!

We have officially been flat out here chez Ree. The WEDDING DAY is looming, well not looming exactly but it's fast approaching!

Friends of ours had advised us to get all the small jobs done as even they will stress you out closer to D-Day. This has now left me in the position of comparing swatches, trying to decide between wooden or paper boxes and Google has been completely exhausted with wedding related searches. (Sorry Google!)

If Google was a cat

Last week we registered our intent to marry, so the State is aware that we're intending on having our nuptials in Ireland. (With Alpacas! But more about that later)

I was convinced that I would forget something when we went to meet the registrar. Even though they had kindly sent us out a letter with a checklist, I still got my long suffering parents to rifle through the family files until the right birth cert was found. (Who knew there was more than one type of birth certificate? I didn't!)

After we had all the correct paperwork, off we went to the Registrar's office (and somehow managing not the 'stray' into the Science Gallery!) We then went upstairs to wait with some other couples. While we were waiting to go in, a couple were called forward and a third man joined them. It set my mind racing! When did plural marriage become legal in Ireland? How did I miss this? How modern and risqué! Mr. Ree was quick to burst my bubble and point out it was probably a translator. Even still, people watching and creating wild back stories for people will continue to be a hobby.

The Registrar we met with was lovely and very helpful. She went through our paperwork and wanted to check that we were in no way related. We assured her that we were definitely not swimming in each other's gene pools. She took photocopies of our passports (which contains the most horrific picture of me. Seriously!) All in all, the whole process took about 10-15 minutes and was relatively painless. For a list of all the bare necessities, click here.

It's all real now!

A very good friend of ours has also agreed to make the invitations for us. We went to a Wedding Fair earlier in the year and hadn't been blown away with the selection. I have never had any particular affinity with doves, flowers or birdcages* before, so I didn't see the point in including them in our wedding day. Cue an email of video game imagery, cartoons and toys being sent to our pal, and to his credit he didn't flinch. Probably because he knows what nerdy things we're into. With some wedding suppliers we have dealt with, they're not sure how to deal with more 'specialised' requests and tried to steer us down the more traditional routes. Needless to say, we didn't go down those garden paths.

* As an aside, I always thought the symbolism behind a birdcage and linking it with a wedding was bizarre. Wedding doesn't equal entrapment surely? Or perhaps I'm overthinking this..

The last thing we need to work out is what everyone is wearing on the day. I have to hold my hands up and admit it's the one can I've been kicking down the road. I'm at the point where I don't mind what the bridesmaids wear, as long as they're comfortable. Ditto the lads, but the only rule I have is: No gold, and no pink! Although I've been asked by guests if there are colours they're not allowed to wear. I find it shocking that some brides tell their guests what the can and can't wear. The mind boggles! Needless to say, I quickly quashed the questions (Mm.. Q alliterations!) regarding colour schemes. I think the only way I could be upset is if someone wore a big flouncy wedding dress, tiara and arrived in a carriage. I have my gúna almost a year now and I'm pretty sure no one will be wearing the same outfit. If there is, I'm not getting changed!

For more up to date wedding related giddiness, check me out on Twitter @LisaOree

I can totally understand why there are wedding planners in the world...

With less than five months to go til the wedding day, the reality is beginning to hit.

We've been booked into our hotel for a menu tasting, have to finalise wedding invitations and been 'confirming' things. It really doesn't seem like that long ago since I brought home a shitload* of wedding magazines and we started making lists of venues we liked. I'm glad that we organised some key aspects of our wedding shortly after engaged as I feel like I'm running out of steam!

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the wedding planning. But it's trying to allocate time to do it. When I'm in 'getting shit done' mode, I'm on fire! But then there are the duvet days, when I just want to stay in my onesie all day and just veg out on the couch. These are the days that I sometimes wish I had a wedding planner.

In my mind's eye, the wedding planner is like the grown up's version of a Fairy Godmother. She is knowledgeable, sage and completely calm. She wouldn't be getting frustrated if she couldn't find the right type of flowers and stuff (It's not happened to me yet either, but watch this space!)

Nobody gonna mess with the Fairy Godmother!

It's funny, but when I first started picking out things that I liked and putting it into a wedding folder, I could see why people enter into the career as a wedding planner. It's an exciting time, creativity is rife and there are all kinds of possibilities laid out on the table.

When you have those initial decisions made and deposits are put down there's always a little niggling feeling of doubt. No matter how much you feel like this is the right decision for you both. Is the colour scheme going to work out? (Apparently colours can be 'seasonal' - who knew?!) What food will suit everyone? Sweet Jesus what if the dress doesn't fit?!

You could easily worry yourself into a nervous wreck, but I have to catch myself and do this to myself - mentally speaking!

A wedding is one day. One. Is anyone really going to notice or care if there is no apparent colour scheme, or if steak isn't on the menu, or if I'm sporting bingo wings you could perform a flying squirrel leap with? After all, a dog marriage is for life. I don't think I'll look back and sweat the small stuff.

So even though I have my days of "I really should get cracking on ~random wedding task~" I don't know that I would happily give the reins over to someone who doesn't know all my quirks and in-jokes. Until then, we'll just keep on trucking, we're very nearly there!


*metric

Getting shit done!

This poor blog has been gathering dust, but I have an excuse!

The wheels have been set in motion and we've moved into the next gear. In the last few weeks we've booked a solemniser, organised the bridesmaids to go dress shopping, sorted out what we wanted to do for our Honeymoon and cemented down other plans.

Tonight we've got one of the big things off our to-do list.

We have chosen our wedding rings.

SPOILER - Not these exact rings, but you get the idea.

Oh yes. The rings that we'll wear for our married life together have officially been chosen and ordered. We tried on so many.

Seriously.

There was literally a suitcase FULL of rings for us to try on. We asked 101 questions and the excitement has officially hit!

Lego bling FTW!

We've learned a lot from the experience. So here are our top tips:

1. Shop around - Can't emphasize this enough. We had looked at a variety of different designs, metals, settings etc., Choose to suit yourself and don't be afraid to take your time to think it through.

2. Ask questions -  That's what the experts are there for. If you want to know the pros and cons of a tension setting or what metals keep their shine longest, then there's only one way to find out. Just ask.

3. Try everything on -  This is the MOST IMPORTANT of all the tips. We had very set ideas about what kind of wedding rings we wanted. We found similar rings and tried them on. They were lovely. Really lovely. But there was something not quite right. We both chose rings that didn't exactly fit our 'brief' but which we ultimately love! Be flexible and keep an open mind, you might just surprise yourself.

4. Be clear with each other - If you love your wedding ring, make it clear to your partner that you're done looking. The look on your face should say it all!

5. Don't be afraid to haggle - the worst they can say is no!

6. Once you have chosen your wedding rings, don't look elsewhere - Seriously. You'll just torment yourself. Have faith in the decision that you have made and stand by it. There was a reason you had that "WOW!" moment.

Tempting...

It's one of the big things off our list, relief is in the air! Next we have to decide about engraving, but that's for another post!

Wedding Invitation madness

I'll be the first to hold my hands up and admit I have taken my foot off the pedal recently when it comes to wedding planning. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to marry Mr. Ree and have a fun filled day surrounded by our nearest and dearest as we say our vows as man and wife. But there's only so much enthusiasm one can muster for 'wedding talk' beyond a point.

Time is ticking on though so I have to pull myself together (which is no mean feat when you're working two jobs and trying to fit in time for family, friends and Mr. Ree of course!) Apparently we're meant to send out 'Save the Date' alerts to our guests. I'm not entirely au fait with this, I just presumed we told our friends the wedding date and sent out an invite. Badda-bing-badda-boom, done!

Or not.

I have learned that 'Save the Dates' are important, so it's another thing on the ever-growing to-do list. Whilst researching all this, I checked out a few websites and stumbled upon something else that I had overlooked.

Wedding Invitations.

*Cue Dah-dah-DAAAAH! music*

We were at a wedding show recently and there was suppliers for everything you can imagine, seriously..

Wedding balloon people, it's a thing now.

I had a look at wedding invitations there and didn't like any of them. They were all pastel, diamantes with a bit of ribbon. I don't like pastel. I really don't. This got us thinking about what we DID want. Step forward Google and it's every-expanding wisdom.

Here are some of my favourite wedding invitations which I hope to pull some inspiration from:

1. Mario Wedding Invitation -  The attention to detail on this one makes it my favourite. Such a clever design and nostalgic to boot. What's not to love?

2. Comicbook Invite - Anyone who knows Mr. Ree and I knows how much we love our comic books. (It's only a matter of time before we buy another much-needed bookcase) The fact that the graphics are customised just makes it cooler in my eyes.

3. Pacman - Waka waka waka waka! Now it's in your head, you're welcome.

4. Photobooth Invite - Granted these have been out for a while, but think of all the fun you could have with the concept. You could do it in costume, get friends and family in on it, get some fun props that show off your personality. Your imagination is the limit!

5. Ouija board invite - This is something a little darker, but it'll definitely be something that your guests will remember!

6. Viewmaster - This doesn't strike me as something that would come cheap, but if money was no object... Really cool idea, and who didn't love playing with these when they were kids? (and beyond!)

7. Ticket invites - This is an idea we were mulling over when we first got engaged. Let's face it, for a festival/carnival themed wedding, you won't get cooler invites than these!

8. Scrabble - Always a favourite chez Ree, think of the fun you could have with this concept? Plus it wouldn't cost the world to do either.

9. Message in a bottle - This is a fun idea for a nautical themed wedding, not sure if I'd have the patience to get the note out without being tempted to break the bottle though. Patience is a virtue...

Bonus Invite - OK, this one made me giggle. I love movies, love movie posters and fair play to the couple for recreating it. But I just don't think these work, unless you either go all out or have some fun with it, a la Bride of Frankenstein or something.

In short, looking around at different types of wedding invites ultimately left me a little more confused. I think the most important thing is to choose invites that you both like. They might not be everyone's cup of tea, but mine sure as hell won't be pastel.

Wedding resources

Getting married is meant to be an exciting time. I remember when we announced our engagement to our families and friends, it was a hub of joy and excitement. It wasn't long after we got engaged that my family and I excitedly bought loads of wedding magazines. Discussed pros and cons of what time of year to get married. What dress styles did I like? Ivory, Cream, Champagne, Colour or a variant of white?

However, the novelty of flicking through the glossy pages of wedding magazines quickly wavered. I had spent €5 on a shiny paged brochure of all things wedding related flogging their wares. It was then I realised that the wedding industry was bigger than I had ever thought possible. (Seriously, Google 'wedding' and you get 1,150,000,000 hits!)

Recently we attended a wedding show with many different vendors offering a multitude of services. I thought releasing doves, fireworks and free flowing champagne were considered personal touches to your day. Instead it has exploding into so much more. We were presented with customised glasses, balloon people, a meat wagon, sweet tables and so much more. All these added touches cost money, whether or not they would make your wedding day better or enhance your marriage? I wouldn't bet on it.

There seems to be a lot of pressure put on your wedding day as 'The Best Day of your Life'. Personally, I don't agree. I think it is a very important day when you and your partner vow to love and care for each other in the paradigms you set for your marriage, but expecting it to be the 'The Best Day of your Life' puts unnecessary pressure on a day where you should just relax and have fun with your guests. The best day of your life may be when you travel somewhere you've always wanted to go, succeed in your career goals or hold your child for the first time. Everybody is different.

People must be buying stuff like this, wedding flip flops for life yo!

Shit happens. Your dress might get dirty, guests might be late, someone who is not the bride might wear cream, someone (or several people) may get drunk and make fools of themselves. Is it really going to matter in the long run? Really?! Let your wedding day reflect you. Who cares if felt flowers aren't traditional? Or Lego isn't considered appropriate table decor? Don't want to wear white or a similar shade? Then don't. Just because something is considered 'the done thing' doesn't mean you have to do it. It's a long way down that rabbit hole so look before you leap!

After wasting money on the glossy wedding mags, I soon realised that I could get the same information and even more ideas online, for free! I read reviews, looked at forums of real brides up for discussing their experiences. No glossy magazine can do that. So why do we buy them? Well, when else are we going to? It's an exciting time, and it's hard not to get carried away with all the giddy excitement, but don't forget to explore all resources. Chat to family and friends, get information from real brides, talk to colleagues. These kind of resources are priceless.

Marriage for all

Let me start this post by stating that I support marriage as an institution. I also believe that everyone should have the right to be legally recognised as a married couple and should have the legal protection and rights that come with the territory.

However, I live in Ireland. A country with rich history, talented creative minds and beautiful landscapes. Like any country, it's not perfect. There are restrictions on rights such as abortion, same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption. Catholicism in Ireland has a lot to answer for. As a result of its influence there has been widespread conservatism at play in this country for decades. So much so, that it infringes on basic human rights.

So you can only imagine the excitement when I read this article from Marriage Equality. It's a step in the right direction. It may just be a step, but it's movement towards equal rights for all couples. The way I see it, love is universal. If you're lucky enough to love another human being so much that you can envisage spending your life with them, and you choose to marry. It shouldn't matter what your gender is.

Change is coming in Ireland in several fronts, change which is long overdue. A Millward Brown study showed that 75% of people would vote yes in a referendum to extend civil marriage to same-sex couples. In the same study 69% of people agreed that being raised in a loving home by loving parents is a more significant factor for a child’s well-being than being raised by a mother and a father.

The people of Ireland have voiced their support for same-sex marriage, now it is time for the government to act.

Wedding ring shopping

As the wedding date comes closer, I've found myself slowly gravitating towards jewellers windows to have a gawk at what sparkly wedding rings I would consider sporting during married life.

So where does one look for wedding rings with nerdy leanings? Step in Google! At least we won't be short ideas when it comes to wedding ring designs! Here's a few of my favourites:

Hans and Leia, just yes. Would rather have it engraved inside the rings though, context is everything!

Although this looks like a normal wedding ring, you program your wedding date into it and on the day of your anniversary, it heats up on the wearer's finger. No more forgotten anniversaries and something interesting for the gadget lovers!

Really like this Legend of Zelda one, chances are we'll opt for some nerdy engraving.

For something totally personal, check out these fingerprint rings. Really like this idea, especially as it looks like a tree trunk.

If wedding rings aren't your thing, there are lots of cool ideas for tattoos too!

8bit heart? Oh yes!

Key and heart? V sweet.

Like this version too

My favourite. If I was getting a wedding ring tattoo, it'd be something along these lines I'd choose. Intimate but beautiful.

Couples are always getting creative when it comes to showing their love, be it privately or publicly. These wedding ring pictures have given me even more ideas for my own wedding ring, maybe too many ideas!

Are there any unusual wedding rings that you like? Go on, sharing is caring!