'And the bride (and her bride) wore two dresses!'
Tuesday July 13 2010
Caroline Mooney is addicted to weddings. Growing up in Greystones, Wicklow, she remembers peering through the local church railings transfixed by the brides and grooms celebrating their big day.
"I've always wanted to be a wedding planner," she says. "I suppose I am addicted to my job. I get so much enjoyment out of it. I just absolutely love it.
"You are such a part of the preparations. Once a bride is married and her big day is gone it's over, but for me I always have the next wedding to look forward to."
Now Caroline has established her own business, The Finishing Touch, and is officially Ireland's first Gay Wedding Planner.
"I just saw this gap in the market," she says. "I have close family and friends who are gay and I was doing all these weddings and here are some of my closest friends and family who can't even do that."
She helped arrange and add that special touch to Simon and James's wedding, and now that the Civil Partnership Bill has been passed, she is expecting same-sex ceremonies to boom.
"That side of the business is definitely growing," she says. "We cater for traditional weddings too, but to be honest with you I treat everyone the same way. There is absolutely no difference at all. Either way, you are dealing with two people who totally love each other.
"I've had two brides who had two dresses. You can have one that will wear a casual suit and the other wear the dress, but there is no rule -- just as there is no rule with heterosexual couples either."
Caroline's drive in establishing The Finishing Touch was to provide for same-sex couples in an industry that often shuns gay couples.
"Wedding fairs would be a prime example," she says. "If a gay couple went up to suppliers such as a florist or a photographer, often they would literally be turned away. They didn't want their business, which I find an absolute disgrace.
"There are some hotels that won't allow gay couples to hold the ceremony there.
"It's very common, even in some of the biggest hotels in Dublin. I mean, these two people who are genuinely in love and there's this attitude that is totally backward.
"To me, love is love. There's no difference just because it's between a boy and a girl. There is no difference at all."
Irish Independent
