I know American weddings inside and out - buy from the registry, don't wear white and upstage the bride, and so on and so forth. I'm going to my cousin's wedding in Ireland this March, and I'm looking for some tips for Irish weddings.

Is it standard to buy a wedding gift?
Does Ireland do wedding registries like the US?
Do you bring the gift to the wedding or mail it?
Are any colors off limits for guests?
Are hats/fascinators standard or is that more British?
Around here, strapless and short dresses are standard for the 20-something crowd - okay, or not?

This is a rather large wedding - 300+ guests, in a church with a large party/reception afterwards.

I'm actually from England, but my Dad's Irish and I've been to several weddings over there. Not all weddings are the same, but generally:

Is it standard to buy a wedding gift?
Yes - but don't feel you have to spend a fortune.

Does Ireland do wedding registries like the US?
Usually yes, but if you buy something that isn't on the list, it's ok too.

Do you bring the gift to the wedding or mail it?
I've always brought it to the wedding if I picked it up. If it's from the wedding list usually you just pay at the shop/online and they wrap and deliver the gifts altogether with a note saying who it's from. In that situation I'd just take a card with me.

Are any colors off limits for guests?
White, obviously. I wouldn't go head to toe in black either really.

Are hats/fascinators standard or is that more British?
All the Irish weddings I've been to have had more hats/fascinators than the English ones! Definitely a hat moment!

Around here, strapless and short dresses are standard for the 20-something crowd - okay, or not?
How short? Just above the knee is fine. Much shorter, and I'd be a bit concerned. I'd only wear a strapless dress if you have something over it for the church/ceremony part. Particularly if it's a church wedding. You wouldn't get thrown out, but it's not great manners to have shoulders/boobs/thighs out in church. The standard thing here would be a knee length/just above knee length dress, with a jacket over for the ceremony. Then you have your strapless dress without jacket for the evening party!

Thats so exciting I love weddings! Wheres is it on?

To answer your questions.

Is it standard to buy a wedding gift?

Yes, although sometimes money in an envelope is preferred by the couple. Myself I think its somewhat tacky and would always buy a gift but others disagree


Does Ireland do wedding registries like the US?

Yes but not to the same extent, depending on where in the country they are from they may have a registry in Brown Thomas, Arnotts, Harvey Nichols or other smaller shops. Above are the 3 biggest department stores.

Do you bring the gift to the wedding or mail it?

Bring it but there probably wont be a table or somewhere to put it, not really sure what the etiquette is here because recently i've only been to close relatives weddings where I just dropped it round to the house after.

Are any colors off limits for guests?

White and Black are generally off limits, however you will see people wearing black.

Are hats/fascinators standard or is that more British?

Definitively appropriate to wear a head piece of some description but not necessary, remember the weather we have in Ireland, particularly by the coast is often rainy and windy! Last wedding I was at when everyone was leaving the church there was a big gust and hats went flying all over the grounds and fascinator with feathers just ended up looking soggy and limp so make sure you keep an eye on the weather forecast!


Around here, strapless and short dresses are standard for the 20-something crowd - okay, or not?

Yea that's fine. Last wedding I wore something like this www.oasis-stores.com . . . but in pink and with a little cardigan over it for the ceremony.

Enjoy the wedding! And if you've any more Ireland related questions feel free to PM me.

This is my experience from the North of Ireland, but the country's not that big... it doesn't vary wildly at all!

How close are you to your cousin?? Don't be going to a huge expense with a wedding gift, there will probably be a list, but you'll need to ask for that.

There's no such thing as a rehearsal dinner, I'm not even sure why you have that! But anyway.

For anyone that I've known at home to be married, the gifts are brought to the bride's house in the week before the wedding, but it's bad etiquette to turn up the night before and expect to be received well! It's so that on the actual day you don't have to worry about who looks after the wedding presents... There usually isn't any! And if you're not close enough to the B&G to be turning up to the house, then you'll have requested the gift be delivered from the shop, or you'll have a bit of money in an envelope to hand to one of the couple.

Colours have been covered... no white, no black, I'd say no pale colours, but only in case it's a dull day, and you don't want to look washed out with dull grey clouds behind you.

I'm from Northern Ireland, weddings are a big thing, I've seen plenty of weddings/photos of mainland uk weddings, what with living in Scotland now, and they're really not half as a big of a thing over here! I mean, yes, the royal wedding they all had hats and stuff, but a lot of guests here don't... In Ireland, yes... lots of guests have hats and fascinators. It's up to you if you're comfortable wearing one or not.

Yes, ok to wear short dresses/strapless... Don't wear something you wouldn't normally wear! I'd say if you were going to a formal dinner dance you'd wear something similar, nice dress, nice shoes, nice hair and make up if that's your thing, and a coat/jacket that's formal enough to be part of the outfit, not just a coat to cover up. That's a fairly essential thing. If you want to just wear a cardigan and have a coat in case it gets cold, then that's fine, but definitely don't think just dress when you think of what you're wearing.