Irish weddings - traditional is trendy

A SURVEY BY One4all gift specialists, says 71 per cent of people here want to get married at home, and in a church.

For the controversial 29 per cent who do choose to get married abroad, Italy is the most popular destination.

Respondents talked about wedding etiquette too and they had a long list of no-nos, including laughing during the vows (most unpopular mistake at 48 per cent), bringing a crying baby to the church, and arriving late.

But we are a vain nation it seems, as only 4 per cent think it rude to take persistent photographs during a wedding ceremony.

At the reception then, Irish people think speeches should be short and snappy at under 15 minutes, and they want the best man to be polite to the bride, to thank the parents, and to complement the guests.

On presents, porcelain figurines are the most useless of all, but cash and vouchers scored well.

The majority of those who participated said they felt a cash gift of between €50-100 was normal.

Finally, for the burning question of whether the bride should wear a veil or not – 54 per cent felt the woman should cover up, the rest didn’t care.