The Specialist Wedding Planning Testimonials - Irish Weddings Weddings Abroad

From day one we always wanted to have a Winter Wonderland wedding and thanks to Sandra our dreams came true. We met with Sandra after we had booked our venue to discuss a decor package for our wedding. We booked Sandra for our decor and from that day on she was our shoulder to lean on. Whenever we were stuck we could call on Sandra for helpful advice or tips!!!

On the morning of the wedding Sandra phoned to see how my nerves were and she put me totally at ease.

The Church candles and flowers were amazing, Sandra even fixed my veil and dress before I went up the aisle. On arriving at the Castle I couldn't get over all the candles, xmas tree's etc, not only were myself and Conor blown away but all our guests too. To this day guests have said to me they loved the xmas tree's, favours and xmas crackers on the tables......

Oh I wish I could do it all over again and if so I wouldn't hesitate for a second in calling on Sandra to help. We couldn't recommend Sandra highly enough. To you, Sandra, myself and Conor are truly grateful and thank you sooooo much

Bernie and Conor

From start to finish, working with The Specialist to create our fairytale wedding was a really enjoyable experience and our wedding day was truly magical.

We enjoyed every stage of the planning process and, as a bride to be, having someone with Sandra's expertise, who was as excited about my wedding as I was, to e-mail and phone about wedding plans, ideas and to ask for advice was brilliant. Sandra really listened to what we wanted and came up with amazing ideas in keeping with our theme. She was fantastic through the whole process and we could relax knowing that our decor on the day would be amazing and would be something different to other couples having their wedding in the same venue.

I would highly recommend this service to all other couples planning their special day. From fabulous favours, lighting and even our very own fantasy arch everything was a amazing and we couldn't have asked for more. Sandra was a real pleasure to work with.

Claire and Marc, The Marriott, Druids Glen
Where do I begin with my thank yous to you Sandra? I'm getting emotional even thinking about our wedding day. I'm one of those girls who had always dreamed of being a bride and, working with you, all of my dreams came true and then some!! Few words can describe our reaction when we were brought in for a sneak peak at our transformed 'Black & Bling' ballroom moments before our guests were called for dinner. I'll never forget it. It took my breath away, truly. The reaction of our guests speaks for itself, they are still talking about the room!! Sandra, having a wedding planner was the best decision we ever made. The moment we met you we knew that we would be very happy working with you. I was happy to do a lot of the wedding myself, and loved spending hours doing research and planning all aspects of the wedding. However, being able to bounce ideas off you about the room décor, as well as be blown away with your unique and original little touches, made the planning so enjoyable for both myself and for Marc. You were always happy to help with all aspects of the wedding and never ever made us feel rushed into making decisions. Your enthusiasm and genuine nature is so infectious that even Marc got all caught up in the enjoyment of wedding planning!! Well done you!!
I wish I had the words to thank you properly but I found this quote from a female poet, George Elliston, which I think expresses what I am struggling to say:
How beautiful a day can be
When kindness touches it!
~George Elliston
Thank you, thank you, thank you
From the Tenwicks xx

Siobhan and Peter, Private Marquee
We got Sandra involved around a month before our wedding.... and our only regret is that we didn’t get her involved sooner! We had a marquee wedding in my parents’ house and there was a lot of organising which is usually handled by the hotel. Peter (my husband!!), my mum and I met Sandra on the 12th August, and we felt like a weight had been lifted from our shoulders. She made us feel like nothing was too much trouble and that she would look after everything! We felt so relaxed every time we spoke to her, and she was in contact with us nearly every day filling us in on all the plans with the suppliers, etc. On the wedding day, I woke feeling a little stressed about everything but literally as soon as Sandra arrived I handed all my thoughts of table names and paying suppliers over to her and then I was able to get down to the serious business of enjoying the day! Both guests and suppliers mentioned how good Sandra was and how lucky we were to have her. Peter and I were blissfully unaware of the logistics of tables, rain issues, etc. as everything ran so smoothly.
Genuinely, Sandra, we want to thank you so much for everything you did. We are still singing your praises to everyone we meet.
Keep in touch...

Fran Clusky, Brooklodge
The advice and detail Sandra offers throughout her consultation is fantastic. I met with Sandra not knowing where to start in planning for our wedding. Sandra brings you through exactly what needs to be done in order of priority. She has a lovely welcoming and professional manner. I’ve been telling everyone I know about Sandra!

Margie Pyle, Brooklodge
Thanks again for the super brilliant job you did for us - I was absolutely thrilled!

Linda and Michael, Killashee House
"Sandra was great! From the church right through to the reception, she would just better our ideas every time!"

Aneela, Clontarf Castle
The decor service provided by the Specialist was absolutely outstanding. I had an arabian nights theme for my asian henna party which turned out like a dream. All the lights and beautiful coloured candles and final touches contributed to the perfect warm and welcoming arabian ambience I had imagined.
The Specialist had smashing ideas and made even the impossible possible! Thanks very much Sandra you did an amazing job!

Edwina and Archie, Mallorca
Your wedding planning should be something you enjoy and not something that can potentially ruin the whole experience for both of you.

We had an idea of what we wanted yet no idea of how to get it. With Archie being Scottish and myself Irish one of our families would have to travel either way so we decided to go for what we really wanted and search the island of Majorca. Having been there on holiday and experienced the non touristy side to the island we decided this could be the perfect wedding venue as it is not too far to travel, not too expensive and caters for all budgets and time lengths whether it’s a weekend away or a week our guests could be accommodated. We both found ourselves immersed in work and spent every free moment on the net trying to source a venue in Majorca. Both of us were feeling quite stressed at the lack of originality we were experiencing when one day a work colleague had a recommendation from her hairdresser that we get in touch with The Specialist and we have never looked back since.

After our first meeting with Sandra we felt a weight had been lifted from our shoulders as she really listened to what we wanted and immediately came up with creative and interesting ideas before we had even committed to employing her. On our follow up meeting Sandra provided us with a presentation of five possible venues including initial costs. On visiting Majorca in February this year we fell in love with one of the options, its setting and beauty we would have never have discovered ourselves on the net. An old Finca in the middle of the mountain so far removed from the Majorca people expect. We felt privileged and excited to be able to introduce our friends and family to this other magical side of the island never seen by many.

In the coming months Sandra liaised with the local church, hotel, coach companies, florists, photographers, Spanish guitarist, make up artists, dj etc. and updated us with progress. In the days before the wedding Sandra flew to Majorca in advance for our wedding to ensure preparations were in place and arranged for a pre-wedding walk through which put my fathers mind at rest. (Nervous about the church and walking down the aisle). The day itself went better than we could ever have hoped for. Sandra took every ounce of stress from the day so much so that all of our guests commented on what a fantastic relaxed day it was. The only stress I experienced was trying to get Archie to pack for our honeymoon and I’m sure if I had asked Sandra to that she would have been over to the house in a jiffy organising Archie. She has a will do, positive outlook and nothing was ever too much to take on board.

We have to admit and Sandra is aware of this, that we were slightly embarrassed at first telling people that we had a wedding planner as you feel people will perceive you as lazy but looking back we would never have had the day we had without her.

We would absolutely have no hesitation in recommending The Specialist services to any perspective bride and groom as she was without a shadow of doubt the absolute best investment we made.

Edwina & Archie Scott

Sandra, I cannot thank you enough for ... let’s see ... your help, encouragement, support, advice, patience, calming influence, Saturday morning / evening phone calls.

You have been a wonderful wedding planner and friend to Matt and I these past few months.

Big thanks for all your help and support and for making me feel so special as a bride and bringing our day together in a magical way.

When I first told Eddie that I wanted a wedding coordinator he wasn’t 100% with it, but when he met you and heard all the wonderful ideas you had he was very happy.

You made our dream wedding come through, it was more than we had ever expected! Coming up to the day I couldn’t have been more relaxed having you on the other end of the phone when I needed to talk.

When I walked into our wedding room I wanted everyone to have the WOW factor and that’s exactly what we got. The Specialist was the best investment that we made and we would definitely recommend the service to everyone planning a wedding.

Thanks again for everything and for helping to organise the best day of our life!

Adrienne and Adam, Killashee House
We were delighted with Sandra Kelly’s expert orchestration of our wedding day and rehearsal dinner and we were very happy to have had the privilege of working with someone who translated our vision with such style, grace and professionalism. She loves what she does and it is truly reflected in her work.

Living abroad, it was great to be able to trust Sandra to handle our wedding plans and she made the process stress free and easy all the way through. She took plenty of time in getting to know us so she could make our wedding what we pictured. From our very first meeting Sandra came prepared and enthusiastic. She was very professional, but personable when dealing with our desires. She kept us updated on every detail and was always available, answering calls and e-mails promptly.

Her suggestions for vendors couldn’t have been better. From the romantic setting and decor she planned for our ceremony and reception, to organising a celebrant, musicians, florist, photographer, videographer, transportation and professional hair and make-up artists etc. She poured her heart and soul into planning our special day. Every detail exceeded our expectations and our guests were thoroughly impressed with her talents.

We would be more than happy to recommend Sandra’s service to anyone wanting to plan a wedding.

I would whole heartedly recommend Sandra to anyone thinking of getting married (especially abroad as we did). Sandra worked diligently to ensure we had everything we needed in place when it needed to be and was always just a phone call away whenever we thought of something we might like to consider.
She researched a number of venues and suppliers, always providing several options and always keeping in mind our overall budget but without compromising on quality.
Your wedding day can potentially be a stressful event but thanks to Sandra's help and experience we were both able to thoroughly enjoy the build up to and the actual wedding day itself.

It was truly a pleasure working with Sandra to plan our wedding. Organising our wedding in Ireland while living in New York was becoming an increasingly daunting task until we found Sandra. She was there at every step throughout the process with invaluable guidance and advice on all the options open to us. She spent a lot of time listening to all of our ideas, researching and negotiating with suppliers to bring them to fruition. Sandra's wealth of experience and expertise ensured everything fell into place perfectly and the most minute details were taken care of. She kept us updated throughout the planning process and was always very quick to revert to queries by email or phone. Hiring Sandra was the best investment we made in planning our wedding and we would enthusiastically endorse her service for anyone considering using an event coordinator. Thank you very much Sandra for helping to make our wedding day a truly magical and stress-free experience!

James & Emer