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Well it's been a while since my last diary and an awful lot has happened. So here's my chance to fill you in.

I've changed jobs from working for a family firm close to home to working for a large corporate organisation on the Southside (I know, I still have to remember to bring my passport with me when I cross the Liffey every morning). It's been a major culture shock and I'm finding the travelling very hard. But in saying all that, the firm are great - I've even managed to meet up with an ex-Wolaholic and I am enjoying the challenge. I'm beginning to realise why I want to marry this fella of mine as he's been such a brilliant support to me - with my dinner on the table when I get home from work and a load of washing on, along with a big hug and a lift from the train station as it's raining. It's the little things he does that make me love him more and more!

Anyhow we've been dithering for a long time about our wedding location and about the actual form that we would like the day to take. In my last diary I mentioned that we were considering taking the wedding day out of the pale and we had narrowed it down to a shortlist of The Glendalough Hotel, The Cavan Crystal Hotel and the Bracken Court Hotel, all very lovely in their own right. However we found it extremely hard to choose one above the other, and they each had their own individual merits which made it even more difficult to think through. But we had left one hotel out of our shortlist which was the Europa in on the Drogheda/Meath border mainly because all of John's family occasions are held there and we were erring on the side of wanting to do something different.

Last month I met with Paul - the manager in the Europa, who we count as a family friend and while he didn't do the hard sell, the service he has offered can't be matched anywhere I've been. We've found over the past while that some hotels do packages, some don't, some will give you a wedding with bells on if you want, but it's those hotels that are prepared to go the extra mile that really catch my eye and persuade me to view them over the others.

So hotel chosen it lies with us to choose the format of the wedding day. This is the interesting part because both of our families would be very firm Catholics and we were raised that way. But it's not the way we lead our lives now and I feel that it would be very hypocritical of us to turn up at a church for that one day when we don't intend to go again and probably don't intend to raise our children in that faith. So we're at the moment considering organising a civil commitment ceremony at the hotel. This has opened up a world of opportunities for us as regards the format of the day; how many people we can invite. So I'm now getting very excited at the prospect of blazing a trail for my family so to speak and doing things my own way.

John as ever is keeping schtum and his counsel at the moment so I'm interested to see what the outcome will be in the end.

Until next time.
Caitriona xxx