The Honeymoon Testers Blog

VIDEO: Q&A with the Honeymoon Testers Part 2

There are millions of websites, magazines, blogs and even TV shows dedicated to support the female wedding experience but most of the time grooms go solo through the wedding minefield. Enter, IamStaggered.com to provide grooms with funny, insightful and useful wedding advice and tips. Our friends at IamStaggered have sent over a few questions that form part two of our Q&A video - thanks guys. If you did not see part 1 of the Q&A catch it here.

Here goes...

For hassle free honeymoon bookings visit www.RunawayBrideandGroom.com

VIDEO: Q&A with the Honeymoon Testers Part 1

Our friends at leading online wedding gift registry www.Buy-Our-Honeymoon.com submitted a couple of great questions about the Ultimate Job experience and being Honeymoon Testers. Watch the video below for our answers and to hear how we actually used Buy-Our-Honeymoon.com for our own gift registry when we got married.

Check out www.Buy-Our-Honeymoon.com for more information. Enjoy...

As always a massive thanks to RunawayBrideandGroom.com for this opportunity, if you are engaged and planning your honeymoon we highly recommend visiting RunawayBrideandGroom.com.

Elegance the Elizabeth and Claire way!

Posted by Denise

So ladies, I know you want to hear about the clothes most of all!

Part of the winning prize was a €1000 gift voucher for Dublin design duo, Elizabeth and Claire, and I was thrilled because I took a peep at their clothes online before the final and I fell in love with their classic and very classy designs.

The "going away" outfit is such a gorgeous concept. It was traditionally the travel outfit that the bride wore after the wedding, and I love the idea of the smart 1950s suit and pumps and waving goodbye to your guests from a vintage car.

This tradition has changed somewhat but brides do want to get changed out of their wedding dress and into something more comfortable and stylish for the evening, but also something that will double up to wear on honeymoon. 

I'm definitely not a fashionista, and my wardrobe is in dire need of some glamour, so I was particularly excited about this prize and the chance to try on some of Elizabeth and Claire's stunning designs. 

Elizabeth and Claire dress many celebrities and high profile women, and after seeing their clothes, it's not hard to see why. Understated elegance and flawless tailoring, as well as beautiful fabrics and colours. 

The lovely and stylish duo met us at the studio for our first TV appearance on The Morning Show with Sybil and Martin, and they had about ten minutes to transform me from tired and scruffy Denise into a glowing competition winner. 

Considering the weekend we had, I virtually had no brain power left, so I left the choice of dress in their capable hands, and wore the Coco Dress in Petrol, a beautiful blue colour and a very stylish but surprisingly comfortable dress.

After the filming, we went back to their boutique to find another dress, the classic Claire Ella dress in black. This is the kind of dress that I'll own forever. It's beautifully made, lined in hot pink silk and a classic cut that will never date. I'm just so thrilled that I'll be well dressed for any big occasion (maybe even Oprah!).

Elizabeth and Claire very generously also gave me a sweet little waistcoat, which I could dress up, or even wear with some cute jeans. In the end, I spent almost £1150 in about 30 minutes. I could get used to that! Now, I just need a shoe sponsor....

Thank you to Elizabeth and Claire for this wonderful prize and for making me feel so glamorous. I'm thrilled to be wearing your dresses all around the world!

Don't worry - Mark isn't going to miss out. He's getting a suit from Louis Copeland (very famous for suits in Ireland), and I'm sure he'll post photos soon!

Check out the slideshow of my visit to their boutique...

Elizabeth and Claire

Suite 10, The Distillers Building 

New Church Street, Smithfield 

Dublin 7

http://www.elizabethandclaire.ie/

The WORST part about winning

Posted by Mark

Denise and I have lived together for nearly six years and for the last four years we have shared our home with the two most amazing cats in the world.

Before meeting Denise. I had never had a pet bigger than a rabbit and I was not a pet person, so much so that I had a pretty strong dislike to felines.

However, after much convincing we decided to adopt a cat from Battersea Dogs and Cats home in London. We actually ended up choosing two cats so they would have a companion to play with while we were at work and away. The two cats we selected we shy, sweet and very hairy named Fluffy and Curtis.

We quickly renamed our big boys to reflect their handsomeness, coolness and size - Leo the lion and Bruno the bear. 

Over the last four years we have fallen in love with Leo and Bruno and looked forward to having them greet us at the top of the stairs every day when we get home. Leo is the adventurous, braver and sometimes bully of these two brothers and Bruno is the timid but more affectionate slightly smaller cat.  

Both cats have their own personality, habits, sounds and charm, anyone that has spent time with these awesome cats knows they are the best.

Today is a sad day because we have to re-home Leo and Bruno. We know someone amazing is going to fall for these guys and give them a fantastic new home but we will miss them a lot, despite our house being covered in black hair, smelling like cat and being woken up every morning with them jumping on to our bed.

Sorry we have to re-home you guys, thanks for being so wonderful - look after each other.

P.S. - We are not crazy cat people :-)

Thank you for choosing us!

Hello again!

Well, it's been a crazy 24 hours and we're sorry that we haven't posted earlier. We got to Dublin this afternoon after a day filled with media interviews and a TV appearance, and decided to go for dinner with one of the other couples, Tim and Lauren (the cutest couple ever) to chill out. 

We are obviously thrilled and completely stunned that we won. Everyone in the final were very talented - all of us had different strengths and personalities, but everyone was friendly and supportive of each other. As Pat Falvey said, we were all there because we're dreamers, and we can't wait to see what everyone does next. 

It was a unbelievable weekend, the most intense job interview ever and apart from our wedding, the most fun we've had together. Thank you to everyone around the world for your support. 

Thank you to the team at Runaway Bride and Groom for believing in us, and to all the sponsors for making the competition possible. We want to make you proud and ensure that everyone around the world knows what a beautiful and hospitable country Ireland is - truly the ultimate wedding destination!

Thank you also to the people of Kinsale. The whole town really pulled together to host the final weekend. The beautiful Ballinacurra House, where all of us stayed for the weekend, and also the Trident, Blue Haven and the Carlton for hosting different parts of the process. The local restaurants were superb too!

I think the most memorable part of the weekend were the crazy challenges. Couples running off in all directions around the town, the stress and frustration of working all night and of course, a taste of the high life around the beautiful town.

Tonight we're staying at The Clarence in Dublin, a lovely hotel owned by Bono and The Edge, and our room's balcony was the setting for their Beautiful Day video!

Tomorrow we're heading back to London to pack up our lives and get ready for six months promoting Ireland and experiencing the Ultimate Job!

Stay tuned, we'll be blogging, vlogging, tweeting and Facebooking the whole journey!

Video Challenge: Finding the Ultimate Job Successors (already!)

Even though the winning couple for the Ultimate Job in the Ireland (and Probably the World) hasn't been announced yet, the judges set us a task of promoting the next competition. 

I'm sure that if you've been following our journey, you'll need little encouragement to apply for yourself, but hopefully we can inspire you to go for it!

Racing to the finish line.....

With barely any time to breathe, we've less than an hour and a half until our video deadlines.

Again on just a few hours sleep, we've been up filming any last bits and pieces, frantically editing, bickering at least once or twice on creative differences, but utterly determined to get great videos in on time.

Video Challenge: Kinsale - the Ultimate Wedding Destination

Kinsale is one of the friendliest towns you'll ever encounter and it has everything you need to have the most memorable wedding. Whether you want traditional churches or modern style, Kinsale will suit every couple's taste.

Every wedding supplier is passionate about what they do, and will go above and beyond for your big day. The food and drink are second to none, and it's not surprising that Kinsale is considered the culinary captial of Ireland.

We had a wonderful weekend there, checking out all the wedding venues and sampling everything an engaged couple would need to plan their dream wedding.

Charm, romance and impeccable Irish service, Kinsale is the Ultimate wedding destination, but you really have to come and experience it for yourself.

Day 2 in Kinsale - one step closer to the Ultimate Job

Whew - another day training and competing for the Ultimate Job title. 

After a blissful night's sleep in our big beautiful bed at Ballinacurra, we were up early to prepare for the day.

The very first challenge was another "treasure hunt" in Kinsale. At 10am, we had to listen to Radio RTE 1 for a clue which would lead us to a local venue where Rosemarie was being interviewed. The first couple to find the secret location was given a radio interview, and a chance to practice for the upcoming media attention.

The clue was, "Don't want to repeat myself, but I've got a silly view". Straight away we knew it was the Fishy Fishy restaurant overlooking Scilly bay, so we ran off (Mark in the lead, me puffing behind in my high heels), and we were the first couple by a couple of minutes - YAY! 

After that, we were giving free rein to film in Kinsale for our video challenge, promoting Kinsale as the ultimate wedding destination, so we went around chatting to local wedding vendors and making new friends.

Lunch was an amazing seafood spread in the Trident Hotel's honeymoon suite overlooking the bay, followed by a harbour cruise with Atlantic Charters who took us for a trip past the historical Charles Fort and James Fort, and the beautiful scenery of the bay.

In the afternoon, we had our official job interview with the judges - Zara and Rosemarie from Runaway Bride and Groom, Aminta from the Irish Times, and Jillian from Practice PR. Nerve wracking of course, because it was our chance to show the judges how much we really wanted the job, but they all made us feel at ease. 

Dinner was a gorgeous BBQ at Hamlets, part of Blue Haven in Kinsale. This would be an awesome venue for a wedding rehearsal dinner, or after wedding venue. The food was out of this world, great service, and best of all - free cocktails!

We finished a fabulous night off at the White Lady nightclub where we made all of the cocktails that each couple made as their challenge last week. Basically the nightclub gave us free rein in their bar! Delicious, but also dangerous, especially since many of us will be staying up finishing up our videos tonight!

So, it's midnight now - hours ahead of us yet, but we're full of good food and drink. We'd love nothing better than to put ourselves off to bed, but these videos aren't going to make themselves...

Tomorrow - is decision day - lots more to do and we'll keep you updated!

Elegance and Style at Jola's Restaurant

Jola's Restaurant
18/19 Lower O'Connell Street, Kinsale.
www.jolasrestaurant.com

To cap off our first day in Kinsale, we had the pleasure of dining at Jola's, and we were eager to see if the restaurant deserved its reputation for elegant food and service.

Hidden away from the main streets, Jola’s atmosphere is one of quiet sophistication, with its slate grey walls, dramatic crystal chandelier and stone fireplace. Candles and soft music make it a romantic venue for any special occasion, be it an intimate dinner for two, or a memorable wedding reception.

The food truly matches the understated luxury of the surroundings, with quality ingredients and generous portions.

My goat’s cheese and grilled vegetables starter was the right mix of sweet and salty, followed by an intriguing filo pastry with barley, black olives and red peppers, topped with a fresh tomato sauce. Vegetarian dishes are often an afterthought, but this was delicious and imaginative.

Mark had the duck terrine of duck, and will probably rave forever over the juicy and tender Irish rack of lamb, which came with new potatoes and a basil, walnut pesto.

We were almost too full for dessert, but managed to finished off with an exquisite lemon pancake with Jola’s own marmalade, and a warm spicy pear tart.

Owner, Jola Wojtowicz, is the perfect host and the rest of the service is impeccable - attentive but not overbearing.

Pricing is inline with the quality of the food with our meal with wine costing €50-60pp.  Jola’s can accommodate wedding receptions for up to 60 people, and would suit a couple who value class and elegance. Jola has successfully organised wedding receptions for couples as far away as Australia, and after dining there, we can truly say that it deserves its reputation as one of the finest venues in Kinsale.