My Wedding Day with Fiona Frawley: We didn’t have our 'green book', we ran out of time to get it

Fiona Frawley and Duane Doogan at their wedding reception. Pictures: Naomi Christina

We got married on November 6, 2025. We had the ceremony in Opium, which is attached to Whelan’s on Wexford Street in Dublin. We had our drinks reception in a pub attached to Opium, called The Crafty Fox — and, actually, anyone who arrived early had popped in there for a drink before the
wedding, too. We had the afters in House on Leeson Street.

Our friend David did the ceremony. He has done weddings before, but he’s not a celebrant, or anything.

We were so last-minute with things, we only found out about ‘the green book’ [Marriage Registration Form] as I present the Spin1038 breakfast show, and one day I asked listeners what wedding stuff should I have done.

People texted to say, ‘You need to have your green book [marriage registration form]’. We didn’t have it, but we’d run out of time to get it before the date. So we had our day in November, which was very casual, and then we got officially married a month later in the registry office.

We’re definitely pretty last minute and disorganised with everything, but, at the same time, I’m kind of glad we did it that way, because we didn’t put a huge amount of pressure on ourselves.

We were engaged for two years and were kind of humming and hawing about plans for the wedding. ‘Will we do it abroad? Will we do it really small?’

Fiona and Duane outside Whelan's.

But, then, I felt like if we didn’t stop talking about it like it’s this off-in-the-distance thing that we have to save thousands and thousands of euro for, we’d never get it done. So we just went for it. From there, everything came together. By having it on a Thursday in November, more bands were free, more photographers were free, and it all worked out.

I always knew I wanted a vintage dress. I’d ordered a few from Etsy, but when I tried them on they just looked like sacks. I posted on Instagram, saying ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do about a dress’. Kate, the wife of a friend of ours, messaged me and said: ‘My dad can make you a dress.’ Her dad is a dressmaker in Cork, called Ernest Perryman.

She organised the whole thing. I went down to Cork and had a few sessions with Ernest. He was amazing. He just got me and what I wanted: A 1960s-style short dress and a poofy veil. I was nervous that the dress would be too short. But he said, ‘If you’re gonna do it, you have to do it right’.

Fiona Frawley on her wedding day in Dublin

I was worried, though, because I was five months pregnant at the time and I thought my bump was going to balloon and I’d be flashing everyone as I walked down the aisle. But it didn’t, it fit perfectly. I loved my dress.

The night before the wedding, I stayed in House with my mum and my bridesmaids and we got ready there the next morning. It was nice and chill, and actually the morning was one of my favourite parts of the day.

Fiona with her bridesmaids 

David did an amazing job with the ceremony. He really took the time to make sure it was so personal and special for us, but not cringe, either. Some of our friends and family did songs and poems during theceremony, too: My husband’s sister did a poem, which was actually the lyrics to a Pulp song that we both like and my brother sang 'Rainy Night in Soho', by The Pogues.

We had a singer for the ceremony, called Pippa, and she was amazing. I walked in to 'Love You Till the End', by The Pogues. And then my husband, Duane, loves The Stereophonics and he wanted this song called 'Leave The Light On', which is about coming home late and your partner has left a bedside lamp on for you — something I always do. It was definitely a niche song, but Pippa took the time to learn it and she did an amazing job on it. The whole ceremony was so personal and so relaxed.

Fiona and Duane with their dog, Danish.

Afterwards, we moved on to House, where we had the meal in the conservatory area out the back. We completely took over that area, and later we went downstairs to the nightclub, Oscar & Percy’s, for the band and dancing. It was a late enough night, but it felt like it was over in a flash. Of course, I was pregnant as well, so I was wrecked. I gave it a good go, though.

Our dog, Danish, was at the wedding, too. She’s a lurcher and she has an extensive wardrobe. In the lead-up to the wedding, everyone was saying they couldn’t wait to see what Danish would wear. But I forgot to get her something to wear. She ended up wearing a little dicky bow. If I could change one thing about the day, I would have taken some time to plan her outfit.

• Fiona Frawley co-presents ‘Fully Charged’ on Spin1038, Monday to Friday, from 7am till 10am, with Emma and Dave. With her husband, Duane, she runs a comedy club, called Cherry Comedy, in Whelan’s every Thursday