Cash-strapped brides give Franc a run for his money
However, Kelly, aka Franc, recognises that during these bleak economic times not every bride can get her hands on the rapidly dwindling number of Irish millionaires.
So he has some tips for the less well-off who simply can’t afford Olympic-sized firework displays, gold-encrusted carriages and mini Chelsea Flower Show displays for the big day.
“Shop around. Have a drinks reception in a bar after the wedding. Go in and say you’re bringing in 150 or 250 people and ask them to throw in sandwiches and food on cocktail sticks,” Peter said.
He also proposes people hire out a restaurant and hammer out a bargain for the meals.
“Winter weddings will be cheaper, because they’re off-season. Put candles in the church, they’re pretty and cheaper than flowers. Go for a DJ instead of bands, which sometimes cost huge money,” he said.
Bargains can be had in hotels, but the doyenne of the knot-tying filthy rich, believes golf clubs offer a very good alternative venue.
“A lot more golf clubs are going down that road. The landscaping at a golf club is usually fantastic and couples don’t have to be dragged off somewhere else for hours for photographs,” said Peter.
The average Irish wedding costs €30,000, but he’s organised ones which have cost a jaw-dropping €200,000.
Peter said the recession has hit the corporate side of his business, but weddings are still holding up.
He’s just finished filming a new six-part tv series for RTÉ, Brides of Franc 3, which will start tomorrow.
Every week he’s given several challenges to conjure up dream weddings, usually operating under tight financial constraints.
Viewers will be able to see him cope with the logistics of bringing his crew to Inis Mór for a couple who want an eco-friendly, organic wedding.
In another episode he’s off to another island, this time the more exotic, sun-kissed Dominican Republic for the wedding of Elba and Dublin-born Trevor.
With thousands of kilometres between the couple’s home in Lusk, Co Dublin, and the island’s capital Santa Domingo, they need Franc’s expertise to pull this inter-continental wedding together.
Back again on home turf, the family-friendly setting of Fota Island Golf Club is perfect for Hans and Aoibhinn, who have five young children.
It will be up to Peter to make this reception a child-friendly one and ensure that the wedding ceremony in the majestic Cobh cathedral is utterly memorable.
He is next enlisted to fuse elements of tribal and church ceremonies for Dublin-based Nigerian couple Charles and Nwabueze.
The couple had never met before moving to Ireland, where they discovered they were from the same tribe back home.
