Lavish weddings are back, and bigger than ever
Highly personal, multi-day celebrations requiring budgets of a million euro upwards are now the norm for many Irish couples tying the knot. Marie Kelly speaks with industry professionals about the rise of the ‘super wedding’.
Weddings can be an expensive business, but for some couples, the average five-figure outlay is just a drop in the ocean. Social media has been flooded recently with images of newlyweds basking in the lavishness of their multi-million euro, multi-day ceremonies. From a New York couple in a bespoke glass marquee at Adare Manor to a festival-sized carnival wedding in Dublin, these were celebrations of Kardashian proportions. Not since the Celtic Tiger has Ireland seen so much time, effort and money invested in a bride and groom’s ‘big day’. So how huge have weddings become and are €1 million nuptials now the norm?
The New York couple whose Adare Manor wedding was heavily shared on TikTok work in tech and video production, yet they booked celebrity wedding planner Marcy Blum to organise their wedding in collaboration with London production team Bespoke Events and it reportedly cost an eye-watering seven-figure sum. Limerick-based international luxury wedding planner Olivia Buckley raises no eyebrows at this figure. She regularly designs, plans and oversees destination weddings in Ireland and Europe and explains that,“Multi-day events with extensive production, bespoke structures and immersive experiences often reach into the multi-million euro range.” She adds that from her own experience of planning weddings of this magnitude, a budget of €3 to €5 million would be necessary to create a truly bespoke experience. She recommends couples allow “at least 18 months for the planning of their wedding, or up to 24 months for logistically complex experiences.” That’s longer than it takes to make some movies.
Brides no longer invest in a wedding dress but curate wedding wardrobes for their multi-day celebrations.
One of the most elaborate aspects of this wedding was the bespoke glass marquee. Buckley has facilitated similar requests over the years. “We were once asked to create a Midsummer Night’s Dream-inspired celebration, complete with Celtic symbolism, fairy folklore and set within a bespoke glass marquee. Costs can vary significantly, but a glass or orangery-style marquee represents a significant investment because beyond the aesthetic elements like lighting, staging and furniture, there are essential infrastructural requirements: satellite kitchens, power, plumbing, bathroom facilities and sometimes scaffolding, depending on the site. Prices typically start at €250,000 and increase based on scale, guest numbers and overall design ambition.”
The glass marquee may have created a fairy-tale atmosphere, but a quarter of a million euro is a frightening amount of money to pay for one single element of a multi-day celebration. Flowers also added hugely to the romantic vibe and fantastical feel of this wedding and Buckley estimates that the floral budget for a luxury event like this would start at between €75,000 and €80,000. “Flowers can be one of the most impactful design elements when transforming a space, especially across a weekend celebration. When floral design is woven through multiple events, from welcome dinners to ceremonies and receptions, the cost naturally increases,” she explains.
Dubliner Ellen Bird is a wedding content creator. In 2022, she established her company, Your Story By Elle, and since then she has witnessed weddings get bigger, bolder and more elaborate. “The average number of guests is about 200, but I’ve worked on weddings with as many as 350,” she says. Media teams (a content creator, photographer and videographer) are part and parcel of weddings these days and when really large numbers are involved, this team can double in size, Bird explains.
She reveals that couples want their weddings to be highly personalised and experiential. Add-ons such as painters making portraits of guests, custom-built walls decorated with handwritten notes for attendees, falconry shows, tennis courts, afternoon teas, picnics, rehearsal dinners and bridal brunches are all possible. “Weddings are much more experiential these days; couples want their guests to be really well taken care of. Nobody wants to wait until 10 0’clock for the party to start so all-day entertainment is usual and bespoke cocktails and open bars are common. No guest will have to queue at the bar, though. Waiters are always on hand to serve guests.” Buckley agrees. “Couples are looking to offer their guests an unforgettable experience, a true escape from the everyday. We’ve worked with internationally renowned headliners and A-list performers, which can command fees in the range of €1 to €2 million.”
Social media has raised awareness of what’s possible, inspiring clients to push the boundaries and design something truly personal.
Bird covered 50 weddings last year and she’ll create content for 70 couples by the end of this year. She’s noticed that brides no longer simply invest in a wedding dress but curate wedding wardrobes for their multi-day celebrations. “Embroidered robes are often worn by brides as they get ready for the ceremony. One particular bride had sourced a vintage Dior slip. I see a huge number of bespoke bridal gowns and dramatic veils, and second dresses are the norm now. Some brides will pay a make-up artist and hairstylist to hang around for the entire day so that they can have a full makeover to go with their second outfit.”
Wedding and event planner Sarah Riney, founder of New York-based Clover & Ivy Events, says she’s even seen brides have their hair cut and completely restyled between outfit changes. Riney has regularly planned destination weddings to Ireland since she launched her business in 2018 and she reveals it’s not uncommon for a client to have a bridal stylist travel with her. She reiterates that modern weddings are all about bespoke details and unique experiences. “One of our brides wanted her wedding themed around the Disney movie Brave, another requested an enchanted forest ceremony, while another decided on the edge of the Cliffs of Moher.”
Bird is currently planning her own wedding so she has become extremely knowledgeable about the cost of everything, from venue hire to bridal veils, and she says that a large number of the weddings she’s worked on have definitely hit or exceeded the €1 million mark. The majority of those couples are Irish, only three were not and they were from the US.
Buckley says social media has raised awareness of what’s possible, inspiring clients to push the boundaries and design something truly personal. “The rise in spending is about creating an experience that feels meaningful, immersive and entirely one-of-a-kind.”
This article was originally published in The Sunday Times Ireland, July 2025