WHILE the cancellation of weddings has had a devastating impact on Fermanagh couples for over a year now, staff at McGarry Wedding Design are always on the other end of the phone reminding those that “love is not cancelled” despite the chaos and uncertainty.
At the heart of local weddings for 22 years, Bernie McGarry spoke to the Herald on what the last 12 months has been like for the team, “It’s a year now since things changed almost overnight, once Covid hit everything literally stopped.
“When they could, people were having smaller weddings and they were lovely to do. It also gave us a great opportunity to reflect on the business itself.
“We started our sister company ‘Higher and Admire Blooms’ and it’s been brilliant creating hired floral arches, table centres, displays etc and hiring them out for the day.
“Looking at things going forward, flowers are going to be expensive as Brexit has hit everyone as well. Our products are much more affordable and we use top quality silk flowers for everything that we do.”
Speaking on the experience of dealing with clients throughout this difficult time, Bernie said, “It has been difficult for brides because some have now had to change their wedding date two or three times.
“It’s about being hopeful and not sitting in a downward spiral, couples will get their big day eventually and everyone must remain positive. It’s about two people who are in love at the end of the day and love cannot be cancelled.”
Looking to the future, Bernie told the Herald, “From June onwards we have an extremely busy year ahead, it’s just crazy.
“You have the brides who were originally going to get married before Covid even appeared and then on top of that you have all the cancellations that will be moved forward to the following year.
“As far as we’re physically possible to, we will accommodate brides. A lot of the venues are not able to accommodate weekend weddings due to the backlog, so we’re finding that we have weddings during the week on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday which we wouldn’t have had previously.
“We’ve had lots of enquiries to decorate halls, barns and even a garage. It’s unbelievable what you can do with an area.
“It makes things even more exciting and it’s great to take a step forward and do something different. We do miss being out and among the buzz of a wedding, but you just have to look forward and not back.”
For more information, visit www.mcgarryflowers.com or contact the team by calling 02889531774 or 07718820848.
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