Big day runaways

WEDDING FASHION:Planning a wedding is the first step in a new life, but for Pamela Farrell it was also the first step for a new business, writes ROSEMARY Mac CABE

WHEN PAMELA FARRELL, a graphic designer, got married this July, she chose to do so in Rome. “Going away took a whole lot of pressure off,” she says. “It was brilliant – everything we wanted.” But in the process of preparing for her wedding, she realised that the resources for those looking to have what are termed “destination weddings” just weren’t there.

“I loved all the different wedding blogs and couldn’t get enough of them,” she says. “But I wasn’t finding destination-specific information or featured destination weddings.” So she decided that, having found a gap in the market, she would fill it – with Fly Away Bride (Flyawaybride.com), a weddings blog aimed at brides planning their big day abroad.

Lindsay Moynagh, a business relationship manager, came on board as partner and a new venture was launched. The pair divide the tasks geographically, because, they say, they just couldn’t decide who would do what.

“We both like all of the different aspects,” says Farrell. “So splitting it geographically seemed the easiest way. We’ll be featuring weddings and brides from all over the world . . . first and foremost, it’s an inspiration site. To see other brides, where they got married, what they did, giving basic information but also featuring destination guides.”

As well as travel magazine-style guides to different countries and locations, Fly Away Bride will feature fashion shoots. At the moment, the duo are aiming for four a year, the most recent of which, pictured on these pages, has just been published.

“Other blogs we’d seen don’t organise shoots themselves,” says Moynagh. “We wanted to coordinate the whole thing, to get to know suppliers as well . . . We wanted something with a general travel theme at first.”

"I saw the Cill Airne[boat] and thought it would be a beautiful setting," says Farrell. "It could be anywhere in the world." The shoot is 1930s in feel, showing a young couple getting married with vintage and destination-inspired accents: a vintage compass as a groom's gift; vintage boarding cards as place names; and an astonishing attention to detail in the décor.

Plans are afoot for venue spotlights, “starting with the UK, France, Ibiza, the States”, says Moynagh, as well as stories of real weddings.

“Photographers from around the world will submit real weddings with the bride and groom’s stories,” says Moynagh. “It might be a couple from the Netherlands who got married in Paris, giving advice on the challenges they faced, listing suppliers they used. If someone liked their wedding, they might get some use out of it.”

“When I was planning my own wedding, I was clocking up the hours trying to find out all about the country I wanted to get married in,” says Farrell. “We just want to take some of that work away from the couple and make the process easier – and, hopefully, a bit more fun.”

flyawaybride.com