“Let me tell you, as a single woman who is 6ft tall, walking down the streets of Dublin in a wedding dress is OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE!”
This Wednesday, September 21st, hundreds of women across Ireland will shake the cobwebs off their wedding dresses all for a very special cause.
Today FM has encouraged its listeners to take to the streets of Ireland in their wedding gowns as part of the station’s new charity drive ‘Dare to Care’. #WeddingDressWednesday will go towards raising money for the Irish Cancer Society.
Brains behind the novel idea, Shauna O’Reilly from The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show, has been overwhelmed by response.
“I thought it would be brilliant to get one or two women to do it but the reaction was just massive, it’s completely blown me away”.
Iano and crew have spoken to ladies from all walks of life across the country who will be donning their bridal finery in a bid to raise much-needed funds.
Providing Irish women with an opportunity to get another wear out of their wedding dresses, Shauna wasn’t prepared to let the fact that she’s never been married stop her from joining in, we caught up with her ahead of her big day:
“I really wanted to take part but obviously, the small fact of being unmarried was a slight stumbling block! Luckily, ‘Timeless Bridal’ in Trim came to my rescue and offered to loan me a dress for ‘my special day’.
“So, myself and Mam headed down there this weekend to find the right dress. It was a bizarre scenario and I felt like I was in a real-life version of ‘Say Yes To The Dress’. My poor Mam, who is always behind me and would only LOVE for me to get married, looked so cute sitting on the sofa in shop, watching her Bridget Jones-esque daughter trying on wedding dresses. She was probably thinking to herself ‘This could be my only chance of seeing her in a white dress!’”.
Shauna won’t just be showing up in her wedding finery to work, she’s a whole itinerary planned for Wednesday, that even includes a trip down an aisle of sorts.
“On Wednesday morning, I’ll be coming into the office in my wedding dress and doing my normal day’s work. Luckily, there aren’t many people around at that time of the morning but I’ll be making up for that later on in the day.
“I’ve given Ian plenty of warning so he doesn’t fall over in shock when he sees me sitting at my laptop in a wedding dress, typing away, at 6am in the morning. After work, I’ll be hopping on the 15 bus and heading home to Rathgar. The thought of getting on the bus in a wedding dress actually makes me want to vomit but I suppose that’s is reason I’m doing it.
“Dare to Care is all about challenging yourself and doing something out of your comfort zone to fundraise for brilliant cause that is the Irish Cancer Society. And let me tell you, as a single woman who is 6ft tall, walking down the streets of Dublin in a wedding dress is OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE! I’ll probably never get a fella after this…”
Shauna O’Reilly, you’re our new hero.
The event is not limited solely to brides and there’s still plenty of time to sign-up and get involved.
Saturday Breakfast presenter Alison Curtis will be making an appearance on TV3’s Midday dressed in her wedding dress and the Today FM news team are also getting in on the action.
News broadcaster Susan Keogh shared a touching note on the Today FM News Facebook page detailing how the launch of the Dare To Care initiative coincided with the start of her father’s treatment for bowel cancer.
If you are interested in getting involved in #WearYourWeddingDressWednesday, you can email your details to [email protected]. Or alternatively, you can make a donation to Dare to Care at justgiving.com/daretocare.
Keep an eye out on the Her.ie Snapchat and Instagram account as we pay Shauna and gang a visit on Wednesday.
We doth our fascinators to all those getting involved!
