Dundalk wedding planner wins Wedding Planner of the Year 2026

Louth wedding professionals Weddings by Dearbháile and wedding band Long Time Coming were recognised by their industry peers recently, with Weddings by Dearbháile winning Wedding Planner of the Year and Long Time Coming winning Wedding Band of the Year for Leinster, at the National Wedding Industry Awards 2026, held at the beginning of the month.

The national awards also saw another local wedding professional, Claire Malone, receive the Highly Commended award for Ceremony Singer of the Year, and Bellingham Castle receive the Highly Commended award for Private Hire & Exclusive Wedding Venue of the Year.

Speaking to the Dundalk Democrat following the awards, Dearbháile Sheils, who runs Weddings by Dearbháile, said: “I'm delighted, it's a national accolade and I am delighted to be recognised as the Wedding Planner of the Year 2026.”

Dedicating the award to “all the couples who have trusted me in the past with their weddings”, Dearbháile added that it was also “ for my couples going forward”.

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The recognition of the work she does from her peers in the industry makes the award that bit more special for Dearbháile.
“There was 20 judges from across the wedding industry, along with your reviews and so on from your couples, and then your social media and your presence online and website.

“It was really humbling on the night that - I don't know if this is [the case] for other award winners too but I certainly felt an awful lot of industry professionals that night went out of their way to come over to congratulate me and said how deserving I was of it.

“Which really meant an awful lot to me, these are people, some of them I know personally, who were delighted for me, we're good friends, some of them I just know them from social media, I just know the name from the industry, I never met them face to face. It was wonderful, absolutely wonderful.”

Dearbháile's warmth and personality shine through when you speak with her, which surely contributed to her winning the national award.

“I pride myself on that kind of character”, she admits, “they're one of my characteristics. I am a people person and I do give a lot of myself. I put everything into it when I'm working with you. I'm passionate about it.

“I really try make every couple feel like they're the only couple I work with. Even if their wedding is the day after I'm after doing a wedding the day before, there'll be no mention of that.

“It will be all about them. I'm able to switch over, I'm able to be very personable to each couple. Which isn't always an easy thing.”

Dearbháile is hopeful the national recognition will help advance her business. “I've seen an increase already in enquiries.
“On the evening two enquiries came in, one said, 'congratulations on your award, when you're back at your computer can you contact me'.

“It's great. It's like that across the board when you win an award in the industry, it does give people – for people who want the best of the best, they'll reach out, but also for people who are nervous and they want to see that they can trust you.

“Some people are a bit nervous, thinking 'aw well Instagram mightn't be the truth, or this mightn't be right, they don't have the website, or they don't have...', that they'd be nervous booking suppliers. So this I suppose gives them the trust.”

It also gives her the confidence to know that she is on the right path with how she runs her business. “It gives me confidence that the way I'm running the business, and the way I approach weddings, the way I approach the couples, the time that I give, when I'm there on the day, I'm obviously doing something right."

“So yeah, it's great confidence for me. This is something that I never thought anything would come of”, she adds.

It is also looking like 2026 will be another busy year for Dearbháile. “I've a really busy year ahead, I still have some availability towards the latter end of the year but I've a very busy summer ahead with some really lovely new venues.

“I do a lot of work with Bellingham Castle and Markree Castle, but I've some lovely new venues on the list this year, The K Club, Carton House, Faithlegg in Waterford.

“I'm looking forward to working with my couples and visiting some lovely new Irish venues this year. I actually am very excited for that. And 2027 is filling up nicely.”

Find out more about Weddings for Dearbháíle at https://www.weddingsbydearbhaile.com/

Wedding band, Long Time Coming, was also celebrating after winning the award for Wedding Band of the Year - Leinster.
Taking to social media after the event, the band said on Facebook that, “After being Highly Commended last year, coming back and taking the top spot feels incredibly special.

“To be recognised in a category of 25 of the very best bands in the country is something we’re truly humbled by. A massive thank you to every couple who trusted us with their big day, to our amazing team, and to everyone who supports us behind the scenes. This one means more than you know”.