DCU Students’ Union hit its €10,000-for-charity goal after Wednesday’s mock wedding raised over €7,000 for three Irish charities.
Smiles for Shauna, HeadstARTS and CARI will all benefit after DCU’s Vice President for Welfare Lorna Finnegan married Maynooth Student Union’s Mal Callan in an unofficial ceremony held in the Venue.
“Just the fact that we’ve hit our target, I don’t want to stop now,” Finnegan said. “It’s still early in the year so I’d love to have another fundraiser maybe in April. If we were to have another event later in the year, we could raise maybe €15,000 for the charities.”
The event raised a total of €7,150, with 450 people attending the wedding and another 550 ‘afters’ tickets being sold.
“People really got into the spirit of things all week, with the hen night on Tuesday and then the wedding on Wednesday,” said Finnegan. “It was good fun, and it’s great to say that we’ve raised so much money because of it.”
The mock wedding was held after DCU SU chose not to hold an official RAG week this year due to the stigma associated with such weeks, and opted instead for different fundraising events.
“I know there was debate about us not having a RAG week, but when you look at all the fundraisers that we’ve done; if you were to put them all into one week, I don’t think you’d raise half as much money,” Finnegan commented.
There was a drinks reception before the wedding ceremony, which was followed by dinner, speeches, and an after-party.
Tickets were €10 for the wedding and €5 for the afters. The chosen charities were nominated by students during the summer, before later being selected by SU members and Clubs and Societies officers.
The two student union officers were wed by Dublin comedian Al Porter.
Kirstin Campbell
Image: Rachel Byrne
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