ireland.com - The Irish Times

The smart way to say 'I do'
Original thinking - and some online shopping - can cut thousands from the cost of organising a wedding. Claire O'Connell on big days that don't come with a big debt p

A home from home
When Maeve Binchy visited Cape Town she realised there was something familiar about its relaxed approach to life, and the fact that everyone there had a story to tell. That made it the perfect setting for her new story, to be screened on RTÉ tomorrow p

Pretty in prints
Hope & Benson's creations are cheerfully optimistic, writes Deirdre McQuillan. p

Pull the udder one
Cows dominate artist John Kelly's work, ever since an anecdote about papier-mâché cows tickled his funny bone - and his imagination, writes Brian O'Connell p
Child is man of surprises
He's a soft-spoken, languid Englishman, but don't be taken in by his guile, thriller writer Lee Child has a steely side, writes Arminta Wallace . p
Doing it for the kids
Sponsoring a child in the developing world costs from just €22 a month. Michael Kelly speaks to four Irish people who have 'adopted' an extra family member through ChildFund Ireland p
Heaven scent
Eileen Battersby , looking for directions, knocks on the door of a chocolate maker hovering over a tray of Easter eggs. p

Opening lines
Natural resources With spring in the air, it's a good time to open up those windows. The Environmental Protection Agency in the US has found that pollutant levels in the home can be five times higher than outside. p
What's going on this week
Keep up the Classics , at the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire at 8pm tonight, is an evening of opera, including a solo from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. Tomorrow Christ Lag in Todesbandem is a performance of sacred music by vocal ensemble eX. From Wednesday until next Saturday you can catch Robin Soans's controversial play Talking to Terrorists . Call 01-2312929. p
Our big week
Podge and Rodge: Taking their search for a wife to Vicar Street p
My online life
Tara Fay , wedding planner. p
Planet matters
Jane Powers on carbon dioxide p

Material Girls
"I love me mam/She done me nails/Me shoes are really bling/I love me dress/Me gloves me veil/And the purse me phone is in/I love me (insert name of ubiquitous Irish jewellery brand that's also the name of a town in Co Kildare) too/Me little silver dove/It's a sign of peace and love/But I can't stand Emmy Lou." p

Spring lambs
Cooking in: Almost - but not quite - time to get back outside p
Alexis Co Dublin
Eating out: It is, as Margaret Thatcher pointed out in one of her more lucid moments, a funny old world. You would think a lot of smart people would have twigged that there is a huge gap in the market for a cheerful, inexpensive restaurant with excellent food and wine, the sort of place that doesn't involve saving up for a family outing. But have they? p
Bitesize
Just the business: Phelim Byrne, head chef and cookery-school tutor at Dunbrody Country House Hotel, in Co Wexford, for the past three years, has set up his own cookery school, catering company and food-manufacturing business. p
Scaling dizzy heights
Vertical tastings are a wine anorak's dream p
Bottles of the week
Florent de Brie Anjou Blanc 2004, Catena, Malbec 2004, and Grandjo 2004 Late Harvest. p