My Recent Wedding & Recommendations

bensoneb

Hi everyone,

I got married three weeks ago in Slane Castle and it really was the most wonderful day of my life. A few people helped to make it very special so I want to share my recommendations with you as they may help those of you who are still in the throes of getting organised.

Hair & Makeup: http://www.princessbridalbeauty.com/ABOUT%20US.html
Tish Curry came to the castle to do hair/make-up for the wedding party and did a fantastic job. She not only did my hair & make-up, she also kept everyone calm and didn't let anyone frustrate me on the day.

Flowers: http://www.stems.ie/
The lovely Lisa did my flowers for the wedding party and they were fab. It didn't cost the earth and I got exactly what I wanted.

Harpist: http://www.fmonks.com/
The ceremony wouldn't have been the same without the haunting music/singing of Fionnula Monks. She played exactly what we wanted and brought many people to tears.

If you're looking for a castle, Slane's the fella! It was the backdrop to a fairytale wedding and I really felt that it was mine for the 24 hours.

Cheers,
Eibhlis

fruitandnut

hi, that sounds fantastic. we are looking at having a marquee wedding but it is so expensive! a hotel would nearly be cheaper but dont want to do that! is it really expensive or what way does it work? do you get outside caterers? i have never been in it but do live in meath!
thanks for any advice

bensoneb

Hi fruitandnut,

The deal is that you pay €6000 to book the castle exclusively (think it's cheaper mid-week). This means that the castle is yours for 24 hours so only you and your guest have the run of it. Then meals, accomodation, etc are all extra. The great thing is that the castle supplies a wedding co-ordinator who looks after all your requirements within the castle. They work with wonderful caterers who do the food in 'Fire' in the Mansion house so no worries there.

On the day, I didn't have to worry about anything as the co-ordinator Elisha organised everything so well. It was a fairytale wedding and I can't recommend the castle highly enough!

Best of luck with your plans.

fruitandnut

thanks for the info! it sounds lovely! mite just look into it!

Sizzler

bensoneb wrote: »

Hi fruitandnut,

The deal is that you pay €6000 to book the castle exclusively (think it's cheaper mid-week). This means that the castle is yours for 24 hours so only you and your guest have the run of it. Then meals, accomodation, etc are all extra. The great thing is that the castle supplies a wedding co-ordinator who looks after all your requirements within the castle. They work with wonderful caterers who do the food in 'Fire' in the Mansion house so no worries there.

On the day, I didn't have to worry about anything as the co-ordinator Elisha organised everything so well. It was a fairytale wedding and I can't recommend the castle highly enough!

Best of luck with your plans.

Fair play to you some useful info there I am sure for some people but I cant help thinking there was a bit of self indulgence in the post by letting everybody know that you got married in Slane Castle and it cost €6k. Well done but a waste of money imho. You don't need to go there to have a "fairytale" wedding

barbiegirl

Sizzler wrote: »

You don't need to go there to have a "fairytale" wedding

Everyone's fairytale is different :-)

bensoneb

Frankly Sizzler, I'm appalled by your attitude towards me!!!!

If you look back at any of my previous posts, you will see that all I try to do is help people. That's actually why I stayed a member of this forum after I got married. You don't know me or anything about me so don't dare try to judge me by a few words that I post here.

I had the most wonderful day of my life in that particular venue and have no qualms about recommending it to anyone else. After all, I believed that's what this forum was all about!!! In fact I got some great recommendations on this forum which is why I decided to post what I did just in case it helped someone else.

I looked back at some of your previous posts and can see a common thread of sarcasm which tells me something about you. So instead of going on and attacking you on this forum, I'll just say to you 'IF YOU HAVE NOTHING GOOD OR HELPFUL TO SAY, DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL'.

And by the way, it wasn't a waste of money, it was my dream day and frankly I don't give a toss what you think about MY wedding or what it cost. We're all entitled to have our day any way we want and shouldn't be berated by anyone else for doing so..............

hunnymonster

bensoneb, Don't worry. most of us appreciate your post. Slane castle would not be my ideal venue but it was great to get an honest post with prices. So often you see recommendations that leave out that important detail. Congrats on your wedding and I'm delighted it was exactly what you wanted. I wish we could decide what on earth we want. I change between wanting to elope to vegas to the full bash for everyone I love at an alarming rate :-0

bensoneb

Thanks for the message hunnymonster. I had hoped that not everyone had misinterpreted my intentions. Actually I wouldn't have mentioned money at all except fruitandnut had asked me about the expense.

I know it can be hard choosing what to do, in fact the Vegas wedding appealed to me too. So I did the Irish wedding and the next time we're in Vegas, we'll probably do a quickie there too!! Why the hell not eh? It's a wonderful time in our lives and there's no reason why we can't have it all!!!!

Good luck hunnymonster, hope you're having a ball organising your wedding.

Sizzler

bensoneb wrote: »

Frankly Sizzler, I'm appalled by your attitude towards me!!!!

If you look back at any of my previous posts, you will see that all I try to do is help people. That's actually why I stayed a member of this forum after I got married. You don't know me or anything about me so don't dare try to judge me by a few words that I post here.

I had the most wonderful day of my life in that particular venue and have no qualms about recommending it to anyone else. After all, I believed that's what this forum was all about!!! In fact I got some great recommendations on this forum which is why I decided to post what I did just in case it helped someone else.

I looked back at some of your previous posts and can see a common thread of sarcasm which tells me something about you. So instead of going on and attacking you on this forum, I'll just say to you 'IF YOU HAVE NOTHING GOOD OR HELPFUL TO SAY, DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL'.

And by the way, it wasn't a waste of money, it was my dream day and frankly I don't give a toss what you think about MY wedding or what it cost. We're all entitled to have our day any way we want and shouldn't be berated by anyone else for doing so..............

This is the internet, things get misconstrued but people are entitled to their opinions so sorry if you are so appalled just because someone had the temarity to challenge a post.

I wasnt being sarcastic when I said "well done" btw. Your post just screamed "look at me". If thats not what you meant then fine.

And again, dream day, everybody's is different, the reality is it all costs money, I was just making the point that you dont need to spend 6k to have that day, you could spend 600 and have an equally good time, again not having a pop

I also challenge the fact that all my posts are sarcastic, LOB to be honest. I'd like to think not all posters on this forum share your view.

faceman

bensoneb wrote: »

Frankly Sizzler, I'm appalled by your attitude towards me!!!!

To be fair to Sizzler, i dont think he meant to offend with his comment, his choice of words were probably not ideal!

Sizzler has been a big advocate on the forum for people to ensure they get the best deal they can for their wedding, particularly in the current economic climate and ive seen some threads where he was give good advice to help other posters negotiate great deals for their big day.

As long as you and your partner had your dream day thats all that matters at the end of the day.

Castle weddings arent my cup of tea (id rather use the money saved on a better honeymoon). I have to admit though, i am surprised at the €6k price tag on Slane. There are more intimate castle venues around Ireland (although not as grandeur) that dont charge rates as high so im surprised they charge as high a price.

bensoneb

You wrote 'This is the internet, things get misconstrued but people are entitled to their opinions so sorry if you are so appalled just because someone had the temarity to challenge a post.'

Sizzler, don't even want further replies from you but I'd just like to point out that I'm puzzled as to why someone would choose to 'challenge' a post which merely:

• Stated that I had a wonderful wedding Day
• Gave recommendations that might hopefully help others

The mind boggles!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope this doesn't put others off posting about their wonderful wedding days.

Sizzler

bensoneb wrote: »

You wrote 'This is the internet, things get misconstrued but people are entitled to their opinions so sorry if you are so appalled just because someone had the temarity to challenge a post.'

Sizzler, don't even want further replies from you but I'd just like to point out that I'm puzzled as to why someone would choose to 'challenge' a post which merely:

• Stated that I had a wonderful wedding Day
• Gave recommendations that might hopefully help others

The mind boggles!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope this doesn't put others off posting about their wonderful wedding days.

Challenge, maybe wrong choice of word, comment would have been better perhaps.

Theres plenty of forums on WOL if you want to discuss your wedding day.

To be fair the majority of posters come on here seeking advice, they dont generally come on saying they have just spent 6k in one of Ireland's most famous venues. The mind boggles indeed.Know your audience.

Lets leave it at that.

bensoneb

Last Post on this one!

READ THE POSTS!!!!! I only mentioned the figure when fruitandnut asked 'is it really expensive or what way does it work? '. I was actually giving advise in response to this query and it was actually appreciated. If you had read the post, you would have seen this.

Sizzler

If I get married in a castle am I guaranteed to get into VIP, thats the dream...;)

iguana

Calm it down guys. This forum is for all aspects of weddings and marriage, so people should feel free to post about where they had their weddings if they wish.

(As long as it isn't blatant advertising.)

pippins

Hi Bensonbe,

Just thought I'd post a quick message to say Thank You for taking the time to post all your information about your wedding after your big day. Thanks to your post I looked up the photographer you reccommended and was really impressed with him, so we've booked him for our wedding. I had spent weeks trying to find somebody that was not charging an 'an arm n leg' for their services!!!! Great Guy and a Great Price for what he delivers. So Thanks Again ......................

bensoneb

Hi Pippins,

Glad to be of help! Hope you have a wonderful day. Make sure you let us all know how it goes....

faceman

pippins wrote: »

Hi Bensonbe,

Just thought I'd post a quick message to say Thank You for taking the time to post all your information about your wedding after your big day. Thanks to your post I looked up the photographer you reccommended and was really impressed with him, so we've booked him for our wedding. I had spent weeks trying to find somebody that was not charging an 'an arm n leg' for their services!!!! Great Guy and a Great Price for what he delivers. So Thanks Again ......................

bensoneb wrote: »

Hi Pippins,

Glad to be of help! Hope you have a wonderful day. Make sure you let us all know how it goes....

Out of curiousity what rate (you dont have to tell exactly) did you both get the photographer for and for how many prints etc? My friend is pricing up photographers at the moment.

bensoneb

Hi Faceman,


Tell your friend to check it out, I think they'll be pleasantly surprised.

faceman

Thanks. How good was he at the whole on the spot photos? i.e. the shots that look natural as if no one knows he is taking a pic?

bensoneb

Hi Faceman,

Other than the formal family shots, I hardly noticed him. He takes quite alot of the 'informal' shots which actually turn out much nicer as people don't have the silly pretend smiles on them.

He actually has a sample of his books on his site if you want to see how informal they can be. Hope this helps.

Regards,