Wedding fair in Clontarf Castle- Questions to ask!

Lillylilly

Hi,

Myself and my boy are going to the wedding fair in Clontarf Castle in Dublin on Nov 1st. We are thinking of getting married in April 2011, so are just gonna have a look around, and possibly book it in Jan, after the budget and stuff- we're thinking we might get a better deal then.
We were at a wedding recently in the Castle, and loved it. We really feel like it's the spot for us!

We have an idea of how many people we want for the meal, after party etc. The kind of ceremony we want will take place in the hotel, so we would want the price to include use of a room and chair covers but I don't know what else we would need to be clear on, and requesting to be included in the price we're being offered.

Also, is it easy to get price reductions in today's climate (even if we aren't actually getting married til 2011)? I'm not the best at bargaining so feel like I could use a ball park percentageof how low we can get them to go!

I would also appreciate if people could post any previous experiences they may have had with Clontarf Castle, good and bad!

Thanks!

BC

I have booked with Clontarf for 2010. They have reduced their prices for 2010 and have added in some 'extras' (e.g tea/coffee/sparkling wine reception on arrival which was extra previously). However we didn't really find them negotiable on prices, especially compared to other places we looked at which were very negotiable. I'd be interested to hear if you get anywhere with bargaining!

Lillylilly

Thanks for the reply!

I wouldn't mind paying the full price, but I do want some things included in the price, like chair covers! Me and the boy are gonna have a chat tonight, and make a list to clarify what we want and don't mind compromising on. I just feel so lost though. I want to go in all confident and set on a price! I suppose, we're gonna walk away and book it in later months so that may make us look like we're serious on getting a good price!!!

I'll let you know how the bargaining goes!!!

BC

Definately let me know!

Also, theres a note on the website about getting a 1000 euro buffet included if you book on the day. It might be worth trying to bargain around that,e.g if you don't get the buffet then you want something else to the value of 1000 euro.

Lillylilly

Oooh, that's a good idea! Although I was more thinking that if we wait to book at the wedding fair in January (after the big scary budget in Dec) we might get better stuff out of them!

I'm imagining (hoping!) that there'll be less people booking a wedding in January!

BC

I didn't realise there was one in January, thats good to know!

Dilynnio

Scrap the cork age fee on the wine.

Tell them your not paying for a bar extension..........it should be in their interest to keep the bar open late to make money!

Hope this helps!

Sizzler

Lillylilly wrote: »

!

I wouldn't mind paying the full price

:eek:

The celtic tiger still alive and well by the sounds of it ! They will eat you for breakfast down there!

Whatever your circumstances, why pay more than you have to? The country is in a depression so if they wont negotiate then f**k them, go elsewhere. There are hotels all around Dublin screaming for business, plenty of places to rival Clontarf. The Shelbourne are even doing deals FFS!

If you are not able to negotiate then get your husband to be in on the job, you can be the "good cop" and make out you really want the place and then he can roll in and talk money and be the "bad cop", he can take the attitude, listen Im looking after the finances and if you dont give me what I want we will go elsewhere.

Regardless of when the wedding is you are paying a deposit now and ready to do a deal now, dont listen to any horsesh*t about prices for 2011. If they cant be up front honest and strike a deal now then why even bother with them?

Best of luck with it!

Turbulent Bill

Sizzler wrote: »

:eek:

The celtic tiger still alive and well by the sounds of it ! They will eat you for breakfast down there!

Whatever your circumstances, why pay more than you have to? The country is in a depression so if they wont negotiate then f**k them, go elsewhere. There are hotels all around Dublin screaming for business, plenty of places to rival Clontarf. The Shelbourne are even doing deals FFS!

If you are not able to negotiate then get your husband to be in on the job, you can be the "good cop" and make out you really want the place and then he can roll in and talk money and be the "bad cop", he can take the attitude, listen Im looking after the finances and if you dont give me what I want we will go elsewhere.

Regardless of when the wedding is you are paying a deposit now and ready to do a deal now, dont listen to any horsesh*t about prices for 2011. If they cant be up front honest and strike a deal now then why even bother with them?

Best of luck with it!

Nail on head. OP, you're in an excellent position to bargain as the hotel may not have published prices for 2011. Start off by offering to pay 2010 prices minus X% (if they don't have published 2011 prices) to secure your booking and see how far you can push it. You've plenty time so there's no rush. Hotels are well used to negotiation so bargain hard (or get your OH to do it).

In reality, all you need to do now is secure the date, pay the deposit and agree the terms and conditions for the hotel's services. I'm getting married next Feb and haven't done any more than this yet. Make sure you're absolutely happy with the T&Cs as everything else is based on this, get these changed if you need to. For example, my hotel immediately agreed to drop a 5-course meal requirement (which was ridiculous) from their standard T&Cs, which will reduce the per-head price.

Keep a cool head and treat it like business!

BC

Dilynnio wrote: »

Scrap the cork age fee on the wine.

Tell them your not paying for a bar extension..........it should be in their interest to keep the bar open late to make money!

Hope this helps!

These type of things depend on the hotel.
This hotel never used to do corkage, they have only started due to the demand and based on my experiences with them there is absolutely no way they'll budge on it.

Also, the hotel is in a residential area, you can't get a bar extension.

BC

Sizzler wrote: »

:eek:

The celtic tiger still alive and well by the sounds of it ! They will eat you for breakfast down there!

Whatever your circumstances, why pay more than you have to? The country is in a depression so if they wont negotiate then f**k them, go elsewhere. There are hotels all around Dublin screaming for business, plenty of places to rival Clontarf. The Shelbourne are even doing deals FFS!

I agree that no-one should pay more than they have to, however i don't agree that you should just walk away if they don't negotiate. It depends on whether you really want the hotel or not. In my case I wanted this hotel as after viewing 11 other venues in Dublin it was the best (with the exception of the shelbourne which I just couldn't afford!) so I was willing to pay extra for it. Obviously people should negotiate, but not the hotels are not equally as desperate for business. Some really need the business and will negotiate a lot, others have plenty of bookings and so don't need to negotiate. You need to try to find the best deal for what you want, not simply the best deal available.

Sizzler

BC wrote: »

I agree that no-one should pay more than they have to, however i don't agree that you should just walk away if they don't negotiate. It depends on whether you really want the hotel or not. In my case I wanted this hotel as after viewing 11 other venues in Dublin it was the best (with the exception of the shelbourne which I just couldn't afford!) so I was willing to pay extra for it. Obviously people should negotiate, but not the hotels are not equally as desperate for business. Some really need the business and will negotiate a lot, others have plenty of bookings and so don't need to negotiate. You need to try to find the best deal for what you want, not simply the best deal available.

I agree with your last sentance

Desperation of having a venue can blinker whats value or not, thats the subtle difference. There comes a point when you have to walk away if you arent getting what you feel is reasonable. If a venue are full to the brim with bookings then good luck to them, this will in all probability be reflected in their ability to negotiate and they will no doubt adopt the take it or leave it attitude with you left feeling "oh please take our booking mister, we'll pay whatever you want just to have this date in your hotel, please please..etc etc" Any decent venue will be open to conversation and work with you to make sure you reach a mutual agreement.

Lillylilly

Oh this is the sort of encouragement I need, thanks everyone!
My partner is IN LOVE with the hotel, so I feel that I may have to take on the role of "bad cop", hence the original post. I don't think I'll be good at it... Damn my permanent smile!!!

They do seem to be a great hotel, and really accommodating to individual needs (they held a friend's wedding recently).
But we do have some specifics that are out of the "norm" of usual church weddings, hotel reception sort of gig. I'm hoping that they'll allow us to use a room for the ceremony, big room for a party after an intimate dinner.

I'll let yiz know how we get on

Sizzler

Any update?

Lillylilly

Hiya,

Sorry for the delay in replying!

The wedding fair was fine. It was quite busy and although we were looked after by one of the staff (recieved price lists, given a tour etc.), we weren't really given the opportunity to sit down and talk to anyone about prices. I don't think the staff available on the day were up to speed on the whole process, I think they had the bare minimum information.

It felt very chilled and it gave us time to really assess our options. And having the price lists meant that we could do lots of totting up at home. They did follow up a few days later with a phone call around any questions we had.

We plan on getting our budget in order, and going back before the next fair in Jan to speak to someone and then book in January and avail of whatever offer they have on then (as I said before, if you booked your wedding on the day of the fair, you recieved an evening buffet worth €1,000).

We're hoping it workd in our favour doing it this way