Planning wedding and totally confused. Advice needed.

dolkadot

Hi all, we are trying to plan wedding. Want it to be straight forward and easy but...

We have provisionally booked cabra castle in cavan but have since read some negative reports. It's pricey so obviously we want everything to be really good. Can anyone advise? I do not intend going round the country for sport viewing everywhere.

Bit cheesed off that cabra "can't" tell us fixed priced for year we plan to marry and they have policy of a minimum of 150 guests on wknds. We don't want a big wedding and don't want to be inviting people for the sake of it. Any thoughts?

antiskeptic

dolkadot wrote: »

Hi all, we are trying to plan wedding. Want it to be straight forward and easy but...

We have provisionally booked cabra castle in cavan but have since read some negative reports. It's pricey so obviously we want everything to be really good. Can anyone advise? I do not intend going round the country for sport viewing everywhere.

Bit cheesed off that cabra "can't" tell us fixed priced for year we plan to marry and they have policy of a minimum of 150 guests on wknds. We don't want a big wedding and don't want to be inviting people for the sake of it. Any thoughts?

There's a rule in life that says that the less hoops you erect the more straightforward and easy things will be. Want a car purchase to be straightforward and easy? Then don't introduce hoops such as colour, engine size, year of manufacture, miles on the clock and price into your search.

If you don't want 150 guests then you've just introduced a hoop. And some venues aren't going to jump through that hoop. Which makes things a little more complex.

You might want to begin facing the fact that (more or less traditional) wedding planning isn't a straightforward pursuit - there are just too many variables that need attending to. If you don't attend to them yourself then there is no certainty that they'll pan out as you want them to.

Better to decide to engage in the process from the outset - rather than being dragged kicking and screaming into it. Even if that means digging down to find a venue that suits your needs.


Given Middleton Park House a look perhaps. We considered it for our wedding and it seemed to fit the bill nicely (until we changed theme altogether). Bellinter would be another classy kind of joint that might adopt to your needs.

beertons

What year are you hoping to get married in? When we went looking last year, all the hotels were making up new menu's because of the economic downturn. Better value. Thing just went mad the last few years and no expense was spared. People want value now. Most hotels I know have a minumum number of guests, everywhere we checked said 120 min. They need numbers to turn a profit on the food. From what I heard, Cabra Castle is very nice. You'll hear bad stories from everywhere. Go with what you feel is the best option. Not hearsay.

dolkadot

Cabra made nosies that the price will actually go up a little. They're also changing room and colours have yet to be decided.
2012 is our date. It's hard to know. We just want a gorgeous place booked and forget about it. Any other places you could recommend?

dolkadot

beertons, are you having reception in ballyseede castle?? marine is daughter of owners of Cabra, so I believe-just had nose on website-looks fab. were you able to negogiate prices??

superleedsdub

dolkadot wrote: »

Cabra made nosies that the price will actually go up a little. They're also changing room and colours have yet to be decided.
2012 is our date. It's hard to know. We just want a gorgeous place booked and forget about it. Any other places you could recommend?

I`m getting married in 2011 and the hotel we booked actually had prices listed that were more expensive in 2011 than 2010. I just politely told the hotel co-oridnator that we love the venue but do not logically see how they can charge more for 2011 with costs coming down all across the board. I said we will leave it with them and left the hotel, received a call shortly afterwards and got the 2010 price. No need for aggresive haggling...

I expect that the packages for 2012 will be better value again next year so I would not book a venue until next year if I were you.
It`s a great time to be planning a wedding as the customer now has alot more power for haggling and getting value for money compared to the last few years....

radharc

TBH I doubt there are many venues that will firmly commit to a price a full two years in advance but it does make planning that bit tougher for the couple, I agree.

Other venues of a similar standard you could look at are Darver, the Nuremore etc. Cabra is nice but you have plenty of options, if it doesn't suit you fully then maybe have a look at 1 or 2 other places and see what ye think?

dlambirl

Hi OP
Re: the negative comments you've heard about Cabra - you will always here negative comments on any venue. Anytime I've been in Cabra I've found the food fab. I personally wouldnt have a wedding in Cabra though as I've been to about 10 in the hotel in the last 3 years! Its a very popular venue where I'm from.
I have heard from a friend of mine who's getting married that they do think alot of their hotel, and are perhaps not the friendliest to deal with until you give them your deposit. They are also quite expensive.
Have you tried other venues to see if they will quote you for 2012? Like Nuremore, Darver Castle, Cavan Crystal, Crover House, Errigal, Farnham Estate, etc, etc....

Heineken Helen

you're definitely very early... what's the panic... why not use this year to visit as many venues as you can and decide what you like... and then next year, contact all of them that haven't gone out of business . I understand why they'd be reluctant to quote two years in advance... but if you wait a year, you have the possibility that prices will come down quite a bit.

Our wedding's next year and the hotel said straight off that they'd give us 2010 prices (which I wasn't too surprised at) and their minimum number was 100 but they agreed to our 80 with no negotiations needed.

restaurants

dolkadot wrote: »

Hi all, we are trying to plan wedding. Want it to be straight forward and easy but...

Book a session with a wedding planner.
You will save in the long haul.
There are lots of pitfalls. Everyone get caught and lots of little things get over-looked in the excitement.

no1girliegirl

we got married in the westgrove hotel in Clane, they were great, everything was straight forward and turned out great. If you ask for a fixed price im sure they would give it.

Heineken Helen

restaurants wrote: »

Book a session with a wedding planner.
You will save in the long haul.
There are lots of pitfalls. Everyone get caught and lots of little things get over-looked in the excitement.

Do you have examples of what can get overlooked? Surely these things are unimportant in the bigger scheme of things anyway.

bellabloo

Hi There,

I know cabra castle well and it is a stunning place. They do very well I have to say so they can probably afford to name their price still! Having said that I would ask for a guideline as to what it might be. We booked our late 09 wedding in late 2007 and we asked for an estimate and were given a rough 5%-10% guideline. I would say that you are safe enough with this guideline too but ask them. Also a piece of advice for the rest of your planning is to do similar... take a figure you think it will be and add on 10% buffer.

If you decide against cabra castle there are some stunning wedding venues around (my family are in the wedidng industry) so a few of may favourites are(and similar styled to cabra castle are):
Ballykealey Manor Hotel (my own wedding venue ), Ballon, Co Carlow
Castle Durrow, durrow co ,laois.
Kilronan Castle, co roscommon

other great venues (less like cabra though)
Trim Castle Hotel, Trim
Station House Hotel, Kilmessan, co meath
Slieve russell Hotel, Cavan
Middleton Park House,

check sites like www.weddingsonline.ie for help in the organising!

Best Of Luck
Bella