What should I look to be included for free when booking wedding?

breffnij

Hi,

Looking to book a wedding venues for 2012/ 2013 and narrowed it to one of three different venues so far

1. Kilashee House
2. Druids Glen
3. The Heritage Golf & Country club

Any idea what additionals we should look for in these places for free that others may have experience with e.g. additional rooms, free welcome drink, reduced corkage, reduced overall prices etc. They have given us their standard set but once sure I want to back and get it sorted in one go with the best deal we can. We have 180 people for the wedding.

Any other advice greatly appreciated!

Hal Emmerich

Don't pay for extended bar hours.

Discounted rooms for Family.

The Scientician

Free late check out.

Gatica

Bar extension requirement will vary from hotel to hotel. Some will stick by the book and really won't let you get away with not getting a late bar extension, others may bend the rule, especially if it's a private venue.
Decor is something you can easily get as part of your package, e.g. candelabras or some kind of flowers on tables. Most do red carpet for bride & groom's arrival. You can try to see if you could get reception finger food thrown in, and definitely bargain on corkage if that's the route you want to take.

Dublin Mark

Bar Extension, Free rooms for the Parents of the Bride & Groom, Drinks Reception - play hard ball with them!

silly

Dublin Mark wrote: »

Bar Extension, Free rooms for the Parents of the Bride & Groom, Drinks Reception - play hard ball with them!

Rooms for the best man and chief bridesmaid too!
Evening food
Chair covers

breffnij

Thanks a lot. Most places throw the parents wither side in so might be worth asking. I think the bar extension is a joke. One place wanted to charge us €750 for it and I didn't know whether to laugh or change my opinion on hitting women! (no offence meant).

Does anyone have any experience with these particular venues? I might go down on Friday to check out Druids Glen again and perhaps try finalise something if suits so would love some bargaining power! So far Kilashee house is the best deal but not too mad about sharing a wedding venue with another party as they do double weddings. A girl I know said she basically told the hotel she wanted everything in the middle package for the price of the cheapest package and they agreed. Galway venue though!

Sleepy

A word of warning on Druid's Glen: they'll utterly fleece your guests on the bar. Was charged €5.50 for a Guinness there at a friend's wedding last year.

breffnij

Sleepy wrote: »

A word of warning on Druid's Glen: they'll utterly fleece your guests on the bar. Was charged €5.50 for a Guinness there at a friend's wedding last year.

That is madness and something that made me rule out Carton House. However most guests may expect this at such a venue. I'm sure the Guinness tasted better Sleepy

Sleepy

Actually, no, it was a crap pint and all!

Gatica

I found out after booking our venue that they charge a lot for bar drinks as well, so I'm trying to invest into decent amount of decent wine with meal and hopefully their glasses won't be ripped out of their hands by end of the meal.

Definitely try to get free rooms for parents, many venues include this anyway, some don't. If you manage to get the rooms for best man and maid of honour, even better. Definitely try to get as much decor included, such as sashes and chair covers (these can end up costing >€2 per chair otherwise); if you don't fancy the standard centrepieces, check with them how many candles/tealights they could provide, and alternatives, such as votives, hurricane lamps, candelabras or fishbowls...
I'm opting for fishbowls which I'm gonna get included by the florist, and gonna get the tealights from the venue - they only provide 3 per table, so I'm throwing in the extra 2 to make it 5. I'm also keen of making use of their hurricane lamps with candles, as I'm not gonna be using their candelabras or tall vases & flowers, and probably dress them up a bit myself.

breffnij

Anyone know a decent place so within a hour of Dublin/ Swords?? I don't want anywhere too close as want to get away from norm area and hope that guests do stay as its always more enjoyable.

We don't want to pay anymore than €80 max pp but prefer much less. Want somewhere a bit classy. I play golf so hence the lure of Druids Glen but really won't bother me. What I really want is a place thats just good craic. Where the wedding organiser actually values your business and treats you as best they can and not squibble over little issues. We've been to too many in Ballymacscanlon and Cabra Castle which would have been ideal otherwise!

Shame about that Guinness though.....Would of expected extra creamy, extra smooth for my €5.50!

deskgirl

How about Knightsbrook in Trim? Entrance isn't great but once you are there it's fab

Sleepy

breffnij wrote: »

Anyone know a decent place so within a hour of Dublin/ Swords?? I don't want anywhere too close as want to get away from norm area and hope that guests do stay as its always more enjoyable.

We don't want to pay anymore than €80 max pp but prefer much less. Want somewhere a bit classy. I play golf so hence the lure of Druids Glen but really won't bother me. What I really want is a place thats just good craic. Where the wedding organiser actually values your business and treats you as best they can and not squibble over little issues. We've been to too many in Ballymacscanlon and Cabra Castle which would have been ideal otherwise!

Shame about that Guinness though.....Would of expected extra creamy, extra smooth for my €5.50!

I'd expect a dram of decent whiskey on the side for €5.50!

itsallaboutme!!

what about Tulfarris hotel and Golf resort,blessington? we booked our wedding here for sept 2013.we got all the usual thrown in,rooms for parents red carpet,candleabras etc.and if you decide to take the manor house,which we have, you are getting another 7 rooms for bridal party etc. they are very nice to deal with and are flexable as regards changing menus around.they are also throwing in the bar extension free as well.

purplekitty

let the venue know your looking at other venues.

we got free:
bar extention,
canapees and sparkling wine reception
pianist on arrival
table + chair decorations (never pay for these)
deluxe night time buffet
got 20% off all wine
rooms for all our wedding party
a more expensive dinner menu for cost of the least expensive dinner menu
free babysitters for any children

you should be expecting this too.
best of luck!!!

Dolbert

I agree, shop around as some places will throw in loads of stuff for free if you ask them. The usual chair covers, use of cake stand, red carpet etc. should always be free IMO. In the end choosing our venue was a no-brainer as they threw in so much for the €40 per head, including

• Limo to the hotel
  
• Reception finger food & champagne
  
• Floral centrepieces for the table
  
• Five course meal
  
• Red and White Wine served with meal
  
• Evening Finger Buffet
  
• Bar Extension
  
• Bridal suite

breffnij

Viewed Druids Glen on Friday and Kilashee on Saturday both set up for Weddings. Druids Glen was much nicer in my opinion but not sure if it is the €2k nicer it would cost to have the wedding there. May be going back to Heritage and checking Knightsbrook in Trim. One last destination may be Lyrath Castle.

I checked Tulfarris but I didn't like it as the bar was separate from the room and may lose a few mates.

breffnij

purplekitty wrote: »

let the venue know your looking at other venues.

we got free:
bar extention,
canapees and sparkling wine reception
pianist on arrival
table + chair decorations (never pay for these)
deluxe night time buffet
got 20% off all wine
rooms for all our wedding party
a more expensive dinner menu for cost of the least expensive dinner menu
free babysitters for any children

you should be expecting this too.
best of luck!!!

Wow PurpleKitty......I'd hate to get in a haggling match with you! I'd lose my shirt! Thinking of putting search on hold anyway. The right venue isn't standing out. Wondering if it even makes that much a difference. Its the crowd that make the wedding anyway right?!

XmasProposal

purplekitty, Dolorous do you mind saying where ye had your receptions? Sound like those hotels are good options!

BTW: purplekitty, are you available to hire as a professional haggler?!

Dolbert

No problem, we're getting married in the Templemore Arms in Tipperary, which may be a little out of the way for you!

Lansdowne Hotel seem to do a pretty good deal, haven't personally been there though
http://www.lansdownehotel.ie/Functions/165

breffnij

Looking at Lyrath Estate. Loved it. AS a March wedding it'll be the wintr package which seems a decent deal but they are saying there is nothing they can do on it. Anyone any experience on what else we could squeeze?

Looks like we are getting bridal + 2 other Executive rooms only. We asked abuot corkage but say they won't budge on €15 and that we must provide 30% more wine to ensure we don't run out and make them look bad!

All in all the lady was excellent and we are pretty much set on it. Just want to get that extra bargain!

eadire

Ok I know I am a little late on writing on this thread but just thought I would tell you what I would expect, and what we got,
Choice of car
Complimentary Seasonal Punch On Arrival
Complimentary Toast
Complimentary DJ
Complimentary Room Hire including bar extension
Complimentary Evening Reception
Complimentary Chair covers
Floral Centrepieces for all tables
and
Champagne on arrival for Bride & Groom
Red Carpet Welcome
Tea/Coffee/Biscuits for all your guests
4 Course Meal
Choice of cake stands

along with other things too so really to ask and you will get

agath

we got free accomodation for me and husband and the parents and breakfast for a few others the following morning. We probably could have pressed more for accomodation in the hotel as it was very quiet and wedding was on a Thursday. Would recommend chancing your arm and ask for everything.

toadfly

For €3 extra pp we got:

- 2 glasses of wine pp (red, white or rose)
- evening food (tea/coffee, sandwiches, saugages, chick pieces, mini quiche)
- Canapes on arrival
- 3 rooms along with bridal suite
- all deluxe rooms in hotel assigned to our guests
- free corkage on sparkling wine toast
- choice on starter & main course
- mains from more expensive menu

Happy enough

Sleepy

Where was that TillyGirl!?

Acoshla

We just booked our venue and got a deal I'm happy with, not used to haggling! It's a Bank Holiday weekend and a very sought after venue so I think we did pretty good considering. Some of these were included in the package, but got extras too.

We got:
The overall price pp reduced by €5
Chair covers and sashes added free of charge
Candelabras on all tables
(There were free flowers too but I don't want them)
Choice of two starters
Choice of Soup or Sorbet
Choice of 3 main courses, one to be Sirloin Steak
Choice of 2 desserts
2 glasses of wine and a pour for the speeches
We provide our own drink for drinks reception and they serve for no fee
We can provide our own baked goods for the drinks reception along with free tea, coffee and cookies
Two nights accommodation and breakfast for the two best men (and the groom the night before), including use of the Spa's hot tub and sauna on the morning of the wedding
Bridal Suite and breakfast in bed

Yay

missyb

Wow you are all brilliant at getting deals, Acoshla I hope you dont mind, but where is your venue, it sounds great