Planning our wedding :)

deanbert

Hi all. It's come to that time where my wonderful fiancée and myself are starting to look for wedding venues. We are looking in and around Dublin and surrounding counties, ie. Wicklow, Kildare, Meath, Louth etc. Nothing to far from home basically {home being Dublin } We are looking for something classy and elegant but not to expensive as we both have large families and are looking at over 200 guests. If anyone would have any suggestions or input from personal experience or hearsay we would be eternally greatfull if you could pass on your wisdom. Please and thank you ðŸ˜

skinnimini

Hi,

We're in the same position ourselves and its so hard to choose! We're lookin at the Glenroyal Hotel in Mayooth, we both have big families and we got a very reasonable quote for 160 guests including a choice on the mains. We are viewing the hotel next minth, it would be worth a look!

Enjoy all the planning!

Clare Bear

We went to see quite a few around Kildare/Wicklow and Dublin and nothing compared to Carton House and Barberstown Castle. They're probably more expensive than the average but they're not ott expensive. We went with Barberstown Castle in the end because we felt it was more us but I'd definitely recommend going to those two. I don't want to slag any hotels off so I won't but some places we went to see, some of which are supposed to be top wedding venues were in need of a lot of work! Good luck with the planning, enjoy it!

average_runner

We got married in Barberstwon castle over 2 years ago. A great venue and all the staff are top class.

Rooms for staying in are great and all guest got a free upgrade.

Ballyman

I'd agree with Carton and Barberstown above, beautiful venues and loads of locations for pictures also. Another couple of venues which aren't overly expensive are Killashee House Hotel in Naas and for something completely different you have Boyne Hill House outside Navan where you have the entire hotel, gardens and estate to yourself for two days.

D3PO

Barberstown is fantastic alright. Personally though the L shape of the room and where the bar is situated put me off.

OP if you were to give some kind of indication of what your willing to spend you could perhaps get more directed answers.

Id suspect Barberstown and Carton house are out of your budget range of "not too expensive for 200 guests"

clint_silver

D3PO wrote: »

Barberstown is fantastic alright. Personally though the L shape of the room and where the bar is situated put me off.

OP if you were to give some kind of indication of what your willing to spend you could perhaps get more directed answers.

Id suspect Barberstown and Carton house are out of your budget range of "not too expensive for 200 guests"

Barberstown L shape is very much a factor. food and scenery and staff cant be faulted. But late at night when the bar is full and the dance floor isnt youll be wondering why.

200 is biggish, knightsbrook and trim castle are decent. Have a look.

D3PO

clint_silver wrote: »

Barberstown L shape is very much a factor. food and scenery and staff cant be faulted. But late at night when the bar is full and the dance floor isnt youll be wondering why.

200 is biggish, knightsbrook and trim castle are decent. Have a look.

I'll second that the food there is phenomenal. For me the after dinner part of the day holds a fair bit of weight though hense the L Shape being a factor for me.

For others this probably isnt a big a consideration. Would be good to know the OP's idea of budge tthough for bette rsuggestions.

Id too suggest perhaps looking at trim castle & kinghtsbrook who would be a bit cheaper than the likes of Carton House & Barberstown.

Also worth considering Dunboyne Castle if budget is a consideration.

Moonbeam

Knightsbrook is amazing but it is a wedding factory which has its advantages and disadvantages.
I would find the Glenroyal very ordinary and wouldn't consider it.
Moyvalley is lovely , I am in love with it.
Johnstown House is nice and the staff are amazing.
Carton house is an amazing place but I dunno if it is worth the money.
Dunboyne castle is nice.
Parkveiw in Newtown,
Ballybeg is amazing.
The station house hotel is amazing and has special offers.

Visit everywhere have lunch there before you mention you are looking at it as a wedding venue so you get a real feel for it.

beltzar

Hi
We have paid a deposit on Boyne Hill House for our wedding later this year. You get the country house/gardens etc to yourself for the day.
We looked at approx 20 venues in leinster and this was my second favourite. Tinahely house in Rathnew Wicklow was my fav and the food was fantastic! But all music must stop by 12.30pm which put me off.
Def stay there beforehand once you've narrowed it down to a few. We stayed for two nights in Marquee castle Sligo, but once we ate in the restaurant we decided not to book the Castle.
Hope this helps.

Josephine O Beirnes

My sister had her reception at the Station House Hotel in Kilmessan in Meath, fabulous place, dinner was lovely, staff were excellent, couldnt fault it at all. I dont think it was that expensive either.

Moonbeam

beltzar wrote: »

Hi
We have paid a deposit on Boyne Hill House for our wedding later this year. You get the country house/gardens etc to yourself for the day.
We looked at approx 20 venues in leinster and this was my second favourite. Tinahely house in Rathnew Wicklow was my fav and the food was fantastic! But all music must stop by 12.30pm which put me off.
Def stay there beforehand once you've narrowed it down to a few. We stayed for two nights in Marquee castle Sligo, but once we ate in the restaurant we decided not to book the Castle.
Hope this helps.

I think you might mean Tinakilly house.

D3PO

Josephine O Beirnes wrote: »

My sister had her reception at the Station House Hotel in Kilmessan in Meath, fabulous place, dinner was lovely, staff were excellent, couldnt fault it at all. I dont think it was that expensive either.

i doubt you would get 200 guests into the station house though and thats the ops numbers ?

deanbert

Thanks for all the support guys, checked out some of your recommendations and there are some great looking venues... We're looking to spend around 8 to 10 thousand on our venue. We were looking at dunboyne castle and knightsbrook hotel(in meath) both seem to have quite reasonable packages and a decent menu, has anyone been to or had their wedding at either of these venues

D3PO

deanbert wrote: »

Thanks for all the support guys, checked out some of your recommendations and there are some great looking venues... We're looking to spend around 8 to 10 thousand on our venue. We were looking at dunboyne castle and knightsbrook hotel(in meath) both seem to have quite reasonable packages and a decent menu, has anyone been to or had their wedding at either of these venues

been to a wedding in Dunboyne Castle. Couldnt fault anything there to be honest.

Its perhaps lacking in terms of gardens for photos (I wasnt in the wedding party so perhaps Im wrong)

clint_silver

D3PO wrote: »

been to a wedding in Dunboyne Castle. Couldnt fault anything there to be honest.

Its perhaps lacking in terms of gardens for photos (I wasnt in the wedding party so perhaps Im wrong)

agreed with this. very little between the 2 venues in terms of quality for me. Knightsbrook a little more scenic out the back with views of the golf course. But thats about it. 2 very good venues.

bp

We got married in Dunboyne Castle a few months ago and had a great time! Now in fairness we looked at a few venues (recommended by the good people of boards) and preferred Dunboyne.

The package was brilliant, including a spa treatment for three friends before the wedding and the staff were excellent. Personally I had a great day - they even went on the hunt for my MIA page boy and father for me!

It is also a good spot if you are thinking of having a civil ceremony, we had it there and the room looked great, then we had a drinks reception while they reset the room for dinner.

There is a bar in the main room which is also a plus as it keeps people in the main ball room. Good luck anyway

PS in relation to photos, you really only need two or three nice spots outside, there is a gazeboo thing, an old ruin of a two walls and a nice hill for photos, and loads more nice spots inside

kinghigh

i work in one hotel above mentioned.

but we also looked at most hotels recommended in post.

we picked riverside park hotel in Enniscorthy in end for oct 12.

trim castle wasn't cheap for offering and had no honeymoon suite, just basic room.

knightsbrook blew us away. everything was perfect. but the prices were expensive and had a year on year increase in price. etc 2010=59€ 2011=65€ 2012=69€. so price blew us away.

dunboyne castle was great looking to, seen it set up for a wedding. the prices were good. the distance was good, scenery was good, but there was something about the bar tucked away in the corner i didnt like for 200ppl or the bar outside of room which i never liked as half ur guests would be at bar. and fiance didnt like that bridal suite was so far away and there was no lift to room, just 5 flights of stairs.

killashee is nice. fairly expensive, old, but not dirty old, just didnt suit us.

osprey hotel. location of sister in laws wedding and at time lovely. room is class when its set up for a wedding. 4 years ago now. been to a few times since as live nearby and not as great as used to be. also room looked only half full all night as some ppl were upstairs on studio like balcony some in beer garden beside room and bar is in alcove slightly back from main room were lots iof ppl hung out.

we heard of hotel in enniscorthy through a friend and took long drive down to have a look. we loved it , didnt care about travel time. bar open for everyone till 3ish 4 if busy. no corkage on wines etc if you bring your own. super price of 38€ pp. and the bridal suite is the most fantastic room you'll find anywhere in ireland. also the cathedral in town is fab place for ceremony.

My hotel where i work is worth having a look at. never ever a bad comment from any couples. agree about going around to college for photos and there is a small garden in middle of hotel which is nice in summer.

Just make sure wherever you book that your guests don't get chucked out at 1.30am and dont pay for bar extension.

amybaby27

Dunboyne Castle was very nice. I was at a wedding in it last year.
Couldnt really say a bad thing about it.

deanbert

Anybody ever been to the hodson bay hotel? We booked a viewing there a little while ago and they seem really nice and helpfull, and offered us quite a good deal. I'm just wondering is it worth it and will they be as nice and helpfull on the day?

clint_silver

hodson bay is great. you wont have any problems there. great venue for a party.

1 thing of note, I stayed there twice over last 5 years, once on a stags and once on a weekend away with missus and both times there was no ressies bar afterwards. didnt bother me either time but confirm with them if this is the case and you were expecting one. found it unusual, only other place Ive ever seen this was in the westin in dublin.

deanbert

Believe me that has been taken care of... We've negotiated a late bar until 2:30 and the residents bar until half 4

Ginny

On the other hand we got married in Trim Castle Hotel last September and couldn't fault them at all. We had a lot of little extra touches that they set up for us without a bother. Got the Vat reduction too even though the contracts were finalised. The bar staff even raided the crisp machine in their canteen for us when people were in the residents bar.

Monife

skinnimini wrote: »

Hi,

We're in the same position ourselves and its so hard to choose! We're lookin at the Glenroyal Hotel in Mayooth, we both have big families and we got a very reasonable quote for 160 guests including a choice on the mains. We are viewing the hotel next minth, it would be worth a look!

Enjoy all the planning!

Haven't been to a wedding in the Glen Royal but stayed there for a few nights and it was one of our worst hotel experiences ever. I posted a review on Trip Advisor, it is the first review on that page. Just an awful experience altogether. Would not be a nice venue for a wedding imho.

Extra Minty

Monife wrote: »

Haven't been to a wedding in the Glen Royal but stayed there for a few nights and it was one of our worst hotel experiences ever. I posted a review on Trip Advisor, it is the first review on that page. Just an awful experience altogether. Would not be a nice venue for a wedding imho.

Your review is from June 2010? It has been taken over since then so not really valid 2 years later.

Monife

Extra Minty wrote: »

Your review is from June 2010? It has been taken over since then so not really valid 2 years later.

Doesn't matter if it has been taken over or not. It is in a horrible location for a wedding, with a supermarket right across the road, no nice grounds for photo's, tacky nightclub attached onto it. I am sure the rooms are still in the same condition and I doubt they fired all of their staff.

Check the rest of the reviews on Trip Advisor, they aren't really in favour for the place.

Extra Minty

Monife wrote: »

Doesn't matter if it has been taken over or not. It is in a horrible location for a wedding, with a supermarket right across the road, no nice grounds for photo's, tacky nightclub attached onto it. I am sure the rooms are still in the same condition and I doubt they fired all of their staff.

Check the rest of the reviews on Trip Advisor, they aren't really in favour for the place.

I stay in it regular and have my wedding booked for there. The staff were one of the reasons I booked it.

Monife

Extra Minty wrote: »

I stay in it regular and have my wedding booked for there. The staff were one of the reasons I booked it.

Different strokes for different folks. I personally, wouldn't have wanted my wedding there.