BYO 'alternative' venue?

CamillaRhodes

A tip I read when planning an 'alternative' wedding is to think about what sort of party you like to throw (regardless of it being a wedding or not) - would it be a dinner party, or a close group of friends splurging on champagne, or a large group dancing til all hours, etc?

I really like this idea, and our own party style would be an informal pile of food available (not a sit-down meal), music we love and lots of booze without having to ask our guests to pay. We're realising that to pay for the latter, we probably need to do a BYO and do a booze-cruise to france beforehand, there don't seem to be deals available on bar drinks (what we've been offered was 3.50 rather than 4 euro for a bottle of beer, which really doesn't make much of a difference).

Our budget is tight, we're aiming for 5k for 60 people (though we won't be spending big money on things like clothes, cars, photographers, band etc).

We're looking for 'alternative' venues in Dublin (not traditional hotel function rooms) that would allow us to bring our own booze without paying corkage. We haven't seen Tailor's Hall yet, but that sounds nice.

Any suggestions for similar places we might not have thought of?

stimpson

Not sure about corkage, but Thomas Prior Hall in Bewleys Ballsbridge have a deal at the moment - 6500 for 100 guests. We got married there a couple of years ago and they were pretty flexible on numbers when it wasn't in a Saturday. We had 65 guests and added on a few bits. It came in at just over 5K. Amazing venue and excellent food. Their wedding planner was an absolute professional too.

CamillaRhodes

Thanks stimpson but we really don't want somewhere as traditional and wedding-y as that - we don't want a sit down meal, want to provide booze for all (or the majority) of the night (not just wine with dinner), really abhor chair covers Different folks / strokes etc!

clint_silver

CamillaRhodes wrote: »

Thanks stimpson but we really don't want somewhere as traditional and wedding-y as that - we don't want a sit down meal, want to provide booze for all (or the majority) of the night (not just wine with dinner), really abhor chair covers Different folks / strokes etc!

why not have it in a restaraunt then. agree a menu for 60 people, ask about possability of you bringing in the wine yourself. even a couple of quid corkage and theyre making money.

have it near a decent nightclub and arrange for free in to the club for the wedding party, if its not a weekend night a nightclub will bend over backards to cordon off an area for 60 people and theres your music sorted too!

sweetie

Pillar room in rotunda lets you byob and is a good alternative to tailor's hall.

Sleepy

It sounds like you really want a giant house party so why not look on daft.ie and see what's available for short-term rental?

Even if you found some celtic-tiger mansion which has been for sale for a while and isn't being lived in at the moment, I'd say most prospective sellers would find it hard to refuse a grand for a night's rental once you arranged for cleaners and were amenable to a security deposit etc.

Moonbeam

Have a look at ballycumber house in Offaly too.