Wedding Venue

Netty101

First time poster but desperate times call for desperate measures:( My self and my fiancé where all set to book our venue. We are looking at May bank holiday 2015. Although my parents where not that fussy we had decided to go with Clonbreany house in Meath. There reservations were it is too remote nothing to do golf spa etc not to mention trying to split people up for the accommodation. we still have 19months so we have now decided to hold off and keep looking. I am looking for a county house/hotel venue not more than 2 hours from Dublin. I thought I was a very decisive person but now I don't really know what the hell I want I like Mount Juliet, Mt Wolsey and Farnham estate have not seen any of these in person. Does anyone have honest reviews on any of the above? Tulfarris is out for me. Talk about Bridezella. :D:P

clint_silver

Netty101 wrote: »

First time poster but desperate times call for desperate measures:( My self and my fiancé where all set to book our venue. We are looking at May bank holiday 2015. Although my parents where not that fussy we had decided to go with Clonbreany house in Meath. There reservations were it is too remote nothing to do golf spa etc not to mention trying to split people up for the accommodation. we still have 19months so we have now decided to hold off and keep looking. I am looking for a county house/hotel venue not more than 2 hours from Dublin. I thought I was a very decisive person but now I don't really know what the hell I want I like Mount Juliet, Mt Wolsey and Farnham estate have not seen any of these in person. Does anyone have honest reviews on any of the above? Tulfarris is out for me. Talk about Bridezella. :D:P

its good that you have decided on the type of venue (golf/spa) so you can refine your choice. However I dont understand why youd rule out clonabreany yet would consider woolsley and farnham estate, surely theyed be ruled out for the same "remote" reasons. You really wouldnt go wrong with either of them though, great spots.

Off the top of my head, In the same type of venues also consider carton house, johnstown house, castleknock country club all of which have golf/spas and are within 30 minutes of dublin.and again you wont go wrong with them. (johnstown house doesnt have golf but theres several courses within 10 minutes)

sweetie

It's your day, stick to your guns. Clonabreany is a lovely spot and quite different from the other Hotel type venues you mentioned. Have you considered Millhouse slane, Tankardstown house slane, Ballymagarvey, Trudder lodge or even Darver castle?

AMGC

Im getting married in Farnham estate in June 2015, absolutely love it, for us it's the perfect venue! originally wanted the bank hol wk end but it was already book and that was 4months ago so I'd b very surprised if may bank hol is stil available! If your set on the bank hol ring around your venues and see which ones still hav it available this may narrow it down for you as the bank hols book up first! Good luck!!

Netty101

Great to get some reply's! Thanks. I want it a bit out side Dublin as we are hoping to do the two day wedding BBQ the next day! so I have ruled out Dublin venues. Tankardstown is lovely but very little accommodation on site and we were quoted €120 a head before a drink was served!!! I thought this was totally OTT. I don't mind it being remote if its a larger venue as they can go to restaurant etc. I will take a look at Darver. Had a bad review from a neighbour on Clonabreany and this may be the final nail in the coffin for it. every place seems to have pros and cons just really need.

Chickus

What about Kilashee house in Nass, It is a beautiful place and has golf and spa..
I was at a wedding there in summer and food, service etc was top notch.:D

CLL

Hi,

I recently went to a wedding in clonabreany and it was amazing! Superb venue, very well organised on the day for checking people into accommodation etc...staff seemed very nice. I had to leave OH there as I had to take over from the babysitter but he tells me that Shebeen was a huge hit!

Bad points were- it was a long way from home and a bit tricky to get to for non locals/people travelling from overseas....

CLL

Went to a wedding in ballymagarvey village and it was one of the best wedding I have been to!
Highly recommended.

blindside88

Just had my wedding in mt. Wolseley in September. Honestly couldn't be happier with it. The food, staff and venue were fantastic. They also have the option of a BBQ the next day on the balcony over the golf club which is nice. If you have any questions on it I'd be happy to answer

Netty101

So much feedback it is great! Ballymagarvey looks stunning have heard nothing but good things. Price point may be a little high. We are trying to stay around the €100 per head mark and we would be looking at around 170ppl. I have booked into see Killashee house. We also got a recommendation for Marlfield House in Wexford which looks lovely. I am not too set on the date just getting the bank hol would be the icing on the cake.

sweetie

Netty101 wrote: »

So much feedback it is great! Ballymagarvey looks stunning have heard nothing but good things. Price point may be a little high. We are trying to stay around the €100 per head mark and we would be looking at around 170ppl. I have booked into see Killashee house. We also got a recommendation for Marlfield House in Wexford which looks lovely. I am not too set on the date just getting the bank hol would be the icing on the cake.

Have a look at Trudder lodge, similar vibe to clonaabreany (permanent marquee, lovely old house) close to big hotel in newtownmtkennedy and 40 mins from city centre.

pooch90

Wouldn't be mad about Mt Juliet, the smaller room anyway.
crowd was very split and no atmosphere, also dancefloor was tiny.
Food only ok, i thought the couple that got married there got robbed TBH.

I'd feel the same about Clonabreany, even though it looks beautiful, it really is in the back of beyond-roads were horrific when we went there, accommodation not logical and honestly I didn't like the staff (even though I'm related to some of them!!). Food was really overpriced price per head too.

CLL

Netty101 wrote: »

So much feedback it is great! Ballymagarvey looks stunning have heard nothing but good things. Price point may be a little high. We are trying to stay around the €100 per head mark and we would be looking at around 170ppl. I have booked into see Killashee house. We also got a recommendation for Marlfield House in Wexford which looks lovely. I am not too set on the date just getting the bank hol would be the icing on the cake.

I know that my friends did not pay over €100 pp at ballymagarvey last year... They said there is a fair bit of negotiating room...

Moonbeam

I like Johnstown House in Enfield,we got married there.

Jerrica

Netty101 wrote: »

So much feedback it is great! Ballymagarvey looks stunning have heard nothing but good things.

Another +1 for Ballymagarvey here I got married there last month and I can't praise the staff and venue highly enough. We had the wedding on a Saturday (143 people) and a BBQ the following day (50 people) and it was an absolutely magical weekend. The staff were fabulous, they were so attentive without being in your face. Having the house for everyone to wander around in for the weekend is fantastic, no-one wanted to leave!

The staff were under extra pressure with me as I broke my leg seven days before the wedding but they went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure I was looked after.

I didn't find there was a whole lot of negotiating possible, but we were booked in on a premium day so if we threatened to go elsewhere there'd have been a queue of people waiting to take our slot! It was worth every penny, and then some.

Something different and fairly new to consider is the Wells Estate in Wexford - it's on the Gorey - Wexford Road and the Estate has only been open to the public in the last two years. I noticed they were doing a wedding fair there a month or so ago, had they been doing weddings when I was planning I would have absolutely looked into it: http://www.wellshouse.ie/explore/weddings/

Netty101

Viewed killashee but did not like the idea that there are two weddings on at the same time. I also viewed Franham Estate which I think we are going to go with. It is reasonably priced, the spa and hotel are lovely. Down points are the bridal suite and a few badreviews on the food. I can get over the bridal suite as it is still nice. Just a little rough around the edges. Anyone any more feed back on Farnham?

Chickus

Ah thats a pity...There was only one wedding on when I was there..It was a Sunday though. (discount for Sundays btw)

beertons

Rathsallagh House?

sweetie

Netty101 wrote: »

Viewed killashee but did not like the idea that there are two weddings on at the same time. I also viewed Franham Estate which I think we are going to go with. It is reasonably priced, the spa and hotel are lovely. Down points are the bridal suite and a few badreviews on the food. I can get over the bridal suite as it is still nice. Just a little rough around the edges. Anyone any more feed back on Farnham?

Seems to be a very nice well run venue, the room is nice and modern, well maintained and the outside area was lovely when I was there during the good weather last summer.

Netty101

Hello folks, So we are booked in for Farnham Estate June 2015!! Finally that heart ache is over Now for the fun stuff!!!! We have booked the church. I wanted to get the two main things out of the way. My next task is the band. I think this may take a while as we want to view them etc and as we are talking 2015 we have the time. Anyone any recommendations on how much to budget for the band? Have heard good things about pump up the Jam. They look really good and would be good for our crowd. They are quoting €2100 is this what we are looking to spend on a good band? Thanks!

AMGC

I'm getting married in Farnham in June 2015 too YAY!! Love it!! Just outta curiousity how'd ur negotiations go?? Our band is costing 2850 for drinks reception, band and dj but they were one of the higher quotes we got!

Netty101

Pretty much no negotiations we got the price per head from the wedding fair, As they have put it up by €5 per head since the wedding fair in Sept. We where happy with the price as it came in under what most other venues where charging. Also we got €5 knocked off per head as we took away the dessert. Did you get them down much per head? We are going with the Cedar package and felt the value was good! Are the same band doing your drinks reception?

AMGC

The only thing we got was 10 extra rooms, didn't try negotiate d packages cus we told them we wud decide closer to the time, did they not mind u leaving the desert off? We were thinking of leaving the soup course out (don't think ppl need 2 starters!) but the contract says it must b a 5 course meal!? I dint no they put it up €5 we wer told 80/head for the cedar package I tink. Yea we're getting a jazz duo for drinks reception from the band we're having in the evening

Netty101

No they where a little shocked that we would consider letting our guests serve themselves the wedding cake(we are having biscuit cake and cupcakes) They wanted to charge to plate it up but really we felt a napkin will do our guests! haha! But in the end they said they would discount by €5. We considered taking the soup out as it will be June but my Dad really wanted it to stay so we decided to stick with it! 10 extra rooms at the discount rate? or 10 free???

Moonbeam

We has Smokin Mojo play at our wedding and they were truly awesome and a bit different.
Dessert is my favourite bit of the meal,I would nearly ditch the starter instead of the soup,I find depending on what the starter is people pick at it but the soup goes down well.
10 rooms is excellent.

AMGC

I might see if they'll let us give a choice of soup or starter instead of both! Ten extra just at d discounted rate not free!! I wanted unlimited as I don't tink it's fair for some guests to pay more than others but they wudnt budge on the ten!

Moonbeam

ah I thought they were being included.
We nearly always find that we can get cheaper rooms online then the special wedding rate.

blindside88

Congrats on booking the venue. We got married in September and had The Great Escape as the band, they were fantastic and had the dance floor full all night. They were 1900 for band and dj but did it for 1700 as it was a Thursday. As regards budget you'll get most bands for between 2000 and 2500

nightpark

Anyone any views on rathsallagh. Looking it as a venue next year.

LisaLee

What about the Clanard Court in Athy? Golf, Spa and it's a lovely hotel. Plus it has really nice grounds with alpacas and goats to boot! About an hour from Dublin on M9. Plus the food and service is amazing! http://www.clanardcourt.ie/

Netty101

My Cousin got married there, I wasn't there but my parents liked it. I've heard the house is a little rough, but you might be going for that vintage old style look. I wanted somewhere with accomodation on site for all guests.