Barberstown Castle - Opinions?

adocholiday

Hi all,

The OH and I have decided on 2 venues. One of them is local to us. We know what we'll get and have been to weddings there. The other, Barberstown Castle, is not local so we have no experience of it and don't know anyone who has been there.

Nobody can doubt the beauty of the venue. It really is a gorgeous place and we are looking for a 'castley' place, rather than a modern hotel. The problem is that there seems to be quite a mixed bag of reviews for it online, but none I can find are very recent.

Has anyone had or been to a wedding here in the last 18 months or so? What was your experience of it? We are slightly worried about the location of the bar and the placement of the stage for the band so that would be one thing in particular that we'd like to hear about. The other thing is do people tend to remain in the main ballroom area, or tend to move back out to the drinks reception area? I know every crowd is different but we're just trying to get an overall opinion of it as a wedding venue before committing to anything

sweetie

I'm not a big fan. Music curfew is 1.30 (sharp), afters is 3am (I think) and venue is then cleared. The room setup is slightly awkward for the entertainment also. When I was a guest at a wedding there I was disappointed in the food and service. The rooms were very nice though. Most times I've been a sizeable crowd was in the corridor part between bar and main floor.

clint_silver

sweetie wrote: »

I'm not a big fan. Music curfew is 1.30 (sharp), afters is 3am (I think) and venue is then cleared. The room setup is slightly awkward for the entertainment also. When I was a guest at a wedding there I was disappointed in the food and service. The rooms were very nice though. Most times I've been a sizeable crowd was in the corridor part between bar and main floor.

awful setup of a room, was much better for a party before they extended a few years ago even though it was smaller.
And they whip the tea and coffee away as soon as half the sandwiches are eaten at 11 o'c :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

nice place though.

amdublin

I was at a wedding a couple of years ago, I don't remember anything bad standing out if it helps.

adocholiday

The posts here are not filling me with confidence so far but thanks for the honest replies.

I was at a wedding a couple of years ago, I don't remember anything bad standing out if it helps.

Can you remember how the layout of the room influenced people dancing/mingling? This is one of our big concerns. The bar is a bit away from the dancefloor area, and the door to the drinks reception area is between the two. I'm anxious about people ending up out there and splitting the crowd into groups which is certain to result in no atmosphere at all

clint_silver

adocholiday wrote: »

The posts here are not filling me with confidence so far but thanks for the honest replies.



Can you remember how the layout of the room influenced people dancing/mingling? This is one of our big concerns. The bar is a bit away from the dancefloor area, and the door to the drinks reception area is between the two. I'm anxious about people ending up out there and splitting the crowd into groups which is certain to result in no atmosphere at all

IMO youre trusting fate if you pick a venue where the bar isn't in the main room as people naturally split.

are you having a big wedding, ie, are you filling the annex bit? they put band and DJ there for most weddings with the curtain pulled across half way up the annex. As such people have to come from the sides to see them, sometimes if the numbers make it worthwhile they put the band facing the courtyard bit so people are sitting to the left of them as well, it certainly makes for more entertainment enjoyment but youd really want to have a largish crowd for that. >130-140 at least I would have said.

adocholiday

clint_silver wrote: »

are you having a big wedding ... >130-140 at least I would have said.

We are pretty much filling the venue. Minimum of 200 they have a capacity of 280

Dortilolma

Our best friends got married there in 2010 and they had a fantastic experience. The wedding itself was brilliant and the staff were super helpful throughout the entire process.

I don't remember the location of the bar being an issue at all - the set up worked very well for dancing, mingling and drinking.

We loved it so much that we're getting married there this summer. My experience so far has been very positive. They are very accommodating and incredibly helpful.

clint_silver

adocholiday wrote: »

We are pretty much filling the venue. Minimum of 200 they have a capacity of 280

If you want the type of wedding where everyone is in the one place , I personally wouldnt pick a venue with different rooms but you should be ok at those numbers. Therell be enough floating round. those who want to drink will just stay at the bar or outside.

ask them where the entertainment will be, if they say in front of the curtain facing down towards the long bit, ask them can they open it out so people are sitting in the annex as well.

sweetie

adocholiday wrote: »

The posts here are not filling me with confidence so far but thanks for the honest replies.



Can you remember how the layout of the room influenced people dancing/mingling? This is one of our big concerns. The bar is a bit away from the dancefloor area, and the door to the drinks reception area is between the two. I'm anxious about people ending up out there and splitting the crowd into groups which is certain to result in no atmosphere at all

In my experiences people don't congregate out there during the meal or entertainment (the pre-dinner & afters is held there though) but rather the area between bar and dancefloor tends to get very busy. The manager there is a good bloke but the wedding I personally attended the waiting staff were slow and many of us were a while waiting for wine, food etc at different times during the meal. It may have been a once off.
They do a nice bbq afters service too and as Clint says the bigger the crowd the better the room is used. My main qualm is the curfew really.

adocholiday

We loved it so much that we're getting married there this summer. My experience so far has been very positive. They are very accommodating and incredibly helpful

I agree with you on these points. They have been really lovely to deal with and I couldn't fault a single thing so far. We love the venue and had decided almost immediately that we were going to go ahead with it there. The problem for us is that we have no experience of the venue and sometimes practicalities as discussed above can become deal breakers very quickly. I'm still very positive about it at this point however. Some of the places we've seen were looking for much more than Barberstown per head but wouldn't be fit to tie their shoelaces.

adocholiday

sweetie wrote: »

My main qualm is the curfew really.

This is a big one for us also and I am going to address it when we meet with the coordinator. Really potential deal breaker for us.

annoyedgal

Attended a wedding there, beautiful places for pictures but a negative for me was the food was not good. We were also sitting in the extension at the end and there was a noticable draught. Don't remember any issue with the dancefloor being empty, there was people congregating at the bar but you will get that anywhere!
We are also getting married in a castle with separate bar. I worried about it up until a point but really there will always be a core who don't dance anyway. Older relatives will appreciate the quiet space I'm sure! If your dancefloor isn't huge and you've a decent number you'll be grand.
See if you can get a later curfew, don't remember it being so early when I was there. At the end of the day if it's the place you fell in love with I'd follow your heart but I'm biased towards places with character and history. There will always be cribs with a venue, don't worry no one will tell you them on the day!

amdublin

adocholiday wrote: »

Can you remember how the layout of the room influenced people dancing/mingling? This is one of our big concerns. The bar is a bit away from the dancefloor area, and the door to the drinks reception area is between the two. I'm anxious about people ending up out there and splitting the crowd into groups which is certain to result in no atmosphere at all

I think we were far away from the top table down the end of room near a big fireplace - would that be right??

The dancefloor was in the middle - did loads of dancing.

I don't remember the bar being an "issue". Think we had to go "out" to it alright but I don't remember saying "whoa this is bad" or anything.

Moonbeam

Barberstown is beautiful but that is where it ends. The food is not great and the service is mixed.

readyman

Hi all,

I am considering Barberstown as a wedding venue, I really like the venue and location is very good for us, however, I am worried about the bar closing at 1 30, has anyone had this problem ? Or has anyone heard of getting a bar extension
All advice will be greatly appreciated
Thank you

readyman

Hi all,

I am considering Barberstown as a wedding venue, I really like the venue and location is very good for us, however, I am worried about the bar closing at 1 30, has anyone had this problem ? Or has anyone heard of getting a bar extension
All advice will be greatly appreciated
Thank you

beertons

I'll ask a neighbour tomorrow and get back to you, I think she is functions manager there.

beertons

Bar extension is €350.

I am pie

Got married there 2 yrs ago in Sept), maybe we're biased but for me the food was excellent (at least nobody told us otherwise too our face!) & the service was excellent also. Yes, things do wind down earlier than you might like if you are focusing on the party atmosphere after the wedding.

In summary - food, setting, rooms and location are a huge plus.

Negative is the suitability for a party...we put less priority on the later hours of the wedding, so if you want a boozy affair with lots of late dancing it might not be ideal.