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Wedding venue Kildare / Dublin

Declan1

Hello,

Looking for recommendations for a venue for a wedding reception in Kildare or the western side of Dublin. Approx 200 guests.

So far thinking of:
Carton House
Barberstown Castle
Castleknock Hotel & Country Club
Killashee House
Lyons Estate
Finnstown House
Clanard Hotel

Would appreciate any positive or negative feedback on these venues or indeed anywhere else in the area. It's a jungle out there!

Thanks

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smelltheglove

Carton House
Never been but I know it is a hotspot photo location

Barberstown Castle
Covered a wedding here, nice hotel and grounds, they would not allow use of the lobby for photos but other than that everything was lovely and couple really enjoyed their wedding there. Grounds are gorgeous.

Castleknock Hotel & Country Club
My sister had her wedding here, very expensive but a fab hotel

Killashee House
Never been
Lyons Estate
Never been

Finnstown House
Lovely hotel, great character stunning grounds.

Clanard Hotel
Never been

One I would also recommend considering is the Dunboyne Castle Hotel.

Would appreciate any positive or negative feedback on these venues or indeed anywhere else in the area. It's a jungle out there!

Thanks[/QUOTE]

32finn

Ill give my 2 cent's on the one's i know of.

Carton house: Beautiful grounds for photo's, you will get a lot of different shots there. Also there food is very good.

Killashee House: Grounds are nice, not as much of a choice as the carton house grounds but you will get some really nice shots outside the house and also inside it. Again, the food is very nice and they put on a very good reception for your guests when they arrive.

I would agree with smelltheglove about Dunboyne Castle, well worth checking out.

Also check out the westgrove hotel, Clane. Food is very good and from what iv'e heard from other couples they are very willing to throw in the odd extra here and there. Here is a link, http://www.westgrovehotel.com/

smelltheglove

32finn wrote: »

Also check out the westgrove hotel, Clane. Food is very good and from what iv'e heard from other couples they are very willing to throw in the odd extra here and there. Here is a link, http://www.westgrovehotel.com/

Oh yes, the Westgrove is stunning too, no grounds but they have made huge use of the space they have available still allowing for a variety of shots to be taken. Staff were all very helpful there at the wedding I covered, nice one Les I forgot about that one!

Declan1

Thanks for the advice, we'll put Dunboyne Castle on the list too.

Any other recommendations or advice appreciated!

Beruthiel

Declan1 wrote: »

Lyons Estate

As in the Village at Lyons?
I had my wedding there, on a Monday, so we had the whole estate to ourselves!
It was fantastic and I can highly recommend it.

Declan1

Yes, the Village at Lyons. Looks lovely.

Prenderb

Was at weddings at 2 of those locations.

Lyons estate was v.nice, good food, nice location, but accommodation limited on-site. Not sure about photo ops, the wedding I was at had most of the pics in one location, just in front of the building, with some at the nearby canal bridge. Not saying they weren't nice pics, but it mightn't float your boat.

Clanard Court also v.nice with good food, a little more in the way of accommodation of course. Grounds not as immediately appealing as some of the other premises.

Declan1

Thanks for all the opinions so far...

We had a look around a few of the venues over the weekend.

Beruthiel, just wondering how many you had? We loved Lyons but we're looking at having about 200 so we'd need to use the two levels in the function room. Not sure how well it would work with the split levels? Also, where did you use for off site accomodation?

smelltheglove, we saw Castleknock but the room was partitioned off. The way they described it you could end up with the band out of sight to a lot of the guests?

Dunboyne was lovely too.

Will look at Killashee next weekend.

smelltheglove

Declan1 wrote: »

?

smelltheglove, we saw Castleknock but the room was partitioned off. The way they described it you could end up with the band out of sight to a lot of the guests?

Dunboyne was lovely too.

Will look at Killashee next weekend.

That is true, wasnt too bad for my sisters, the dance floor was still full but considering price, being out of the way and this I probably would favour Dunboyne more.

angeldelight

Barberstown Castle was my favourite before we went to see it. From what I'd seen online and heard from other people, both friends and online recommendations I really liked it and was sure we'd end up booking it.

Then we went to see it and were shown around by someone who was incredibly rude and disinterested. We could only go on a Sunday so weren't shown around by one of the wedding coordinators, it was the manager on duty. He whisked us around the whole place in about 10 minutes, said things like "there's a nice spot for photographs over there" while waving his arm vaguely off to the side instead of showing us and he had no interest in any questions we had. It was utterly ridiculous - he was walking us so fast around the place that every few steps I had to run a step or two just to keep up with him! Needless to say we booked somewhere else, but went for Dublin city centre in the end so I can't help with any recommendations out this direction

maryomeara

Clonard is lovely-great pictures, Kilashee is fantastic, but the venue really is HUGE but with 200 that shouldnt be a problem, gorgeous venue though.

I'm going to add to this thread;

Barberstown castle

Keadeen, Curragh

Westgrove Clane

Tulfarris Golf and country club

Ardenode Hotel,

Any thoughts?????

smelltheglove

Barberstown castle
As above

Keadeen, Curragh
Never been

Westgrove Clane
Lovely, great use of little grounds with decent photo opportunities.

Tulfarris Golf and country club
Stunning, Love this one, took pics on the decking overlooking the lake at sunset there which turned pout amazing, one of my favourite locations to shoot so far. I had food at this wedding too and the food was lovely.

Ardenode Hotel,
Lovely location too, I photographed a friends wedding here so I stayed over too, comfiest bed ever. One thing that really stood out to me here was the lights background behind the head table, worked great in the photos. The room was a good size and the stage for the band was great.

lisa.d3

Palmerstown House Estate is worth a try also. Stunning gardens and recently opened the 18th century house on the estate for accommodation...located exit 8 on the N7 (beside Johnstown Garden Centre).

Borderfox

Castleknock hotel has a strange function room with a 90 degree bend in it, drink prices were scandalous too. Looks nice but to me its a generic looking hotel

Dunboyne Castle is really nice, grounds are beautiful and the staff are excellent

Killashee is ok, food was terrible and the distance between the drinks reception and the function room is too far and you get guests getting lost.

prodigy1

Hi, we are exactly in the same boat. we were about to book Castleknock hotel until we heard some bad reviews, and we are worried as we had our hearts set on it. I heard that the residence bar closed at 3am even though it was been promised to stay open if the custom is there if you know what I mean. Also, what was really concerning was , I heard the security staff were over aggressive and rude. Furthermore, many suggested that the staff in the restaurant were rude. My family are from an old generation of morals and principles that unfortunately seem to be dying out now, That is manners and friendliness are paramount. I have to ask if you know whether there are many foreign nationals working there? Although you do get some rude Irish, I find that the hospitality and friendliness factor lacks somewhat in many of the foreign nationals, particularly in hotels.
If you or anyone elase has any other experience in this hotel we would be extremely greatful for your help
Kindest regards

beecees

Anyone have recent experiences of Palmerstown House Estate as a wedding venue? Just the manor house not the golf club? We love it but Tetris on fitting in everyone in the rooms.

California Dreamer

Barberstown. I always found venue to have a cold feel to it. It’s also a strict 0130 finish.

Palmerstown is a split venue. Dinner in one house then everyone gets bussed to the other venue for the evening entertainment.

Cliff at Lyons: 2 cons, the location of the bar and the location of the smoking/fire pit in contrast to the main dining area.

Dunboyne Castle/Castleknock: Wedding today, conference tomorrow! I like a genuine feel to a wedding location.

Kilashee. Either small in old house or really big in banquet room. Split levels as well. I got the vibe that I was loveky in 2007ish then came the crash and upkeep was reduced.

One venue that hasn’t been mentioned albeit in Slane: Tankerdstown. Built specifically for weddings.

A little further afield near Dundalk. Darver Castle or Bellingham Castle.

sweetie

California Dreamer wrote: »

Barberstown. I always found venue to have a cold feel to it. It’s also a strict 0130 finish.

Palmerstown is a split venue. Dinner in one house then everyone gets bussed to the other venue for the evening entertainment.

Cliff at Lyons: 2 cons, the location of the bar and the location of the smoking/fire pit in contrast to the main dining area.

Dunboyne Castle/Castleknock: Wedding today, conference tomorrow! I like a genuine feel to a wedding location.

Kilashee. Either small in old house or really big in banquet room. Split levels as well. I got the vibe that I was loveky in 2007ish then came the crash and upkeep was reduced.

One venue that hasn’t been mentioned albeit in Slane: Tankerdstown. Built specifically for weddings.

A little further afield near Dundalk. Darver Castle or Bellingham Castle.

That's not my experience of Palmerstown house.

Trudder Lodge, Lisnavagh and Rathsallagh might be worth a look for you?

davegilly

beecees wrote: »

Anyone have recent experiences of Palmerstown House Estate as a wedding venue? Just the manor house not the golf club? We love it but Tetris on fitting in everyone in the rooms.

I've been there loads of times as a photographer and it's my favourite local venue. I think they can cater for about 110 in the manor house which would definitely be my preference if you your numbers allow. The grounds are fab, the food is fantastic and the house is beautiful. The only issue and it's not really an issue is that where dinner is served is split into three different rooms so people away from the middle room can't see the speeches properly. They do have speakers in the other rooms and what generally happens is people come into the middle room to listen to them and return to their table after.

Others have had their speeches in the main room where the stairs are before dinner and everyone is around.

If you want to see some pics of the grounds and house send me a PM and I will send you some. Hope this helps.

ec18

davegilly wrote: »

I've been there loads of times as a photographer and it's my favourite local venue. I think they can cater for about 110 in the manor house which would definitely be my preference if you your numbers allow. The grounds are fab, the food is fantastic and the house is beautiful. The only issue and it's not really an issue is that where dinner is served is split into three different rooms so people away from the middle room can't see the speeches properly. They do have speakers in the other rooms and what generally happens is people come into the middle room to listen to them and return to their table after.

Others have had their speeches in the main room where the stairs are before dinner and everyone is around.

If you want to see some pics of the grounds and house send me a PM and I will send you some. Hope this helps.

Ultimately we went with barberstown over palmerstown because of the way the rooms worked with the meal and we weren't interested in the golf club option.

Barberstown was great for us and everyone hasn't stopped talking about it since to us and our parents. They do have a 1:30 stop on professional music, they do keep table service going in the 'reception' part of the hall until about 4am tho

davegilly

ec18 wrote: »

Ultimately we went with barberstown over palmerstown because of the way the rooms worked with the meal and we weren't interested in the golf club option.

Barberstown was great for us and everyone hasn't stopped talking about it since to us and our parents. They do have a 1:30 stop on professional music, they do keep table service going in the 'reception' part of the hall until about 4am tho

Barberstown is fab too - a bit more luxurious as well maybe. Had a wedding there recently and the food and attention to detail is top notch. I can send you some pics for inspiration if you like

Best of luck with the day.

ec18

davegilly wrote: »

Barberstown is fab too - a bit more luxurious as well maybe. Had a wedding there recently and the food and attention to detail is top notch. I can send you some pics for inspiration if you like
Best of luck with the day.

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