xpletiv wrote: » Ive been to 20 venues now, so ive seen a lot of what Ireland has to offer. Thats omitting the top places like Powerscourt, Shelbourne, etc because of course theyll be over the top. The worst Ive seen is Ashford castle, which now has a 26000/40000 rental fee in the low/high season (which includes all bedrooms and breakfast...) but nothing for dinner/drink/canapes which is 110 a head, plus another 2500 for room rental. Granted, thats the top ive found, but I thought that was out of this world. Who are these people that pay it?! And how many weddings do they even have a year at these prices?!
drumswan wrote: » Why are you going to view Ashford Castle when you are on a budget? You know thats a 5 star hotel right? Your post is silly. You are not going to be able to hire a venue like that cheaply, it has nothing to do with Ireland. You need to adjust your expectations back to reality. Try pricing hiring a 5 star hotel in London for your wedding for comparison.
xpletiv wrote: » Op is here (to whomever asked...)... been watching... and contemplating... A lot of the posts here read as 'yes its mad' or 'if you cant afford it dont' or 'we (as a vendor) have to make money too!'. It just reads as class warfare To whoever said we arent in a recession, say that again when you get your first water bill on top of the rising cost of electricity, gas, household charge, and of course this lovely 20% mortgage theyre bringing in. The surprising thing is, based on looking through the historical prices of venues, before the boom they were normal enough; 30-40 pound a head was big money in the big places. Then it jumped hugely. Then the 2007 recession hit and they didnt up them, but I have not seen anywhere that dropped them (at least not significantly...). But now they are going up again. Is it any wonder that so many places are being foreclosed on or are up for sale (Markree Castle, Village at Lyons, Powerscourt). Ive been to 20 venues now, so ive seen a lot of what Ireland has to offer. Thats omitting the top places like Powerscourt, Shelbourne, etc because of course theyll be over the top. The worst Ive seen is Ashford castle, which now has a 26000/40000 rental fee in the low/high season (which includes all bedrooms and breakfast...) but nothing for dinner/drink/canapes which is 110 a head, plus another 2500 for room rental. Granted, thats the top ive found, but I thought that was out of this world. Who are these people that pay it?! And how many weddings do they even have a year at these prices?! Most of the places that people have mentioned in this thread... Ive seen. And they were not good. Basic things, like dirty linen (on the days of weddings no less!), paint coming off walls/roofs, frayed carpets and worn out looking venues were just some of the things we noticed in these lesser places. Of course this would be a small investment on their part and would make the difference but if the hotels/venues cant even afford to fix up the places, then how do they expect people to pay these whopper packages for substandard services?! The venues does gripe me. But so do other things; the cost of the photographer, often about 2k to 3k for a days work and a weeks worth of formating/editting and printing in a day where everything is digital, bands that charge 2k to 3k for a few hours work (and im a musician of 10 years, finding out these prices was mindblowing. Say whatever you want about having to learn songs, you play music cause you enjoy it and sure you make money, but thats just greedy I find, and we as the punters should consider ourselves foolish), cakes that cost 500-800 quid a pop for ingredients that cost 50 euros at most. We're already costing those parts out ourselves to keep price down with several friends who are photographers collaborating, several musician friends playing for free, and we're considering making the cake ourselves (she can bake. Thank god.), but I feel Im lucky to know these people where as others our generation wont have that luck. Getting back to it... I feel that people in the wedding industry take advantage, as most people have said (bar a few that I would think are vendors themselves...) if you said its a party its probably about 2/3's of the price to saying 'wedding'. The above poster here says that its the mentality that came along with the Celtic Tiger. This is what I meant about the 'generation above us', the ones that have had the jobs for 20 years, that got the houses for 1/3 of the price they are now, that were able to support a family of 4 on one income alone. Gone are those days, and its their fault, yet its this generation that is left with the burdens, in the housing market, in the jobs markets, in the wedding market. To doubt that is foolish. The idea of this all inclusive wedding is put upon our generation, or at least, we cant get the wedding we want because everywhere is expecting to make fistfuls of money. The thing is, I wouldnt mind paying 100 a head, but its the minimum numbers that kill. I dont want to invite 100 people and it feels like Id be inviting people I dont want. Im getting this from most venues or otherwise we're pressured into weekday weddings which of course we cant do because of the chapel (note; the chapel is the non changer). We're considering moving to a winter wedding simply due to the costs. But I feel like everyone is going to be moving that way soon cause this generation wants to get a house at some stage, and its the wedding that will suffer. I hope that vendors are ready for this cause Id say it'll mean a drop in bookings and, based on what we've all seen in the last few years, stubbornness against any kind of change will affect them and ultimately cost the properties... which then will get bought by property investors! Our poor country
xpletiv wrote: » Just a quite one re ashford castle cause for some reason thats the only part people have taken out of my post... curiosity as someone told me to try them without mentioning the millionaire thing. Getting that price back was astounding. We didnt view it.
clint_silver wrote: » Just seen this in todays indo,http://www.independent.ie/life/travel/travel-news/four-irish-hotels-named-among-europes-top-10-resorts-30683044.html ashford castle, the number 2 resort/venue in Europe.
xpletiv wrote: » My point is; 90% of the places here are still charging Celtic Tiger prices. Theres an expectation placed on Irish weddings that costs a bomb, and venues take advantage of that. I know i wont be because my budget wont allow it, but the expectation of venues to make at least 20k on a night, is shameful, and greedy.
xpletiv wrote: » Well clearly the last few posters havent actually read my post and jumped on the mention of a venue. When i enquired i hadnt heard of it but someone said it was lovely. Fair enough if they are playing on the international stage and I found since that its total luxury and way past my budget; but are all the places supposed to be for the ultra rich and famous? My point is; 90% of the places here are still charging Celtic Tiger prices. Theres an expectation placed on Irish weddings that costs a bomb, and venues take advantage of that. I know i wont be because my budget wont allow it, but the expectation of venues to make at least 20k on a night, is shameful, and greedy.
xpletiv wrote: » Well then we as punters are morons. /thread.
Milly33 wrote: » Do you just knock of some of the extended family then It is a pain trying to figure out who to invite and who to not. Maybe you could try this whole thing of sending the invites out in waves, send them first to the people you really want to go or the ones you know are going to go, try and keep them in groups (I know this sounds mean but if you have a big family I would think is pretty handy) then see who says Yeah and who says Ne and then at least you know you could invite this and that person..
