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Cloghan Castle, Lough Cutra Castle Wedding venue

mrs2be?

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has had any experience of either of these two venues for a wedding, Cloghan Castle or Lough Cutra Castle.
Finding it hard enough to do research on them.

Trying to find a venue just a little bit out of the ordinary.

any thoughts or feedback very welcome.
Thanks

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Berty

I've at least been to Lough Cutra and met the owners a number of times. If I was looking for a venue for a civil ceremony and was going to get in my own bar and caterers then I'd jump at the chance.

Its an amazing looking property on a lake and on a sunny day, like today, it would be perfect.

mrs2be?

Beer Baron wrote: »

I've at least been to Lough Cutra and met the owners a number of times. If I was looking for a venue for a civil ceremony and was going to get in my own bar and caterers then I'd jump at the chance.

Its an amazing looking property on a lake and on a sunny day, like today, it would be perfect.

Not having a civil Ceremony will be getting married in a church in nearby town. I know that we will need to arrange the bar and the caterers but though the owners may be able to give recommendations. That's kinda why I am trying to do a bit of research but its hard to find anything..

Dunno if that is good or bad!!

Berty

A way to search would be for "private chef" rather than caterers as I'm sure your wedding would be a little smaller than most, as the hall there is not so big, so a private chef(s) would be a good start.

I'm surpsised that Susan in Lough Cutra wouldn't have a list of previously used suppliers though.

rick_fantastic

ive been down to meet lough cutra as a potential venue... was too pricey for what i was looking for. the rental alone for the weekend was + 15k

amazing location though

mrs2be?

I have not yet formally met with the owners, we are not full time in the country. I am trying to do background research in advance as to the overall type of venue it is and if people have attended weddings there and what the feedback is.
Never thought to search for Private Chef though thanks for that. I expect we would probably need to get in almost like a management team for the day/night to oversee everything?? one thing in particular that comes to mind is like who looks after the bathrooms, what happens if lights go outside?

Thanks Rick_fantastic, I had an idea it was expensive option... wouldn't rule it out for us just yet though, need to get an overall feel if its worth it in terms of the experience. We are concerned that if weather was bad on the day (this is Ireland afterall) would that completely take away from the overall place??

Lots of questions and queries I know.... just trying to get a feel for both venues. Its so hard when its not like somewhere that has regular weddings and you can go and see everything in action.

xoln_d82

Hi, I have personal experience with Cloghan castle and would advise you to be very wary before choosing it. The experience from a customer services point of view leaves an awful lot to be desired and i would really stress that you need to be 1000% sure that this is the only venue for you before signing on the dotted line. I have also visited Lough Cutra, found it to be an amazing setting, cant speak about it in terms of a wedding however.

Preset No.3

My experience of Clogan Castle is the direct opposite. Although I speak from the service provider end of things. I was the DJ for a wedding there on a very cold and snowy December 2009. Lovely venue I thought, and the staff were great. BUT I thought you rent out the castle and bring in your own caterers etc.

berrecka

We considered Cloughan Castle for our wedding. We went to check it out in January this year. It is lovely, has lovely (if cold) bedrooms, maybe 5-6 (I dont remember) which you could use for your bridal party/family. The main room is lovely, and I could imagine it for a lovely cosy winter wedding - its pretty dark so not sure how well it would work in the summer, but the grounds are nice too, so you could use them if you are thinking of summer. From what I remember it was 5-6k to just rent the venue for the weekend (I think you have to take it for the weekend). That is just for the rental of the venue -all decorations (in my opinion it would need a good bit of decorating), linens, chair covers (if you are so inclined), bar rental, caterers etc are extra.

The main point that turned us off it was the lack of nearby accommodation. It really is in the middle of nowhere and we figured we would have to lay on a bus to get people home, or to their accommodation, which we were really reluctant to do as we felt it often puts an abrupt end to the night. Instead we opted for somewhere much closer to the city, so that most guests could make their way home when they wanted to rather than paying for a hotel. Thats totally a personal decision though.

We didnt go to Lough Cultra at all, the price-tag immediately turned us off. I have heard from friends who have been to weddings there that it is freezing, even in the middle of the summer. I havent been though, so dont know how true that it, or if my friends are just being moany michaels!

olivia2017

Im thinking of having me wedding in Cloghan castle. I just want to make sure its the right place for me before I pay for a
deposit. Do you need a wedding planner. As we are renting we need to hire all the staff. Im wondering is it worth all the stress. As a hotel would be a lot easier. But Cloghan Castle has the wow factor. Any brides that can help

Thanks

annoyedgal

If your looking for a castle wedding can't recommend belleek castle I'm ballina highly enough. Got married there in feb, castle was so warm and beautifully atmospheric! Lots of open fires, amazing food and first class staff. Has around 10 bedrooms and loads of cheap accommodation options in ballina town. Definitely worth a look if the location suits.

westernlass

Cloughan castle is a total dry hire so you get the keys and do everything. It tends to have more of a casual approach to weddings which suits a lot of couples and is what they are looking for.

I visited Lough Cultra and loved it too but it is much more formal and grand. The staff are very helpful and they have a dedicated person to weddings as an approved list of suppliers so they'll definitely tell you who to go with for caterers. Caterers can do more than one wedding in a day so there's no reason why they wouldn't take a smaller wedding.

I found Lough Cultra to have the most character but that's a personal taste. There's a lot of accommodation there also which is great if a group is travelling.

olivia2017

Thanks guys for your comments,Belleek Castle looks lovely but a bit too far away and Lough Cultra castle is a lot more expensive. Just cant make my mind up.

westernlass

If it's the area the three towers may suit also. It's not a castle but it is a cool venue

olivia2017

Cool ill look that up thanks.

Gigibrodbrod

Hello,
I'm interested in having a wedding in cloughan castle too but I read on their website that no children are allowed on the premises. a pity because there are kids in my family and ill have to be able to invite them. Is it true is there no flexibility on this point, does anyone have experience with this?

Thanks in advance,
Gillian.

luckoftheirish

My wife and I booked this venue about 15 months ahead of our wedding date however our circumstances changed so we cancelled our booking. Our cancellation was within a few weeks of making the booking. We had paid our deposit. We were told it was not refundable however we hoped because our cancellation was within a few weeks that they might make an exception. It was very quickly reinforced that there was no way our deposit would be returning under any circumstances even if the venue still had over a year to find a new booking. The lady we dealt with handled our situation in as cold a manner as would be expected if it was purely a financial arrangement. The fact that we were a young couple planning our wedding without a spare penny made absolutely no difference. We made several efforts to speak to the owner of the venue. He also owns a local business, Chanel I think. We were told he was a busy man and had no time for such a meeting.

Our deposit was over 1000euro and was an extremely expensive lesson for us to learn. We did however learn that this venue and the people that manage it are non compromising and from our experience only interested in taking money.

If you choose to plan your wedding here do so at your own risk.

westernlass

That's pretty typical of venues in general as the date will have been held and wedding turned down based upon the booking. I agree they are all about the business but you would not have gotten a different result from many other venues

lazygal

I wouldn't expect a deposit back, it's only goodwill if a venue agrees to a refund. You can't really complain if you knew the terms and conditions, it is a business first and foremost.

luckoftheirish

Yes we were aware of the conditions so its our tough look. The post earlier asked about how flexible the venue might be and I just wanted to share my perspective and warn others not to expect/rely on the owners to be flexible. I have had the pleasure of working/booking other venues which have offered a vastly superior level of service however that is subjective and others may not place such a high value on customer service.