Dream wedding in a castle budget of £2500.. can it be done?

lupyloo

littlemissleek wrote: »

Firstly, where are you based and where would you like to get married?

I found Auchen Castle do a wedding for £1000 package: http://www.auchencastle.net/hotel/gallery.html

I'm not sure if this is the sort of venue you're picturing though?

Another thought could be photos in castle grounds or a late deal?

Just had another look at the castle you suggested but there are reviews it has gone into liquidation. Would have been a good compromise to.. oh well

Tinkerbell88_2

lupyloo wrote: »

Thanks so much for the quick replies, was still busy finding ways to save money lol. I would really love to get married at Comlongon castle and I certainly would not mind having a buffet as it will be a late service, however I am worried about how we will get from hotel to venue and then back again as we are thinking of travelling there by train. We live in County Durham and close family have all said they would prefer to go on train. I am so confused trying to think about everything. Auchen castle looks good to, but i kind of have my heart set on gretna green now....help. i have also read that the Smiths hotel is nice but have no idea about prices

I went to look at smiths hotel on sunday.. really didnt think much of it and they seem to take every opportunity to get more money out of you!!

Angel_of_Tomfoolery

Hi, I had a look at Comlongon Castle for our wedding as it looks lovely. It does seem rather overpriced though (£9 for a glass of house wine!). From their calculator, the wedding ceremony is charged at £800 but I'm not sure if that includes registrar fees etc. Another thing I found odd with the venue is that you need to book all the accomodation in order to have entertainment there. It says that you can just have the ceremony there though, without a reception, with prices from £530

fawny

http://www.gretnaweddings.co.uk/

Hi,

You can get wedding packages at Gretna looking at their website, but does not come cheap in my opinion.

I'm sure you can find somewhere.

lupyloo

Well I phoned yesterday and the gentleman said that I should email with my ideas I had and the girls would get iback in touch today> Ive got everything crossed. Bit disappointed about Smiths hotel as I had heard good reports on here for there. Will have to hope someone with local knowledge or previous experience can help. Thanks for trying to help everyone you are giving me a push in the right direction. Will let you know how I get on with dress and Castle later x

pinkteapot

lupyloo wrote: »

OMG that is expensive, what about getting married at the castle then going elsewhere for buffet, would this help much with costs?

http://www.comlongon.com/output/tariff.asp

Just the ceremony (nothing else) is £800 for Monday-Thursday.

I think it would be a little strange if you literally just had the ceremony there and then went somewhere else. One of my friends used a wedding venue for ceremony and drinks/photos afterwards, then we moved to a restaurant for dinner.

If you have the ceremony there you'll want photos afterwards as it's so lovely and you would need to serve your guests some drinks at that point. We spent about 45 minutes to an hour on photos after our ceremony and that would have been a long time for our guests to be stood about without a drink in their hand. At a venue like that you're probably looking at £5 per drink.

Is £2,000 your total budget for the wedding (for everything), or your budget for venue (incl. food etc)?

Cheapest way to do a buffet reception is either to have it in a garden (if you have a friend/relative with a large enough garden - shouldn't be so much of a problem with only 32 guests) or to go to a picturesque country pub that has a function room.

If you keep looking at Comlongon, something I would be wary of is this:

http://www.comlongon.com/output/exclusive_use.asp

You don't automatically get exclusive use - i.e. there could be other weddings there at the same time as yours. If this bothers you, make sure their quote includes exclusive use as this will cost extra. If you don't have it exclusively, find out if other weddings would be at the same time as yours. We looked at one venue with three ceremony rooms but they said they always staggered the times so they didn't have three sets of newlyweds hitting the nicest photo spots at the same time! I went off it anyway - I didn't want any other brides around upstaging me!

I would also check what their capacity is for a wedding. Go for a venue that's the right size for your group. I went to a wedding once that was in a beautiful venue but there were only about 50 guests and the venue could hold up to 150. It felt very empty and you lose some atmosphere if that happens. Maybe look for a smaller, more intimate venue with your numbers?

lupyloo

Thanks for those ideas yeah I agree i dont want to rush away from the castle but the prices are just ridiculous, I did really only want to stick to £2000.00 for everything. I could maybe put another £500.00 towards it but it is only one day and we need a deposit for a house to. Unfortunately there is no financial help from anyone else it is purely mine and fiances savings. Have decided I will definately get my dress from Landybridal (after I have tried some on) so that will cost about £150.00. Also still lokking for some reasonably priced wedding bands> only stipulation is that fiance wants white gold. Not bothered about being huge or anything like that. The stress has had me up all night already, just wish I could get at least one thing organised and I might feel better x

Loving the idea of a country pub with function room, when I come back I will google to see what I can find. No family up that way and none with a big enough garden either lol Forgot to say just entered about 3 competitions to win a luxury break, possible honeymoon.

lupyloo

losingpatience wrote: »

I really have no idea how much it costs but I came across Lambton Castle yesterday. I actually live in Chester le Street and have never heard of it, it certainly didn't come up in any searches when I was looking for wedding venues myself. Website is very limited though but you could give them a call for more information?


http://lambtoncastle.co.uk/

OOOhhh will definately give them a ring later, thanks:j

Scotsbride

I Live in Dumfries and Galloway a Grenta Weddings start at approx £500! You will need to contact Annan registary department no more than 3 months before your wedding date and no less than 15 days with the relavent documentation. As for transport up here you are seroiusly best getting people to drive rather than using on public transport as buses are few a far between and taxi sometimes don't turn up even when booked or don't operate after certain hours. Hope this helps

Lucyh81

Hi lupyloo, just thought I'd mention that we're planning on getting our rings from Betts Metals. They get great reviews on here and the prices are amazing if you just sign up for an account (as a hobbyist).

I'm looking to get an 18ct white gold 3mm flat heavyweight ring and it'll be £140. OH is wanting a palladium 5mm flat heavyweight and that one will be £120 (£235 for 18ct white gold but palladium seems to get good reviews for mens rings and certainly cheaper).

You're doing all the right things, this forum is great for advice and money saving ideas