Self catering wedding venues...

churchy87

Hello other MSEs! This is my first post but I have been following the site for a while and its been amazing so far!

I recently got engaged and we are planning to get married in autumn 2012 (havn't got a date yet). We have been looking for venues in scotland where we can have both the civil ceremony and the reception (for around 100 people) in the same place to save on transport and hiring costs for 2 venues! The problem is most places I have found won't let you bring your own caterers or drink and the packages they are selling are really expensive!

So... I was wondering if anyone knew of any good venues in scotland, preferably in the south west/central, where you can have a civil ceremony and cater for your own reception... not much to ask I know! Any ideas would be appreciated

johannalf88

Hi,
Congratulations on the engagement! If you are planning on getting married in Scotland you could always go for a humanist wedding. They are a type of civil ceremony, but the great thing is that the registrars (or celebrants as I think they called) come to you. You can get married anywhere you like- outdoors etc- no license needed. This is only valid in scotland at the moment though, me and the h2b would have liked one but the humanist ceremonies are not legally binding in England, so would have still needed to do a registry office anyway.

We are getting married October 2012, and are having a marquee for the reception. It will probably rain, but they are designed to deal with all kinds of weather. I have even seen pics of them in the snow! So it may be worth considering...

pbny24

Hi, sorry can't help with the self catering bit, but how about some of these in the sw? just a few off top of my head, you may already have looked at these and ruled them out! easterbrook hall, the cairndale, threave gardens (reception in visitors centre - went to a party there once and it was really nice), mabie house, balcary bay hotel which i think does weddings. sorry if that's not any help!

churchy87

Hi thanks for the replies! I am getting married in Scotland but hadn't thought about a humanist ceremony... what do they involve and is it related to anything religious or spiritual? A marquee is a good idea - just have to find somewhere to put it!:)

...and thanks for the list of places in the sw, I had looked at some of them but there are some new ones there so will have to have a look! Will let you know how i get on...

Debbiecatal

Hi Catherine and David are having a Humanist ceremony too - though because it's in Wales they have to pop to the registry office to do the legal stuff first. I think White+Sapphire is having one as well. It isn't spiritual or religious, but it is very beautiful and moving to have a Humanist ceremony. You can then hire a hall without a wedding licence. We have hired the most beautiful village hall and will have everything happening there - it only cost £400 to hire and I know other village halls can be a lot cheaper than that.

Look at http://www.humanism.org.uk/home for more details - good luck in your search

Debbie

Kittendreich

Can't help on venues (sounds like you need a village hall, marque or something - anywhere with staff and a kitchen woudl expect you to use it or be charged for it).

However, we had a Humanist wedding and I fully recommend them (partcularily since you are in Scotland and ti will be legal). The are specifically not religious and apart from that stipulation can be anything you want. It was really personal and although we followed a fairly traditional ceremony it could have been anything we wanted as long as the celebrant was happy. We looked into it as although the hotel was licenced for civil weddings they woudl only let us have 20 people in the specific room we wanted despite the hotel being happy that we could have up to 70. Have a look on their website which descibes what a humanist wedding is and helps you to find a celebrant. Price wise we were marginally more than a registrar (around £300), but otherwise we would have had to pay more for a different venue...

Scotsbride

churchy87 wrote: »

Hello other MSEs! This is my first post but I have been following the site for a while and its been amazing so far!

I recently got engaged and we are planning to get married in autumn 2012 (havn't got a date yet). We have been looking for venues in scotland where we can have both the civil ceremony and the reception (for around 100 people) in the same place to save on transport and hiring costs for 2 venues! The problem is most places I have found won't let you bring your own caterers or drink and the packages they are selling are really expensive!

So... I was wondering if anyone knew of any good venues in scotland, preferably in the south west/central, where you can have a civil ceremony and cater for your own reception... not much to ask I know! Any ideas would be appreciated

Most wedding venues up here recommend their own caters and this is where the venues make their money. Some venues give quotes for just the ceremony which you could look into and look into hiring village halls, school halls etc which will have basic kitchens. If money is the issue see if the venue is open to you using alturnative caters or supplying the food yourselves and try haggling. This is a list of some venues in SW Scotland http://www.swscotlandevents.co.uk/venues.asp

IndianNut

Hi:

I am currently planning my wedding for summer 2013 for roughly 150-200 people. I have been searching for a venue in Lancashire that allows us to use caterers of our choice and to bring in our own booze without a corkage fee. So many places we have been to recently completely take the mick when they price up weddings. I would rather do the leg work myself!.

We really want somewhere in the country side that has a really earthy feel, or beautiful gardens and historic buildings. We have seen a few places in Lancashire that are ok but not very flexible and charge the earth. I am going to see one in Derbyshire that may be perfect but its in Derbyshire and i would prefer Lancashire because thats where we both love.

Barns look like amazing places to get married in for space and just wow factor too. Does anyone know of any cool places, or any farmers that would let us hire their land and a barn, or just land to put up a marquee, or anywhere that may not come up in google wedding venue search?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thankyou!

froufrou

I feel your pain, we've been looking for a similar thing but no joy. Can I ask which venue it is in Derbyshire please? I am about to start phase 2 of my hunt so will let you know if I find anything decent.

sweetilemon

I think a lot of the castles in scotland you can hire and then use your own caterers. cant remember names because i remember recieving info at scottish wedding show but deciding against it due to the extra organising. I think the difference between humanist and civil is civil is non-religious but humanist you are declaring you don't believe in any god. As far as i was told anyway.

wannabemrs

I've just had an email from a caterer who did BBQ's, he suggested
Colzium estate (Kilsyth North Lanrkshire 25mins from Glasgow) Pollockshields Burgh Hall (Glasgow) Blair Drummond Community Hall (Stirling) Loch Lomond Waterfront Lodges (Loch Lomond)