How far in advance to plan a wedding?

K

katie29

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Hi

I'm just wondering how far in advance you need to book a wedding in Ireland (probably in the West of Ireland). Myself and my boyfriend would like to get married in 2009. Are we likely to find hotels with available dates? I have e-mailed a few venues but no response yet, I will starting phoning and calling but just wondering if I should be expecting much.
thanks.
 
hi katie

it all depends on the day of the week and time of the year. if you're looking for a saturday during the summer, you need to organise it now. if however, you're happy with a tuesday in november, you can relax for another 12 months. you need to decide on your date and then take it from there.

there's a website called [broken link removed] which has a lot of helpful information from other brides to be!

congratulations by the way.
 
We got engaged at christmas - enjoyed the first few weeks of it before considering venues.

What a mistake.

I logged onto Weddingsonline.ie and noticed posts - Any 2010 brides out there,,, have you booked you dj? etc. I then began emailing various hotels...

We are having 100+ at our wedding - but this is also a problem... I can get married in any cold obscure month - on a mon to thursdaY - but can I heck be included for a fri/sat between May - Oct... not by the hotels terms and conditions (majority).

I realise its a business the hotels providing... .. I've not been married before, and this is all new to me, I feel very frustrated by it all., It feels like some form of discrimination...



Why should I have to go to some small restaurant - go abroad... when I would like to have the wedding at home.. I always wanted in a fine banqueting hall in a lovely hotel?

Rant over. ANy advice on hotels for 100 guests for 2009 very welcome. If anyones managed to do this let me know.
 
"I'm just wondering how far in advance you need to book a wedding in Ireland "

I think you need to get your skates on,any venue worth its salt will be booked solid thur /fri / sat for 2009 and maybe 2010.
same goes for photographer,florist, video....you need to book the major players in your wedding now or you will have to settle for second best.
 
i am getting married in july 2009 and booked our hotel in january. we phoned around bands and around 12 were booked already. we finally got a local band just starting out. one band we tried are booked solid til 2010 !!! so was our videographer, we got the date we wanted but he was booked well in advance to my amazement. the hotel we booked is booked solid for 2009 , so my advice would be book now !!
 
sulo said:
Why should I have to go to some small restaurant - go abroad... when I would like to have the wedding at home.. I always wanted in a fine banqueting hall in a lovely hotel?
Click to expand...
You'll probably get better service if you are a big fish in a small pond (i.e. the pond of largish restaurants) rather than as a small fish in a big pond.

Try not mentioning the 'wedding' word until you've got prices confirmed - tell 'em it's for a family reunion or a corporate dinner.
 
also, in reply to where can i book a wedding for 09 and 100 guests, our hotel is 4 star, not bragging ! but only allow weddings of a minimum of 140 on a fri ,sat, ours is a fri and we have 150 attending but if onl 120 show up we pay for the minimum of 140
 
wicklowlass said:
...but if onl 120 show up we pay for the minimum of 140
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sure as long as one of them is the groom won't it be grand? :rolleyes:

Unfortunately it seems to be a seller's market so they can impose any conditions they like to maintain their profitability.
 
I hope you don't mind me making suggestions here but what about doing something different, like a catered marquee in the back garden or a catered event at the local parish hall, GAA or rugby club and save a few quid?
 
wicklowlass said:
also, in reply to where can i book a wedding for 09 and 100 guests, our hotel is 4 star, not bragging ! but only allow weddings of a minimum of 140 on a fri ,sat, ours is a fri and we have 150 attending but if onl 120 show up we pay for the minimum of 140
Click to expand...

The rule of thumb is 90% will attend so you'll have 135. To be fair, they're entitled to impose such conditions. It's a sellers market as Mathepac said.
 
You might have more luck if you can find a newly opened hotel somewhere. I know you said probably in the West of Ireland, so this is likely of no use to you, but apparently what was the Kilternan Hotel & Country Club (quite near Carrickmines in Dublin) is going to be opened in about 3 months time so I assume they will have a whole load of dates available for weddings!
 
John Rambo said:
The rule of thumb is 90% will attend so you'll have 135. To be fair, they're entitled to impose such conditions. It's a sellers market as Mathepac said.
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true, as they are the ones that would be taking a loss in the event of some of my party not showing up, so they would inevitably cover themselves which is fair.

why not try a hgotel that does an all inclusive package too ? many are doing it now and it takes so much hassle out of buying rounds of drinks , paying for drinks reception etc
 
mathepac said:
sure as long as one of them is the groom won't it be grand? :rolleyes:

Unfortunately it seems to be a seller's market so they can impose any conditions they like to maintain their profitability.
Click to expand...

the groom better show !!!!!!
 
We organised our wedding in 4 months last year so it is possible to get married without having to wait 2 years, but you do have to be flexible.

If you are flexible you will get photographers / bands / venue etc. Definitely try any new hotels / restaurants / country houses, and if Fri / Sat is booked check if you can get married on a Sunday (you can't get married in the Dublin diocese on Sunday but I believe there are some priests outside Dublin that will accomodate it), or try for a Bank Holiday Monday. Try http://www.venuesearch.ie/ or www.irelandhotels.com to find potential venues.

Dresses can take 6-8mths to order in - there are some places you can buy 'off the rack' though or get one made - so don't forget to work that into any timeline!

The changes in the marriage laws may have some impact so be sure you have all the paperwork in order (www.groireland.ie).

Good luck with it all
 
We got engaged in August and married in march (on a friday), dress was chosen in sept and wasn't off the rack (bridal wraptures on the Green) the band was available too. Maybe we were just lucky but I know of someone else who did it all in 3 months and got married on a friday in september.

I think everyone tries to panic you into thinking you need loads of time, you need to book in advance if you want a summer weekend wedding but apart from that there are options out there.
 
I'm from the west and know a girl with a similar sized wedding who had their reception in the Wineport Lodge in Athlone (google it), they don't cater for very large weddings and the setting is fab as well as the food and service.

Another place maybe worth trying is Kilronan Castle (also google it) as it's not open that long and is also a fab place - not sure if they have minimum numbers there though. They are in Co. Roscommon. There's also Lough Rynn Castle in Mohill (Co Leitrim) which is a sister hotel of Lough Rynn and would definitely cater for smaller weddings. Again lovely setting. Google them to get websites.

I have no affiliation with above places.
 
Barberstown castle in clane is a 4 star hotel they have a min of 100 for a friday and 120 I think for a saturday lovely venue - no affiliation with them
 
According to a number of my friends and acquaintances, you're highly unlikely to get a decent venue for a summer Fri/Sat/Sun wedding unless you're booking about 2 years in advance.

We are getting married some time in 2009 and so far we've done nothing. To be honest, I am sick and tired of hearing that you have to book your wedding venue about 12 years in advance, that it takes about 3 years to make a flippin' dress and that a crappy cake costs €3k.

We've decided to bypass the whole wedding industry (will refrain from using the no-no word) and have a party in a marqee, with a huge barbecue, free drinks and a DJ. My partner was married before so we have to have a civil ceremony so our immediate families and closest friends will be brought out to a lavish lunch to mark the occasion. Otherwise, I'd rather chew off my own ear than fight for overpriced, substandard rubbish only because it has a word 'wedding' in its name.
 
My friend got married in Cloonecaugheen Castel in Galway and she was very impressed with them - they took 10 extra at 2 days notice. She had approx 160 which was a bit cramped tbh so a smaller number would have suited the hotel better in my opinion.
 
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