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Ceilidh alternative to a wedding?

12 replies

dkb15164 · 21/12/2017 13:12

My partner and I knew each other about a year before we accidentally but happily got knocked up. Nevertheless tradition kind of went out of the window with us but we love each other more than anything (he made it through labour, childbirth and the first few years of sleepless nights). I want to give him the wedding he deserves which is him in a kilt and slightly formal etc but the idea of me being the centre of attention of a 60 people minimum (we have a huge family and many friends and family who I couldn't stand the idea of not celebrating with after everything they've done for me) especially in a white dress is a bit much for me. I'd rather have an intimate ceremony of 15-20 people in the afternoon (in a outdoor setting as he wants) followed by a nice lunch and then a ceilidh with highland dancing and stovies and soup served buffet style for all our extended friends and family maybe held in a community village hall or similar in the evening. The second part would be a lot more casual, I wouldn't have to be concerned about not inviting people as it would be relatively cheap compared to paying for a 3 course meal for everybody. And of course, our DD can invite a friend or two of hers in the evening to run around and play with so we don't have to worry about her getting bored. What are people's thoughts on this, would you be offended if you were only invited to an evening reception?

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Dozer · 21/12/2017 13:14

How far will your evening guests be travelling?

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Dozer · 21/12/2017 13:15

Can be hard to find outdoor venues that don’t cost a lot and have bad weather options.

He could wear a kilt no matter what type/size of wedding you have.

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Northumberlandlass · 21/12/2017 13:15

Sounds awesome to me Smile

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HamishBamish · 21/12/2017 13:20

I'm not sure where you're based OP, but I think this place is amazing. We have spent holidays there, but it looks like they do amazing weddings too.

www.harvestmoonholidays.com

You could have the wedding on the beach and then a ceilidh afterwards.

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GWeatherwax · 21/12/2017 13:25

This is exactly what we did for our wedding, a tiny outdoor ceremony then a ceilidh for everybody at night in a lovely hall. We had so many people telling us how much fun they had at that ceilidh and nobody was offended that they weren't at the ceremony. People are way more understanding these days at how ridiculously expensive weddings can be, even when you try and keep it small. The hall was local with lots of parking and we hired a bus to get people home.

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BenLui · 21/12/2017 13:28

I’ve happily been to several weddings exactly like that (although never with an outdoor setting - how are you going to manage with weather?)

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SheepyFun · 21/12/2017 13:34

Another one questioning the travelling - I've just been to the ceremony + evening for a few weddings (not invited to the meal), but only for ones where I don't have to travel; we only travel if we're invited to the whole thing (and that was true pre-DD too). If your family are local, no problem.

Incidentally, I'd much rather a ceilidh than a disco (we had a celidh at our wedding), so I think you're on the right track there!

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Dozer · 21/12/2017 13:36

If your family and friends are relatively local the plan is fine

If a number of them have hours to travel and will need to pay for accommodation some people may not wish to attend, so it’ll come down to whether there are enough who are local or willing to travel to make a good sized ceilidh!

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dkb15164 · 21/12/2017 20:47

My family are largely located in Dundee and his in Glasgow - we considered doing it roughly halfway in between so max an hour or hour and a half driving time. Most of my family travel the two hours to visit us in Glasgow for a big lunch or occasionally us to them so I hope it's not a big deal. We're also looking into the cost of renting a bus from both city as we have a few elderly relatives who don't like driving in the dark in an unfamiliar place as well as a few uncles who will moan and groan if they have to be the designated driver. In terms of an outdoor wedding, as much as we plan to do it outdoors I don't think either of us will be particularly fussed if we have to move it in doors. Relatives who are travelling more than 2 hours would also be invited to the day ceremony especially those of my international relatives (my dad and his side are based out in Australia) who manage to make it will also be put up in accommodation overnight and I'll arrange accommodation for the rest of their trip with us or the rest of the family if there's no room (we are a family who always welcomes guests into our homes).

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BenLui · 22/12/2017 01:18

What about this OP

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossian%27s_Hall_of_Mirrors

It’s in the woodland at the Hermitage, Dunkeld. The woods are absolutely gorgeous and if there was bad weather you could move inside Ossian’s Hall. It’s not very big but it doesn’t sound like you need it to be. The window has a beautiful view to the waterfall.

A friend had a gorgeous wedding there (although she did have sparkly white wellies under her dress!)

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dkb15164 · 22/12/2017 05:17

I actually remember taking walks by the Hermitage with my family when I was younger! It was an absolutely beautiful place, my mum's elderly friend lived nearby in Dunkeld so we used to go for a walk and then to hers for some hot soup or stovies once we were tired out. It's definitely one to consider, there's the art centre nearby that the ceilidh could maybe be held in at night. The other place we were looking at is Kinlochard Village Hall - have the wedding inside with one hell of a view if necessary or outside if pleasant.

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Whisky2014 · 28/12/2017 11:31

People will be knackered if it's solely a ceilidh

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