To ask where you all got married ?

[danker126]

I have been trying to find a wedding venue for some months now and feel like im going round in circles. Our biggest problem is we dont want to have a formal sit down meal but would love to bring in our own caterers however if I mention this to hotels they look at me and h2b like we have 2 heads? Looking at venues all over scotland.

Registry office then local restaurant with full a la carte menu, but we only had around 30 guests ( cos I hate weddings )

Have you considered getting married in either church or registry office then hiring local village hall, as then you can use whatever caterers you want?

We got married at One Devonshire Gardens in Glasgow. The venue, food & staff really were perfect.

My friend had her own caterers at the Trades Halls Glasgow

Family ceremony in Town Hall for us followed by long lunch. In the evening we hosted a delightfully alcoholic evening celebration in an excellent pub. About 200 attended and it was a blast. We didn't ever want a conventional wedding though since we'd been down that route before.

In my experience, hotels are rarely happy about outside caterers being brought in. Have you considered village halls or similar?

Agree; church or registry office then village/community/church hall with own caterers. Or, if summer, out in the open/in the hills/ on the beach, with a picnic. Sometimes local pubs have function rooms and are happy to let you arrange food, so long as they do the drinks.

I was at a wedding which took place outside by the side of a loch. The reception and evening do was in three tepees which sound awful but was truly lovely with a big dance floor. The tepees were all joined so you were in one big space. Let me know if you want details.

My dd was married in church and we had reception in a huge marquee in a field owned by friends :)

We had the ceremony in a Town Hall and then hired out a deconsecrated cathedral. Had the advantage of choosing our own catering and there was no corkage charge so we could put on our own (free) bar.

I imagine it would be easier for you to firstly split the ceremony and reception, and secondly look for places like halls, barns, maybe more 'unusual' places which might let you have more leeway than a hotel would.

Bakewell Town Hall

Have you thought about hiring a youth hostel for the weekend?

Aberdour castle with a marquee in grounds. Local pub supplied drink and we had caterers for food.

We got married in McCaigs Tower in Oban and then had our reception in the village hall.

Have you looked at the YHA at all? They have some hostels that do wedding packages (I went to a lovely wedding at Hartington Hall) but you can also hire the entire hostel (not all of them are available but a lot are) and do it yourself. They can be very flexible. We hired a smallish hostel (80 guests) and sorted our own entertainment and decorations as it wasnt a wedding package. Although we did have the hostel do the catering, I think they were open to bringing caterers in. It was around £1500 for the whole weekend I think, though it was a few years ago, and since it was the accomodation for most of our guests it seemed good value.

Luss Parish church and then Cameron House at Loch Lomond for the reception.

Best. Day. Ever!

Maybe a big gorgeous marquee would be good if you are wanting to do your own thing in a nice area.

We got married at the registry office then went for a meal at a local restaurant. Had an evening do at a club local to us which I wasn't fussed about but dh wanted it.
It was a really good night actually.

church in edinburgh ( the minister had been a friend for years) then photos on Carlton hill then lunch at lovely restaurant had about 30 people as DH second marriage and he did not want another big "DO"

he would have preferred registry office with us and 2 witnesses I would have liked a few more friends/family but in the end it was perfect for both of us no evening thing as too far away for anyone to come to just evening and we both hate dancing and loud music, then went to france for a week

BikeRunSki's suggestion of hiring a youth hostel might work quite well for you. Can do it in a lot of locations. If you go for q humanist celebrant you can have the ceremony there too. My sister had hers at Comrie Croft in perthshire and it was lovely. Her friend did something similar at loch lomond.

We did the whole big sit down meal at a hotel I'm afraid but friends of ours got married in an old house which you can go to to look around and then used a barn in the same
Grounds for their reception which they could decorate/furnish/cater as they pleased
I've also just been to a wedding where the reception was I a village hall - similar set up again
We went to one at a castle (dalby?) and they ha a BBQ in the day and organised for fish and chips at night

Have looked at loads of options.i have 9 people in my family getting married in the next 2 years so still wanting it to be a little different. I loved some stables I seen but was to small I have 150 people for the day and more people at night. Just looking for more ideas where I can look thanks everyone!

Forgot to say at Comrie they had a fireworks display in a field (wedding on bonfire night) campfire in the court yard, big barn fantastically decorated for a ceilidh. It was a great weekend. Space for all the guests to stay and kids had a blast too.

Meant to add could you try a museum?

150 people for the day- seriously- is that really necessary?

If it is you are massively limiting your options.

We had our ceremony in our local church and then a marquee in a friends field. It was amazing as meant we could pretty much do as we wanted.

I got married here: sleepout.com/places/260-shimba-hills-lodge

Safari park in Kenya.
We then had a catholic church blessing back home in UK, and then an evening buffet and party at a local hotel/restauant.