Central Scotland wedding venues

[StrongInside]

Hi,

I’m back to ask for help with finding our venue. I have had no luck in my previous search radius of up North/ North East, Highlands, Perthshire and Loch Lomond. Venue hire seems far too expensive for our total wedding budget of £3000, booked up for all summer/autumn weekends 2020 and/or too large for our group of apprx. 30 guests. So now I am open to expand our search to Glasgow, Edinburgh and nearby.

I’m open to any venue that isn’t a traditionally decorated hotel and isn’t located in a city, so any modern space (restaurant, small hall, estate etc.) where we could have a beautiful view in the background (gardens, loch, waterfall or something like that) for our ceremony. Either with a wedding team to set up the venue or a blank canvas that we could hire someone to decorate for us (we will be travelling a fair distance so not planning on spending hours decorating the place).

Killearn Hall seems popular, fits the bill but it came in at £3000 for the most basic food&drinks package with venue hire. All country house hotels, lochside hotels and castles that I have contacted are also £4000+ for venue hire and basic services, and I simply think it’s ridiculous to spend that much on a party (I know I am in the minority, most people don’t mind spending many times our budget).

Please help!

Attended a fabulous wedding at Harelaw Farm, Kilmarnock once but don’t know prices.

Further south than Glasgow, but Boswells Coach House and Dumfries House would maybe be worth a look?

Check out Culcreuch castle, in Fintry. That's where we're getting married next year and it's amazing! Ours is coming in about 8k for the venue, but I'm sure they do midweek/winter packages that might suit your budget!

Friends of ours also got married at the culag at side of Loch Lomond, they are worth contacting too as think it would be doable on your budget and again stunning views.

Finfintytint, just checked- £11000+ for their venue and food. Half a mortgage deposit🤭

Whatthehelldowecare, thanks, we definitely want a weekend summer/autumn wedding because we can’t ask all of our guests to take two days off work for travelling to and from the wedding. With Scottish weather, we couldn’t count on the roads being not snowed over in winter, although that season would have worked for my destination wedding for sure.

Defender90, thanks, Boswells cater for 70+ guests. Will check out the other one.

Does anyone know of any restaurants by the water? Something modern and with pretty views like Venachar Lochside (waiting to hear from them). I am open to hiring a function room. All the castles and barns are out of our budget for sure.

Bairnk, is that the Culag guesthouse? Will have a look, thank you.

Wow, StrongInside. Would not have expected that sort of price!

The Vu, near Bathgate,is on outskirts of beecraigs country park and has a wee loch beside it. Great views (hence the name). Haven't a clue on prices though, but it has a good wedding venue reputation.

The vu will almost certainly be out of budget.

The Vue is absolutely not recommend by me!!! I’ve heard some absolute horror stories about it, both from a friend of mine that used to work there, and a wedding photographer that I know that shot there.

Orocco Pier currently have a package for £7500 for 50 guests. Considering your only having 39 guests it may be worth looking into.
This includes absolutely everything so again you may be able to cut down on somethings to reduce the cost further.

I know it's not a country house but the view is stunning for photos

Sorry, when say the view, I was meaning the bridges at Orocco Pier not the Vu venue sorry

Check out Fruin farm by Loch Lomond.

Also, Colintraive Hotel in the Kyles of Bute

Mossmurray, thanks, will email them to see if they can cut out half of the things they have put in their packages, because I just need a venue and food, the rest I would like to make myself.

Marmite51, thanks, Fruin Farm is £3000+ vehue hire..:/

They won’t be able to (or be unwilling to) cut out anything from the package to save you money apart from numbers of guests and alcohol.

For example, they can’t cut the wedding planner. Firstly they will be already employed by the hotel. Secondly a bride doing that side of things would be impossible, as they don’t work there, and if allowed would make their job 20 x harder. Ditto with the operational staff on the day. This can not be cut out.

Linen has a cost of around £1.50 pp to the hotel, but if you brought your own and it was creased or ill fitting it would reflect badly on the hotel. The name cards, menus etc cost the hotel virtually nothing to produce. The cake stand, any vases etc etc that the hotel include, well it’s all stuff they will have in the storeroom already.

Not being a Debbie Downer, just trying to give you a realistic idea of what to negotiate on.

The best thing is to pick a unpopular date (preferably last minute) that they know they are highly unlikely sell to anyone else. That way they are more likely to discount food, comp room hire or maybe just throw in some complementary fizz or corkage.

They wouldn’t discount a package by removing elements that don’t cost them anything. But they might discount to fill an empty day.

Non Saturday or out of season dates are your friends here. And don’t tell them your family don’t drink much!

Loch Ard Hall is beautiful and perfect for a small DIY wedding.

Oh, I was looking at the £3K orroco pier wedding package. The £7.5K ones got several things they could cut out.

My response disappeared🤦🏻‍♀️ BitchyArriver, thanks for the tips, I won’t mention the non-drinkers😬 That’s why I don’t like hotel weddings and don’t get why people rave about packages they got for their weddings when half of what the hotels include in them aren’t necessary. Sorry, fed up of looking for venues so having a bit of a rant.

Wrongornot, is that the same as Kinlochard Hall?

All halls I have contacted are too big and also require the hall back by 12pm the day after the wedding. I have realised that neither myself and my partner nor our guests will get up early to go segregate rubbish and move furniture to where we found it the morning after the party. Does everyone just do it or hire someone? Private function room with nice grounds for photos seems like a nicer choice.

I didn’t want a hotel wedding either. That’s why we chose a venue where you could pick your own caterer and suppliers.

Still think you should go abroad

www.marthrownofmabie.com/celebrations-and-functions/outdoor-weddings
Slightly further south ( Dumfries and Galloway ) but rustic
Or this www.lochken.co.uk/media/uploads/cat-296/wedding-brochure.pdf

Thanks nooddsocksforme, will have a look.

BitchyArriver, oh, trust me, if Portugal and Italy offered cheaper venues and catering, or if Cyprus and Greece were a shorter flight, would have gone there in a heartbeat. Looking at most countryside venues and their grounds photos in Scotland, they look too rustic and Nordic for my liking. I’m more of a palm trees, bright blue sky and tropical flowers kind of girl😉 Big big sigh.

St Andrews Uni a wedding package for £4400 for 70 so again, if they were happy to reduce fee as your guests are half of that it may be an option

Mossmurray, we didn’t want to go into a town or city but rather to be somewhere scenic.

Does anyone know if Jupiter Artland is good value for money? That is the sort of background I can imagine being happy with.

P.S. Thanks for the uni suggestion though. Posted before finishing.