mrs2be.ie

[rosy1]

Hi All
Our reception is in the Four Seasons Carlingford next year. Just wondering if anyone has booked there also. Do you know of anyone that had there reception there recently?? I just want to compare a few things with you before we go do a little bit more negotiating on price etc etc. Just reading the remarks about hotel prices and thinking are we paying toooooo much???
Ta Ta

[mrs kefjo]

I haven't been there myself, but Carlingford is beautiful, and the hotel looks gorgeous! Their midweek prices seem to be about what we're paying for our midweek (Sunday) wedding, if it helps... for the same things included.

[scoots]

Hi rosy1 i have mine booked there for next year too. Think the place is fab! Has really nice memories for me and the hotel was doing great deals so it was a def to book for us. Are you gettin married mid week?

[Cheekymrs10]

hi rosy

not sure about the Carlingford F.S but i used the four seasons monaghan package to help me negotiate my hotel. They seem good. Corkage is cheaper than my hotel too

[rosy1]

Hi rosy1 i have mine booked there for next year too. Think the place is fab! Has really nice memories for me and the hotel was doing great deals so it was a def to book for us. Are you gettin married mid week?

Hi caoimhe we are getting married on a Friday next March.... I love the place too but just after reading about how much other people were getting receptions for I just thought Id try to compare..... im so bad at getting reductions in things I just pay what im told..... Have you organised anything like corkage charges? Are you getting married mid week?

[Cheekymrs10]

rosy have a look at what other hotels in the area r offering and use that to bargain with them. As far as i know the corkage in the F.S in Monaghan is €4. If other hotels r offering chair covers, bar ext etc use that to get yourself a better deal. My hotel wouldnt reduce the corkage anymore so i asked them to do a champagne toast for us instead and they agreed.

Good luck and remember these places expect u to haggle .

[scoots]

Hey rosy1 Our wedding is on a Thursday so i know ours is a mid week package and its a little different. Personaly i thought there corkage charges were very high and it jsut put us off bringing in our own wine. Think sparkling was 13.50 and red was 8.50 something like tat. WE asked tat instaed of sparkling wine arrival could we have it at dinner instead which they didnt have a problem with. Will work on things nearer the time if i can, Thing is we orginally booked for a friday and then this deal came out this year so we had to change to thursday so at the time we were so overwhelemed by how much we would be saving we thought if we bargined too much we might lose everything including our deposit.Thing with the four seasons in monaghan is that they have a completely different set price etc and when i asked about this, its cause that hotel is just not as popular and further out.
I think we have the basics with the chair covers, fairy light backdrop sparkling wine, evening food, five course meal three free bedrooms for the night few other thing aswell.
How did u fair out? ill look at my package when i get out of work and check and see can we save each other even more.

[rosy1]

Hiya exactly same package. Corkage is also the same but I am going to try to haggle on this as I can get my wine very cheap from a supplier friend of mine. €66 a head for the package...... I know the difference in a mid week and weekend is amazing but anyhow its booked now so no complaining.... Its the place I wanted and I didnt even look anywhere else to be honest. I just love the lay out of the room its ideal...

[scoots]

Ye me too!! I love it. Is ur 66 a head including a glass of champgane and extra food item on evening buffet? Sorry just finsihed nights this morning and had h2b parents over so didt have time to look yet.

[rosy1]

Hiya yes this includes 2 piece evening buffet and sparkling wine/champagne reception and all the extras you mentioned flowers fairy lights etc....

[scoots]

Thats very good. Not too big a difference in ours actually! Think depending on our choice of main which we were thinking chicken from the start and thats 39 euro for the works per head. I know there doing a deal now for an extra 6.50 or something u can have a glass of wine and top up with dinner and extra item in evening buffet. Ill see how it goes nearer the time budget wise but that still is very good.

[scoots]

hey jsut a quick post was at the wedding fair on sunday last and they havent changed anytihng again yet lol. only idff i found was when we were booking it we were told we couldnt have the offer we got for a weekend.. now ya can but jsut pay more, and we asked her could we do that and told no i mena like wtf ??!!! grrrr

[Cheekymrs10]

ah thats a bit crap scoots.. Can u email your co-ordinator again and aske her about it. After i booked my hotel i went to a wedding fair at it they had special offers on and i asked could we get them and was told NO but i went home and emailed our co-ordinator and she said yea no prob.

[scoots]

aw i cant cause well at the time we booked weekend wedding but moved to mid week casue thats wat the offer was on but now they have the same offer for a weekend wedding and we have out invites done etc.I read somewhere that this hotel is known for not budgung on prices or giving freebies.

[Goodfellas]

Often suppliers will notice things about hotels that couples might not.

Carlingford, as a venue, is very, very good. We did a missies' wedding there recently, and I'm sure she'll tell you about it soon!

One thing I would say is that the manager pushes for the speeches to be done before the meal, as it lets them let certain staff away early.

In our experience - and we see a LOT of weddings! - the speeches done after the meal is better for so many reasons, but I'd rather not get into it too much again, because it seems to be an emotive subject for those who have made up their minds to do it.

If you would prefer to do them afterwards, be firm with management when they try steer you the other way.

Otherwise, the place cannot be faulted. Particularly when the lights are down , the room has a great vibe.

Bar food is good, which is nice for the afters guests who might arrive a little early, and want a bite before they dance the night away, and the evening food is of good quality too. Again, the bands etc. experience these things about venues more than prospective couples do, so i thought I'd share an insight or two. Hope it helps