Non Traditional Wedding Suggestions/Ideas

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truthseeker

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Hello,
Myself and my fiance are planning to get married next year or possibly 2009.
We are not having a church wedding, we both want a civil ceremony only. With the registry office laws changing in November we might be able to actually hold the ceremony wherever we hold the reception.
Neither of us are interested in doing a traditional style reception with 100s of people, big formal sit down meal, band etc... Most weddings I have attended seem to just be an excuse for people to go on a drinking bender from early in the day - we do not want that.

We want to keep it small (40ish people), and just have a nice dinner and a couple of quiet drinks afterwards.

We would ideally like to find a non traditional venue that has a nice indoor environment (cant trust the weather in Ireland and we dont want to go away as his granny may not be able to attend if we did).

We are not against renting somewhere unusual (like an old country house for instance) and catering it ourselves.

We did think of doing a murder mystery weekend in a hotel in order to provide some amount of entertainment for our guests. Can anyone think of other unusual activities that may be available?

Id appreciate any suggestions/ideas/recommendations that people may have.

Thanks!
 
Hi Truth seeker

My mam got married again on the 23August.She hired a room in the K club in straffan cost around €250.She got a celtic priest from the aran isalnds for a civil ceremony.She had her wedding in the gardens of the k club and she paid for a harpist €200 for the ceremony.She had about 10 bottles of champagne and strawberries and some tea and biscuits for about 22 guests.It was really nice, then we all went to legends the restaurant and the meal was around €75 each.She did provide wine on the table.She was able to bring in her own wedding cake.There was no need for a band and the night went on till about 1pm.It was really a very nice day for all.
 
Caveat - I like it :)
Ive just been on the phone to Most Haunted Ireland to see can I arrange a night in Irelands most haunted Castle complete with dinner/music - they are going to come back to me - but I was thinking about a medieval banquet either....

Snowball - I like that idea a lot. I particularly like that the wedding itself was held in the gardens. And also that the night went on til 1am - Im tired of big drinking session weddings that go on til 4am - its not what a wedding is about in my opinion.
 
how about a morning wedding, wedding brunch and book a room with access to a garden for the speeches/ thanking folks, background music and have a more afternoon celebration? head off on your HM at maybe 4/6pm? just if you don't like the drinkfest!
 
nelly - thats another great idea!

certainly something to think about.

Anyone recommend any other nice venues?
 
just be aware that if you are planning on a civil ceremony, then it is a requirement that it take place indoors, they also have other requirements as regards the facilities which must be available.
 
Card - do you have any other information about that - the law changes in November but at the moment my understanding is that it is a grey area as to what will constitute a legal venue - the actual wording states 'tasteful' - thats quite subjective.

we have no problems having the civil ceremony in the registry office itself and then moving off to whatever we decide to do - but it would be nice to have the ceremony in a venue of our choice.
 
actually this is the wording about civil marraihes according to the General Register Office website:

"
It will be possible for civil marriages after the above date (November 2007) to be held at venues other than Registry Offices, provided the venue has been inspected and approved by the HSE in advance of the marriage ceremony and subject to a Registrar being available to solemnise a marriage at that venue on the date in question "

The above does not really clarify what type of venues will be acceptable - time will tell.
 
was speaking with a registrar about it and the ceremony must take place indoors (for Health and Safety reasons I believe but don't quote me on that being the reason), also another room must be set aside for use by the registrar so that they can deal with any issues which may arise in private if they wish.
 
Perhaps we will just do it in the Registry Office itself in that case. We dont mind where the actual ceremony is carried out but we would certainly like to do something a little different to celebrate the occasion itself.
 
Tailors Hall in Dublin 8 is a lovely An Taisce run building that you can hire for the day and organise caterers yourself. Plenty of more suggestions in a book called Georgina Campbell's guide to wedding venues, or online at www.weddingsonline.ie - although you have to do a specific search for small venues, as most posters seem to be going for the full on wedding experience.
 
I am involved in a Scout group and we have a former OEC centre in the Slieve bloom mountains, the views are amazing- two buildings with beds for around 40(bunkbeds) easy to get to 20/25 min from portlaoise.I know it would be different, could do some hill walking, fishing down the road horse drawn carriages available etc
 
how about a morning wedding...
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very traditional actually! Once upon a time weddings were always held in the morning as the couple (and mass-goers) were expected to fast from midnight before attending church. Hence the term wedding breakfast!
 
One of the most memorable weddings I was at was held in a local hall, finger food, ceili band (they were brilliant and instructed the non inititiated into the dances), followed by open mic well into the morning.
 
Last year I got married by a Mr. Samuel (a notary public / justice of the peace, and minister). He owns the Creekside Plantation in Greenville.
It was just my husband and I and 5 guests. We had a lovely little evening ceremony outside of the beautiful house, and it was only $150 if I remember correctly (it might have even been $75, for some reason I can't remember the exact figure, but definitely no more than $150).
It was very laid-back, we wrote our own vows for him to read, and he kept it non-religious, per our wishes.
 
speirbhean said:
Tailors Hall in Dublin 8 is a lovely An Taisce run building that you can hire for the day and organise caterers yourself. Plenty of more suggestions in a book called Georgina Campbell's guide to wedding venues, or online at www.weddingsonline.ie - although you have to do a specific search for small venues, as most posters seem to be going for the full on wedding experience.
Click to expand...

Another vote for Tailors Hall.
A lovely venue. beautiful building and a lovely enclosed garden
 
Black Tie dress code means black tux for men but definitely not only black dresses for women. I have a friend who insists that Black Tie for women mean cocktail length dresses and not full length! seems like too many rules for me. I would not dress differently for a black tie wedding but a man would.
 
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