Good deal vs Ideal!

So after traipsing endless through possible hotels, venue... even museums! We probably are closer to finding a venue but still not there.
I would say the best source is using tripadvisor... they have a huge database and you get a feeling of how the basics of service (never mind your wedding!) work in each hotel.
So question is, good deal or ideal?

Lets face it ideal is pretty much always going to cost you more...(see previous first look blog!) Kind of like the way everything that tastes nice is bad for you! (currently dieting with wedding incentive!)

I have found a deal that gives you everything THAT'S EVERYTHING cars, cake, men's suits... for £7,500... That is an amazing deal BUT then you have to accept all the recommended vendors that the hotel has within the package :/ The hotel is ok, just not IDEAL when I say ideal I mean not visually stunning or unique and I really would rather have the choice of vendors...
For starters the last thing we would want is a generic Pop/Dance DJ... school disco stylee...
In case you don't know our musical preference is classed as 'mosher' music LOL
obviously we would like to cater for all to some degree (its our wedding ok!!) but would like a band.
James would like medieval style clothing so I doubt the suit hire company (I know the place) would have such attire!

We could go for their less included deals but we will just see, I intend to have a visit to the place and see what its like in person.

Ideal places for us have character and tend to be smaller as they are definitely NOT commercial chain hotels (see 7,500 package above!)
The fact that these ideal venues seem to be smaller causes another problem... wedding list size.
Obviously ALL guests whom are being invited from England (and Wales Nez ;) ) are going to be at all the festivities so that makes our numbers pretty definite to an extent, but we do not know who will being coming yet.
These small venues have a capacity of about 100 so anything over that is not possible, our list is 120ish...

So we have decided to send people a 'feeler' email/letter to get an idea of numbers even thought we have no date or set venue. It will basically tell them the wedding will be within the next two years and is definitely in Northern Ireland. After all we never know there may be people that don't like to fly or sail so would not come... best to do it and see.

First thing you see is usually your choice...

I am backtracking a bit as I have already looked into quite a few venues... well I would say I have looked at every venue in County Antrim & L/Derry (online anyway, as I can't physically go).

Our requirements are:

1. Church of Ireland ceremony (which as I am Presbyterian and James is COE is another thing I REALLY need to look into!!) within 40mins max drive of:
2. A venue for up to 130 people and ideally can take as many as possible for overnight stay
3. Not expensive!

Anyway, my mum sent me a message asking me to look into 'Lissanoure Castle' which I did...
They have a COE church on site and it looks AMAZING, we both love castles and all things historical so it just seemed perfect. The only initial downside is that there are very few rooms so most guests would be at another hotel which for evening festivities is not ideal...
So basically we were in love...

Then came the price enquiry, A deposit of £700 and is £2000 for hire alone paired with £400 for the church and they do not provide food so I would have to get in a separate caterer which I priced at 3000 for 100 people.

Dream venue melting away... all is not forgotten but we decided to look into other hotels but it is safe to say everything we see now is compared to it...

Insufficient Data...

Before I start my ranting reason to create this blog...
First things first, I am Northern Irish but now live Yorkshire after meeting my fiance (urgh that word lol), James through friends whilst at University. 


I have discovered that in choosing to have our wedding back home in Norn Iron I have reduced my options for just about everything by 70%! You may think, well of course... Yorkshire never mind England is substantially larger than Northern Ireland so choice would be less, I can live with that... but I find it pretty disappointing that there isn't a concise guide for having a wedding in Northern Ireland. 
There are a few web sites that provide an OK amount of information but I think its mostly the "BIG" hotels that are featured.
Considering Northern Ireland is trying to push itself forward tourism wise I think providing people with adequate information for them to even consider Northern Ireland for their wedding would be quite a good idea. I can't imagine many people with no link to Northern Ireland would think of having their wedding there and if they did they probably would think the information provided was a bit rubbish.


I welcome anyone who thinks I am wrong or clearly looking in the wrong place.


Maybe it is because I am not what you would call a "conventional bride" but I am going to try my best to share the information I have found on my journey towards our big day!