Located on the scenic Antrim coast, the Ballygally Castle faces the sandy beaches of Ballygally Bay. The Castle dates back to 1625 and is the only 17th century building still used as a residence in Northern Ireland today. The dramatic backdrop of sea, mountains and rugged cliffs just add to the character and charm of the castle and 17th Century walled gardens, making a stunning location for wedding photographs.
The castle is yours so the choice is yours and the Ballygally offers you exceptional choice for your Wedding day. From the exquisite Kintyre Ballroom overlooking the gardens, island, trout stream and Irish Sea, to the atmospheric 1625 Room, our banqueting suites combine comfort and ambiance in abundance. And there’s more; our superb walled garden and terrace is ideal for a drinks reception. With so much to offer, you and your guests will enjoy a perfect marriage of style and scenery.
We ensure that every detail of your day is perfect and that both the planning and the day itself are a relaxing, rewarding and very enjoyable experience. We pride ourselves on the personal touch. When it comes to food, you can be confident that each bite, from the welcoming canapés right through to the petits fours, is a delicious occasion in itself. Our Chef’s gourmet selections, sourced from local ingredients and producers, will make your Wedding banquet the talk of the day! All in all the perfect place and in every way the perfect day.
How are viewings of the Ballygally Castle? Do I need to book?
Simply call one of our dedicated Wedding Co-ordinators, who will arrange a suitable date and time for you to meet. We try to offer appointments to suit the busy lives of wedding couples, offering the flexibility of evening and weekend appointments, as well as day appointments. They can give you a wealth of advice and relevant information to help make your decision to book this fantastic and much sought after venue much easier. Your viewing will include a tour of the hotel facilities, function and bridal suites available as well as meet our team and seeing their passion and energy first hand.
What is the minimum/maximum number of guests that you can cater for?
We cater for all sizes of weddings, from a small, intimate blessing to a larger affair catering for up to 200 guests. A range of beautifully decorated banqueting suites are available, from the Intimate 1625 Suite with views over the Walled Garden, to the stunning Kintyre Suite with Antrim Coastline backdrop
If you had some words of advice for newly engaged couples starting out on their planning what would they be?
Enjoy every minute of your special journey as you plan the most special day of your lives. Everyone’s experience is different. Begin your plans by confirming the essentials: date available for your wedding venue; ceremony availability on this particular date, ensure your close family and friends can join you on your preferred date; and finally consider your honeymoon plans. Once you have arranged this base plan, you have a very good platform to arrange everything else from.
What are the most common questions you get asked? What do couples worry about the most?
A common dilemma is building a time schedule for the Wedding Day itself and what time the service should be and how the day flows after that. The biggest worry is that there will not be enough time to fit in photography and ensure that all guests are looked after and catered for well throughout the day. A clever tip is to work backwards with your schedule, beginning from the finish time and add in all aspects of your day. This will bring you back to your realistic service time.
You have probably seen a lot of nervous brides and grooms on their wedding day! What is a good way for them to keep calm and collected?
Good planning and communication with your venue in the lead up to the Wedding Day allows you to build confidence in what we offer and allows us to provide you with a fantastic experience. We are available at every step of the process and will ensure that we have everything prepared in advance to ensure perfection of delivery of service and expectation.
You are working with brides and grooms every day. What were your favourite wedding trends so far of 2016?
Over the past 10 years the wedding industry has hugely expanded and there are so many possibilities of services and suppliers to offer unique wedding ideas and themes to make each wedding individual. Vintage lace and rustic hessian themes have been popular in 2016, as well as sweet tables, photobooths and LED enhanced dancefloors. We are also seeing a new trend emerging where a lot of our brides and grooms are looking for more neutral room dressings, fairylight backdrops and starting to move away from chair covers to seating such as Catherine and chivari chairs. We are also seeing a new focus and enthusiasm for items to upgrade menu options such as canapés, sorbet courses, cheese platters and so on.
The day of a wedding must be so busy and exciting after months of planning with the couples, what does a typical wedding day look like for you?
There is no typical wedding day at The Ballygally Castle. Each day is unique and that is the way we wish to view and care for each and very booking placed with us.
What do couples love most about the Ballygally Castle?
Where do we start, with this answer?! The fascinating castle style with unique indoor photography options with the 17th century stonework features. We also benefit from being situated across from Ballygally Beach offering a stunning backdrop for photographs. The hidden gem of the Castle is our private walled gardens which is our pride and joy and a unique to the Ballygally Castle; Our one wedding per day policy; the excellent service level and delivery of our services; the friendly and professionalism of our team; are just a few comments and complements we receive. What we love most is that we make life long relationships with our wedding couples who return time and time again over the years, to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and grow to love for The Ballygally Castle and as part of their own family history.
The Ballygally Castle will be opening doors to brides and grooms to be for a Wedding Show in conjunction with Perfect Bliss 1-5pm 9th October 2016. Our full team of experts and wedding specialists will be on hand to give you advice and tips on how to create your dream wedding. Entry is free.
Alternatively, you may wish to come for a private wedding consultation Monday 17th October – Wednesday 19th 12-8pm. Take time to view our fully dressed Ballroom and range of other rooms and discover all the unique finishing touches and optional extras that this wonderful hotel has to offer.
To contact the wedding team for an appointment, telephone: 028 28 581066 or email: conf@bgc.hastingshotels.com
