Wedding Breeze

Is a castle a wedding locale only for the lord or lady of the manor? No way.

Castle weddings albeit favorite of the crème de la crème of Hollywood, the nouveau riche and sports greats and the crème de la crème of Hollywood, the nouveau riche and those couples where money was not an object, are surprising affordable.  They are not exclusively for this moneyed bunch.  You do not have to be Madonna, Tom Cruise, Paris Hilton or a Russian ogliarch or just  incredibly financially well off to rent one of these beautiful and wondrous locations that sometimes seem to come to life straight from the pages of a fairy tale.

Have you ever dreamed of having a wedding in France, the most romantic country in the world?

The attraction of destination weddings is that only your nearest and dearest friends and family are invited.  Forget the second cousin you have not seen for 15 years and your Mum’s bridge partners and work colleagues and your Dad’s golfing buddies.  Destination weddings are normally arranged for an average of thirty guests.  The number increases if the bride or groom come from large families. 

Destination weddings are a fresh new way to start a new life together.  They are on the rise, now accounting for 15%* of all weddings held. With nearly a 200%** increase just in the last 10 years. 

Destination weddings are popular with brides and grooms, and just as popular with the invited guests.Destination weddings are available for every budget. Destination weddings are very popular these days, as a stress-free alternative to hosting a wedding in your home town.

Because the number of guests at a destination wedding are much lower and the largest percentage of wedding budget is normally spent on the wedding venue and catering and alcohol, destination weddings even in a fairytale french chateau can work out cheaper than an alternative historic venue at home, or the Disneyland castle or Las Vegas Excalibur hotel.  

So if you want to be a princess bride go for the real McCoy - an authentic castle.  You will get that castle feel that only a genuine castle can pull off. 

These days you can rent a chateau for your wedding party exclusively for one night to a week in order to hold your wedding reception.  This way you can be the only bride on the day. {Nothing removes the fairytale princess feeling quicker than seeing another bride at the same venue also having a fairytale princess moment.}

If your budget is limited you need to think off season or wedding season mid week as this may allow you to hire the castle for one or two nights only.  If you have your heart set on a summer wedding you are probably looking at a weekly chateau rental or a day’s hire at a big chateau hotel for the same price.

There are a whole list of castle wedding venues available offering a few rooms for your guests up to castle hotels with hundreds.  The bigger your number of guests the more likely you will have to select a proper castle hotel with the added extras of an army of staff and alcohol and liquor costs to match.

There are family run chateaux that offer there luxury properties to guests specifically for weddings. These chateaux are outfitted with all of the the infrastructure for up to thirty guests and appropriately sized reception rooms with all of the tables, chairs, cutlery, crochery and linen and form a small percentage of rental chateaux available.

Some go so far as to offer very attractive castle wedding packages. A castle wedding package is not as expensive as you would think.   You can plan a chateau wedding on a budget.  Do not think that a fairytale wedding is only a possibility for the rich. Some chateau hotels even do weddings for a party of four (the bride and groom and their respective witnesses).If you dreamt of marrying your prince charming in a fairytale wedding castle as a little girl, your dream can come true.

When chosing a castle wedding package, accessibility, price and what is included in a package will all factor in your decision. 

· Accessibility – the venue and chapel or wedding location should be near the reception area.

· Package – some venues offer attractive wedding packages with discounts because of the group booking. You want flowers, decoraton, music, food and alcohol, transportation and wedding planning included as a minimum

· Price – a french castle wedding package is still typically much cheaper than a big wedding at a historic venue in England or America.For what you would pay to haire a Scotish castle for a day you can usually rent a french chateau for a week.  You really do pay to be able to drive up from London.

A castle wedding package really is an affordable option for pretty much every couple.