Letter to Brides & Grooms who have booked their wedding at the Castle
Wedding Planning > Plan your Wedding Day
Plan your Wedding Reception in South Wales
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Essential Guide to Planning
your Wedding Day at Craig y Nos Castle
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As your wedding date is approaching, we hope you will be able to come to our next Open Day - see Wedding Fair page for dates of all Fairs and Open Days.
At an Open Day the Castle will be set up as if on a wedding day. The DJ often sets up in the function room as if for an evening wedding party and disco. 'Centre of Attention', a well-known Brecon venue decoration company, set up several display options for tables and chairs in the Conservatory, to give you some great ideas for your own wedding.
To meet with a wedding planner, please complete the appointment request form, suggesting two different times to discuss your wedding.
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Planning your Wedding
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Information we need for Event Planning Meetings and the Event Finalise Meeting
1. Room Reserving for Guests and Room Bookings; also see Forms and Templates - Accommodation Bookings
2. Guest List and Menu Planning for Guests at the Wedding Breakfast; also see Forms and Templates - Menu Planning
3. Table Setting - seating plan for Guests at the Wedding Breakfast; also see Forms and Templates - Table Plan
4. Running Order of the Day - Timings, Furnishings and Day Plan; also see Forms and Templates - Running Order
Evening Function Room and Bar
As of October 2022, there have been a few amendments and updates to our licensing conditions.
- Last orders at the bar will now be strictly at 12am (midnight) unless arranged otherwise with your planner and the appropriate fee paid, although if you have paid for your entertainment to go beyond midnight do let us know (the bar will still close at midnight).
- Guests drinking their own alcohol not purchased from us (or where corkage has not been paid), will have those drinks confiscated from them. Only drinks purchased by guests from Craig Y Nos Castle are allowed on the premises. This includes shot walls or favours (that we can otherwise supply).
- Our corkage tariff has changed and please go here to view the corkage prices if you wish to provide your own alcohol. Please get in touch with us to discuss any concerns or issues.
- We are a cashless bar – please do remind your guests that we do not accept cash on the bar. We take card payments only. This will also apply to accommodation bookings.
- Once the bar is closed, our licence only permits residents booked to stay overnight to continue drinking.
- Our Licence is now location specific meaning we cannot set up a separate bar in the conservatory. Drinks can only be served from the main bar.
- Subject to your wedding guest numbers and availability, guests who have booked just the Conservatory for their Wedding are now able to move to the Function Room for their evening celebrations at no extra cost. There are several benefits to this:
Benefits of using Function Room & Main Bar for Evening
(i) Your DJ sets up fully in the function room while you enjoy your sit down meal in the conservatory, so there is no delay with 'turning around' the Conservatory into an evening disco room. You just glide through to the function room all set up and ready as a 'grand reveal' evening party room.
(ii) Your guests will be close to the main bar, as opposed to having to walk a long way from the Conservatory to the bar every time they want a drink.
(iii) Allows next day's wedding to set up in the Conservatory the night before their wedding (and you to do the same if the wedding before yours uses the function room for their evening party).
(iv) Most bedrooms are near the conservatory, so an evening disco in Conservatory is noisy for residents (or children) wanting an earlier night. Evening party noise for B&B residents/ your guests is reduced when using the main function room as the noise is contained fully within this room.
(v) You and your guests are not confined to one room for the day and evening, but now enjoy full exclusive use of the whole castle ground floor. This would normally be charged for as an extra on smaller midweek weddings (where full exclusive use is not already your wedding contract). This upgrade comes at no extra cost as it is being introduced to comply with our licensing regulations and the practicalities of serving drinks close to where the guests physically are.
We appreciate you taking the time to read our planning pages and we all look forward to your special day here with us. If you need anything further then please do not hesitate to ask and we look forward to seeing you soon.
If, you are still in the planning process please see order of the day here to assist you – both now and in advance of your Event Finalisation Meeting.
Remember many of your questions can be answered via this website – however, feel free to email either Emily or Nicola for more information.
1. Room Reserving and Room Bookings by guests
Under your wedding package you may have a required number of guests staying overnight. See Wedding Package minimum B&B Quotas.
Once you have read this let us know if you wish to reserve specific rooms for your guests. It is an idea to reserve family rooms for groups of guests or families willing to share. Double en-suites do not need pre-allocating as guests can book their preferred room.
You can reserve rooms for named guests a few weeks or months before your wedding - let us know who you would like in each room and let your guests know to ask for the specific room you have reserved for them.
If you have disabled guests they should book room AB 11 or 12. If you have guests wanting ground floor rooms, let us know. If you would like a list of guests that have booked for your wedding night, to see who still needs to book their room, we can send you a Room Use spreadsheet.
See Forms and Templates - Accommodation Bookings to reserve and book rooms.
2. Evening Buffet
Have you booked your evening guests for the evening buffet? If so, have you updated the number of evening guests you now expect? We do not take bookings for the Evening Buffet when Brides first book their wedding, so if you wish to offer guests an evening buffet, let us know and this can be added.
Kindly note we do not allow ‘under-catering’ as this leads to complaints from guests if food runs out. So, if you have 100 evening guests, you need to cater for 100. However, you should be realistic about attendance levels. Not all evening guests will turn up on the night. The ‘no-show’ rate may be 5% to 10% or more. So, you can estimate your no-show rate and deduct this from the original total.
For example, if you invite 100 evening guests, but expect some day guests to leave early or some evening extras not to come at all, then this is the ‘no show’ rate. If you assume 10% no-shows, you cater for 90 instead of 100 guests. This is quite acceptable as you are making a realistic estimate of numbers. However, we cannot support intentional ‘under-catering’ where you cater for fewer than you expect, as this leads to complaints when food runs out.
How hungry will your evening guests be? If you have a lot of evening extras, you may find they will eat more than guests who were at the Wedding Breakfast.
If the majority of your evening guests are with us for the day, they'll initially be full from the wedding breakfast and will eat less. That said, alcohol is an appetite stimulator, and demand for the buffet will increase as the evening dancing gets under way. You need the buffet to go out later if you have very few evening extras, to allow your day guests to work up an appetite. If you have a large contingent of evening extras, you need the buffet to go out earlier as these new evening guests will be hungry on arrival.
"We absolutely fell in love with the Castle when we were looking for a wedding venue. Great location, it is beautiful, quirky, has stunning views and the icing on the cake for us was it being dog friendly...." Read more |
This is a ‘premium’ service involving a top Wedding DJ who specialises as a DJ for weddings. There are minimum numbers and the package includes the evening buffet.
If you have not booked your DJ yet and have the required numbers, this package will make the evening event as impressive as the day event, rather than a mere ‘add-on’.
4. Drinks Package
We now offer a Drinks Package (Table Wine and Toasting Wine) on all our Wedding Packages. If you have not yet discussed wedding drinks with your wedding planner this is a better value option than buying the house wines by the bottle, due to the discount on the Drinks Package. See pricing for three Wedding Drinks Packages here.
The saving you make on the Drinks Package will in fact cover the cost of adding Canapes, with your drinks - a popular option for weddings with late afternoon Wedding Banquets.
5. Open Day and Appointments
If you come to an Open Day and would like to have a chat with our Wedding Planners, please book an appointment as the Open Days are very busy. For a longer appointment to discuss your wedding, it is better to come on a less busy day.
6. Wedding Planning Guide
This is a useful guide and all Couples marrying at the castle are urged, over time, to browse through this to be sure you have not missed any To Do’s. Either start on the Wedding Budget page and scroll forward using the ‘next page’ button or dive into any of the below:
(a) Who normally Pays for What aspects of a wedding (sharing cost over family, Bride and Groom, according to tradition)
(b) Your Wedding Day Countdown – a handy check-list of what you need to organise (handy in case you forget something)
(c) Your Wedding Day Schedule – listing all events that occur on a wedding day, lots to plan for.
7. Wedding Suppliers Index
Check our index of Wedding Suppliers for ideas and Suppliers you may not have thought of.
There are sections for ‘decorating the venue’,
Entertainment in the Evening,
Wedding Photography,
Beauty and
Formal Clothes etc.
8. Incorporating a Place of Origin (such as your Home Town) into your wedding theme
This is a bit off-the-wall, but some Brides find this section fascinating and spend a long time on their home town page looking for ideas and information.
9. Wedding Planning Department
A list of Wedding Planners is on our ‘Contact Us’ page. When you book an Event Finalise meeting, you will now be speaking to your own dedicated wedding planner.
10. Measurements of Function Rooms
| Room | Length | Width | Height |
| Function Rm Dance area (Music Room) | 12.1 m | 7.6 m | 2.4 m |
| Function Rm (Billiard Rm) | 7.9 m | 8.6 m | 2.8 m |
| Opera House Auditorium | 10 m | 7.4 m | 6.5 m |
| Opera House with Stage | 19.6 m | 10.8 m | |
| Patti Bar | 8.6 m | 7.6 m | |
| Aisle Runner | 9.4 m | 78 cm | |
| Conservatory | 24.7 m | 8.3 m | 3.5 m |
Nicolini Lounge | 9.7 m | 6.1 m | 2.7 m |
| Breakfast Room | 6.6 m | 5.8 m | |
| Summer House | 3.4 m | 3.4 m | 3.4 m to Apex |
• THE GRAND ENTRANCE HALL 12.8m (42') x 2.7m (8'10")
Accessed from the front court yard via a neo-gothic arch, reception desk, oak flooring and doors leading to:
• THE NICOLINI ROOM 9.7m (31'10") x 6.1m (19'11")
With ¾ height windows facing east making the most of the glorious views over the Craig Y Nos Country Park and surrounding countryside, high ceilings with decorative cornicing and coving, fire place, revealed neo gothic arch with door leading to:
• THE BREAKFAST ROOM 6.6m (21'6") x 5.8m (19'0")
With ¾ height windows facing east towards open countryside, high ceilings with intricate plaster work, elaborate Victorian fire surround with mid nineteenth century glazed tiling with inset cast iron wood burning stove, wall mounted lighting.
• THE PATTI BAR 8.6m (28'3") x 7.6m (24'11")
The Patti Bar is the focus of the Castle's social activities and is renowned for hosting a wide variety of live music events. With ¾ length windows facing east with stunning rural views, fire place with oak surround and inset wood burning stove, cast iron radiators, full working bar.
• THE OPERA HOUSE 19.6m (64'4") x 10.80max
A stunningly ornate and exceptional private theatre that is one of the finest in Britain that can house up to 150 people per sitting. The theatre has a coved and paneled ceiling and the walls are richly articulated by giant, fluted Corinthian columns. The proscenium is flanked by columns, has a central pedimented tablet with the names of Verdi, Rossini and Mozart. The floor can be tilted downwards towards the stage to form a raked auditorium and a sunken orchestra pit can be opened up. Furthermore, much of the original backstage mechanisms and scenery have been preserved in full working order . It is understood that the design of this theatre was based on that of The Bayreuth Opera house.
• THE MUSIC ROOM 12.1m (39'8") x 7.6m (24'11")
With ¾ length windows facing north and west, gothic style stone fireplace with inset wood burning stove, wainscotting to walls, revealed oak flooring, high ceilings with intricate victorian plaster work and is an ideal banqueting venue. Supplemented by the adjacent Billiard Room it is possible to seat groups of up to 150 people.
• THE BILLIARD ROOM 7.9m (25'11") x 8.6m (28'3")
With ¾ length windows facing west and east, revealed oak flooring, cast iron radiators and wide opening to The Music Room.
• THE GYM AND JACUZZI 7.6m (24'11") x 13.1m (43') max
With fully glazed windows facing east and occupying what was Adelina Patti's aviary, this room provides a stunning backdrop to undertake some light exercise. Recently renovated to a very high standard, the gym includes space for various running, rowing, weight and cycling machines. There is also a large Jacuzzi and shower room. The Gym is complimented by over 20 oak fronted lockers and male and female changing/shower rooms, plus disabled provision, that have been fitted out to the highest of standards with natural stone finish to the walls and floor.
• THE CONSERVATORY 8.3m (27'1") x 24.7m (80'11")
With full glazed frontage facing east with magnificent rural views of the surrounding hills and river valley, with access onto the patio deck, decorative cast iron support members, marble tiled floor with integral underfloor heating, balcony and neo-gothic door to rear hall capable of seating over 120 people
11. Venue Décor improvements
Recent Venue Décor improvements, some involving major maintenance.
a. New roof on Conservatory, to prevent water leaching onto white canopy, as the water dripping in was staining canopy.
b. New roof on Music Room (Dance area) to prevent leaking and peeling of ceiling paint
c. Walls rebuilt internally where external stone walls faced over Country Park, with Damp Proof membrane, to prevent rain leaching into Function room.
d. Repaint and redecoration of Function room
e. Breakfast room redecorated after further leaks fixed over bay window.
f. Theatre glass roof re-built by our skilled full time builder and carpenter, Anthony, over several months in Summer 2017, replacing rotten timbers and leaking in the Grade One listed theatre.
g. Rear wall of theatre covered in new white drapes - awaiting further damp proofing here.
h. White chair covers with bows now included either in theatre or in Conservatory at no charge, along with Gold Thrones which, while rather ‘dazzling’ in real life, do come out very well in photographs.
i. Arrangement with ‘Centre of Attention’, based in Brecon, to provide table and venue decorations for weddings on an exclusive basis to castle, resulting in very good value rates for Brides and Grooms.
j. Room 13 family room added. Theatre Green Room (formerly used by live-in Staff)also added to En-suites - a further family room for four, with Kitchenette attached.
12. To conclude, before your wedding:
1. Determine all extras you may need – buffet, third course option, menu choices, drinks package, canapes with welcome drinks, etc.
2. Decide whether to reserve bedrooms or just family rooms. Doubles and family rooms can be pre-allocated to named guests so that when guests call, you have already earmarked a suitable room for them.
3. Check out the Suppliers index for any ideas and Suppliers you may wish to add.
4. Check out the wedding planner guide for a summary of what to do before and on your wedding day.
5. Be sure to book an Event Finalise meeting 4-6 weeks before your wedding date to tie up all loose ends, assuming you have not already organised this.
You will a month before your wedding, be sent an invoice showing the balance of your wedding, including any accommodation if guaranteed under a Wedding Package, which must be paid 7 days prior to your wedding day less the accommodation booked by guests, which will be removed from your account 48 hours prior to the event. The full removal of the accomodation element on your account is subject to the required number of guests staying overnight under the relevant package.
Martin Gover
Craig y Nos Castle
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Communicating with Castle by Email
& Chat on the websites
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Chat is on all websites. One of the wedding planners or receptionists is on Chat during office hours, in addition to Martin. Get answers instantly from someone knowledgeable, no waiting for an email reply.
Chat is more effective than phone or email as an email may wait a few hours to be replied to while a phone call can often find the person you want tied up at that moment. In Chat there is always someone available to answer your query in office hours and often late into the evenings. You can keep a copy of your chat transcript - simply provide your email address within chat and your chat transcript is sent to you automatically.
All our wedding team will reply from weddinginformation@craigynoscastle.com and emails to our wedding team should be sent to this email address or to the email address shown individually for each planner here.
Emails to weddinginformation@craigynoscastle.com are also received by members of the Management team to ensure that any requests from customers are actioned accordingly. Management can ONLY monitor emails sent to the castle's email addresses on this website. We do not have access to any non @craigynoscastle.com addresses or to staff's personal email addresses for obvious reasons, so emails sent to any individual's personal in-box, or correspondence on any form of social media, chat forum, what's app etc, cannot be monitored.
To ensure your emails are actioned appropriately please use the weddinginformation@craigynoscastle.com email address use the @craigynoscastle.com email address of the person you are dealing with. Requirements that you have for your wedding plans, table arrangements, payments, guest numbers etc should be sent to @craigynoscastle.com email addresses.
For any accommodation queries please also email info@craigynoscastle.com for accommodation bookings (all accommodation bookings go via reception).
All emails to both the above addresses are entered into your database file as they are received, and either responded to by reception or by someone in the Wedding Planning team, generally th same day unless your Planner is off for a day or two. Entering emails and chat transcripts on to your file allows us to create an 'audit trail' of all correspondence with you and to properly record the evolution of your wedding plans. In this way all your requirements for your wedding are trackable within the correspondence/ emails logged on your file.
Remember Chat on the website can gain a more immediate response and is proving at least as popular.
In order to ensure that you do receive emails from the Castle please add info@craigynoscastle.com to any whitelists or allowed email lists.
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Contact Castle by Phone
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Reception is manned 09.00 to 21.00 hrs whenever the castle is fully open for an event. On non-event days reception will close around 5pm. There is normally one receptionist on duty and even when there are two, both can be away from reception desk for a while.
If they are on phone or have left to show someone to their room, or if they are simply talking to a customer at the front desk, or nipped behind the bar to serve a drink, the phone may not be answered for several rings. We do not operate an automated answering or call holding / recorded message system. If you keep ringing, this can work, but often it is best to simply ring back in ten minutes.
Sometimes it can be easier to either ring back in ten minutes or email us or chat on line!
| Useful Pages on PLANNING YOUR WEDDING DAY at Craig y Nos Castle |
| Plan your wedding at Craig y Nos |
| Superior Wedding Breakfast Menu |
| What's not included - Book the Registrar & Wedding Suppliers |
Contact Us Page and Directions to the castle (2 links) |
| Wedding Themes by home town |
| Room Reserving & Booking template (SRUM) |
| Menu selection template - Wedding Breakfast menu |
Enjoy a Homely Welcome and Friendly Service at Craig y Nos Castle