T H E B U S H T E L E G R A P H February 2023 Memories are Truly Made of This! We can now confirm that 2022 was our busiest wedding year in history, with a quite incredible 193 weddings! Our sincere gratitude to all couples who held their weddings here at beautiful Balbirnie House.
ESCAPE T H E P E RF E C T G E TAWAY O u r A M A ZIN G o ffe r fo r a n o v e r nig h t s t a y a t b e a u tif ul B albir nie , b a s e d o n 2 p e o ple s h a rin g a s t a n d a r d d o u ble o r t win r o o m. E n j o y a c r e a m t e a o n a r riv al, t h e n t a n t aliz e y o u r t a s t e b u d s wit h o u r S E V E N c o u r s e t a s tin g m e n u in o u r O r a n g e ry. S t a y in a s t a n d a r d d o u ble o r t win r o o m a n d e n j o y b r e a k fa s t t h e follo win g m o r nin g fo r a n in c r e dible v alu e o f £ 1 3 0 u n til t h e e n d o f A P RIL 2 0 2 3. Please note this offer is for new b o o kin g s o nly. Available on selected dates on our website and paid in advance at time of booking. Supplement charges apply for weekend dates and room upgrades. If you are lucky enough to have a voucher for this offer please book soon to avoid disappointment, as there is now limited weekend availability and restricted midweek availability.
Brand new article on the Balbirnie House blog. What does it take? Company MD Nicholas Russell at age 55 once again representing our amazing local Glenrothes Triathlon Club at the most legendary race in Europe. Swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles, and then run a marathon, all sections timed on the clock! 'IS 5 IN A ROW POSSIBLE? IRONMAN AUSTRIA 2023 CONFIRMED!'
Get together with your nearest and dearest to celebrate your Baby shower with us. At Balbirnie we offer fabulous affordability with our beautiful rooms and wonderful hospitality. Oh Baby! Private rooms to have your baby showers in are available for a party of 10 or more guests Please email [email protected] for more information. Baby Shower
Our NEW delicious seasonal menu is running throughout February in our Orangery. It focuses on seasonal produce within Scotland's larder. It is certainly one not to be missed! The tasting menus are £38.50 per person with Classic, Vegetarian, Vegan and Pescatarian menus available. You can also accompany your meal with our specially selected wines on our wine flight at £26 per person. Book & see our menus here! NEW Seasonal SEVEN Menu at The Orangery
Our Management training programme is well underway and it is aimed to help inspire and train our team within our hotel environment. It is designed to give the trainee a good insight in to all the departments within the hotel and to help the develop their understanding and skill set within hospitality. Georgia Taylor Tell us about yourself? I did a travel and tourism HND course at Fife College and I am currently a Trainee Manager at Balbirnie House. I have worked here for the past 2 and a half years and I love the different challenges that my job brings. I've spent the past 2 years working predominantly within the Banqueting department, making sure everything was perfect for our couples on their special day. When did you start your Management training? I started my management training in January of this year and first department is Reception. I shall be here for 3 months before moving on to the Housekeeping department. What's your goal for 2023? I am looking to gain a deeper understanding of the inner workings of the hotel. What is your long term goal in Hospitality? Ideally through my qualifications and training and development it will enable me to have all the necessary skills to become a great manager. Would you recommend this programme to others? I would would recommend the programme that we run here for the budding managers of the future.
Add the vegetable stock to a large pan and bring to a simmer. To prepare the mixed mushrooms, finely chop any cultivated mushrooms (such as chestnut or Shiitake), and tear any wild mushrooms into small pieces. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium–high heat. Fry the mushrooms with the garlic until they are golden brown and any watery juices have evaporated. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Gently fry the shallot until softened, but not browned. Add the rice, stir to coat in the oil and cook for 3 minutes. Add the wine to the pan and cook until absorbed completely. Start adding the hot stock, one ladle at a time allowing each ladle to be almost completely absorbed before adding the next. Stir the risotto regularly to prevent it from sticking. When the rice is creamy but retains a little bite, turn off the heat and stirin a wee bit more butter and Parmesan. The risotto should have a flowing texture. Add the cooked mushrooms and stir, adding a little more stock as needed to loosen to a slowflowing consistency. Season with salt and black pepper. Serve finished with chopped parsley and extra Parmesan shavings. METHOD INGREDIENTS 2 pints of vegetable stock 200g/7oz mixed mushrooms, such as chestnut, shiitake, or wild mushrooms 75g/2½oz unsalted butter, cubed 1–2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 tbsp olive oil 1 shallot, finely chopped 250g/9oz Arborio risotto rice 100ml/3½fl oz dry white wine 50g/1¾oz freshly grated Parmesan (or similar vegetarian hard cheese), plus extra to serve small handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped salt and freshly ground black pepper Vibe Manager Angela's Mushroom Risotto
Chris has been working at Balbirnie as Sous Chef for 20 months and is an integral part of the kitchen team. He takes ownership of tasks along with being a very solid and reliable member of the brigade. Chris received a bottle of Champagne and a voucher for two, to enjoy our SEVEN course tasting menu, complete with a bottle of wine and cocktails. Congratulations and best wishes from us all at Balbirnie. Very well deserved! Congratulations to our Employee of the Month for January 2023 - Chris Smith
The Magical Hogmanay Wedding of Kathryn & Aaron How did your love story begin? Nope, we never met in a bar, or through friends…. It was Tinder Dating site! Who would ever of thought we would marry after meeting on a dating site! After a few months we had a trip away with friends where it just worked. After lots of adventures, holidays and good times together Aaron popped the question (with a mob choir on Hanover Street in Edinburgh!!! Wow) Why did you choose Balbirnie as your wedding venue? We go to Balbirnie for meals, events etc and have always thought it was a stunning place. But when they announced a Hogmanay wedding we jumped at the chance! It is also local to us, which we loved as it made it easy for everyone. After our first meeting we also were blown away by the staff and couldn't believe how amazing the wedding team were. This made us very relaxed as they helped us and took care of so many things! We can’t thank them enough! What is the best advice you would give to future couples planning their day? Do it YOUR way! We done everything our way which made for a very fun, laid back day, full of laughter! A gorgeous Hogmanay wedding full of love, laughter and wonderful entertainment for their guests. Photos on display taken by the in-house camera.
My dress: Flossy and Dossy Shoes: Kurt Geiger and Kate Spade Hair: Nicki Penman Hair Makeup: Sarah Small Celebrant: Alex Moore Piper: JoJo Florist: Gilly Tree Glenrothes Event dressing: Style a Chair Ceremony music and drinks reception entertainment: Billy Reekie Entrance song of ceremony: Finley Quaye, your love gets sweeter. Cake: A Bonnie Wee Cake Favours: Cancer research pins and bottle openers DJ: Stevie Steel & Haud yer wheesht silent disco Photographer: Special touches and ideas: We had planed an outdoor wedding in a tent but Covid took that away from us, so we wanted greenery to be a big part. Our flowers were all foliage to represent the woods and we went with dark green table covers. We also kept the speeches minimal and never left for photographs as we felt the day goes too fast, to not spend every minute of it with our family and friends. We had a welcome sign made by ‘Sylvie Signs’ these are hand painted on the thin wood and now is framed and on our wall as a different kind of keepsake! Kathryn & Aaron
Love Romance Joy Beautiful Balbirnie January Weddings
Love Romance Joy Beautiful Balbirnie January Weddings
Wedding Thanks Thank you so much for everything Balbirnie. It truly was a very special day on Saturday and couldn’t have gone any better, apart from the weather, that is. We just wanted to say a huge thank for making Matthew and Kirstie’s day so special. After all the delay and upset or recent months, it was so lovely to see them so happy. Again thank you for all your help and understanding and allowing us to change the date. It made such a difficult time so much easier to deal with. Saturday was such a special day. Everything was so lovely and made all the better because of your staff. They are an absolute credit to you. Everyone was so wonderful and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. Many guests commented on how welcoming, friendly and helpful they all were. Very special thanks to Christine for arranging everything and for the many emails sorting everything out and dealing with our niggles. Many thanks to mc David who was amazing and couldn’t have done enough to help us on the day. We lost count of how many times he ran up the stairs dealing with last minute dilemmas. A huge thank you for his patience with us all. Food and drink was wonderful too. We only saw empty plates and many guests commented on how full they were. The buffet we had with family on Friday was very special too, thank you to everyone involved. Kindest regards Derek & Carolyn McMahon Hi Christine, Hope you've had a good start to the week. I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the planning and attention to detail you put into our wedding day. It was honestly the best day of our lives and everything ran so smoothly! My friends and family have had nothing but compliments about the hotel itself, the staff and the food, it was just amazing! We are so glad we chose to get married at Balbirnie. Yourself, Angela and Troy were just brilliant and nothing was too much. We’re even returning to stay in the bridal suite in February! I’ll pop in a wee thank you for you all at reception when we come to stay. Jennifer xx
Guest Thanks Hi Angela, just wanted to let you know the fabulous experience we had at the Balbirnie Hotel Thursday 2nd February until Friday 3rd. From the moment we arrived we were treated like Royalty. We arrived at two and were shown into a lovely room where we enjoyed fresh scones, jam and cream. We then went up to our room which was outstanding. Spotlessly clean with a warm relaxing atmosphere. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we had a seven course meal in beautiful surroundings. The staff were friendly and chatty and you felt you were among family. Even the painters said hello when we passed. After a good nights sleep we had a great breakfast where the lovely staff couldn’t do enough for us. We left on a high and will be returning soon. We will be sure to tell everyone we know about our great experience.Our daughter was delighted we had such a good time. Please forward this email to the owners with our heartfelt gratitude. And thank all the staff for making the experience so good for us. We were so fortunate to get all this for £130. But we will be happy to pay a lot more in future as know it was a special offer. Your hotel is one of the best. The friendly helpful staff and great food is what makes it so special from the minute you arrive till you leave. Thanks again, Wilma and Arthur Beedie Dear Balbirnie I wanted to pass on my thanks and gratitude for an incredible stay on Monday. It was a "big birthday" and exactly 10 years and 18 days since we got married in the long gallery on a beautiful crisp but sunny winter day. It's the first time we've been back to Balbirnie since the wedding, we've been keeping it for a special occasion and we had an incredibly time. Utterly spoiled, such kind and nice staff, brought so many memories back from our wedding, particularly what a good time we had with the staff. Such a lovely bunch, thank you so very much and thank you to the lovely lady in the restaurant who helped us recreate our wedding photo on the stairs! Many thanks, Liane & Raymond Dear Sir/Madam We have just returned back to Worcestershire England after spending 7 nights in Scotland the first 2 with you at Balbirnie House. We would like you to express our thanks to all your staff for the help and their friendly attitude during on our stay. Andrew and Jo McGorrigan
Newly engaged?... Congratulations! Your happily ever after begins here! Let us help you to create your dream wedding at beautiful Balbirnie and make it reality with our award winning wedding planners. We are delighted to say that here at Balbirnie House, we are the third-time recipient of the Best Wedding Hotel on a global level via Haute Grandeur Global Awards 2019, 2021 & 2022! To make an appointment to view our gorgeous hotel and to speak to our wedding team please email [email protected] We still have a few special weekend dates still remaining in 2023: Saturday 8th July Sunday 27th August 2023 Sunday 10th September 2023 Sunday 1st October 2023 Saturday 2nd of December Sunday 31st December HOGMANAY "Couples can never be exactly sure when it happened. Or even when it started. But at some point in that initial journey of contemplation our clients find themselves in the right here and now, falling totally in love with Balbirnie House, and all that we do. And so, each wedding begins." From an interview with our MD Nicholas Russell in Haute Grandeur magazine. Read it here.
Try our delicious NEW Bistro menu, filled with classic and new dishes. It offers fantastic value and delicious authentic cooking. Our Bistro was created from the old kitchens of the house and it offers casual dining. We are open daily from 12pm and offer a fabulous set menu Sunday to Thursday that runs all day! Click here to book your dining experience. The Bistro The Bist ro
We Will, We Will ... ROCK YOU! Balbirnie House is pleased to announce, 'The Freddie & The Queen Experience' tribute act is taking the floor on Friday the 10th of March 2023. £55.00 per person includes your entertainment with the best in the business, arrival fizz and 3 course meal! Email: [email protected] for more information!