‘Deciding to have your wedding at Balbirnie House,
is symbolic of a moment in life that is full of hope and love’
Balbirnie House is a 1777 Georgian mansion, Grade A Listed of
national and international importance.
The house was the inspiration for Edinburgh’s New Town. This historic house was caringly
restored and converted into a hotel in the late 1980’s, and since then the property has evolved
into a totally unique and special destination, and especially so for weddings.
Balbirnie is one of Scotland’s landmark hotels, with a uniquely established history under 3
decades of personal supervision and private ownership, playing host and providing a backdrop
for many thousands of Scotland’s most special private and corporate events.
Over the years Balbirnie has been the recipient of a quite extraordinary collection
of industry awards, especially for weddings. In these contexts, 2019 was an extraordinary
year.
We were quite simply overjoyed to announce that at the most recent Scottish Hotel of the Year
Awards (the Hotel Industry Oscars equivalent), and set against the competitive backdrop of
the many wonderful hotels and wedding venues across Scotland, Balbirnie once again received
overall ‘Scottish Wedding Hotel of the Year’ - Rather incredibly, that is now 14 times in the last
16 years that Balbirnie has received Scotland’s top wedding award, in recognition of our
dedication to our weddings.
Our whole team are over the moon and thrilled that all our hard work to make each and every
wedding so special has been so well recognised.
Arising perhaps as a result of what has happened with The Scottish Hotel of the Year award
scheme, specifically in that there is no hotel in any other country on Planet Earth that has
received anything like the recognition which Balbirnie House has had for weddings here in
Scotland, in 2018 our company directors were invited to represent Scotland within Haute
Grandeur global awards, this has continued annually since then. We are so very humbled to
convey that as at December 2021 Balbirnie House has become the recipient of five best-in-
world Hospitality awards.
2018 BEST DESTINATION WEDDING RETREAT, on a Global level.
2019 BEST DESTINATION WEDDING HOTEL, on a Global level.
2020 BEST FUNCTION VENUE, on a Global level.
2020, BEST COUNTRY HOUSE HOTEL, on a Global level.
2021, BEST WEDDING HOTEL, on a Global level.
The above results are attributable to there being something in the Markinch water!
As always, we continue to review across the span of what we do, our endeavours as always,
as to remain ahead of industry curves.
Join us for ongoing chat via Twitter & Instagram: @BalbirnieHouse
Here’s a snapshot of the hotel in all its glory!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPt5-8ZreOc&feature=youtu.be
In 2016, Balbirnie House was the recipient of the award for
Scotland’s National Hotel of the Year
2
CONTENTS PAGE –
Page 4 An introduction by Nicholas Russell, Managing Director
Page 8 Mansion of four seasons
Page 10 Testimonials
Page 11 Number one in the World
Page 13 Meet the Wedding Planning Department
Page 15 Special touches included
Page 21 Dogs at Balbirnie
Page 22 A guide to timings for your wedding day
Page 25 Accommodation
Page 28 Pre Wedding dinner options
Page 30 Exclusive use
Page 32 An overview of our pricing structure
Page 34 Holding your ceremony at Balbirnie
Page 37 Menu information
Page 39 Canapé options
Page 40 Wedding menus
Page 44 Vegetarian & Vegan options
Page 45 Children’s options
Page 46 Evening buffet selector
Page 48 Drinks packages
Page 49 Inclusive Wedding Packages
Page 53 Package menus
Page 55 World Luxury Wedding Package
Page 57 Small and intimate weddings at Balbirnie
Page 58 Coming to see us for an initial consultation
Page 59 How to book your date at Balbirnie
Page 60 Responsible Drinking Policy
Page 62 Sample letter of agreement (our booking terms and conditions)
3
INTRODUCTION TO WEDDINGS AT BALBIRNIE HOUSE
by Nicholas Russell, Managing Director/Co-Proprietor
OUR THIRD CENTURY OF ROMANCE, HERE IN THE VERY HEART OF FIFE
To begin the introduction for our 2022 wedding pack I pay tribute to our in-house wedding
planning team. Since the Lockdown of March 2020, we have been on the most epic and
challenging rollercoaster of a Hospitality journey, doing everything possible to help our many
clients who have needed to postpone dates, in many circumstances repeatedly. In turn, our
heartfelt thanks to everyone who has stuck by us, and by Balbirnie House, by retaining wedding
bookings and switching dates into the future. We cannot wait to begin to once again delivering
the backdrop for your special days, as and when unrestricted trading is possible. In the
meantime, when possible to do so, we continue with Beautiful and Intimate weddings.
It is a quite incredible statistic, but our Special Event diaries are now sitting with more than 200
weddings, scope for 2022 to become our busiest year ever at Balbirnie House for weddings.
Quote taken from 'The New Statistical Account Of Scotland', written in the year 1845 – which
was 68 years after Balbirnie was built!
‘Balbirnie Park is a delightfully romantic place … The house is an elegant modern structure ...
pleasantly situated in a romantic hollow, sheltered from every wind that blows, by those
detached and gently undulating eminences, which form so remarkable a scenery ... These
heights, clothed with some of the finest trees in the country, are rendered accessible on all sides
by walks and alleys, so contrived as to command at every turn varied and picturesque views of
the surrounding country, from The Lomonds to the The Firth of Forth ... As a complete and
elegant residence, Balbirnie is surpassed by few north of The Tweed’
There are weddings, and then there are Balbirnie House weddings ... Fast forward in the
meantime to the 21st century between 2019 and 2021, and we’ve received four best-in-world
awards for ‘Best Destination Wedding Retreat’, ‘Best Destination Wedding Hotel’, ‘Best Country
House Hotel’, and ‘Best Function Venue’ from the Haute Grandeur global hotel awards scheme.
These are incredible accolades for Scotland, as always our sincere gratitude to the boys, girls,
men and women who have worked here, and made it happen! None of this would have ever
been possible without seeing Balbirnie House firstly become Scotland’s Wedding Hotel of the
Year, 14 times in 16 years, via The Scottish Hotel of the Year awards scheme. Haute Grandeur
are unable to find any hotel in any country, which has anything in any way similar to Balbirnie’s
awards and consistency here in Scotland, so that helps to explain.
We kindly also convey to anyone arriving for the first time to ‘Best Country House Hotel’, and
expecting the fabric of everything in and around to feel like it’s totally brand new, it’s not! Many
components of Balbirnie House are original, and hundreds of years old. We maintain a continual
rolling program of re-investment as well. What we can guarantee to every 2022 visitor, you are
arriving to a hotel which now has an absolutely unique record, and a history of celebrations and
partying, which is absolutely staggering to recall.
When I started running Balbirnie House back in 1992 there weren’t any wedding websites, let
alone wedding publications, they didn’t exist yet. And back then, we had one typewriter and one
PC. Today we have 12 Behind-the-Scenes PC workstations, and we can speak to more than
50,000 people on a daily basis, via multiple channels of social media. We even publish our own
daily newspaper digitally, on twitter!
4
To say the least it is a fact that nowadays matters can be very perplexing indeed for anyone
planning a wedding, literally there appears to be such a huge choice of wedding venues around,
and the initial difficulty for any bride or groom is figuring out the varying logistics and massively
differing pricing structures. Many venues don’t even promote their pricing structures online, a
personal journey to visit the premises being required to establish those.
We promote as much of our information and pricing as possible, all intended to be as helpful as
possible. One thing that we are very clear on at Balbirnie, we believe wholeheartedly that our
offering is always one of tremendous value. We also speak from a wealth of experience, and an
established history gained over many years of such consistent delivery.
We see a quite incredible array of occasions taking place at Balbirnie annually. In terms of
weddings, many of our brides and grooms desire a formal and traditional celebration, and at the
same time there are also many brides and grooms these days who – following the exchange of
Vows, want nothing other than a massive party! We will be delighted as always to work
individually with all clients, so as to do whatever we can to create a fabulous occasion.
So, to the bottom line. As a hotelier who has organised and seen through quite a few truly
wonderful and memorable such occasions over the last three decades, the following information
is intended to clarify exactly why Balbirnie House truly stands out from the crowd. Here are the
answers to the 8 most significant matters that brides and grooms usually always ask us about
when initially coming to visit for a showround.
1. One a day. We will only ever provide an opportunity for one wedding per day to take place at
Balbirnie House. Some hotels and venues may take bookings for more than this, but we don’t.
It just isn’t Balbirnie. We can cater for weddings any day of the week, and for those clients who
are flexible on dates, our Midweek Wedding Packages are without doubt these days a special
feature of Balbirnie, especially for those clients who have significant family numbers coming
from overseas, and will therefore be intending to visit our wonderful region of Fife for a few
days.
2. Moderate facility fees. Balbirnie is a Grade A listed house. Believe it or not, some of our
nearest comparable Grade A properties can charge you, the client, more than 7 thousand pounds
in ‘hire charges’, and that’s before you’ve even provided anything for your guests. We don’t
work like that. We provide truly excellent value, and in context no hire charges whatsoever on
the majority of dates throughout the year on the provision that we have a minimum number of
guests attending, usually between 70 and 100 day guests. On Fridays (May to September only)
we have a facility fee of £900.00, and on Saturdays throughout the year the amount is
£1,300.00. We also offer excellent value for ceremonies taking place in the house, along with
the use of all gardens for photography, inclusive of the 3 south facing levels, with main lawns
striped by hand in the summer months.
3. Everything you could think of. Many of Scotland’s castles and country houses (and farmyard
barns) purport these days to being ‘specialised wedding venues’. Fine ... but that certainly isn’t
necessarily always the case. At Balbirnie everything we do is in-house, no expensive ‘hire-in’
marquees, and certainly no external contract caterers. There is a massive difference between a
country house which gears up for a few events per year, taken in contrast to Balbirnie’s ability
to deliver 7 days per week all year round. The house and all working within it are very well used
to looking after complex and large logistics on a daily basis, and on a repeating basis. We (our
brigade now of up to 90 individuals in peak season) are truly geared to look after everything for
your special day. For Balbirnie’s Millennium Ballroom, numbers up to 200 for the day, 250 for
the evening, and all of our 31 bedrooms and Triplex apartment are available at special rates for
your wedding guests.
4. Awards. We are most humbled indeed by the wedding related awards we’ve received over
recent years, as no hotel (or indeed wedding venue) in Scotland can in this context come close.
All of these accumulated awards originated from perspective from our clients themselves. We
are very proud indeed to now also display Letters of Congratulations which we have received
from The Scottish Parliament and The House of Commons. In 2018 and 2019 there were Motions
of Congratulations in Scotland’s Parliament, for all within Balbirnie House, a most humbling thing
for us all to see.
5
‘We have a tremendous team. Balbirnie has a truly stunning location and magnificent grounds,
and internally we have a blend of lived-in country vintage and contemporary chic, which is
proving simply irresistible to the brides and grooms of tomorrow. Balbirnie has a jaw-dropping
accumulated history of Special Events which have taken place here. We are particularly focused
on offering truly wonderful accessible packaged pricing, with really extreme value, albeit we still
see many occasions which do not have a particularly restricted budget’
Gaynor Russell, Balbirnie House Company Director
https://balbirniehouse.blogspot.com/2019/11/motion-lodged-in-scottish-parliament.html
5. The Capacity for Celebration. As we have in-house capacity for more than 70 residential
guests, it is very frequently the case – especially if the geography of both families is either UK
distant, or overseas – that the wedding celebrations actually start the evening before, with many
guests congregating for a relaxed evening, inclusive of a pre-wedding dinner. Then, on the
special day itself – following conclusion in The Ballroom (usually midnight) we are accustomed
to seeing residential guests carry on the celebrations with an Aftershow Party, sometimes
extending well into the early hours. Then, we turn to the next occasion, which will be a get-
together for residents for breakfast in The Orangery the next day – another occasion in its own
right.
Given such scope, this is an aspect in which, we do believe, that Balbirnie truly excels as a
Venue, taken in contrast with many other venues which either have no accommodation, or for
example city centre venues which can incorporate hundreds of bedrooms. (For guests who are
unable to secure accommodation at Balbirnie, as part of the planning process we will in due
course propose over-flow accommodation in the nearby vicinity, within just a few minutes’
drive.)
6. The Size of the Celebration. Although our Packaging is based as a start point and logistical
reasons on 70 guests - as that is the start number which we consider works just perfectly in The
Millennium Ballroom - we are however also routinely very used indeed these days to catering
for up to 200 day guests, and a few more! Balbirnie’s main 1777 historic rooms can very easily
cater for these numbers for the afternoon reception, with The Ballroom then having further
purpose- designed capacity for additional evening guests up to 250 in total.
7. The Team. A venue can have the most wonderful surroundings and ambience, food and wines
to match, and great value. We’ve got all of those, but the one thing that matters over and above
these is ‘the people’. You may rest assured that you are in safe hands at Balbirnie. We also
underline – we are completely flexible, well used to incorporating client special requests. Also –
we have a superb array of in-house recommended Associate Suppliers, who can assist our clients
should you wish, subject to availability, and all focused very much, like ourselves, on promoting
a wonderful start point for value-for money. All prospective clients who now choose Balbirnie as
their wedding venue will be looked after by the very team that has been here working in situ
and has delivered the global awards.
8. Our Client Journey. Over the years we have obviously learnt from every single day of our
operations. This is set against our ongoing study of the worldwide evolution and innovation
within the entire worldwide sphere of wedding planning. As a result, our own completely unique
client journey is completely aligned to assisting our clients, not only in relation to the physical
planning of a wedding, but also additionally to making relevant emotive preparations as well.
We can find that Saturdays and a significant proportion of key weekend dates can be booked
out up to 3 years in advance, but for those brides and grooms who have a further measure of
flexibility with dates, even sometimes with a lead time of just a few months, we align to offering
simply phenomenal value for midweek pricing. In that regard there is a proposed start point for
pricing, which will fully provide for the special day, and should our clients wish – we can add to
that as required, and on occasion significantly so. We strive to base our packaging on truly great
value, and if our client wishes to spend more on the day, well we can also recommend how to
do that too!
6
I mention as well, it isn’t just weddings that take place at Balbirnie, we have a plethora of
corporate occasions too. Some of these hold weekend dates, which can change. We will obviously
be delighted to let you know our availability for weekend dates that can become available
unexpectedly, with a lead time of just weeks or a few months.
So, in a few words that’s it. Your wedding day certainly isn’t a dress rehearsal for the next day,
and neither is the focus on all of the detail and complex planning for the occasion. We’d be
delighted to welcome you for a coffee and a showround, and an opportunity to find out further
information and to see exactly why Balbirnie is just perfect for your big day.
Upon reflection, and heading this year towards 3 decades of working here, I have always been
so very proud and honored in my role as manager of Balbirnie House, and to have seen so many
memorable occasions over the years. These have all gradually combined on a wave of word of
mouth recommendation, to lead to Balbirnie as it is today. I guess it is fair to say, if someone is
considering getting married then Balbirnie will perhaps be at the top of the wish list, and that is
a circumstance which very much gives us all here a very distinct responsibility, and certainly
underpins our desire to deliver a fabulous day, and the rest.
I have the honour of personally delivering ongoing information via our main twitter feed, please
do join us for ongoing chat via https://twitter.com/BalbirnieHouse
Similarly, delivering our main blog updates via: https://balbirniehouse.blogspot.com
I cannot begin to convey how special it is to run Balbirnie, and to witness first-hand our
accumulating history of special occasions and celebrations. This is made even more special as
so many couples return to celebrate anniversaries over the years – Our Memories are Made of
This. Blessings counted every single day.
All best wishes to you and yours,
Nicholas Russell
(Copyright Balbirnie House 2022)
MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS
7
BALBIRNIE HOUSE - FIFE’S MANSION OF FOUR SEASONS
A few of our thoughts on the seasons, especially for any of our global clients who are perhaps
thus far unfamiliar with the beauty of Scotland’s changing seasons, and contrasting seasonal
visions for photography.
Spring
The snowdrops lead the way, daffodils follow, our lawns receive their first stripes of the new
year in March. Cherry blossom arrives in the Millennium Ballroom garden in April. Yards from
our front door, the spectacular annual flowering of rhododendrons begins, extending into early
summer. Balbirnie Park has one of the largest collections of rhododendrons in east Scotland.
It’s such a truly beautiful time of year.
Summer
Our garden furniture is placed on the lawns, with sunshades and Balbirnie blue cushions. If we
ever had to pick one favourite month for weather at Balbirnie, it would perhaps be May, as it’s
traditionally the month of the most perfect weather for wedding ceremonies outside in the
gardens. We’re in full bloom. The rhododendrons usually last until early June. As house
routine, we stripe the lawns every Thursday. It can still be daylight in summer, at 10.30pm.
It’s not impossible to see some photographers waiting until night falls, to capture night images
with our LED backdrop lights on the south lawns.
Our most popular annual months for weddings have traditionally always been July and August.
8
Autumn
You can actually see many a day extending through September, as being ‘Indian summer’,
unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in the Northern
Hemisphere. Nights then begin to draw in, night arrives much earlier. October and the first
two weeks of November sees a big annual transition. Leaves drop from trees, and as one very
poetic guest remarked many years ago, ‘Balbirnie Park becomes a veritable tapestry of Tibetan
colours’. Reds, yellows, golds, bronzes.
We begin to see the first ‘immediately after-dinner’ night external photography.
Winter
If it’s less that 10 degrees outside, our fires are on. Our empasis switches to cosiness, or more
specifically stated in Scottish – Còsagach, (pronounced ‘kaw-sa-goch’, to rhyme with Scottish
‘loch’). We always have natural daylight for external wedding photography until at least 4pm.
Night arrives as early as 4.30pm. The Millennium Ballroom is usually candlelit for the
celebratory meal. Festive decorations are usually added right at the beginning of December.
We have December trees on our front steps, and in our Long Gallery. The days between
Christmas and New Year are usually reserved for weddings, such a special few days. Similarly,
the first few days of the year from 2nd January onwards. As we move through January and
February, our focus continues on cosiness, and we always have so many wedding clients who
specifically choose these months in particular in which to get married, due to the combination
of value within Spring inclusive packaging, cosiness, and our candlelit Ballroom for the meal.
We never cease to be amazed at the creative boundaries that have been defined by so many
incredibly talented photographers and videographers, throughout all seasons of the year. Our
best wishes one and all.
9
WEDDINGS AT BALBIRNIE
HAUTE GRANDEUR WORLDWIDE HOTEL AWARDS
'Balbirnie House is a destination wedding retreat fit for royalty’
THE SCOTSMAN
‘Best Destination Wedding Hotel On The Planet’
METRO
‘Scottish Hotel Named Best Wedding Venue On Earth’
THE SCOTTISH WEDDING DIRECTORY
'As closely associated with glamour as a wedding venue can ever be’
PERFECT WEDDING MAGAZINE
‘The crème de la crème of the UK wedding scene’
VOGUE
‘It is official! Balbirnie House is Scotland’s top wedding venue’.
ULTIMATE HOTEL GUIDE via TRIPADVISOR
‘A wonderful stay, lovely wedding and stunning setting ... special and amazing’.
MR AND MRS PICKWORTH
There was a real buzz amongst our guests and Balbirnie is the perfect combination of a
stunning beautiful hotel, with a relaxed and really fun atmosphere.
MR AND MRS NEWSTEAD
We chose the venue as it was so classy with the wow factor while holding its historic charm
and vintage glamour. All of the staff we dealt with were outstanding and they helped to give
us the most amazing wedding day. The ballroom is a magnificent setting for a party and the
dancefloor was packed all night.
MR & MRS HARRIS
There is a reason why you have won your recent awards and it is clear to see - from the
second we came in to enquire, to the second you helped fluff my dress before I walk down the
aisle - you have thought of every detail and know exactly what you’re doing!!The staff, from
the bar, to the reception, to the breakfast team, so super friendly, nothing is too much trouble
and they made everyone feel like real VIPS the whole weekend!
MR CUNNINGHAM, Father of the Bride
‘Having recently undergone the “Balbirnie Experience” as father of the bride (FOB), I have
nothing but the most fulsome praise for the venue and its friendly and thoughtful staff. From
our first steps through the magnificent frontage we were treated like royalty. Nothing was too
much trouble, every whim could be catered for. Nicholas, Gaynor and their teams well
deserve the multiple worldwide accolades showered upon Balbirnie House. The day itself will
live long in the memory. The understated luxury of this beautiful house, the magnificent
gardens and grounds, the enchanting ballroom and the superb food enthralled all our guests’
Please do visit our website and Facebook site to view our most recent client testimonials, we are
accustomed to updating these on a monthly basis: www.balbirnie.co.uk.
We are also accustomed to adding a photograph from the in-house camera, and a few words on
each wedding which takes place at Balbirnie, onto our Facebook page. Please do click our ‘Like’
button to receive these. We especially recommend to all future brides and grooms, as many
external suppliers offering assistance are mentioned on these updates.
www.facebook.com/#!/BalbirnieHouseHotel
10
BALBIRNIE HOUSE, NUMBER 1 IN THE WORLD!!
HOW DID IT ACTUALLY HAPPEN?
4 totally surreal and incredible years of Haute Grandeur:
Haute Grandeur global awards, are by invitation only. We have been so very honoured and
humbled, to be invited to represent Scotland’s hotel and hospitality sector, 4 years in a row.
2016 Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Nicholas and Gaynor Russell collected ‘Europe’s Best Destination Wedding Retreat
2017 Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit, Thailand
Nicholas and Gaynor Russell collected ‘Europe’s Best Destination Wedding Hotel’, ‘Europe’s
Best Function Venue Hotel’, and ‘Europe’s Best Romantic Hotel’
2018 Versace Palace, Dubai
Nicholas and Gaynor Russell, Sarah Rees, Meghan Davies, Christine Cunningham, and Leah
Kinnes collected ‘Best Destination Wedding Retreat’, Global winner
2019 St Regis Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Nicholas and Gaynor Russell, Sarah Rees, Erdal Ozer, Christine Cunningham, and Leah Kinnes
collected ‘Best Destination Wedding Hotel’, Global winner
2020/2021 Markinch, Fife
The awards were delivered digitally due to the global pandemic.
So there we are, somehow winning number one in the world, twice!
For you? This means for today’s new wedding clients, that you are embarking on a wedding
planning journey of discovery, with the actual people who have been in situ working at
Balbirnie, when these global awards have been delivered and received.
For us? Most easily explained, on the morning after each of the 4 glittering global Hotel
Oscars, realisation that we’re only ever going to be as good, as our most recent occasion. The
past is done, and the future is there to be delivered. Heightened sensory perception, an even
greater embracing of Scotland Hospitality, and as always, Today is Never a Dress Rehearsal
for Tomorrow. Every single wedding day is unique, and we won’t ever stop, on our continual
quest to do our absolute best for every wedding client, on every single day.
THE LUCK OF THE SCOTTISH?
Luck? The harder we worked, the luckier we became!
And we would certainly Love to consider when heading 2020 onwards, that for all couples who
can successfully secure a Balbirnie date, in deciding to get married in a double number 1 in the
world global winner property, that this bodes well for starting married life with Balbirnie’s
totally unique elements of romance, happiness, good luck and fortune.
It has been truly joyful to have seen our social media connections over the years, especially
with couples who have married at Balbirnie House.
And we wish all prospective wedding clients, every Happiness for the future.
Nicholas Russell / MD Balbirnie House 20.12.2021
11
2022 REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY
Scotland’s Balbirnie House named World’s Best Destination Wedding Hotel in
international ceremony held in Malaysia
Balbirnie House Hotel - Scotland’s 2019 National Wedding Hotel of the Year was last night
named ‘Best Destination Wedding Hotel’ in the global category at the international Haute
Grandeur Awards held in Kuala Lumpur. Presented to an international audience, the Fife hotel
beat luxury competitors from all over the globe to achieve the award.
A six-strong team from Balbirnie House Hotel travelled to Malaysia to accept the award,
including hotel owners Nicholas and Gaynor Russell. Combined, the team boast over 75 years
of experience working at the hotel, and Gaynor Russell has said of the achievement: ‘it was
such an honour to be invited to represent Scotland’s hospitality and hotel sectors’.
Balbirnie House Managing Director Nicholas Russell has said: ‘Via The Scottish Hotel Awards
scheme, earlier this year Balbirnie House became the 13 time winner of Scotland’s Wedding
Hotel of the Year. This was immediately noted by Haute Grandeur, adding yet another further
level of contemplation for global judging. We are aware that Haute Grandeur are able to
deploy research teams globally, but cannot find any hotel in any other country in the world,
which has had anything comparable in their own country, to the recognition that Balbirnie
House has received here in Scotland.’
He continued, ‘Whilst in Malaysia we were thinking very much of our 2,800 past and present
work colleagues, our local community, our hotel guests, and all who have been involved in and
around The Scottish Hotel Awards scheme over the last 15 years. The rigours of dedicated
professional integrity within the scheme, have delivered us with an uncompromising and highly
focussed annual assessment. From that process we’ve always been so very encouraged to
keep on embracing innovation, evolution, and all generalities of Hospitality’.
To mark the achievement, Balbirnie House Hotel released blue smoke from the building’s main
chimney, and three film clips debuted on the hotel’s Youtube channel, highlighting its journey
in the 30 years since opening.
This is the very first time that the global award for ‘Best Destination Wedding Hotel’, has been
received by any hotel in Europe, or the entire Western Hemisphere.
Image credit: Lifetime Photography
Note for Editors: Out of the world’s 187,000 hotels, only two have ever previously received the
award for Best Destination Wedding Hotel, in global category.
Those are: Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum and Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur.
12
MEET THE WEDDING PLANNING DEPARTMENT
Gaynor Russell
Company Director ([email protected])
Gaynor has been overseeing Balbirnie’s wedding planning department for almost 2 decades,
and is also a director of our company. Gaynor has been the recipient of our country’s national
award – Scotland’s Hotelier of the Year, (indeed the youngest ever recipient of that unique
accolade!), and speaks from a wealth of experience at Balbirnie, having started here back in
the late 1990’s. Gaynor is herself a previous Balbirnie Bride - married to Nicholas, our
Managing Director, and together they have two daughters, Isobel and Ruby (wedding planners
in training!)
Gaynor also oversees all of Balbirnie’s evolving interior design work, a continual process of
reinvestment back into the property.
https://balbirnie.co.uk/people/gaynor-russell/
Christine Lowe
Senior Wedding Co-ordinator ([email protected])
Christine joined the Balbirnie Family in early 2015, having previously worked in Bridal Fashion
and takes interest in anything creative that crosses her path. She is extremely well-versed in
all aspects of wedding planning and is a past Balbirnie bride herself!
https://balbirnie.co.uk/people/christine-cunningham/
Leah Kinnes
Wedding Co-ordinator ([email protected])
Leah has been working at Balbirnie since summer 2014. Finishing education she started fresh
as an administrative assistant with a passion for weddings and events. In 2015 Leah began
planning weddings and is now well-versed in all aspects of the planning.
https://balbirnie.co.uk/people/leah-kinnes/
Mia Hastings
Wedding Co-ordinator ([email protected])
Mia joined the Balbirnie family early 2021 as part of our front desk team. She was soon
nabbed by the wedding department after showing great potential as a wedding planner! She
has great knowledge front of house and is very excited to dive into the world of weddings.
Katy Ronaldson
Special Events Co-ordinator ([email protected])
Katy joined the Balbirnie family late 2021 after previously working in other hotels in weddings
& events. Katy looks after all of our special events, private dining, meetings and corporate
functions, as well as some of our weddings, so she is a very busy girl!
Our Special Events department all work very closely together, in the same office, so please
don’t be alarmed if you email one person only to get an answer from another! It’s a busy wee
office and we’re not always at our desks, but we will always get back to you just as soon as we
possibly can!
13
ONGOING REFURBISHMENT AT BALBIRNIE
How do we look after Balbirnie House?
As a privately-owned company, our key working priority is on maintaining Balbirnie House,
progressively improving inside and out, and safeguarding the entire property for Scotland’s
future.
Since opening in the 1980’s, we have never had any necessity to close for a refurbishment,
because we basically take one area at a time, and we just keep going! As we’re always keen to
say, particularly on Twitter, being in a position to do this is very much the living of a hotelier’s
dream. Industry averages for reinvestment in the hotel sector equate today at circa 2.5% of
revenue. Over recent years our company directors have successfully made reinvestment back
into the fabric of the assets at annual rates above industry averages, which explains why the
house is currently looking at her best since opening as a hotel 3 decades ago. Over the last 5
years alone, we have refurbished and renewed circa 150 areas within the house. Due to ongoing
wear and tear, nothing ever remains pristine, but we do encourage all of our brigade, clients,
and suppliers, to do all possible to help us maintain and look after the house as well as we can.
We exist on the cutting edge of evolving Interior Design, set against history and in continual
recognition of contemporary yet classic Scotland.
Additionally, #Hygge (or translated into Scottish - #Còsagach:-) is certainly a very significant
part of how we approach our ongoing evolution.
Our endeavours are to create fabulous design within Hospitality, so that our clients can enjoy
using areas so much, for socialising with friends and family.
Sincere thanks as always across the entire span of everyone who helps us with all ongoing
projects.
For more Interior Design updates, via Balbirnie’s Instagram: @BalbirnieHouse
To arrange fashion photoshoots, via Twitter: @BalbirnieEvents
How Balbirnie House pioneered Scandinavian mentality here in Scotland:
http://www.businessforscotland.com/scandinavian-mentality-scottish-workplace/
#Còsagach in Scotland http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-42309160
OUR DRAWING ROOM – BALBIRNIE’S PROJECT OF 2017
Archie Forrest, Scotland's leading contemporary Colourist painter – gifts 7 artworks for our
project celebrating Balbirnie House 1989 - 2014
‘Balbirnie celebrates 25 years as a premier wedding destination’
https://balbirniehouse.blogspot.com/2017/01/celebrating-25-years-of-
balbirnie.html
What a wonderful and ever so romantic way for our guests to commemorate a previous or
future occasion, at Balbirnie House. Via Scotland's leading contemporary Colourist painter:
'Signed and numbered by the artist!'
We're absolutely delighted today, to let you know that Archie Forrest has enabled Limited
Edition Prints of Balbirnie House, and these are now available to purchase online.
Via: https://archieforrest.com/shop/
14
ALL THE SPECIAL TOUCHES INCLUDED:
Many of our clients are simply amazed – in the context of what they may have seen or read
elsewhere with regard to what can happen in other venues with contract catering etc etc –
‘hidden charges jumping out left, right and centre’, and subsequently to find that Balbirnie
House makes such a complete provision, with regard to what is fully included as part and
parcel of our in-house services:
All the additional aspects which provide simply wonderful value, and combine to set Balbirnie
House apart. As well as providing the pre-planning services and specialised expertise and
guidance of a dedicated in-house wedding co-ordinator for all aspects scheduled to take place
within Balbirnie House, we include all the following:
- Free parking for up to 250 guests
- Helipad as required
- Red carpet welcome
- Use of garden tables and chairs, cushions and sunshades, in the summer months
- Use of all relevant internal and external areas for photography
- Complimentary canapé slates
- MC - Master of ceremonies facility for the special day itself. This does not mean that we
have a gentleman walking around attired with a long-tailed red coat on, rather it is one of
our own company managers who is always dedicated to looking after the overview of the
occasion, and there are of course always a few announcements and introductions to be
made on the day...
- Cake stand and knife
- Complimentary crockery
- Complimentary cutlery
- Complimentary glassware
- Complimentary white table linen and white napkins
- Ballroom Events - LED underlit dancefloor, surround LED uplighters, Fairy Light Windows &
overhead canopy of fairy lights
- Ballroom Events- complimentary use of the Ballroom Gardens with external tables and
chairs, and 4.5m extending awning, plus the Ballroom Foyer and Ballroom Foyer Bar
- Ballroom summer events- complimentary use of all equipment as required for evening
BBQs
- Ballroom festive/ December weddings- all standard festive decorations
- As well as the services of your MC (in attendance all the way through to first dance), we
also include the services of our in-house Banquet Manager, who will be on duty until the
Ballroom celebrations conclude.
We will be absolutely delighted to provide quotes as required, significantly beneath those
which would be routinely charged by external suppliers, for in-house
- Tea-light candles @ £2.50 per table
- Vintage-style post box for guests’ wedding cards @ £35.00
ANY LITTLE EXTRAS...
We do have a list of associates who have provided aspects of service for weddings over the
course of time. These range from pipers to pianists, cake makers to chauffeurs, and we consider
each and every one of them to provide a great standard. These are our own recommendations
and as such it is left entirely to the bride and grooms to determine if they can assist with the
big day.
Hire of special table linen and table accessories
Balbirnie provides white linen table cloths and napkins as standard for all our weddings.
For brides & grooms wishing to hire chair covers from an external company (see our Suppliers
List for recommended suppliers) Please note you will require covers to fit our Chiavari chairs.
We are delighted to introduce limewash Chiavari chairs which can be hired at a special price of
£3.00 per chair. A truly wonderful addition for both ceremony and wedding breakfast.
15
PIMP YOUR PROSECCO STATION
Following the popularity of our Pimp Your Prosecco drinks package we have now introduced our
beautiful ornate dressing table with mirror and accessories as the final flourish! A real wow factor
for your drinks reception at a hire charge of £50.00.
Lifetime Photography
FAVOURS ETC.
For all those ‘special little things’ that make the difference (favours, candles, gifts etc. etc. etc.)
we would appreciate if these could be delivered prior to the special occasion, on the day before
between 5.00pm-6.30pm, and in turn, given that we have no further storage facilities, any
leftover items must be collected/uplifted the morning after the wedding.
CONFETTI
In passing, it would be very helpful indeed if you could advise your guests that Balbirnie House
asks that if confetti is to be thrown, then to respect the environment and park policies, please
use natural, bio-degradable confetti. Please note that confetti cannot be used within the house
itself.
Derek Christie Photography
WINES
Our full wine list can be supplied on request and offers a wide selection of wines. Your Wedding
Co-ordinator will be pleased to elaborate and explain more fully the advantages of one wine over
another. Please also let us know if we can source any particular special wines for you.
16
CORKAGE
We offer the opportunity for you to provide your own wine at Balbirnie for your special day.
If you choose to do this a corkage charge would be applicable and as follows:
£14.50 per bottle of wine
£17.00 per bottle of sparkling wine
£20.00 per bottle of champagne
The above prices include VAT.
Please note larger magnum sized bottles will be charged for accordingly.
We will of course store wine on delivery and serve the wine on the day. Please note that we do
ask that any leftover bottles are removed from Balbirnie the morning after the wedding. We
have no facility for storing these items. Please note- due to lack of storage facilities, any leftover
wine which is not removed from the premises on the morning after the wedding will be disposed
of.
PACKAGED INCLUSIVE PRICING
We provide packaged pricing in an additional context for what can be a start point. Should our
clients wish to upgrade matters to Vintage Bollinger on free pour all day long, well that can be
very easily arranged, but it comes at a cost!!!
The vast proportion of our clients have certainly been focussed on wonderful value over recent
years, and whilst we are delighted to serve Champagne, our lovely Prosecco and sparkling wines
are extremely popular with our Balbirnie weddings.
THE FAMOUS BLACK DANCE FLOOR & OVERHEAD CANOPY OF FAIRY LIGHTS
We are delighted to offer on a complimentary basis our absolutely fabulous dance floor & fairy
light canopy for all our Balbirnie Ballroom weddings - a beautiful granite style black dance floor
which is inset with hundreds of white LED twinkly lights. We mention in passing, that the cost
to hire a similar black dance floor the same size from a rental company for a marquee wedding
would cost a significant amount.
In the words of one of the first ever brides to take to the new floor for the first dance-
‘We will never forget the spontaneous “oooooh!” from our guests when the LED dance floor
lights were switched on as we took to the floor for the first dance! Amazing! We could not
thank Balbirnie and the team enough for adding magic to our day and it is our only regret that
we can’t re-live the experience!’ Mrs Rozanne Galloway Boynton
17
SPECIAL LIGHTING –UPLIGHTERS
Whilst the Millennium Ballroom lends itself wonderfully for a romantic combination in particular
with the black dance floor and candlelit tables, we were delighted recently to introduce
wonderfully romantic Ballroom LED lights which can change colour! Just let us know which colour
you would like to suit your theme for the day, and we’ll see what we can do!
SPECIAL LIGHTING – EXTERIOR SOUTH FACADE LIGHTING
A moment of History! In 2016, VisitScotland’s Year of Architecture, Design and Innovation,
Balbirnie House became the first building in Scotland to install a revolutionary new external
intelligent LED lighting system. Our new south elevation lighting provides backdrop which
Scotland's professional photographers dream about. So very special for clients and late night
photography throughout the entire year, it’s lit up in different colours to mark special events
throughout the year. The lighting system will also help cut the Balbirnie House energy bill and
CO2 emissions.
SPECIAL LIGHTING – FAIRY LIGHT WINDOWS
Spectacular fairy-light curtains onto the windows in our Ballroom. These have added an extra
‘wow factor’ to what was already a breathtaking room. They provide a little bit of sparkle in the
daylight but really come into their own when it is dark outside!
Ryan White Photography
18
SECRET GARDEN SWING
We have installed a beautiful tree swing, hidden in our garden, perfect for those romantic photo
opportunities. Many couples who come to see us for their initial consultation take a photograph
together on the swing to commemorate their first visit to Balbirnie, and then of course they have
another taken on their wedding day!
COURTYARD
During 2017 we added our new North Courtyard facility. External covered dining for 32 guests,
drinks receptions, and so on. Overhead fairy lights make everything incredibly romantic at night.
Many brides and grooms now opting to use this area for a more informal pre-wedding dinner, in
contrast to conventional internal sit-down private room dining.
LOVELOCKS
Make the day even more memorable by placing your very own personalised Love Lock on
Balbirnie’s Love Lock Gate which was introduced early 2018!
Kevin Key Photography
19
The Hotel Manager’s thoughts –
WHAT DO YOU NEED ‘TO LAY ON’ FOR A WEDDING?
We are delighted to consider all occasions with a blank piece of paper as our starting point, we
are open in entirety to suggestions from our clients.
As a start point, what do you need?
1. It is usually customary to have a piper in attendance, to play for the arrival of guests,
pipe the bride down the aisle, pipe after the ceremony, pipe following the afternoon
reception, then later pipe the bride and groom into The Ballroom and up to the Top Table.
2. A photographer
3. Evening Entertainment – either a band or a DJ.
And that is that!
Many occasions at Balbirnie do however add other aspects, and if budget permits then that can
create other scope. Routinely we can see aspects such as, Fake Press Photographers, Acoustic
Guitarists, Fiddlers, Traditional Classic Pianists, Contemporary Pianists, Harpists, Classic String
Quartets, Contemporary String Quartets, Mini Orchestras, Magicians, Flamenco Guitarists,
Himalayan Pan Pipes, Mariachi bands, Singing Waiters, Traditional Pipe Bands, Contemporary
Pipe Bands, Swing Bands, Jazz Afternoon Trios, Jazz Evening Bands, Circulating Look-a-Likes,
Karaoke Look-a-Likes, and so on... We are open to any suggestion, and our wedding planning
department can of course provide further advice.
Fireworks? Due to restrictions within Balbirnie Park we are unfortunately unable to cater for
Fireworks unless of course your wedding day is the 5th November.
Internal Candles? We are able to use any type of candles in The Ballroom. Our only restrictions
are that we cannot allow lit candles on the floor as these are fire hazards, especially where chair
covers and long dresses are involved! Or in any other areas of the house where they would be
left unattended such as bathrooms.
Confetti cannons? We cannot allow use of cannons in and around the house for environmental
reasons.
External catering? We do not allow any external catering and all food must be provided by the
hotel.
THE START OF YOUR WEDDING PLANNING JOURNEY
Our wedding team highly recommend Bridebook as a great planning tool to help you navigate
your way through the planning stages for the big day! They offer a full directory of suppliers,
assist with guestlists, budget planning and the all important check list!
Bridebook also feature a wonderful advice section for anything you could possibly consider!
https://bridebook.com/uk/home
20
BALBIRNIE’S DOGUMENT POLICY, HAVE YOUR BEST FRIEND AT YOUR WEDDING!
On one of the most important days of your life, you can now have your special
friends included as part of your day.
We are delighted to welcome our happy couples pampered pooches to the hotel for the special
day. We loves dogs so much that we have our very own hotel dog, Balfour the Cocker Spaniel
who can often be seen in and around the house on a daily basis. We even commissioned a
bespoke cushion dedicated to Balfour during the refurbishment of the East room.
Whilst your pooches are welcome around the house we do need to restrict them to certain areas.
We are unable to allow dogs in the Ballroom, restaurants and our Pearl and Bridal suites. If dogs
are to be left in bedrooms during this time then we ask that you provide a crate for their safety,
any damages to the bedrooms will be added to the main account.
Image credit: Kevin Key Photography
21
SOME HELPFUL INFORMATION ~ THE WEDDING DAY ITSELF
A traditional reception procedure may follow along the lines of:
IN-HOUSE CEREMONY TIMINGS
- The Groom, Best Man and ushers should arrive circa 11.30am for Grooms Grub and then to
welcome guests.
- Guests can take a ‘refreshment’ prior to the ceremony in the Library Bar.
- Ushers should help seat guests (and if applicable hand out orders of service) 10 minutes before
the ceremony is scheduled to begin, which tends to be 2.00pm.
If the ceremony has taken place in-house, the tradition at Balbirnie is ideally then for the bride
and groom, now as husband and wife, to lead all guests out from the ceremony onto the front
steps, for a celebratory commemorative photograph.
CHURCH CEREMONY – ARRIVAL AT THE HOTEL (circa 2.30pm/3.00pm latest)
If the ceremony is out with the hotel, the photographer will normally be first to arrive at
Balbirnie. The bride and groom will then arrive, closely followed by the remainder of the wedding
party and then of course the wedding guests.
WELCOME DRINKS
It is customary to have drinks available for guests on arrival and this may be champagne,
sparkling wine, pimp your prosecco, cocktails, fruit punch (summer), mulled wine (winter) or
alternatively Pimms, soft drinks, whisky and wine. Weather permitting, drinks can be taken
either in the gardens, or in an appropriate area of the hotel. With flowering borders, striped
lawns and white sunshades, the gardens are just stunning in the summer months. Each season
of the year offers something different at Balbirnie.
DAY PHOTOGRAPHY (3.00pm-4.00pm)
It will normally take approximately one hour to have group and individual photographs taken,
either outside in the gardens or inside in the various lovely rooms.
Photographers naturally have their own particular ways of working but all acknowledge that
Balbirnie provides a truly wonderful setting for this important element of the proceedings.
THE WEATHER?!?
Well, as we always say – let us presume that we will be taking photographs inside, even in the
summer months! If however we are blessed with good weather, then that is simply just a bonus!
Balbirnie is south-facing, on a beautiful day we have 3 different levels of lawns which we can
use for photography.
INFORMAL CIRCULATION (4.00pm-4.30pm)
We tend to see that the majority of couples nowadays forego the traditional ‘receiving line’
(where the Bridal Party stand and physically greet each individual guest as they make their way
to dinner) in favour of more informal mingling with the guests during the drinks reception. That
said, we are delighted to cater to your preference.
CAKE CUTTING (4.45pm)
Guests proceed to the cake cutting ceremony during which an appropriate toast drink should be
offered. The master of ceremonies will usually announce the cutting of the cake, but this is a
nice time for another member of the Bridal Party to make a short toast, if desired, such as the
Father of the Groom.
THE WEDDING MEAL (5.00-7.00pm)
The MC will announce the meal and once all the guests have located their seats they will be
asked ‘to be upstanding to receive the bride and groom.’ Usually the bride and groom are piped
to the top table. Grace, if applicable, can be said either by the minister, or by a guest.
22
TOASTS AND SPEECHES
At the end of the meal or is now more likely speeches before your meal, speeches should
commence. The MC usually announces the first speech, and it is nowadays entirely appropriate
for the individual speaking next and those thereafter to take their turn unannounced.
1. First to speak is traditionally THE FATHER OF THE BRIDE, who at the end of his speech will
propose a toast to “THE BRIDE AND GROOM”.
2. Second to speak is THE BRIDEGROOM who after replying to the first toast will then speak
and at the end of his speech will propose a toast to “THE BRIDESMAIDS”.
3. Thirdly, the BEST MAN will reply on behalf of the bridesmaids and will then make his speech.
After he has finished speaking he can then read any selected cards.
In this day and age, although it is rare, the bride may also wish to say a few words!!
Speeches can be pre-recorded and screened providing clients supply screens and audio.
We recommend speeches are restricted to 10 minutes per speaker.
THE CELEBRATIONS CONTINUE
Depending on the programme for the day, the meal will normally finish around 7.00pm, (any
evening-only guests should arrive from 7.30pm – perhaps you would like to offer them a
welcome drink on arrival). If this is the case, the first dance will usually be 8.00pm – 8.30pm,
and dancing will continue thereafter. Please note, this does depend how long your evening
entertainment require for set-up.
After the meal, both the Ballroom Bar, and the adjacent Foyer Bar will of course be set aside for
the exclusive use of you and your guests. For your convenience, in order that your party does
not, as such, become ‘fragmented’ during the evening celebrations, we do not provide bar
service to wedding guests in our ‘upstairs areas’. When evening guests arrive an arrival drink is
usually offered. These would normally be served from the East Room as guests make their way
to the Ballroom.
Many bands these days are on musician’s union rates, aligned to a live performance,
concluding no later than midnight. Usually the first phase of dancing is between
8.00pm/8.30pm and 10.00pm – with a break for buffet (with backing tracks on) 10.00pm –
10.30pm, then the second phase of the dancing 10.30pm progressively onwards and
concluding usually with Auld Lang Syne at midnight. That is a traditional format!
EVENING BUFFET
This is usually served around 10.00pm-10.30pm. We always specifically advise to cater for the
numbers present, contrary to what some wedding magazines advise these days!
On the odd occasion when we have followed instructions and catered for less than those present,
then we have ended up with a queue of guests holding empty plates!!!
DEPARTURE FOR THE HONEYMOON
It is always a nice idea to finish the evening celebrations with ‘Auld Lang Syne’ with the bride
and groom present, thus allowing conclusions on a high note! For the avoidance of doubt, no
access is given to the Bridal Suite to anyone other than the bride and groom!
LATE BAR FACILITY
A late bar facility is available solely for resident guests in The Library Bar usually until 2.00am,
with charges being made to room accounts only. As part of our event planning, we will ask if
you wish an even later facility.
THE INITIAL RECEPTION
One or more of our public rooms may be integrated into the wedding reception for your drinks
reception and photos, depending on numbers. We will outline the various opportunities during
final discussions. In routine circumstances each day we deal with a wide variety of clients and
their respective requirements. Naturally, our endeavour is to integrate all of these proceedings
to ensure each and every guest enjoys the particular occasion being held at Balbirnie.
23
WEDDING MEAL MINIMUM GUEST NUMBERS
Weddings at Balbirnie can take place each and every day of the week and we promise that yours
will be the only wedding held at Balbirnie on your special day. Our minimum number requirement
throughout the year is as follows:
FRIDAYS: 80 adult day guests
SATURDAYS: 100 adult day guests
SUNDAYS: 70 adult day guests
MONDAY TO THURSDAY: 40 adult day guests
Please note – if eventual wedding party numbers on the actually wedding date are below those
stated as above, a surcharge prevails equivalent to £60.00 per person. This applies to
weddings held on any day of the week, and for our wedding packages.
THE BALLROOM MAXIMUM CAPACITY
The vast majority of wedding meals at Balbirnie are for 70 to 150 daytime guests (see under
“small and intimate” for smaller wedding parties), with the wedding breakfast held in our
magnificent Ballroom. Our absolute maximum numbers for a meal in The Ballroom are 216.
Allowing space for a dance floor and band, there can be physical seating in the evening for up
to 180 guests. We suggest that our maximum capacity for the evening celebrations is no more
than 250 guests.
Use of The Millennium Ballroom includes the Ballroom Gardens (awning slides out 4.5m to cover
garden terrace), The Ballroom Bar, Ballroom Lobby with same bar service hatch, and Lobby
Terrace outside. The combination of all of these areas provides for exclusivity and privacy,
enabling all guests to be part of the celebrations for the duration of the occasion.
CAPTURING MEMORIES OF A LIFETIME
Balbirnie House, the double global award winner.
Here’s an 18 minute 40 second film, summarising Balbirnie House, our hotel evolution, our
brigade and our culture, amongst many of our favourite ever wedding photographs.
Today is Not a Dress Rehearsal for Tomorrow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izv36nWokVU&t=507s
CALCULATING THE COST OF PLANNING YOUR WEDDING
Within our Special Event planning services, we are of course routinely accustomed to liaising
with hundreds of future clients, and for all wedding clients we fully include the following aspects
as a matter of in-house provision of service:
- Administration costs in setting up your first virtual or real visit to Balbirnie House.
- Wedding planner for 1 hour appointment for your first virtual or real visit to Balbirnie
House. Teas and coffees are with our compliments.
- If required to do so (for example a further show round appointment with additional family
members) , wedding planner for 30 minute appointment for your second virtual or real visit to
Balbirnie. Teas and coffees are once again with our compliments.
- All digital documentation, letter of agreement securing facilities and accommodation.
- Wedding planner for 1 and a half hours final planning meeting.
- All digital documentation for the planning of the occasion, inclusive of rooming lists and
night before pre-wedding dinner arrangements.
- Throughout the course of the above, we also make provision for replying to emails with
every client. If we ever feel that accumulated correspondence is significantly exceeding what we
consider is ‘standard’, we will advise.
- Please note, email correspondence can be inclusive of liaising with Associate Suppliers.
Sometimes it is the case that Balbirnie House is required to deploy additional special event
planning resources over the above (many clients as one example, can have special occasions
taking place over multiple days and events, others may have single day events which have great
complexity and require more dedicated timeline for planning) … If relevant then we can of course
arrange to do this in addition, if applicable this is charged to main account at a time rate. We
will advise any clients when time rate commences, if applicable the relevant billing is charged
to main accounts and is pre-payable in advance as per the routine of main accounts.
24
ACCOMMODATION AT BALBIRNIE
(rates applicable from 1st May 2022 until 30th April 2023)
Balbirnie House contains 31 individually-designed en-suite bedrooms, comprising seven deluxe
double bedrooms (five of which can be twinned), eighteen standard double bedrooms (seven of
which can be twinned), two suites (double bedrooms with adjoining sitting rooms), two single
rooms, one Four Poster Bridal Suite for your wedding night and our ‘Pearl Suite’ which is where
the Bride may choose to stay the night before her wedding with her Bridesmaids. Each room is
a fabulous blend of period style and modern amenities.
We also have a three-bedroom ‘Triplex’ apartment contained within the house.
Please note that for weddings which take place throughout the year there is an
absolute minimum requirement for clients on those dates to fill at least 10 standard
bedrooms at the applicable rates for 1 night. For our smaller weddings of 40 day
guests and below we are happy to reduce this to 5 standard bedrooms.
This minimum of 10 rooms can of course apply to any guests who are attending the wedding
day, as long as 10 rooms associated with the wedding party are booked for the wedding night.
As part of our planning process, we provide information which allows every bride and groom to
reserve as many rooms as may be required, at outset, and subject to availability.
As well as this we provide information relating to other ‘spill-over’ accommodation within a few
minutes’ drive in the local area … It is lovely to provide your guests with a further choice in
terms of pricing … Procedurally speaking, our brides usually mention to attending guests, along
the lines of ‘save the day!!!, … and that accommodation at Balbirnie is on a first-come, first-
reserved basis’ – bookings via the bride herself, and thereafter as we progress the bride works
with our Events Planning Department to define the best rooming list allocations.
Our rooms are located over the three floors of the original mansion house. The only thing we
cannot provide is a lift going above ground floor, however we do have 7 bedrooms on the ground
floor, so that is always a first consideration for room allocations. We have one ground floor
standard double/twin room with wheelchair access. We then obviously have a range of
bedrooms, some with attached sitting rooms etc, and we have to consider family logistics, kid’s
beds, cots, etc.
As a guideline, due to our special discounted pricing, when we have a wedding taking place at
Balbirnie, with circa 100 guests who have travelled from out with a half hour drive-time
demographic, we are usually always booked out for all in-house bedrooms at 100% occupancy.
For breakfast on the morning following the big day, we will usually have placed a note in all
guest bedrooms, on behalf of the bride and groom, asking all guests to meet for breakfast in
The Orangery at 9.00am, and that in itself then offers scope for another simply lovely get-
together.
Triplex Apartment
Our Triplex apartment is a wonderful addition to our accommodation. The Triplex has 3 self-
contained bedrooms within the apartment; two double bedrooms and one ‘kids room’ containing
four single beds, perfect for 4 adults and 4 children if required, although can technically can
sleep eight adults! This area is decorated in a contemporary style, with soft Scottish furnishings.
The Triplex is designed to be used only in entirety, with a shared entrance and sitting room
area:
> On the Upper Floor – sitting room area with TV, en-suite WC, with stair access down to the
lower level
> On the Lower Floor – 3 bedrooms: 2 doubles, and 1 further twin with additional beds
> On the Lower Floor – 2 bathrooms: one with shower, and one with bath and shower
Please note the entire hotel internally including all of our bedrooms, are designated as non-
smoking.
25
BED & BREAKFAST DISCOUNTED WEDDING RATES
We can offer special rates for any guests wishing to stay at Balbirnie on the night of the wedding,
as per below.
With regards to allocating rooms, the couple may choose to decide who amongst the wedding
party will stay at Balbirnie and provide a rooming list to the hotel as soon as available.
Alternatively, if the couple do not wish to co-ordinate the accommodation directly with the hotel,
guests are also able to book directly at Balbirnie with the same special rates as detailed above,
subject to availability.
The current rates which prevail and are applicable on the evening of the wedding, are as follows
(inclusive of full Scottish breakfast and VAT):
Single Room £99.50 per night
Standard Double/Twin Room £160.00 per night
Suite/Deluxe Double/Twin Room £200.00 per night
Pearl Suite £240.00 for the night based on 2 guests + additional beds
@ £40.00/£20.00 each
Bridal Four Poster Suite £270.00 for the night, including champagne!
Triplex Apartment £370.00 per night. This is a flat rate and does not alter if
occupancy lowers
Please note that to avoid disappointment, we strongly advise you to book any rooms required
for your wedding as soon as possible. Our bedrooms are available on a first come, first served
basis.
Extra Beds in Rooms – Extra beds can be added to Suites and Deluxe rooms @ £40.00 per
adult and £20.00 per child [5-15 years] this includes a full Scottish breakfast. Cots or extra
beds can be added at no extra charge for children aged 5 and under. Please note that our
Standard double/twin bedrooms cannot accommodate extra beds.
Dogs – We are delighted to allow dogs at Balbirnie House. An additional fee of £25.00 per dog
per room will apply. Even though we love our furry friends, we cannot permit dogs staying over
in our Bridal Suite and Pearl Suite.
Room Cancellation Policy – For all bedrooms booked as part of the main wedding contract,
we request a complete rooming list at least 3 months prior to the wedding date. Any rooms left
unallocated to specific guests after this time will be released without prior notification by the
hotel. If the Bride thereafter requests unallocated rooms to be still kept within the bridal party
rooming list for potential wedding guests to book within 3 months of the wedding, and these
rooms are subsequently not required for the wedding party, the unallocated rooms will be
charged in full to the main account.
Use of our Pearl Suite for bridal preparations the morning of the wedding – A care bag
will be available in the room, this will contain a large blanket for use by the make-up artist. This
is to protect the carpet from falling make up. Heat pads will also be provided for all hot
appliances. Please note the carpet has been replaced many times over the years due to damage.
If any damage occurs this will be charged to the main wedding account, therefore we ask that
you and your guests are as careful as you can be.
CHECK-IN/CHECK-OUT TIMES
Check-in time for residents is from 2.00pm onwards.
Check-out time for residents is routinely 11.00am.
We tend to find that an in-house ceremony start time of 2.00pm works particularly
well when aiming for the first dance taking place at 8.00pm. Please be aware that we
cannot guarantee check-in to bedrooms until 2.00pm on your wedding day. For this
reason we would recommend that any guests arriving at the hotel on your wedding
day arrive already dressed – we will relieve them of their luggage at the front desk,
and they can then check-in in their own time, after the wedding ceremony.
26
We can sometimes enable Express check-in from noon @ £40.00 per room surcharge, subject
to restricted availability – please email [email protected]
NO BEDROOMS AVAILABLE THE NIGHT BEFORE? NO PROBLEM
We are delighted to offer our ‘Bridal Boudoir’ to those Brides without somewhere to get ready
on the morning of their wedding. Our beautiful Garden Room overlooking the south-facing lawns
provides all of the natural light needed for having your make-up done, and we can provide the
tables, chairs and mirrors. Advance booking required @ £75, please just let us know.
BEDROOM BOOKING PROCEDURES
As we get closer to the day itself you will begin to think about allocating the bedrooms held with
your date at the booking stage. We have two options for booking rooms, firstly our most
recommended approach;
1. We will provide you with a rooming list template as requested for you to fill out at home
with your nearest and dearest. Once you have allocated all required rooms to your
respective guests, provide this to the planning team who will then book into our online
systems. If you do not book all bedrooms initially held we shall cancel them from your
booking with your authorisation at this stage.
We will then advise you to ask your guests to call our front desk to confirm their bedroom
bookings with full payment and contact information. If you wish to settle any guests
bedroom accounts yourselves then please detail this in your rooming list for the planning
team to transfer the rates to the main account. This must all be in place by 3 months
prior to the wedding to avoid you being unnecessarily charged for rooms not required.
2. Alternatively, you can open your rooms to allow your guests to book directly with the
hotel on a first come first served basis. Guests will be required to settle full payment of
their bedrooms at this stage. This also means that you have no control over which room
type is allocated to which guest.
You may wish to advise your parents and main bridal party to book straight away to
avoid disappointment!
Your bedrooms as standard are closed to your guests from the initial booking stage to
allow you full control. If you wish your guests to book bedrooms as they wish you
must state this in writing to the planning team, an email is sufficient.
Bedrooms cannot be confirmed until the rates for your year are confirmed, for example
if you get married in July we cannot confirm bedroom bookings until the rates are
released late January of that year.
Please note we now require full payment of bedrooms at the guest booking stage, this
means after receiving your rooming list, your guests must then call to pay for their
rooms. Or if you have your rooms open on a first come, first served basis this would
mean they will be required to settle full payment on booking. No payment can be taken
until the rates for your wedding have been confirmed in the release of the wedding
pack every January.
27
THE EVENING BEFORE – PRE-WEDDING DINNER OPTIONS
Most Balbirnie weddings actually commence with a celebratory pre-wedding dinner the night
before the big day.
This usually applies to all residents who are staying in the hotel on the night before the
occasion itself.
What a wonderful way to introduce both sides of the family before the day itself and a
fantastic opportunity for you to relax as a couple and welcome your guests into the
celebrations right!
Subject to availability, we can of course also cater for additional guests who are in residence
elsewhere, but who may wish to join you for dinner the night before.
For these guests, please confirm if you wish the associated dinner charge to be paid by
individuals, or added to the main wedding account.
Approximate resident numbers are usually known when we meet for final planning.
We’re delighted to offer pre-wedding dinners in our Garden Room (up to 18 guests), West
Room (up to 50 guests) and Orangery (up to 80 guests)
Three course buffet priced at £29.00 per guest.
This rate is routinely added to individual guest bedroom accounts, unless we are otherwise
informed by our main account client.
Our seasonal buffet menus are noted overleaf for your reference.
Alternatively, should you wish for something just that little bit different, we are delighted to
introduce our Courtyard Pre-Wedding Dinner BBQ!
Our Courtyard BBQ Menu is noted on page 29!
SEASONAL BUFFET OPTIONS – SAMPLE MENU
Starter
Chefs selection of salads & starters
Mains
Scottish fish pie, arran mustard mash (NGC, NF)
Lamb tagine, cous cous, almonds, flatbread (DF)
Chicken, mushroom & tarragon fricassee, puff pastry (NF)
Beef bourguignon, thyme dumpling (DF, NF)
Pork cassolette, caramelised apple, Dijon mash (NGC, NF)
Smoked haddock kedgeree, crispy hens egg (NF – can be NGC)
Fillet of Scottish salmon, petis pois ala francaise (NGC, NF)
Charred mackerel, potato, spinach & chorizo, salsa Verdi (NGC, NF)
Truffled cauliflower cheese, herb gratin (V, NF)
Orzo pasta, garden peans, sundried tomato pesto, goats cheese (V)
Wild mushroom & mascarpone risotto, pecorino (V, NF, NGC)
Sweet potato, chickpea & cauliflower curry, saffron rice, coriander yogurt (V, NF, NGC – can be DF, VG)
Desserts
Chefs selection of desserts
Couples are required to pick 3 options from the above main dish selection.
The buffet will be available for a period of 2 hours from a time suitable for you.
Your guests can come and go, welcome friends old and new and mingle. A great way to meet
up beforehand.
28
THE COURTYARD BBQ - PRE-WEDDING DINNER OPTION
Courtyard design was inspired in 2016 by a visit to Copenhagen’s StreetFood market.
The end result now here in Scotland, if only Carlsberg did an outdoor dining area … !!!
The entire installation was sponsored by Carlsberg, in celebration of 2016, a remarkable year
at Balbirnie.
Our Courtyard offers a gigantic parasol, overhead heaters, sheepskin rugs, and Carlsberg
blankets as required.
Comfortably seats 32 guests over 4 tables and is capable of operating in all-weather
conditions.
THE COURTYARD BBQ MENU @ £29.00 per person
STARTERS
Chefs selection of Starters of the Season
MAINS
4oz beef burger from Henderson’s of fife
Pork & herb links
Grilled corn
Lettuce, tomato, onion, grated cheddar
Coleslaw
Chickpea & butternut squash burger
Quorn sausage
Non gluten containing rolls and Quorn sausages provided for known dietaries
Tea and coffee
DESSERTS
Chefs selection of Desserts of the Season
Add (£3.95 per item)
Chicken drumsticks
Satay chicken skewer
Lamb kofta
4oz pork & chorizo burger
Minute steak
Cajun salmon skewers
Grilled halloumi
Add salads (£1.50 per person per salad)
Caesar salad
Waldorf salad
Potato & Dijon & spinach salad, crispy onions
Plum tomato, watermelon, feta & basil salad
Cucumber, pomegranate, Greek yogurt, dill
29
THE ULTIMATE CELEBRATION, BALBIRNIE HOUSE IN ITS ENTIRETY!
THE SINGLE DAY OR MULTIPLE DAY HOUSE PARTY, REDEFINED BY BALBIRNIE
HOUSE.
WONDERFUL AFFORDABILITY, FOR TAKING BALBIRNIE HOUSE OVER FOR YOUR
VERY OWN PRIVATE EXCLUSIVE USE:
In celebration:
WORLD’S 2021 BEST DESTINATION WEDDING HOTEL
WORLD’S 2020 BEST FUNCTION VENUE
WORLD’S 2019 BEST DESTINATION WEDDING HOTEL
WORLD’S 2018 BEST DESTINATION WEDDING RETREAT
EUROPE’S 2017 BEST DESTINATION WEDDING HOTEL
EUROPE’S 2016 BEST DESTINATION WEDDING RETREAT
Via Haute Grandeur global hotel awards.
In a traditional format on the wedding day itself, the majority of our main Grade A Listed
public areas will be set aside for your wedding, from the first thing in the morning, until circa
5pm, which is when guests would usually make their way to our Millennium Ballroom for the
celebratory meal, followed by dancing until or beyond midnight.
Between 5pm and midnight, those main public areas are therefore not used by wedding
guests, and in those hours we are able to use these for other purposes, for other hotel guests.
As a general guideline, if we have 100 guests attending a wedding from outside a 30 minute
drivetime distance, we usually have all bedrooms occupied by wedding guests. SHOULD YOU
WISH US TO CLOSE BALBIRNIE HOUSE FOR YOUR OWN PRIVATE USE, we apply
considerations which make sense for yourselves, with a further level of advantageous
accommodation pricing applied as a flat rate, across all bedrooms. Therefore even more
attractive for all of your guests. There is a logical obligation to agree to pay for the use of all
34 guest bedrooms at full occupancy.
And to also enable this to work from Balbirnie’s perspective, we have a set fee for closing our
doors to any other hotel guests.
One very important aspect about Exclusive Use. Following the end of the wedding meal, you
can feel free to use all of the main Grade A Listed public areas whilst The Millennium Ballroom
is prepared for the dancing. This scenario also lends itself wonderfully well to having for
example, an evening pipe band performance on the south lawns.
Within the context of Exclusive Use, we can also see different areas being used for different
forms of evening entertainment. Clients may choose to shorten the traditional circa 3.5hrs of
Ballroom dancing, by simply choosing to use the main Public Areas for a wonderfully relaxed
extended post-dinner break.
Within our world of continually-evolving technology, perhaps you have your own ideas about
what you would like to do, within the format of Exclusive Use – please do let us know your
thoughts, we are completely open to any suggestions.
EXCLUSIVE USE FEES – (only available October – March)
Sundays – Thursdays £2,000 per night (only available if day numbers are 70 or over]
Fridays - £3,500
Saturdays - £5,000
Exclusive Use Accommodation Rates
October, November, December, March - £135.00 per standard room, £185.00 per deluxe room
January, February - £100.00 per standard room, £135.00 per deluxe room
30
A TRADITIONAL WEDDING AT BALBIRNIE HOUSE.
For example when most guests are travelling to the occasion, from within Scotland.
This usually involves many guests staying at Balbirnie the night before the special day. We can
usually accommodate at least 20 bedrooms.
Given we have guests in residence the night before the special day, what shall we do for
dinner?
Certainly, it’s a case that everyone meets together for pre-dinner drinks. We can then plan to
serve dinner in one of our private dining rooms, or alternatively externally in our North
Courtyard.
AN EXTENDED TRADITIONAL WEDDING AT BALBIRNIE HOUSE.
For example, when you also have 20 or 30 guests travelling to the occasion, from overseas.
As above, but subject to availability, we can of course extend our special accommodation
rates, over additional nights either before or after the wedding day.
WEDDING CELEBRATIONS WITH INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES!
And what happens if you have say, more than 70 of those nearest and dearest travelling to
Balbirnie, literally, from the other side of the world? This is a very frequent occurrence. It is
highly likely in that circumstance, that guests will wish to extend their visit to Scotland,
perhaps by a week, maybe even more? So if this is the case, why not simply choose to make
Balbirnie House your base for all guests for 3 days, 5 days, or a week? A family and friends
get-together, of a lifetime.
A few ideas, for what you could offer to your guests over an extended wedding celebration,
over multiple days.
We are of course able to assist with recommendations for transport companies.
Day 1 Visit the stunning new V and A Design Museum in Dundee, and Discovery Point visitor
centre. (30 mins drive)
Day 2 A lovely walk up in The Lomond Hills, just a few minutes away. Followed by a pub lunch
in the stunning village of Falkland.
Day 3
Scotland’s ancient capital.
Dunfermline (30 mins drive)
Day 4
Walk a section of Fife’s amazing 117 mile coastal path.
Choose a distance starting point for drop-off, and enjoy a walk to Anstruther, for Scotland’s
most famous fish and chips.
Day 5
Scotland’s modern capital. Walk down the drive, take a Markinch train over The Forth Rail
Bridge, to Edinburgh and back. A few traditional Scottish pubs, perhaps? Or the refined
wonders of George St? You decide! (45 mins train)
Day 6
Morning walk on the iconic St Andrews beach. St Andrews for lunch. Eden Mill distillery visit.
(30 mins drive)
Day 7 THE WEDDING DAY ITSELF
31
WEDDING PRICING STRUCTURE: Value for money – always the start point…
Our pricing structure runs each year from 1 May to 30 April and there may or may not be
inflationary increases from year to year depending on the prevailing economic circumstances
that each of us have to contend with. The prices within this pack are valid until 30 April 2023,
and are inclusive of VAT at the current rate. If there is an increase in VAT, the prices may be
adjusted upwards by the same amount. We offer a range of wedding packages, depending on
which day of the week and which time of year you would like to hold your wedding. Additional
guests can be added as required and there is flexibility to further personalise packages as
desired.
Package Name Dates Available Price From Minimum Numbers
Friday Weddings Fridays Menus and drinks 80 adult day guests
May - September charged as taken
+
Facility Fee of £950
(May – September)
Saturday Weddings Saturdays Menus and drinks 100 adult day guests
charged as taken
throughout the year
+
Facility Fee of £1,300
Sunday Package Sundays £6,125.00 70 adult day guests
May – September (£87.50 per guest)
Marvellous Monday – Thursday £2,700.00 40-70 adult day
Midweek throughout the year (£67.50 per guest) guests
(inclusive of lots of 70 – 100 adult
exciting extras!) day guests
Spectacular Spring March – April £5,705.00
Monday - Sunday (£81.50 per guest)
Hygge Package October - February £5,596.50 70 – 100 adult
Monday - Sunday (£79.95 per guest) day guests
*Our usual Friday and Saturday minimum numbers and our Saturday facility fee of
£1,300.00 still apply throughout the year.
*If you choose to hold your ceremony in house, additional ceremony room hire
charges are detailed on page 34 and apply throughout the year.
32
SO HOW MUCH WILL IT COST TO HAVE MY WEDDING AT BALBIRNIE HOUSE?
Pricing at Balbirnie most often depends on which day of the week you wish to hold your
celebration – the more flexible you are – the more money you will be able to save!
The starting point should always be the minimum day guest requirement for your chosen day:
Friday: 80 adult day guests Saturday: 100 adult day guests Sunday: 70 adult day
guests
Monday-Thursday: 40 adult day guests
(although we may be flexible with this depending on the time of year)
In addition to the package price, you would also need to pay for room hire should you wish to
hold your wedding ceremony in the house (see next page), and most couples will add on an
evening buffet (options can be found on page 46) for their day and evening guests.
It is then just a case of whether you would like to add on any upgrades or take the package as
is.
We also run package deals seasonally and this can be used any day of the week. Please note
that if you wish to use these packages on a Saturday in these months, our normal minimum
numbers will apply.
Fridays and Saturdays from May to September work a little differently.
As always, you begin with your minimum day guest requirement – but instead of having a fixed
per-head price, you simply ‘design your own’ package by choosing what food and drink you
would like to offer to your guests.
You also have a fixed facility fee (sometimes called ‘venue hire’) and an optional ceremony room
hire if you want to be married in the house. Facility fee rates are detailed on the previous page,
and ceremony room hire rates are detailed on the next.
Designing your own package is easy! You only really have four decisions to make (three
regarding food, and one regarding drink).
You would choose:
1. Canapés to be circulated during the drinks reception (options on page 38)
2. A menu for your wedding breakfast (options on pages 39-43)
3. An evening buffet to be served at night-time (options on pages 46-47)
4. A drinks package to suit your needs (options on page 48)
Please also bear in mind when budgeting for your Big Day at Balbirnie; that we have
an inflationary price increase on 1st May every year and that we are unable to freeze
prices on booking, in any circumstance.
33
THE WEDDING CEREMONY AT BALBIRNIE
We offer the opportunity to hold the wedding service at Balbirnie and thus enjoy the benefit of
having your entire wedding reception held under one roof. The ceremony can be of either a
religious, humanist or civil format. If you choose to have the ceremony at Balbirnie, a ceremony
fee applies as follows:
The Long Gallery
For ceremonies up to 100 guests (festive season dates 90 guests, due to Christmas tree!)
The Long Gallery is the main ‘central’ room of the original Grade A listed 1777 house. With
Georgian lunette windows, ceilings which have an illusion of being domed, and of course the
trompe d’oeuil (trick of the eye) 3 dimensional plasterwork, The Gallery is an exceptionally
atmospheric room and works very well indeed for ceremonies.
Room hire charge £1,100.00
The Orangery
For ceremonies between 90 and 150 guests
The Orangery was added to Balbirnie in 1999 as part of the Millennium Extensions. With a
mirrored tinted glass ceiling, floor to ceiling Georgian lunette windows, an air of tranquillity and
views out to the surrounding parkland, The Orangery is quite beautiful for ceremonies.
The Orangery and Orangery Gallery feature a collection of artwork which was gifted to Balbirnie
by Archie Forrest, Scotland’s leading contemporary colourist.
Room hire charge £1,200.00
The Ballroom
For ceremonies between 150 and 216 guests
We are delighted to propose The Millennium Ballroom, which can then – between 3pm and 5pm
– be prepared for the celebratory meal.
Room hire charge £1,400.00
Summer Garden Ceremonies
Simply delightful. Why not hold your ceremony on our beautiful manicured garden lawns. What
a lovely start to the day. We can hold garden ceremonies for up to 216 guests – one lawn for
the ceremony and our adjacent lawn for your drinks reception. Please note that the decision to
opt for an outdoor ceremony is of course subject to nice weather on the day itself and hence a
firm decision can only be made on the actual wedding day. An appropriate indoor area therefore
still always needs to be reserved and the ceremony fee will apply, regardless of whether the
ceremony is held inside or outside.
Any decision to locate the ceremony outside is usually made on the morning, in conjunction with
the wedding party. Great weather forecast, not too windy, dry underfoot, and not too hot!
The above charges apply in addition to food and drink costs plus any applicable facility fee.
If a church ceremony is held, no ceremony fee applies.
34
The Long Gallery
The Orangery
35
Summer Garden Ceremony
The Ballroom
36
BALBIRNIE WEDDING MENUS 2022/23
THE MENU
Fixed Menus @ Balbirnie – 99 times out of 100
We are occasionally asked by wedding clients if it is possible to have a choice on the wedding
menu. Other venues that offer choice menus only do so on a basis that the menu itself is
devastatingly simple for a kitchen brigade to execute – for example a choice for a starter of
either a Scotch Broth or a Tomato Juice! At Balbirnie, again in contrast to that, our Banquet and
Event dishes are much more aligned to a more refined offering.
Our provided menus have been constructed against a backdrop of annual reviews, previous
client appraisals, and evolution in itself. Our annual reviews receive full contemplation from
Balbirnie’s Management, Executive Chef, and Banquet Head Chef – also very much with a set of
perspectives to suggest that each dish over a multi-course menu is designed to work very well
with the others, in terms of balance, temperature, contrast, appearance and so on.
We therefore kindly suggest that each menu should most ideally wherever possible be
contemplated as one entity.
We would also suggest that as part of the consideration of wedding menus, we have constructed
these so that they are very much aligned to be cosmopolitan, universally appealing across the
entire spectrum of all guests attending.
Additionally, as part of our planning process, we will of course ensure that correct provision is
made for guests who are vegetarian, vegan, non-gluten containing, along with any other dietary
requirements.
Choice Menus @ Balbirnie – 1 time out of 100
Albeit on a very rare circumstance, we can offer a choice of two dishes per course (plus a
vegetarian option) as long as we receive a menu pre-order for each individual guest two weeks
before the wedding. If a pre-order is preferred, we also require to be provided with a large table
plan for the day which clearly indicates what each individual guest has ordered.
A significant supplement charge will be incurred for this option and will be discussed once
menus are chosen.
Please note that if you select a choice menu to offer your guests we are also required to
allocate additional time to serve the meal. For a four course menu an extra half an hour is
required and for a three course menu an extra fifteen minutes is required.
If additional dish choices are made on the day, over and above the defined pre-order, these
will charged at full price, to main account.
For the reasons above, as we reflect upon our history, virtually all weddings at
Balbirnie House have always opted for a set menu!
Children’s Menu
We are also of course delighted to provide special menus for children (usually 3 courses at
£19.50 - please refer to our children’s menu selector located just after the main menus in this
pack).
Menu Tastings
Should you wish to sample a selected menu, we first guide you towards our online menu
compendium. Our menu compendium is a visual delight of all our very lovely dishes and gives
you a fantastic idea of what our dishes look like.
Now we understand that it may not just be visual and you may wish to arrange a menu tasting,
in which case it is possible to do this on a set menu basis for a minimum of 4 people. This must
be pre-arranged with our wedding planning department and should be carried out circa 4-5
months prior to the wedding. Sample menus are charged at full price, and can be allocated to
the eventual main account.
Please note – we are unable to provide Menu Tastings during the months of July and December.
Our kitchen offer products with wheat, tree nuts, butter, and eggs. While we take
steps to minimize the risk of cross contamination, we cannot guarantee that any of
our products are safe to consume for people with peanut, tree nut, soy, milk, egg or
wheat allergies.
37
Menu Pricing
When considering menu pricing we bear in mind what is an ever-changing picture. We have
highly specialised purchasing and procurement for all menu items, aligned wherever possible to
source locally. In the last 5 years we have physically enabled annual menu pricing at a level well
below inflation levels. We source supplies very carefully indeed so we can pass that value directly
onto our clients. There are however some menu items which are popular, but are extremely
expensive to buy, even with Balbirnie’s purchasing collateral – such items are for example
scallops, langoustines, loin of lamb, loin of venison, and fillet of beef, so the menu pricing for
those items and any similar are stated accordingly.
The In-House Hot Smoker
We would also mention that one further reason that we are able to offer better value than our
competitors, is due to some specific in-house methodology – we have our own in-house hot
smokers (used especially for hot smoked Bradan Rost salmon, hot smoked mackerel, and hot
smoked chicken).
In-House Speciality – Ice Creams and Sorbets
We also have our own ice cream and sorbet factory – The Caledonian Dairy, specialising in
creating the finest commercially available quality in Scotland, and via which we also supply to
many other establishments elsewhere.
Bespoke Menus
Should you wish to design your own menu with our Executive Head Chef, Kris Currie, please do
let us know. This is a wonderful service which we are delighted to offer!
Pre ceremony lunch
We can organize finger sandwiches and a glass of Prosecco for bridal preparations in the chosen
bedroom at midday. Perfect light lunch before the proceedings start! Charged @ £13.50 per
person.
We recommend that the Groom and his party arrive at midday ready to welcome guests on
arrival. Why not have a burger & chips with a bottle of Peroni served either in the Library Bar,
or in our North Courtyard. Charged @ £15.00 per person.
Guests Lunch
For your guests arriving before the ceremony takes place, in particular travelling guests
waiting to check into their bedrooms, we offer a lunch menu in our Bistro. Guests can book
their table via our website.
38
CANAPÉS FOR YOUR SPECIAL DAY
We propose the following selection of lovely canapés for you and your guests to enjoy during
your wedding drinks reception. The detailed pricing is reflective of 1 and a half on average of
each chosen canape per person.
OPTION 1
• Haggis Bon Bon, Arran Mustard Mayonnaise (NF)
• Loch Fyne Smoked Salmon Blini, Caviar, Dill (NF)
• BLT Croustade (NF)
• Wild Mushroom Arancini (V, NF - can be VG)
• Chicken Caesar Tartlet (NF)
• Baby Baked Potato, Ricotta, Chive (V, NGC, NF - can be VG)
• Garden Pea Mousse, Feta, Mint (V, NF - can be VG)
• Smoked Haddock & Garden Pea Fishcake (NF)
• Cauliflower Cheese Quiche (V, NF)
A selection of 3 - £9.50 per person
A selection of 4 - £10.50 per person
OPTION 2
• Rare Beef Yorkie, Truffle Mayo, Crispy Shallots (NF)
• Confit Duck Leg Rillette, Plum Puree, Pistachio (NGC, DF)
• Scottish Salmon Tartare, Parsley Mayo, Pickled Bramble (NF)
• Hand Picked Crab, Avocado, Caviar (NF)
• Blue Murder Mousse, Apple Compote, Pickled Apple (V, NF)
• Fig, Goats Curd, Vinegar Gel, Wild Rice (V, NF, NGC – can be VG)
• Chocolate Dipped Strawberries [available May-September] (V, NF, DF, NGC)
A selection of 3 - £12.50 per person
A selection of 4 - £13.50 per person
OPTION 3 - CHILDRENS CANAPÉS
• Mini sausage roll
• Fruit kebab
• Carrot and cucumber sticks with Hummus (crudites)
• Tomato and mozzarella foccacia pizza
• Fishcake
A selection of 3 - £7.50 per person
A selection of 4 - £8.50 per person
39
WEDDING MENUS 2022/23
Prices apply until end April 2023
Due to the unfortunate implications and uncertainty of prevailing market conditions caused by #Brexit,
we reserve the right to amend pricing at any time.
Please note:
- Unless otherwise requested, all our lamb and beef dishes are cooked medium rare
- Allergy Disclaimer: please note that our food may contain traces of nuts.
- All of our wedding meals are served with a selection of seasonal vegetables
and potatoes, and will subsequently change throughout the year to reflect this.
Our kitchen offer products with wheat, tree nuts, butter, and eggs. While we take steps to minimize the
risk of cross contamination, we cannot guarantee that any of our products are safe to consume for people
with peanut, tree nut, soy, milk, egg or wheat allergies.
NGC – non gluten containing / V – vegetarian / VG – vegan / NF – nut free / DF – dairy free
CLASSIC BALBIRNIE
Menu 1
POTATO & WATERCRESS SOUP (NGC, V – can be VG, NF, DF)
crème fraiche, toasted almonds
-o0o-
ROAST LOIN OF OUTDOOR REARED PORK (NGC, NF – can be DF)
caramelised bramley apple, arran mustard crushed potatoes, parsnip, calvados jus
-o0o-
EATON MESS (V)
pink pepper meringues, biscotti
£53.50 per person
Menu 2
DUCK LIVER PARFAIT (NF – can be NGC)
sweet & sour roast plum, plum puree, brioche
-o0o-
RASPBERRY SORBET (NGC, VG, DF, NF)
-o0o-
FILLET OF SCOTTISH SALMON (NGC, NF)
saffron fondant, charred broccoli, carrots, caviar butter sauce
-o0o-
APPLE CRUMBLE CRÈME BRULEE (NF, V – can be NGC)
cinnamon, blackberry gel
£56.50 per person
Menu 3
SMOKED MACKEREL PATE (NF – can be NGC)
pickled & charred cucumber, sourdough crostini, dill oil
-o0o-
LEMON SORBET (NGC, VG, DF, NF)
-o0o-
CHICKEN SUPREME (NF)
creamed potatoes, haggis & leek croquette, cabbage
-o0o-
STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING (NF, V – can be NGC)
toffee sauce, vanilla ice cream
£59.50 per person
40
ELEGANT BALBIRNIE
Menu 1
ROAST CHICKEN & STORNOWAY BLACK PUDDING TERRINE (NF, NGC, DF)
tarragon mayo, crispy potato, sea rosemary
-o0o-
BAKED FILLET OF SCRABSTER COD (NF)
brioche herb crumb, mussel & clam chowder
-o0o-
CHOCOLATE & HAZELNUT TART (V)
white chocolate sorbet
£56.50 per person
Menu 2
BEETROOT CURED SCOTTISH SALMON (DF, NF)
dill mayo, pickled beetroot, croutons
-o0o-
GIN & TONIC SORBET (NGC, VG, DF, NF)
lime spritz
-o0o-
ROAST BREAST OF CHICKEN (NF)
mushroom & truffle mousse, puff pastry, truffled leeks, tarragon mash, red wine jus
-o0o-
PISTACHIO CHEESECAKE (V)
pistachio & raspberry crumb, raspberry gel, raspberry sorbet
£59.50 per person
Menu 3
PANKO CRUMBED HAGGIS FRITTER (NF)
turnip puree, potato dauphine, whisky jus
-o0o-
CASSIS SORBET (NGC, VG, DF, NF)
prosecco
-o0o-
BRAISED SHOULER OF LAMB (NGC, NF)
potato marquise, spinach, roast onion, onion puree
-o0o-
CHERRY BAKEWELL TART (V)
cherry puree, marzipan ice cream
£62.50 per person
41
INDULGENT BALBIRNIE
Menu 1
CAULIFLOWER & TRUFFLE VELOUTE (NF, V – can be NGC)
pickled cauliflower, Dunlop cheddar & truffle muffin
-o0o-
ROAST BREAST OF GRESSINGHAM DUCK (NF, NGC)
sweet potato rosti, braised red cabbage, kale, pickled bramble jus
-o0o-
ICED BANANA & POPPYSEED PARFAIT (V)
banoffee cheesecake, banana & salted caramel ice cream
£59.50 per person
Menu 2
LOCH FYNE SCOTTISH SALMON & CARB ROULADE (NGC, NF)
avocado, pickled chilli, salmon caviar
-o0o-
SEA BUCKTHORN SORBET (NGC, NF, V – can be VG, DF)
white chocolate soil
-o0o-
LOCH ETIVE SEA TROUT (NGC, NF)
saffron mash, samphire, pickle apple, chive and champagne velouté
-o0o-
LEMON & THYME MERINGUE TART (V, NF – can be NGC)
malibu & lime sorbet
£65.00 per person
Menu 3
HAND DIVED ORKNEY SCALLOPS (NGC, NF)
caramelised celeriac, pickled apple & dill dressing
-o0o-
STRAWBERRY SORBET (NGC, VG, DF, NF)
pink champagne
-o0o-
35 DAY DRY AGED ROAST SIRLOIN OF SCOTTISH BEEF (NGC, NF)
duck fat potato, roasted roots, cherry tomatoes, bone marrow gravy
-o0o-
70% DARK CHOCOLATE BROWNIE (NF – can be NGC)
toasted marshmallow, sea salt, caramel ripple ice cream
£75.00 per person
42
INTERMEDIATE COURSES
A lovely addition to any menu, served between starter and
main courses as a palette cleanser
Sorbets – (NF, NGC, DF, VG)
LEMON SORBET
RASPBERRY SORBET
MANGO SORBET
STRAWBERRY SORBET
£3.50 per person
Sorbet Upgrades – (NF, NGC, DF, VG)
CASSIS SORBET
topped with prosecco
LIME SORBET
ginger beer
SEA BUCKTHORN SORBET (can be DF, VG)
white chocolate crumb
STRAWBERRY SORBET
pink champagne
£4.50 per person
Soup course
TOMATO & BASIL SOUP (V, NF – can be NGC)
croutons, bocconcini
MUSHROOM & TARRAGON SOUP (V, NF)
blue cheese pithivier
PUMPKIN VELOUTE (V, NF)
pumpkin ravioli
BRANDIED SHELLFISH BISQUE (NGC, NF) [Supplement of £5.00 p/p]
Hand-picked crab, crème fraiche
£5.00 per person
TEA & COFFEE WITH HOMEMADE TABLET CAN BE ADDED TO ALL MENUS
@ £3.50 PER PERSON
43
VEGETARIAN/VEGAN OPTIONS
We have a selection of vegetarian dishes which can be offered to you and your guests.
This is in addition to vegetarian options already available through our existing menus.
Vegetarian options are charged at the same price as your chosen menu.
Dietary Information; VG – vegan, DF – dairy free, NGC – non gluten containing, NF – nut free
STARTERS
COMPRESSED BEEF TOMATO
tomato & Vodka gel, apple, puffed rice, (VG,DF,NGC,NF)
SLOW ROAST ONION
onion puree, pickled shallot, garlic chives, crispy shallots, (VG,DF,NGC,NF)
WILD MUSHROOM ARANCINI
pea puree, pickled shimeji, goats cheese (V,NF)
CHARGRILLED ZUCHINNI
lemon ricotta, black olive, tomato, pine nut, red pepper puree (V,NGC)
CHARRED WATERMELON & TOMATO SALAD
endive, cashew, pickled cucumber (VG,DF,NGC)
MAINS
CURRIED CAULIFLOWER STEAK
vegan curry mayo, pickled celery, golden raisins, cauliflower fritter, curry oil (VG,DF,NGC,NF)
TRUFFLED HERB POLENTA
ratatouille, wild mushrooms, hazelnuts, vegan pesto (VG,DF)
BEETROOT & HORSERADISH RISOTTO
pecans, roast pear, watercress dressing (VG,DF,NGC,)
MUSHROOM, CROWDIE & SPINACH PITHIVIER
mushroom ketchup, fresh herb salad (V,NGC,NF)
CHICKPEA, SWEET POTATO & SPINACH CURRY
basmati rice, spicy onions, coriander flatbread (VG,DF,NF)
DESSERT
CHILLED COCONUT & MALIBU RICE PUDDING
caramelised spiced pineapple, mint gel, toasted coconut, Banana sorbet (VG,DF,NGC,NF)
CHOCOLATE BROWNIE
70% chocolate sauce, raspberry puree, raspberry sorbet (VG,DF,NF)
MIXED BERRY & WHITE WINE JELLY
strawberry sorbet, compressed strawberries (VG,DF,NGC,NF)
ROAST PLUM & PISTACHIO MILLE FEUILLE
dark chocolate ganache, plum puree (VG,DF,NF)
PASSION FRUIT & ALMOND MILK PANACOTA
blackeberry gel, mango, poppy seed tuille (VG,DF,NGC,NF)
44
CHILDRENS MENU OPTIONS - £19.50 per 3 courses
Please note that only one dish per course should be chosen, suiting all children
attending.
STARTERS
Soup as per main menu
Freshly baked bread, crudities, hummus (VG,DF, can be adapted to NGC)
Veggie spring rolls, soy dip (VG,DF)
Melon, berries and coulis (NGC,DF,VG)
Grilled cheesy garlic bread (V, can be adapted to NGC)
MAIN COURSES
Penne pasta with either Bolognese, carbonara or cheese sauce (can be V, DF, NGC)
Savoury mince, creamy mash (NGC, can be DF)
Scampi, peas and fries (can be NGC, DF)
4oz Beef burger, fries and relish (can be NGC)
Home-made chicken goujons, chips, peas and ketchup DF, can be NGC)
Pork sausages, mash and gravy (can be NGC and DF)
DESSERTS
Waffles, ice cream and marshmallows
Chocolate brownie, vanilla ice-cream (can be VG)
SUNDAES (£1.50 supplement) (all NGC)
MINT CHOC CHIP
mint choc chip and Belgian chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce and freshly whipped
cream
CHOCOLATE
vanilla and Belgian chocolate ice cream, chocolate brownie, chocolate sauce and whipped
cream
BANANA SPLIT
vanilla and strawberry ice cream with a whole banana, strawberry sauce and roasted nuts
45
WEDDING EVENING BUFFETS
Onwards to the next special part of the day! Given that routinely the wedding meal finishes at
7pm we recommend serving the evening buffet from 10pm onwards.
Contrary to what you may read in some wedding publications (!), and to avoid
disappointment for you and your guests, we strongly advise you to cater for the
numbers present.
Please select from the following:
MENU A - £8.00 per person
Smoked back bacon or Lorne sausage morning roll
Quorn sausage for dietaries
Tea and Coffee
MENU B - £9.50 per person
Mac and Cheese pots and garlic bread (can be NGC)
Tea/coffee
MENU C - £10.50 per person
Chef’s selection of Balbirnie speciality handmade 14 inch pizza’s
MENU D - £11.50 per person
Beef stovies and vegetable & red lentil stovies with Scottish oatcakes
Or
Chicken curry
Sweet potato, chickpea & cauliflower curry
Basmati rice, Naan bread
Mango chutney, Spicy onions
MENU E – £14.95 per person
Available for a minimum of 100 guests
HOG ROAST SERVED FROM BALBIRNIE’S OWN SPIT ROAST - our in house speciality
available all year round
Served in a roll and accompanied by crackling, apple sauce, BBQ sauce, coleslaw, gem lettuce
Gluten free rolls and Quorn sausages provided for known dietaries
Tea and Coffee
Add salads (£1.50 per person per salad)
Caesar salad
Waldorf salad
Potato & Dijon & spinach salad, crispy onions
Plum tomato, watermelon, feta & basil salad
Cucumber, pomegranate, Greek yogurt, dill
46
MENU F - TERRACE BBQ - £13.95 per person
A tremendously popular barbecue option available from May to September, cooked on the
Ballroom Terrace by Balbirnie’s Chefs. Please note this option is only available when catering for
100% of guests.
As a generality, the BBQ option is not dependent on the weather, as we have a 4.5m awning
which extends out from the Ballroom’s North elevation. However, if really strong rain is
forecasted, or if it is extremely windy, we shift the actual BBQ cooking underneath the covered
archway of our North courtyard - and if that happens we shall serve the BBQ items buffet style
in the Ballroom Lobby.
4oz beef burger from Henderson’s of fife
Pork & herb links
Grilled corn
Lettuce, tomato, onion, grated cheddar
Coleslaw
Chickpea & butternut squash burger
Quorn sausage
Non gluten containing rolls and Quorn sausages provided for known dietaries
Tea and coffee
Add (£3.95 per item)
Chicken drumsticks
Satay chicken skewer
Lamb kofta
4oz pork & chorizo burger
Minute steak
Cajun salmon skewers
Grilled halloumi
Add salads (£1.50 per person per salad)
Caesar salad
Waldorf salad
Potato & Dijon & spinach salad, crispy onions
Plum tomato, watermelon, feta & basil salad
Cucumber, pomegranate, Greek yogurt, dill
THE “AFTER SHOW” EVENING BUFFET!
Many of our wedding clients wish to incorporate a 2 phase evening buffet, by introducing a truly
wonderful and unexpected surprise, a real measure of hospitality which is so much appreciated
by departing guests, by serving Bacon Baps or traditional Scotch Mince Pies to their departing
guests soon after the last Ballroom Dance. This takes place traditionally in The Long Gallery. For
residents this can also be applicable in The Library Bar, as The Aftershow party gets underway.
We are delighted to also offer the tradition of Scottish celebratory wedding hospitality at this
point, with Drambuie nips at £3.50 per single 25ml measure.
Aftershow Bacon Breakfast Roll £4.50
Aftershow Traditional Scotch Mince Pies £4.50
Aftershow Haggis Bap £4.50
Gluten free rolls and Quorn sausages provided for known dietaries
These prices are applicable to those clients who are also providing one of the traditional
evening buffets listed above to their guests circa 10.00pm.
47
Drinks Package
All quantities and prices are per person.
Should you wish to choose drinks “off package” we would be delighted to provide a quote
Classic Elegant Indulgent Cocktail Party
Package One Drinks Reception: Drinks Reception: Drinks Reception: Drinks Reception:
Drinks (Choose 1 or 2 “Pimp your Prosecco” Choice of (Choose 1 or 2 of the
Reception: of the following) Prosecco with: Veuve Clicquot following)
Or Veuve Rose
1 glass House Sparkling Rose Edinburgh Raspberry/ Kir Royal
OR Elderflower/ Plum and Additional bottles can be Dark & Stormy
Dinner Wines: Vanilla/ Rhubarb and added at £74.50 per Cosmopolitan
A glass and a House Sparkling wine Ginger Gin Liqueurs. bottle Passion Fruit Martini
top-up Garnished with a choice
Choice of bottled beer Dinner Wines: Additional cocktails can
Speeches: of fresh fruit and (Choose 1 of each) be added at £9 per
1 glass Corona with a wedge of seasonal berries glass
lime Viognier, Le Versant
or Dinner Wines: Dinner Wines:
(Choose 1 of each) Picpoul de Pinet, (Choose 1 of each)
Peroni Terrases de la Mer
Chenin Blanc, Viognier, Le Versant
Dinner Wines: De Waal Young Vines, Malbec, Montanes, San
House Sauvignon Rafael Picpoul de Pinet,
Sauvignon Blanc Terrases de la Mer
Blanc Grande Crevette Rioja, Campillo Reserva
Malbec, Montanes, San
House Cabernet Parcelles 38 Côtes-du- Speeches: Rafael
Sauvignon Rhône Choice of
France Rioja, Campillo Reserva
Speeches: Veuve Clicquot
House Sparkling Wine Carignan, Petite Or Veuve Rose
Entrecote
Speeches:
Speeches:
Prosecco Choice of
Veuve Clicquot
Or Veuve Rose
[£25.50] [£29.50] [£39.50] [£39.50]
Package Two Options as above Options as above Options as above Options as above
[£30.50] [£35.50] [£46.50] [£46.50]
Drinks
Reception:
1 glass
Dinner Wines:
Half a bottle
Speeches:
1 glass
Package Three Options as above Options as above Options as above Options as above
[£35.50] [£39.50] [£55.50] [£55.50]
Drinks
Reception:
2 glasses
Dinner Wines:
Half a bottle
Speeches:
1 glass
New for 2022! Add on to guests tables
Buckets of chilled Peroni (5 bottles to a bucket) £20 per bucket
Please note the above packages do not apply to any couples using any of our
wedding packages, for example our Sunday package.
48
SUNDAY WEDDING PACKAGE 2022
(available May - September)
Valid Dates: Applicable for remaining Sundays in 2022 May-September and available to
reserve into following years subject to our annual inflationary price increase.
Package A Price: £87.50 PER GUEST
Starting from £6’125.00 based on 70 adult day guests
Extra Day Guests: Simply add extra day guests @ £87.50 per person
Wedding Package Includes:
• A welcome reception drink Prosecco - 1 per guest
• Complimentary canapés during the drinks reception (choice of 3 different canapes, and
6 per person)
• A superb three course menu from our special selection, served also with coffee, tea and
Scottish tablet
• A glass of House wine with the meal and a top-up
• A glass of Prosecco for the post-wedding meal speeches
• Traditional cake-stand and silver wedding knife
• Balbirnie’s Chiavari chairs in elegant Limewash for your day guests
• Red carpet sweeping down the front steps of Balbirnie
• The Master of Ceremonies
• Complimentary use of our magnificent Ballroom for your wedding meal, with charming
reception rooms available for reception drinks and photography
• Balbirnie’s LED special up-lighters & fairy lights in the Ballroom in your choice of colour
• Balbirnie’s Black Dancefloor, LED underlit
• Personalised table plan, place cards and menus
• Complimentary four poster bridal suite, complete with roll-top bath and of course - a
bottle of chilled House champagne
ADDITIONAL OPTIONS:
Package B Price:
£91.50 PER GUEST
As above A package, plus an extra glass of wine with meal
Package C Price:
£98.00 PER GUEST
As above A package, plus additional drink on arrival, plus extra glass of House wine with meal
Package D Price:
£104.50 PER GUEST
As above A package, plus additional drink on arrival, plus glass of Prosecco at cake-cutting
ceremony,
plus extra glass of House wine with meal
N.B. Please note the ceremony charge and facility fee still applies.
Standard Facility Fee [£600.00] waived for Sunday weddings, applicable to new
bookings only.
49
MARVELLOUS MIDWEEK WEDDING PACKAGE 2022/2023
(available all year round)
Following on from the massive success of our ‘Wonderful Wednesday Package, we are
delighted to introduce our new ‘Marvellous Midweek’ Package, available on remaining midweek
dates Monday – Thursday in 2022 – till April 2023
Why is it ‘Marvellous?’ The items listed in bold below are additionally included over and above
our seasonal packages!!!
Valid Dates: Applicable for any remaining midweek dates Monday – Thursday in 2022 and
available to reserve into following years subject to our annual inflationary price increase.
Package Price: £67.50 PER GUEST
Starting from £2,700.00 based on 40 adult day guests
Extra Day Guests: Simply add extra day guests @ £67.95 per person
Wedding Package Includes:
• A welcome reception drink Sparkling wine with seasonal berries - 1 per guest
• Complimentary canapés during the drinks reception, (choice of 3 different canapes, and
6 per person)
• A superb three course menu from our special selection, served also with coffee, tea and
Scottish tablet
• Red and white wine with the meal, equivalent to half a 75cl bottle per guest
(extra drink)
• A glass of Sparkling wine for the post-wedding meal speeches
• Evening Buffet- traditional bacon bap with tea and coffee
• Traditional cake-stand and silver wedding knife
• Balbirnie’s Chiavari chairs in elegant Limewash for your day guests.
• Red carpet sweeping down the front steps of Balbirnie
• The Master of Ceremonies
• Complimentary use of our magnificent Ballroom for your wedding meal, with charming
reception rooms available for reception drinks and photography
• Balbirnie’s LED special up-lighters & fairy lights in the Ballroom in your choice of colour
• Balbirnie’s Black Dancefloor, LED underlit
• Traditional cake stand and silver wedding knife
• Personalised table plan, place cards and menus
• Complimentary four poster bridal suite, complete with roll-top bath and of course - a
bottle of chilled House champagne
• All of Balbirnie’s bedrooms (up to 31 rooms if required) at very special
preferential wedding B&B accommodation rates – £115.00 per double/twin
room, all bedrooms subject to availability.
• Please note that if you occupy our “Pearl Suite” the night prior to your
wedding day there will be a supplementary charge of £70.00 per night,
totalling £185.00 per night.
N.B. Please note the ceremony charge still applies.
50
The words you are searching are inside this book. To get more targeted content, please make full-text search by clicking here.
2022 WEDDING PACK
Discover the best professional documents and content resources in AnyFlip Document Base.
Search