When it comes to wedding events and The Dolmen Hotel, we admit it…. We are really nosey at WeddingDates! We just had to find out how a hotel prepares for a Wedding showcase Event. Nothing prepared us for these answers though as the Dolmen Hotel prepare for their Wedding Showcase on November 3rd….
Where do you even begin with organizing a wedding event?
We have 2 wedding fairs every year – 1 in the Spring and another in Autumn/Winter so the planning for these dates start at the beginning of the year as we have to set aside 2 Sunday dates for these. With a thankfully very busy events diary, it can take some juggling of things to clear 2 dates. The actual organizing of the event though kicks off in earnest about 3 months beforehand as we have to contact all our wedding suppliers and experts to ensure their available to attend on the day as well to showcase their products and services.
It must be a team effort – does everybody get involved?
Oh yeah, we like to showcase every element of a wedding to our potential brides and grooms during our wedding fair, every area of the hotel is involved. From the chef preparing sample dishes off our wedding menus, to housekeeping staff preparing the bridal suite and guest bedrooms to show on the day. From Clare our wedding coordinator adding her famous “little extra touches” to the banquet suite and civil ceremony room to Terry the gardener working his magic on our gardens. Then of course there is all the behind the scenes work with the advertising team, the room set ups, the receptionist and reservations team taking bookings… definitely a team effort from all!
You must be really looking forward to meeting all those couples and helping them decide on their wedding venue?
I love being in the hotel on the day of our wedding fair as the atmosphere and feeling in the place is great, all the twinkling candlelights, the sweet scent of chefs handmade cookies and the overall buzz of excitement from all the couples who make the big decision to book their date with us. For some couples they are just starting out on the wedding planning journey and a visit to our fair allows them meet lots of suppliers to collect hints on tips on making their day unique and special. As well as this showing them what our function room will look like on their wedding day, giving them the opportunity to imagine themselves celebrating their big day surrounded by family and friends.
If you had words of advice for couples attending events like yours what would they be?
At Dolmen Hotel, all of our packages are all inclusive so everything from your car, DJ, meal and evening reception is included within the price so our packages are very easy to understand but I would still say to couples if there is specific information they want to know to have a list of these to discuss with the wedding team. With so many people visiting the hotel on the day of a fair and everyone wanted to talk to the team its best to have your questions ready so you can get the information you want to know from them.
The 2nd piece of advice I’d give the couples is to give themselves plenty of time to fully experience the fair and take the time to visit different rooms in the hotel, sample the food, see the fashion show (always a highlight for the girls). Sometimes when you see an empty function room it can be very difficult to imagine how it could/will look on your wedding day but as we set up the full room for the day you can see exactly how your room will look, taking the guess work out for brides and grooms…we know too well how many other things they have to worrying about so we ensure the venue layout and feel is not one of them.
For every couple choosing the venue for their wedding is one of the most important decisions they make so visiting Dolmen Hotel on Sunday 3rd November for our Wedding Fair will help to make this decision easier. Our past couples have told us that attending a wedding fair was the key to booking their date here as once they had experienced the “Wow” of the function room and tasted the food on offer it was obvious to them that Dolmen Hotel was the perfect setting for their perfect wedding.
