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20th December 2016
12:10am GMT
Even if you book the most beautiful hotel in the land for your wedding, one sore fact remains: you still have to share it.
With other people.
Thankfully there is an alternative, in the form of private-hire hotels – and amongst them all, Wicklow's amazing Trudder Lodge was one that really caught our eye. Here's why.
Let's start with the basics. And for this, we'll let the pictures do the talking...
Trudder Lodge isn't a hotel – you basically hire the estate as your own for the duration of your wedding, party, afters, next-day BBQ, whatever you fancy.
That means no sharing the residents' bar with couples on weekend mini-breaks who get pissed off when someone whips out a guitar, no surly barman ushering you back to your rooms at 3am, no competing wedding parties and – since they only take 30 bookings a year – the undivided attention of the staff there.
As they say on the site:
We specifically do not charge a corkage fee on any wine brought to the house in the hope that the wine may flow as freely as if the party was held in your own home. In this way, Trudder Lodge can be your home for a few entrancing days, and the venue for your exceptional wedding celebration.
AMEN to that.
Odds are that out of ALL the people you invite to your shindig, you'll have at least one showy fecker that's done his Grade 8.
Sure you might as well make him work for his meal after the sun goes down...
Because nobody wants a four-hour drive home the next day. And since this is located just off the N11, you won't waste precious time arguing with the sat-nav on your way there.
Let's face it – pretty as the place is, it's probably DEFINITELY haunted what with it being in the woods and all. So the five bedrooms in the lodge itself will be enough to accommodate the bridal party, so you don't have to spend your first night as a married couple as sitting ducks for evil spirits.
And for everyone else, there are dozens of nearby spots for accommodation should you not wish to trek back to the Big Shmoke.
Photographers, bands, meals, canapés, drinks – DAMN, these days involve a lot of planning. And obviously some of you will want to look after all these details yourself.
Since this isn't a hotel, the planning might be a little bit more complicated due to the lack of straight-out-of-the-box packages
We do not offer a simple wedding package; instead we have expertly chosen caterers, photographers and musicians that we highly recommend and love working with.
Since this won't be the cheapest venue in the world – there are no listed prices, but we're guessing you don't take just 30 bookings a year unless you're charging a fairly decent sum – they're pretty sound about coming up with ways to keep other aspects on the cheap.
These include 'canapé weddings' that kick off at around 5pm... and weddings designed around a spit roast. Yes please.
And there's a lawn tennis court.
A LAWN TENNIS COURT.
Yeah, we did. But like... LOOK.
