Co. Down BANGOR

Clandeboye Lodge Hotel

Marine Court Hotel

Royal Hotel

Shanks Restaurant

Clandeboye Estate

Thyme

AA BANGOR

Jeffers by the Marina

Hebron House

Clandeboye Estate

The beauty of this romantic wedding venues that it is still a private estate, and there will never be more than one wedding held here on any day. There is a church on the estate, but it is not available for public use; however, there are churches of all denominations nearby, and civil ceremonies may be held in the Banqueting Hall or Fraser Room - or out of doors in the courtyard, in fine weather.

A wedding co-ordinator is available and the venue, which may be hired for exclusive use only, includes the Banqueting Hall, the Fraser Room and the Courtyard. The reception is held in the Banqueting Hall - a long atmospheric room, with family portraits, beamed ceiling, chandeliers, and stags heads at each end, it has large windows letting in plenty of natural light.

The Fraser Room is where the entertainment is held: it has a (sound-absorbent) tented ceiling, a bar and a small stage for the band - and French doors opening out onto the Courtyard, an attractive area where you can have a jazz band playing on arrival; in summer, tables and chairs are set up outside in the Courtyard and, with braziers lighted at night, it can be very atmospheric. The venue needs little decoration except flowers, to be provided by the bride and groom.

There is no in-house catering but a list of recommended caterers is supplied - and you can be assured that they are carefully vetted, as guests attending weddings here tend to assume that the food is provided by the estate. Once you have selected your caterer, everything connected with food is done directly with them, so there are no guideline prices or terms of business available.

Accommodation for guests is not really part of the service offered at Clandeboye and there is nothing suitable for the bride and groom, but they do have eight simple single rooms available with a communal kitchen where guests can make their own breakfast; otherwise Clandeboye Lodge Hotel, a mile away, offers the nearest accommodation  and Crawfordsburn Inn is also quite close.

Clandeboye Lodge Hotel

 

Marine Court Hotel

Guincho

On a very grand scale indeed, this 12 acre garden surrounding an unusual Portuguese style house is a place to experience unforgettable sights, scents and sounds. It would be worth a visit for gorgeous hydrangea ‘Sea Foam’ alone, glimmering with flowers in dappled shade , to meet the original of the elder S‘Guincho Purple’ or to discover the newly created rock pool fringed with primula.

The garden, with mysterious paths leading off to hidden destinations, was laid out in the 1930s but planted by Mrs Frazer Mackie from 1948 to 1979 with rare trees, plants and shrubs, many of them grown from seed. The area between the house and the road is laid out with shrubberies and island beds of shrubs set in manicured lawns.

In the centre of the garden a huge lake-like lawn is surrounded by acers, magnolias, bamboos, turquoise blue hydrangeas, a huge stand of gunnera under a blue cedar and specimen trees. Paths burrow through glades of rhododendrons and camellias along a hosta walk, or an exotic walk planted with South African plants, including eight different varieties of agapanthus and flowering Beschorneria yuccoides. Another leads to to Mrs Mackie’s little circular garden with her special treasures S‘Guincho Purple’ , a champion Pseudopanax crassifolius, Hakea saligna and Myrtus lechleriana with its burnished copper juvenile leaves.

In the valley, the stream walk is carpeted with spring bulbs - crocus, chionodoxia, scilla and grape hyacinths - and leads eventually to a waterfall. This area is being replanted sensitively under the supervision of Head Gardener, Nick Burrowes. In true Robinisonian manner the ground in this jungly area is populated by plants from around the world, including carpets of erythroniums (N America) Dicksonia antartica (Australasia) Dacrydium franklinii (Tasmania), Gevuina avellana (Chile), and large leaved rhododendrons like Falconeri, Fortunei and Thompsonii ranges, together with perfumed Loderii hybrids.

The garden is now owned by Mr and Mrs Cairns, who kindly continue to open it under the national Trust Gardens open by appointment scheme.

Boathouse, The

Cairn Bay Lodge

Coyles Bistro

Heatherlea, The

Teddys

Salty Dog Hotel & Bistro, The

Jeffers Bar & Grill at Blackwood

Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt

David Burns Butchers

Primacy Meats Food Village

Corin on Main Street and The Ava Winebar

Guillemot Kitchen Café

The Wheathill

Eva Paris Macarons