Last week after posting my list of things I would change about my wedding, a reader (shout out to Lauren) sent me an email asking if I had any specific tips about getting married at Antrim. Since I get requests from Antrim brides pretty frequently, I thought it would be best to answer her question with a post so all the other Antrim brides out there could benefit from our lessons learned.
So here are my tips for a wedding at Antrim 1844. I think a lot of these tips can be applied more generally to other wedding venues so hopefully all of you can benefit from them 
Understand Their Room Policy
Initially when we signed our contract with Antrim, we were under the understanding that our room block would allow guests to book any room that they wanted. This was key because Antrim isn’t your typical hotel with the one-price rooms. Antrim has a huge price range for rooms, starting at $150 and going up close to $400 a night.
We needed the flexibility for our guests to stay in different parts of Antrim’s property because the low cost rooms were spread across the 11 different buildings (they have a main mansion and 10 outbuildings).
When it actually came time for our guests to reserve their rooms, we found out that Antrim wanted to bunch all the guests together in one building so as not to disturb their other guests. So if our first guest called and requested a room in the Main Mansion, Antrim would force any guests that called after them to reserve a room in the Main Mansion until all the rooms in the Main Mansion were filled.
Needless to say we were not happy campers. To get around this, we told all of our guests just to call and say that they were just spending the night. I hated making people lie but it was the only way that our guests would be able to stay where they wanted. I’m not sure if Antrim still has this policy but you can get around it if you want to.
Rent One Of The Outbuildings To Get Ready In
Another weird quirk about Antrim is that their check -in time for the bridal suite is not really that conducive to brides getting ready on the property. Since Antrim has a dinner seating every night at 6:30, they require their weddings to begin at 4:30 so that the Main Mansion can be used for cocktail hour before guests start to arrive for the first dinner seating.
On the other hand, check-in to the bridal suite doesn’t happen until 12:30, which would be fine if you were a guy. But if you are a girl that needs to get hair and makeup done, you would need to start getting ready way before 12:30.
The usual solution to this problem would be to get hair and makeup done off-site at a hair salon. That would normally work except for the fact that Antrim is in the boondocks and personally I wouldn’t want to use the surrounding hair salons. So that means that you have to find another place to do your hair and makeup.
Since my parents decided to rent an entire outbuilding, we also had access to the common rooms. These ended up being the perfect place to do hair and makeup. We just rolled out of bed into the living room, which was turned into hair and makeup land. Then, when everyone was finished, we transferred up to the Main Mansion where the bridal suite was located to get dressed. I kind of liked this better than getting ready all in one place because it meant that the mess was kept clear of my bridal suite, which made for even better pictures.
But whatever you decide to do, just know that you will need to find a work-around for this. The only people who don’t have to worry about this are people getting married in a very slow season where no one will be using the suite the night before (Antrim will let you check in early in that case). I had no such luck since it was Memorial Day weekend.
You Can Do A Rehearsal Outside You Just Need A Tent
Antrim gave us a lot of guff for wanting to do our rehearsal dinner outside by their pool. Initially, they flat out refused. Eventually, after coaxing our wedding planner, we finally got them to agree to let us have the rehearsal dinner outside but only if we used a tent.
Now tents tend to be really expensive but we found a work around for that too. Thanks to my resourceful husband we were able to find a reasonably priced tent vendor that charged us about $200. We highly recommend using them.
This also gets to a larger point of if you really want something just keep pressing them. Antrim is in the business of pleasing their brides and grooms. As long as you aren’t asking them to comp you a bunch of stuff, they will be more than willing to accommodate you. You may just have to ask a few times if it’s something they’ve never done before.
Know When The Garden Is In Bloom
One of the biggest reasons that people decide to get married at Antrim is because of their beautiful rose garden. We were pretty shocked to learn that the roses don’t actually come out until the end of May.
So if you are looking to have a wedding amongst blooming flowers, just know that you will need to wait until the end of spring. We can attest to the fact that the garden won’t be in full bloom until then.
But if you do wait, your reward will be pretty amazing.
They Do Have Rectangular Tables
Even though pretty much every single reception that has been photographed there had round tables, Antrim does have rectangular tables (they have eight 8-foot tables and six 6-foot tables…and yes I remembered this without looking it up, it is sad).
See. Our wedding coordinator told us that we were the first people to actually use the rectangular tables for their wedding.
There were rumors floating around that the previous wedding coordinator would only allow certain table setups. Well, I’m here to tell you that the new ones will let you do whatever your heart desires. All rounds. All rectangles. Some rounds and rectangles. Maybe even squares. Whatever you want.
Plan For An Arbor Backup
If you are like me and hate arbors, you probably want to cover the arbor with some beautiful flowers and drape it with cloth. Maybe something like this?
Ah, much better.
Realize that if you plan on doing this and it rains, you will need a back up arbor for your ceremony inside. Your florist won’t wait to assemble the flowers on site. What they will do is have large sections already put together so they just have to attach it to the arbor.
This means that if it rains and you have to have your wedding inside your florist will still need to attach those long pieces to something or it will be completely useless. Note that we didn’t realize this until our florist mentioned something a few weeks before our wedding. There was no way that I was going to let hundreds of dollars of flowers go to waste. This meant a last minute dash for an affordable arbor that we could use inside.
This of course isn’t a big deal when you have months to find a solution. But it’s a much bigger deal when a few weeks before you ask your florist about the rain back up and you find out you need an inside arbor. Seems straightforward if you are thinking about it, but honestly what bride is going to figure that out on her own?
Have Fun
You’ve picked an amazing location with fantastic food, top-of-the-line staff, and an unparalleled ambience. Even without these small tips, your wedding will still be one that people remember decades from now. Just know that picking the right location is three-quarters of the battle. And you have picked the crème de la crème of locations.
Your surroundings will be beautiful. Your food will be delectable. And your every need will be catered to. You truly are in great hands. So stop worrying and stressing and let their wedding planners take it from here.
Don’t believe me? Take a look at these.
See, I told you it would be beautiful.
If you need anymore help or have anymore questions about having a wedding at Antrim, please, please, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or send me an email. I would love to help!
Follow our newlywed journey through love, laughter and happily ever after. I'm Mr. Adam's best friend, a wedding fanatic, a health food nut, a yoga fiend, an arts & crafts-ers, a DIY-er, a wannabe world traveller, a pinterest addict and a Jesus lover. I hope you enjoy our wedding/newlywed/travel/food/healthy living/crafting adventures.
hi! thanks for this information–very helpful. My question is about an after party–how late did your guests get to stay up and party? I think there's a pub on site but how late does it stay open, do you know?
thanks!
I think you can only use the pub if your guests have rented out the entire mansion. They don't want you disturbing leisure guests. Since we didn't rent the whole mansion, we decided to use one if the outhouses to have the after party. My parents rented put the entite Birnie house so that's what we used. Let me know if you have more questions.
I’ve emailed Antrim, but haven’t heard back yet…would you mind sharing (or private emailing) the ballpark cost for Antrim? I’m wondering if it’s totally out of my range or not! And by the way, your pics are gorgeous!
Thanks!!
Hi Sam. Thanks for the sweet comment! As far as price, it varies greatly based on the time of year and the day of week you pick. On the cheap end, I think it’s about $80 per person. On the more expensive end, you are talking about $120 a person. On top of that you have to add 20% for tip and then 6% for tax. There is also a site fee which ranges by season as well I think it goes from $250-$500. Those are the prices I remember from 2010 so they might have gone up since then. Let me know if you have any other questions.
I will be getting married at the Antrim in October, 2014. I am actually expecting to have the ceremony inside because I never trust the outdoors-there are bees out there! Where did you find your “back-up” arbor? Was it expensive?
We got ours at Home Depots but most of the home improvement stores have arbors. I think it was less than $200.
Thank you so so much for writing this! I’m getting married at the Antrim in November of this year and I was referred to your blog by Amie Decker
I may need your help with more questions to come.
Thanks again – amazing blog!
Ann Marie
Congrats! Amie was literally just telling me about you. You picked a fantastic hair and makeup team. Please don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions. I would love to help!
Thank you so much for the super-helpful tips! One question for you – were you able to get discounted rates for your room block? Antrim is refusing to offer any sort of discount for our wedding guests, and I’m wondering if you or others have had a similar experience? Thanks, and congrats on what looks like a gorgeous wedding!
They don’t do discounted rooms at all. It’s a major disadvantage but they won’t do it because their rooms aren’t like typical hotel rooms. Every room is different and the amenities are different. The best western in Westminster will though.