Cardiff Wedding Venues - Craig Y Nos Castle Wedding Venue - Weddings in Wales at Craig y Nos Castle

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Cardiff Wedding Venues - Craig Y Nos Castle Wedding Venue

Wedding Planning > Wedding themes by Town

Cardiff Wedding Venue, for Castle Weddings near Cardiff


Cardiff Themed Weddings


Your Cardiff Wedding Reception in a Castle
- it's all yours for your Day

"We only allow one wedding a day in the castle, so
our Castle is exclusively yours for your wedding day"

This sets our castle apart from wedding venues in Cardiff/ South Wales who have more than one wedding on same day.

Cardiff Wedding Venue Craig y Nos Castle

Exclusive Use Cardiff Wedding Packages
in a Welsh Castle
- a stunning Wedding Venue
just an hour's drive from Cardiff

Visit on one of our


  • Time from Cardiff to Craig y Nos Castle Wedding Venue: 1 hour and 2 minutes

  • Distance from Cardiff to Craig y Nos Castle Wedding Reception Venue: 44.8 miles


Award winning Castle Wedding Venue near Cardiff in South Wales for your big day!

Cardiff Weddings Ceremonies

See Suggested


for your Wedding Day

at Craig y Nos Castle, Nr. Cardiff



See our Weekend Wedding Package with 60 to 70 day guests and 50 guests staying overnight.

See our amazing two day full weekend VIP Wedding Offer for Cardiff C0uples; book a full two day weekend house party for your Wedding.


For all our wedding packages, see Wedding Packages Selection for the most suitable wedding package for you.

Cardiff Wedding Venue Craig y Nos Castle

Why Choose Craig y Nos Castle,
near Cardiff?

You get Exclusive Use of our castle wedding venue near Cardiff.

All your guests can stay overnight with you on your wedding day. Party late into the night, with no worries about you or your guests getting back home to Cardiff.

Craig y Nos Castle wedding venue sleeps up to 81 guests in en-suite doubles and family rooms.

We're probably the only castle wedding venue where all your guests can stay overnight.

A unique Wedding Venue - the romance of a real Welsh Castle combined with the historic grandeur of our very own Opera House licensed for wedding ceremonies.

Craig y Nos Castle only accepts one wedding a day, so you and your guests from Cardiff will have the run of the whole ground floor of the castle exclusively.

You're not in just one room, you and your guests have the run of all our ground floor rooms:


(1) The opera house for your wedding ceremony, where you will be the star of the show, on stage, before all your guests



(2) Welcome drinks in the Nicoloni Room, our main reception lounge (or outside in gardens if weather is fine)



(3) Your wedding breakfast in our 130 seater conservatory with fabulous views overlooking the Brecon Beacons National Park



(4) Evening wedding party and late night disco in our evening function room and music room, with resident's bar.


Should you 'go local',
for a wedding venue
in or near to Cardiff,
or can you go further afield
for a more special and unique wedding day?


'Local Venue'
or
'Destination Wedding Venue'?

You may have guests some distance away from Cardiff, who'll need to travel to your wedding anyway, so it won't matter to them so much where you get married.

For guests who live local to you, friends and neighbours and acquaintances and even work colleagues in and around Cardiff, do you want a local wedding venue near Cardiff where all your guests can get to easily? Or are you all happy about travelling over the Heads of the Valley A470/ A465 to drop down to Craig y Nos Castle?

AB28 Bathroom at Craig y Nos Castle wedding venue near Cardiff
Room 21 en-suite at Craig y Nos Castle Wedding Venue near Cardiff

Will you invite
'Evening Only' Guests
or invite everyone for the whole day?


'Evening-only' guests won't travel far. Craig y Nos is more of a 'destination wedding venue', where your closest friends and relatives come to your wedding, and where you invite everyone for the whole day.

When you choose a venue further away from your base in Cardiff, you'll tend to invite everyone for the whole day. Also you'll need somewhere all your guests can stay overnight.

Craig y Nos Castle sleeps over 8o guests. Have most of your guests stay with us. Everyone will party with you late into the night as they have no worries about getting home to Cardiff.

Unlike with a 'local' wedding reception, when you marry at Craig y Nos, you won't have so many guests shooting off early to get home. With more local weddings nearer to Cardiff, a wedding party dwindles around 11-12 as guests leave to go home. Having everyone stay over at Craig y Nos means your party lasts late into the night.

AB21 Bathroom at Craig y Nos Castle wedding venue near Cardiff
AB31 loft room at Craig y Nos Castle wedding venue near Cardiff

A truly magical and unique
castle wedding venue


Craig y Nos Castle is a popular destination wedding venue for couples all over the UK. It combines the attraction of getting married in a real castle, in your own fairytale castle for either a day or a whole weekend, a historic building (yours exclusively for your wedding) in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

The mountain scenery of the Brecon Beacons National Park guarantees you stunning photo opportunities both inside and outside the castle. The Grade One Listed Opera House makes a fantastic setting for your wedding ceremony. You get exclusive use of the whole ground floor of the castle for you and your wedding guests.

Hosting over 100 weddings a year, Craig y Nos Castle is a truly magical and unique castle wedding venue for Brides and Grooms coming from Cardiff, with reasonable and affordable rates.


Cardiff Wedding Theme ideas,
Wedding Decor and Wedding Gift Ideas
based on Cardiff's history, style and culture

Link your wedding theme, wedding decor and wedding favours to the history, style and sense of place of Cardiff. Your wedding theme may be linked to your own past, to key moments in your relationship with each other, your favourite colours, your personal tastes, or you may incorporate elements of your home town of Cardiff into your wedding day 'story book'.

When considering wedding decor you may already have plenty of your own ideas for your wedding. Or maybe you are still looking for inspiration? Reflect the story of Cardiff in your decor, to connect your personal history in your home town's roots, and your family's location in Cardiff. You may get some ideas from the history of Cardiff below, its buildings, street names, or local transport routes etc.


Interesting Facts About Cardiff
for your wedding theme/ decor/ story


1. Population: Cardiff local authority area had a population of 346,100 at the 2011 census and Cardiff larger urban zone 861,400. Cardiff is the 10th largest city in UK though it was for many centuries a small town of under 2000. It grew in size as a coal port. Coal for making iron and later steel was brought to Cardiff by packhorse from Merthyr Tydfil and then via a canal from Merthyr to the Taff Estuary at Cardiff. Later the Taff Vale Railway transported the coal from Merthyr to Cardiff which grew due to the huge demand for coal.

2. King Edward VII granted Cardiff city status on 28 October 1905 and Cardiff was made the capital of Wales in 1955. For a while Cardiff's Port was the busiest in the world exporting 10 million tons of coal a year. Even today Cardiff Port exports 3 million tons of goods.

3. 18 million visitors annually generating £852 million in income. 1:5 are employed in the tourism industry and Cardiff has 9,000 hotel beds.

4. The Welsh Assembly and BBC Drama Village have contributed to the redevelopment of Cardiff Bay.

5. Cardiff was the European City of Sport in 2009 and will be again in 2014 with a number of stadiums: the Millennium Stadium (national stadium for Wales national rugby union team and Wales national football team), SWALEC Stadium (Glamorgan County Cricket Club), Cardiff City Stadium (Cardiff City football team), Cardiff International Sports Stadium (Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club) and Cardiff Arms Park (Cardiff Blues and Cardiff RFC rugby union teams).

6. The name Cardiff derives in part from the Welsh word Caer meaning fort, and the River Taff, which flows by Cardiff Castle.

7. Neolithic people settled in and around Cardiff circa 4000 BC. Before the Romans, Cardiff and the surrounding areas of what later became Breconshire, Powys and Glamorgan, was occupied by the Silures, who were a Celtic British tribe that flourished in the Iron Age. The Roman fort built in 75 AD was an extension of the forts around the main Roman base at Caerleon. However little is known about the peoples of Cardiff between the Romans leaving in the C.4th and the Norman Conquest in 1081.  It is possible Cardiff was abandoned at this time as Wales was divided into a number of small kingdoms. In the C.10th to C.13th, the population of Cardiff was around 1,500 to 2,000.

8. Cardiff Castle was built in 1091 though it has been renovated and added to since. In 1404 Owain Glyndŵr burned Cardiff and took Cardiff Castle. As the town was small and most of the buildings were made of wood, the whole town was destroyed. However, the town was soon rebuilt and began to flourish once again as a busy port.

9. A flood in 1607 in the Bristol Channel, which may well have been a tsunami, caused the River Taff to be redirected.

10. During the Civil War, Cromwell beat the Parliamentarians at the Battle of St. Fagans, enabling Oliver Cromwell to conquer Wales. This was the last major battle in Wales.

11. Cardiff was still a small town as late as the 1790's; it was described as "an obscure and inconsiderable place" by one writer of the time, and the population had only increased to 1,870 by the 1801 census. Merthyr and Swansea were larger towns.

12. John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute built the Cardiff docks and is now recognised as "the creator of modern Cardiff". The town expanded rapidly from the 1830's. Cardiff became the main port for exports of coal from the Cynon, Rhondda, and Rhymney valleys, and grew at a rate of nearly 80% per decade between 1840 and 1870. Cardiff became the world's biggest exporter of coal and iron. Cardiff Coal Exchange established in 1886 used to set the price of the world's coal.

13. Cardiff generally preferred to be more British than Welsh, as demonstrated in the 1997 devolution referendum; Cardiff voters rejected the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales by 55.4% to 44.2%. The National Assembly for Wales has been based in Cardiff Bay since its formation in 1999.  Known as the Senedd (meaning Legislature, Parliament or Senate), the Assembly was opened on 1 March 2006, by The Queen.


Ideas for your wedding decorations
wedding theme based on facts, facilities
attractions in Cardiff

1. Possibly incorporate some elements of the many TV programmes and dramas filmed in Cardiff – though this would have more relevance to the programme than to the place in which it was filmed.

2. If you are interested in any sports, Cardiff’s reputation as a city of sport may be reflected in your wedding table decorations or décor.

3. The different kingdoms of Wales – if you wanted to reflect the history of Wales up to Cardiff becoming the capital.


4. Name your tables after the areas or wards (soe of them – that is) of Cardiff.

5. Visit the Museum of Welsh Life at St. Fagans for inspiration, possibly building table centres modelled on some of the old style Welsh houses.

6. If you are into walking or cycling you might wish to feature the Taff Trail’s scenic spots or names of places it passes through.

7. Feature Cardiff’s key buildings as your table names, possibly complete with centrepieces based on models of the buildings – if these can be obtained – e.g. the Millennium Stadium, Welsh National Museum, Senned (National Assembly for Wales) Building, Cardiff Castle, Llandaff Cathedral, Castell Coch, Coal Exchange and other landmark buildings.

8. The same can be done incorporating as table names and centrepieces all the castles in and around Cardiff – which will fit in with a castle theme for your wedding if marrying at Craig y Nos Castle wedding venue.

9. You may take inspiration or supplies from any of the various Festivals in Cardiff.

10. Check out the list of famous people in Cardiff and decide if you want to reflect them or their achievements / history.




14. Cardiff is built on reclaimed marshland, hence the relative flatness of the centre of Cardiff. Cardiff is one of the flattest cities in Britain and has more hours of sunlight than Milan, so it’s not all clouds and rain in Wales after all.

15. Stone for Cardiff's buildings has had to be imported from other areas. Red Sandstone from the Brecon Beacons has been used along with Portland Stone from Dorset, and yellow / grey limestone from the Vale of Glamorgan.

16. Areas and wards of Cardiff: Plasnewydd, Gabalfa, Roath, Cathays, Adamsdown, Splott, Butetown, Grangetown, Riverside and Canton, Gabalfa, Plasnewydd and Cathays, Pontcann, Penylan, Roath Park, Ely, Caerau and Fairwater,
Michaelston, Super Ely, Culverhouse Cross, Heath, Birchgrove, Gabalfa, Mynachdy, Llandaff North, Llandaff, Llanishen, Whitchurch & Tongwynlais, Rhiwbina, Thornhill, Lisvane and Cyncoed, Cyncoed, Radyr and Rhiwbina, Pontprennau, Old St Mellons, Rumney, Pentwyn, Llanrumney and Trowbridge.

Old St Mellons dates back to the Norman Conquest in the 11th century. Rural areas include the villages of St. Fagans, Creigiau, Pentyrch, Tongwynlais and Gwaelod-y-garth.


17. St. Fagans is home to the Museum of Welsh Life. The National History Museum at St Fagans in Cardiff is a large open air museum housing dozens of old historic buildings representative of Welsh history that have been dismantled and moved from their original location and reassembled at St. Fagans in Cardiff.

In 2011 Which? Travel magazine readers named St Fagans National History Museum as their favourite attraction in the UK.



18. Cardiff has not always supported the Welsh Language. English, Latin, Norse and Norman have all been dominant at different times, with Welsh dominant from the C.13th.

By 1891 the percentage of Welsh speakers had dropped to 28%; it is currently 11% due in part to the large student population who between them speak up to 94 different languages.

19. Cardiff is home to Welsh media with BBC Wales, S4C and ITV Wales studios in the city. A large independent TV production industry sector of over 600 companies employs 6000 employees and turns over £350 million annually.
Valleywood Studios at Rhondda Cynon Taff will be the biggest film studios in the UK. The BBC is to build new studios in Cardiff Bay to film dramas such as Casualty and Doctor Who, with the BBC to double media output from Cardiff by 2016.


20. Cardiff is the sixth best city in the UK for shopping.

21. The Taff Trail is a walking and cycle path running for 55 miles from Cardiff Bay to Brecon in the Brecon Beacons National Park. It runs through Bute Park, Sophia Gardens and many other green areas within Cardiff.

One can cycle the entire distance of the Trail almost completely off-road, as it follows the River Taff and the old disused railways in Glamorganshire's valleys.

On Sundays in summer the Beacons Bike Bus enables cyclists to take their bikes into the Beacons and then ride back to Cardiff along the Trail.

22. Cardiff key tourist / landmark buildings:


  • Millennium Stadium,

  • Pierhead Building,

  • the Welsh National Museum,

  • the Senedd housing the National Assembly for Wales,


  • Cardiff Castle,
    St David's Hall,
    Llandaff Cathedral
    the Wales Millennium Centre,
    Castell Coch (an elaborate Victorian folly which has replaced the original castle),
    Cardiff Bay,
    Cardiff Bay Barrage
    the Coal Exchange
    Cardiff Story museum, which documents the history of Cardiff.
    National Geographic magazine chose Cardiff as one of the 10 best places in the world to visit in 2011.


23. Cardiff has the largest concentration of castles of any city in the world. There is Cardiff Castle and Castell Coch, the ruins of Twmpath Castle, Llandaff Bishop's Palace and Saint Fagans Castle though the site of Whitchurch Castle has now been built on.

24. Cardiff hosts numerous large, high profile events, including Britain’s largest free summer festival.

Annual Festivals include:

  • Sparks in the Park

  • the annual Great British Cheese Festival in Cardiff Castle (the Independent Newspaper listed the Great British Cheese Festival, second in its list of top 10 Food Festivals in the UK)

  • Cardiff Mardi Gras

  • Cardiff Winter Wonderland

  • Cardiff Festival

  • the Cardiff Big Weekend Festival (live music - this is the largest outdoor free festival inthe UK attracting 250,000 visitors)

  • the Childrens' Festival in Cardiff Castle's grounds.


25. Famous People from Cardiff: Charlotte Church, Shirley Bassey, Roald Dahl, Ken Follett, Griff Rhys Jones, broadcaster and journalist John Humphries, Singer Shaking Stephens, Tommy Cooper (from neighbouring Caerphilly), and Tom Jones the singer (from Pontypridd).


26. Cardiff Country Parks account for 10% of the space in the city: Bute Park, Llandaff Fields, Pontcanna Fields, Roath Park, Victoria Park (Cardiff's first official park), Thompson's Park and in Whitchurch, the 150 acre Forest Farm Country Park. Cardiff has more green space per person than any other large UK city.

27. TV programmes filmed in Cardiff: Casualty, Doctor Who, Merlin, Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood, The Valleys and Upstairs Downstairs.

27. Cardiff was awarded the title European Capital of Sport in 2014. Cardiff is classed as a sporting capital since the completion of the Millennium Stadium, hosting events such as the Six Nations, the FA Cup and the Wales Rally GB.
The Millennium Stadium hosted the FA Cup 2001-2006 while Wembley Stadium was being rebuilt.

Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium has one of the largest sliding roofs in the world. It can seat 74,000 and has hosted the Rolling Stones and Neil Diamond.

28. Cardiff has been designated as the world’s first Fair Trade Capital - encouraging ethical trading and fair prices for producers in third world countries

29. The world's first £1million cheque was signed in Cardiff's Coal Exchange.

30. Cardiff has a reputation as a vibrant centre of learning and has one of the largest student populations in the UK.

31. St. David’s Centre is one of the largest shopping centres in the UK.



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