Castle Weddings Wales Wedding Ceremony Room Gallery - Weddings in Wales at Craig y Nos Castle

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Castle Weddings Wales Wedding Ceremony Room Gallery

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South Wales Weddings Ceremonies
South Wales Weddings Ceremony Room

Wedding Tips: Trouble & Strife


Spouse:  someone who'll stand by you through all the trouble you wouldn't have had if you'd stayed single.  ~Author Unknown


WHY MARRIAGE?
Anon

Because to the depths of me, I long to love one person,
With all my heart, my soul, my mind, my body...
Because I need a forever friend to trust with the intimacies of me,
Who won’t hold them against me,
Who loves me when I’m unlikable,
Who sees the small child in me, and
Who looks for the divine potential of me...
Because I need to cuddle in the warmth of the night
With someone who thanks God for me,
With someone I feel blessed to hold...

Because marriage means opportunity
To grow in love in friendship...

Because marriage is a discipline
To be added to a list of achievements...

Because marriages do not fail, people fail
When they enter into marriage
Expecting another to make them whole...

Because, knowing this,
I promise myself to take full responsibility
For my spiritual, mental and physical wholeness
I create me, I take half of the responsibility for my marriage
Together we create our marriage...
Because of this understanding
The possibilities are limitless.

South Wales Wedding Venue Ceremony Room Craig y Nos Castle
Swansea Wedding Reception Venue Craig y Nos Castle Opera House

Wedding Tips: Are you sure?


Marriage means commitment.  Of course, so does insanity.  ~Author Unknown


A MARRIAGE PRAYER
Bud Henry Bowen

As we begin our journey down the road of life together. We don’t know what lies ahead for the road turns and bends. But help us to make the best of whatever comes our way.


Help us to hug each other often … laugh a lot, talk more, and argue less.


Help us to continue to enjoy each other as we did when we first met.


Help us to realise that nothing or no one is perfect and to look for the good in all things and all people including ourselves.


Help us to respect each other’s likes and dislikes, opinions and beliefs, hopes and dreams and fears even though we may not always understand them.


Help us to learn from each other and to help each other to grow mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.


Help us to realise that there is design and purpose in our lives as in the world and no matter what happens to us we will hold on to each other and know that things have a way of working out for the good.


Help us to create for our children a   peaceful, stable home of love as a foundation on which they can build their lives.


But most of all, help us to keep lit the torch of love that we now share in our hearts to that by our loving example we may pass on the light of love to our children and to their children and to their children’s children forever.



Marriage Venue Wales Craig y Nos Castle Ceremony Room

Wedding Tips: Stand by your Man


There is so little difference between husbands you might as well keep the first.  ~Adela Rogers St. Johns



GROW OLD ALONG WITH ME
Robert Browning

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which
the first was made:
Our times are in his hand
Who saith, “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God:
see all, nor be afraid!”

South Wales Wedding Venue Ceremony Room Craig y Nos Castle
South Wales Wedding Venue Ceremony Room Craig y Nos Castle

Wedding Tips: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts


Marriage: that I call the will of two to create the one who is more than those who created it.  ~Friedrich Nietzsche

TRUE LOVE
Anon

True love is a sacred flame
That burns eternally,
And none can dim its special glow
Or change its destiny.
True love speaks in tender tones
And hears with gentle ear,
True love gives with open heart
And true love conquers fear.
True love makes no harsh demands
It neither rules nor binds,
And true love holds with gentle hands
The hearts that it entwines.



Wales Wedding Venue Ceremony Room
Wales Wedding Venue Ceremony Room

Wedding Tips: 25 years later


Love seems the swiftest but it is the slowest of all growths.  No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century.  ~Mark Twain


THESE I CAN PROMISE
Anon

I cannot promise you a life of sunshine;
I cannot promise riches, wealth, or gold;
I cannot promise you an easy pathway
That leads away from change or growing old.
But I can promise all my heart’s devotion;
A smile to chase away your tears of sorrow;
A love that’s ever true and ever growing;
A hand to hold in yours through each tomorrow.

Craig y Nos Castle Wedding Ceremony Room with white chair covers and harp on stage

Wedding Tips: It's the End


A man in love is incomplete until he has married.  Then he's finished.  ~Zsa Zsa Gabor


WHAT IS LOVE?
Anon

Love is not just looking at each other and saying `You’re wonderful’.
There are times when we are anything but wonderful.
Love is looking out in the same direction. It is linking our strength to pull a common load. It is pushing together towards the far horizons, hand in hand.
Love is knowing that when our strength falters, we can borrow the strength of someone who cares. Love is a strange awareness that our sorrows will be shared and made lighter by sharing; that joys will be enriched and multiplied by the joy of another.
Love is knowing someone else cares that we are not alone in life.

Craig y Nos Castle Wedding Venue in Swansea Valley, South Wales, the Wedding Ceremony Room

Wedding Tips: Happiness Ever After


All marriages are happy.  It's the living together afterward that causes all the trouble.  ~Raymond Hull

MAY YOUR HOME
Anon

May your home be filled with laughter
and the warm embrace of a summer day.

May you find peacefulness and beauty,
challenge, and satisfaction, humor and insight,
healing and renewal, love and wisdom,
as in a quiet heart.

May you always feel that what you have is enough.


Craig y Nos Castle Wedding Venue outside Theatre Entrance showing white metal arch with bridal couple

Wedding Tips: Ceremony with Children


If you already have children try to involve them in the ceremony. The registrar can adapt your wedding ceremony to include a blessing for you all becoming a family as well as the marriage.

Wedding Tips: Hope eternal


I have great hopes that we shall love each other all our lives as much as if we had never married at all.  ~Lord Byron


BECAUSE SHE WOULD ASK ME WHY I LOVED HER
Christopher Brennan

If questioning would make us wise
No eyes would ever gaze in eyes;
If all our tale were told in speech
No mouths would wander each to each.
Were spirits free from mortal mesh
And love not bound in hearts of flesh
No aching breasts would yearn to meet
And find their ecstasy complete.
For who is there that lives and knows
The secret powers by which he grows?
Were knowledge all, what were our need
To thrill and faint and sweetly bleed?
Then seek not, sweet, the “If” and “Why”
I love you now until I die.
For I must love because I live
And life in me is what you give.


Bride and Groom leaving the theatre at Craig y Nos Castle after a wedding ceremony

Wedding Tips: Ageless Faces


One of the good things that come of a true marriage is, that there is one face on which changes come without your seeing them; or rather there is one face which you can still see the same, through all the shadows which years have gathered upon it.  ~George MacDonald

THE KEY TO LOVE
Anon

The key to love is understanding...
The ability to comprehend not only the spoken word,
but those unspoken gestures,
the little things that say so much by themselves.
The key to love is forgiveness...
to accept each others faults and pardon mistakes,
without forgetting, but with remembering
what you learn from them.

The key to love is sharing...
Facing your good fortunes as well as the bad, together;
both conquering problems, forever searching for ways
to intensify your happiness.

The key to love is giving...
without thought of return,
but with the hope of just a simple smile,
and by giving in but never giving up.

The key to love is respect...
realising that you are two separate people, with different ideas; that you don’t belong to each other,
that you belong with each other, and share a mutual bond.

The key to love is inside us all...
It takes time and patience to unlock all the ingredients that will take you to its threshold;
it is the continual learning process that demands a lot of work... but the rewards are more than worth the effort...
and that is the key to love.

Craig y Nos Castle's Adelina Patti theatre with grand piano on the stage, ready for a performance
The theatre curtain at Craig y Nos Castle's theatre in South Wales featuring Adelina Patti riding a chariot

Wedding Tips: Decorate the Wedding Ceremony Table


Not everyone gets married in a church, but you might want to decorate your own 'altar' as a focal point for your wedding ceremony. Craig y Nos Castle just provides a table with a table cloth over.

There are many ways you could personalise the table, from hanging multicoloured ribbons, or crepe paper, a gorgeous piece of fabric etc.

Wedding Tips: Best Friends


Only choose in marriage a man whom you would choose as a friend if he were a woman.  ~Joseph Joubert


COME WALK WITH ME
Judith Calver

Come walk with me, my love,
Along the paths of life.
And keep up by my side, my love,
As we walk the paths of life.

Stop for a while with me, my love,
The path is growing steep.
We’ll sit by the pool of life, my love,
Where the waters are so deep.

We’ll follow the stream of life from whence it flows
And seek its very source.
Follow the stream of life, my love,
We’ll follow the stream of life.

Come climb these rocks with me, my love,
And help me along the way.
And together we’ll reach the top, my love,
We’ll stand at the very top.

Look down on the world with me, my love,
Look down on this world of ours.
We walked through life together, my love,
Together we passed the hours.

And we’ll continue walking onwards
Through life’s more peaceful paths.

Theatre Ceremony Room at Craig y Nos Castle with bride and groom on stage, blue chairs and night lighting

Wedding Tips: Litany for a Wedding Ceremony

LITANY FOR A WEDDING
Anon

We take delight in our very presence here in soundness of body and mind: for our ability to make decisions and the energy to carry them out.

We remember in this precious moment all those in pain and who suffer strictures in mind or debilitation of limb. For what we have, what we are and what we may become - we are thankful.

We celebrate our common life with friends and family and all the relationships that sustain our humour and support our spirits especially in time of trouble or sadness.

We remember in this timeless moment the lonely and the unloved and those who belong to none, are answerable to none and upon whom none depend. For what we have, what we are and what we may become - we are thankful.

We cherish our work, our responsibilities and the where-with-all that sustains our life-styles: for demands made upon us which bring out the best and opportunities that enliven our imaginations.

We remember in this moment of enchantment the unloved and the purposeless and those whose talents lie undiscovered or remain wasted. For what we have, what we are and what we may become - we are thankful.

We delight on this special day in the security of our families and the protection of reliable affections: in those spaces wherein love and knowledge may mature especially for these two friends -[bride’s name] and [groom’s name].

We remember in this moment those without homes and without hope; those who, despite their efforts, have come by so little and who know anxiety too well. For what we have, what we are and what we may become - we are thankful.

We are privileged to be here in these profound moments beyond ordinary time with these two folk; may their vows rekindle our own and their life together be both a celebration and a yes to all that abides deeply and remains constant: faith, hope and that most robust and forgiving of affections: love.

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For many more ideas on wedding Poems and Litanies at Wedding Ceremonies, see an excellent source of wedding poems here.

Wedding Tips: Under the influence?


When two people are under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions, they are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and exhausting condition continuously until death do them part.  ~G.B. Shaw, Getting Married, 1908


THESE I CAN PROMISE
Anon

I cannot promise you a life of sunshine;
I cannot promise riches, wealth, or gold;
I cannot promise you an easy pathway
That leads away from change or growing old.
But I can promise all my heart’s devotion;
A smile to chase away your tears of sorrow;
A love that’s ever true and ever growing;
A hand to hold in yours through each tomorrow.


Hanging baskets and the floral white metal arch outside the Craig y Nos Castle theatre / ceremony room
Craig y Nos Castle Wedding Venue Swansea Wedding Ceremony Room Theatre Entrance

Wedding Tips: No remorse


Never feel remorse for what you have thought about your wife; she has thought much worse things about you.  ~Jean Rostand, Le Mariage, 1927


THIS DAY I MARRIED MY BEST FRIEND
Anon

This day I married my best friend
... the one I laugh with as we share life’s wondrous zest,
as we find new enjoyments and experience all that’s best.
... the one I live for because the world seems brighter
as our happy times are better and our burdens feel much lighter.
... the one I love with every fiber of my soul.
We used to feel vaguely incomplete, now together we are whole.


Marriage Venue Wales Craig y Nos Castle Ceremony Room


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Chair Moving / Swapping of Chairs
from and to Theatre Ceremony Room:
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Chair Moving - Why this is discouraged:

We discourage chair swapping from room to room due to issues with the stairs, and the heightened risk of personal injury insurance claims from people tripping over, carrying stacks of chairs. A premium of £2.50 per chair moved / swapped is charged for this service.

The current and permanent arrangement of chairs is

1. Silver with blue seats in Theatre
2. Gold with red seats in Conservatory and Function Room

Some Couples like the Blue and Silver chairs uncovered, for their own colour scheme. This is fine in the theatre. But if you want Blue and Silver chairs in the Conservatory, or Red and Gold ones in the Theatre, this means swapping chairs to and fro twice.

First, all the chairs get taken out of one room and piled into stacks. This chips the paint and causes damage over time. Then the stacks are moved to the Conservatory to the Theatre, and the ones in the Theatre are moved to the Conservatory. The two rooms are at opposite ends of the castle so this involves a lot of walking up and down, carrying them.

In winter or on wet days they would need to be carried internally to avoid them getting spotted with rain. There are three sets of steps between the Conservatory and Theatre. There is a risk of people falling up or down the steps. So we prefer this task is done by the maintenance team. The maintenance team are normally on reduced staffing at weekends and will not come in especially, for an hour's work, so may need rota'ing on for a half day at least. It can end up that we use all available resources to move the chairs, including waitresses and planners not really physically able to move lots of furniture.

Secondly, the whole process needs repeating in reverse, to get everything back into place for the next wedding. This can mean a bit of a rush, as we need the Ceremony room and Conservatory prepared for the next day's Ceremony and Wedding Breakfast. Normally the Bride on their wedding day will want to get chairs and tables decorated first thing in the morning, or ideally the night before once the Conservatory is vacated. This presents a logistical problem and can involve a number of people moving 140 or so chairs in the early hours, to fit the moving of chairs between the two events.

For this reason a premium is charged for moving chairs, as we now discourage this.


Theatre Chairs:

The chairs in the theatre are currently kept uncovered (2019). We are seeing a gradual change in fashion towards Wedding Ceremonies having chairs without the covers but you can add covers if you wish.

Please note the following Policy on Chairs/ Chair Moving.

1. You can choose to have white covers for an extra £1.50 a chair, with bows.

2. We can remove chairs that you do not want in the theatre, and store them on the Stage behind the Curtain, to match the number of chairs in the auditorium more closely to the number of guests at your Wedding Ceremony. This means you do not have too many chairs in the room relative to your guest numbers. There is no charge for this.

3. We need advance notice of your guest numbers if you require us to match the number of chairs in the ceremony room to the number of guests attending your wedding ceremony.

4. If any of the above is required, please ensure this is added to your ‘Running Order’ / Wedding Day schedule.

5. With no chaircovers, you have silver chairs with blue seats in theatre.  

6. The theatre no longer has the gold chairs with red seats. The chairs are silver painted with blue seat covers. Note in the main picture on this page the chairs are blue seated but with gold paint - confusing I know!

7. Photos from earlier times still show the red seated gold chairs and some brides may prefer these. To bring in the red chairs involves moving them all from the function room and / or Conservatory!

8. There is a charge for moving chairs from the function room (and then back again) – which is required if you want the red seated and gold painted chairs at your Ceremony. We charge a fee for moving chairs from the theatre to any other room and back again at a rate of £2.50 a chair, or a minimum £100, whichever is the greater.

9. This chair moving fee is levied for a number of reasons;

A) the steps leading from theatre to function room are awkward for the girls to manage, while when the auditorium floor is raked, the route is somewhat hazardous for the girls, so for Health & Safety reasons we prefer to have our Maintenance team do this work.

(B) The chairs have to be stacked to be moved and carried, causing gradual erosion of the paint, increasing maintenance costs.

(C) In view of (A) above, we have to rota on maintenance staff to move the chairs for the girls, which increases our wages spend by the appropriate overtime / daily rate.

10. As we need to swap the chairs around between the Function room (which has the red & gold chairs) and the Theatre (which has the blue and silver chairs), this means the function room or a good part of it may be out of use temporarily, while the theatre chairs are stacked in there.

11. We will need to move the red chairs from function room before the Ceremony but after breakfast service has been completed in the function room.

12. As chair swapping cannot be done until after morning breakfast service is finished and cleared away, this means you cannot decorate your theatre chairs until around 11.30 am, once the required number of red seated gold chairs have been moved from the function room.

13. We cannot start moving chairs to and from the function room until after breakfast has been cleared away from the tables and the last of the breakfast guests have left the function room.

14. For £2.50/ chair or a £100 minimum fee, we can rota the maintenance team to move the blue chairs to the function room and red chairs to theatre and then we will move them all back again after the Ceremony in time for the evening function.

15. You cannot use the function room while the theatre chairs are in there.

16. If you use the blue seated / silver chairs, there is no charge as there is no moving of chairs from one room to another.

17. Where time and physical effort is required to move furniture around from one room to another, this is a chargeable service added to your wedding account.

18. Any moving of furniture from existing layouts will need planning into the Wedding Schedule and Running Order and an appropriate charge added to your account.

19. Moving any furniture around the castle while guests are milling around may cause inconvenience especially during a large wedding.

20. We need to plan furniture moving in advance to rota in Maintenance staff to work.



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