Ballinacurra House

Don't know where to start in describing Ballinacurra and just how magnificent everything about it is!! From the food and drink to the beautiful surroundings and decor, not a single tiny detail has been overlooked and that is down to the fantastic warm, friendly and attentive staff. Our wedding coordinator Orela was the loveliest person to deal with and listened to all our little ideas and notions (no matter how minor), was only an email away for any questions, queries or concerns in the run up to the big day. Everything about our day in Ballinacurra was what we dreamed it to be and more! The hardest part of the whole experience is leaving the next day. If you are considering Ballinacurra don't hesitate, just go there and see the fantastic house and gardens, meet with the helpful staff and then book it!!

Fantastic experience from start to finish for our wedding in Aug 2018. From the very first contact staff at Ballinacurra were prompt in their responses, super helpful and personable yet professional. We booked Ballinacurra without ever having even visited, as we live abroad. This also meant that we had an 8 hour time difference to contend with but our coordinator Orela was brilliant and we managed everything smoothly via emails and Skype calls. The venue is absolutely stunning and we loved the fact that it is an exclusive hire venue. If you want to hold the ceremony at the venue there are lots of beautiful location options both indoors and outdoors. The food was delicious, service staff were great and the on site accommodation is amazingly unique. I would thoroughly recommend this venue to any couple planning a wedding in Ireland.

Ballinacurra was the most amazing venue, we couldn’t have asked for better. We planned the wedding from overseas and from our very first conversation with Des I knew we’d found the right place. The team honestly made wedding planning an absolute breeze. Nothing was too difficult and they were full of amazing suggestions to make our day unique and entertaining for our guests. I couldn’t fault any of it. From the amazing food, to the wonderful decor and entertainment, to the incredible service from the staff the place felt like home away from home for the weekend.

Des, Lisa, Mary and all of the team at Ballinacurra House were second to none! Jenna and I were delighted to secure such a stunning venue for our big day. Des and Lisa were brilliant to work with and so friendly and welcoming throughout our planning phase and to our guests over the course of the weekend. David, the Head Chef was brilliant and straight talking in advising us about our wedding menu (we went with the 4 course Chef’s Tasting menu) and the food and wine tastings we went to were amazing. Mary and Orela helped us to put the day together down to the last detail and kept us on track with deadlines etc. We had 2 pre-planning meeting and the girls were always available to us by e-mail or phone if we needed them. They linked in with all of our suppliers ahead of the day to make sure they all knew where they had to be and when, which took so much of the hassle out of the planning for us. We really can’t thank them enough for all their hard work… Ballinacurra House is certainly a one-off venue. The character of the house and the individually decorated bedrooms create a really unique and special vibe. Throughout the weekend everyone spoke about how they felt at home and how polite and courteous the staff were. There was nothing that was too much trouble for the team over the weekend and the staff in charge were constantly checking in with the bridal party to make sure everything was ok and asking if we needed anything. And the food… People are still talking about it 6 months later! They say to make a great wedding you should focus on the venue, the food and the entertainment. By choosing Ballinacurra, all we had to worry about was choosing the right music to create the atmosphere we wanted and we had some party! Advice for couples thinking of having their wedding here in future: •You need to rent the venue itself in addition to the ‘per head’ charge for the meal etc so be aware that this can drive up the costs of the wedding. The house can sleep up to 54 people so you can offset some of the cost of the venue by charging people per head to stay there. o You get to control the guest list and the costs but Ballinacurra staff will handle the check in and check out so you don’t need to worry about it. •If your wedding is on a Friday or Saturday, you will need to take the house for 2 nights which does add to the expense. We offset this by having our day 2 in Ballinacurra as well. We had a lot of people travelling from all over the country so this made a weekend of it for our guests. But to justify the expense you certainly need the numbers. •They regularly host open days so take the chance to go and experience the venue and especially the food – the Kinsale Cooking academy is on-site and the food is absolutely fantastic! •The service is absolutely brilliant. There were staff everywhere and they got to know everyone by name which is a real touch of class. •They weren’t too keen on us bringing in our own wine even though they have a corkage option but in the end we didn’t mind as their wines were excellent. If you’re looking to wow your guests I would absolutely recommend Ballinacurra House to anyone. Because of the venue, the food and the staff at Ballinacurra, our wedding will be spoken about by everyone who attend for years to come…

Our wedding at Ballinacurra House was everything we could have hoped for & more! Our wedding planner Orela was absolutely amazing & went above & beyond to make sure the day was completely perfect! The whole team felt like extended family. Our vision for the wedding we wanted was brought to life by Orela & her team! I couldn’t recommend Ballinacurra House enough. A complete 5 star wedding service from start to finish!!

There aren't many brides who get married in Ireland on the week of a Hurricane and a Storm but if this does happen then youre in safe hands with the team in Ballinacurra House!! After a stressful week with no power, no water, no internet and no phones (eek!!!), Orela kept trying to convince me that everything would be fine. And from the minute we safely got into the house, we could finally all breathe a sigh of relief. All our guests were greeted by the fantastic staff running out with umbrellas, warm drinks and a safe haven while the storm raged outside. We had an absolutely fantastic day! Welcoming drinks, mind-blowing food and a magical House that charmed everyone. The venue is so special I didnt have to do any major decorating. The Garden Room with fairy lights is enough to dazzle guests The team at Ballinacurra went above and beyond to make our day the best day of our lives. A special mention to the lovely lads who carried my Grannie and her wheelchair throughout the house - she was thrilled with all the special attention!!!

If you’re considering Ballinacurra House for your wedding, think no more and get booking, you will not regret it! We cannot recommend Ballinacurra House enough. This is an amazing venue with awesome food and an outstanding team that will make your day more special than you could’ve dreamed. We met Des who made us feel that this was the right venue for us but we had no idea at that stage just how special the entire experience would be. We organised our wedding from abroad and Orela made planning our three days there very easy for us. From the moment we arrived on the Thursday, Orela, Elaine, James, Paul and the team made us feel at home for the entire weekend to the point where the team knew the names of all our guests and their relation to us, a beautiful touch that our guests are still talking about. The food throughout the weekend was second to none, from the canape’s to our four course wedding meal through to the late night pizzas and posh bacon butties - thank you chef David and his team. Nothing was too difficult for this team, who were attentive, accommodating, fun and effortlessly made our wedding day and in fact our entire weekend one that ourselves and our guests will never forget. You will not get this experience at any hotel or cookie cutter wedding venue – this is a unique and special place with awesome people. I cannot thank everyone at Ballinacurra House enough for exceeding all expectations and making what we thought would be really good, absolutely amazing!

We were married at Ballinacurra House in June 2016. It’s taken us ages to write this review – but only because we wanted to save the best for last. Our wedding was absolutely perfect from start to finish, and we owe it to Mary and the amazing staff at Ballinacurra. Planning a destination wedding in Ireland from Brooklyn sounds daunting, but with a bit of coaching from Mary the intimidation factor vanished quickly. More than a year later, our friends and family still talk about how they’d love to relive our wedding – and we’re pretty sure they’re not just being nice. The food was “the best food I’ve ever tasted at a wedding, hands-down.” The afternoon soup, the full service breakfast, and the five-course wedding dinner menu fit the palate we were going for. The menu was outstanding - top-restaurant quality. The staff was delightful, and knew all 54 guests by name shortly after arrival. True Irish hospitality! Everyone felt at home at Ballinacurra. Our guests had all traveled overseas and were staying under the same roof. It was very important to us to observe our guests comfortable. From the staff working the breakfast to the bartenders tending from noon to the wee hours, everyone was so gracious and thoughtful. The house is big, ornate, quirky and beautifully maintained, and the grounds are perfect for wandering and taking photos. It was also really important to us that all our guests could stay at the same house and spend time together while visiting Ireland, and Ballinacurra had the perfect number of rooms for our 54 guests. The white horses added a shade of Irish mysticism, and were a welcomed unforeseen attendee in our wedding photography album. In particular, Ballinacurra is the perfect spot for a destination wedding. We thought we’d have to hire a wedding planner since we weren’t going to visit Ireland at all during the planning process – but with Mary figuratively by our side, we found we didn’t need any extra assistance. We also had a less-than-unlimited wedding budget, and Mary was more than happy to help us cut corners and recommend where to splurge. Ballinacurra House could really be either an affordable option or a very luxurious option, depending on your budget. And again, it’s ideal to have as many of your guests together as possible, since they’ve all traveled so far just for you. We often wish we could time travel back to 19 June 2017. We’d choose Ballinacurra House for our wedding, again, no questions asked! To peek at a few of our wedding photos, check out #Finnsale on Instagram.

Thank you to all at Ballinacurra House for being a fantastic venue for our wedding weekend. We had the most amazing time. Orela was with us every step of the way in the planning stages and had great ideas to help us along, thank you. You wouldn't get such high quality food or service like Ballinacurra anywhere else. I just wish we could do it all again!

I recently had my wedding at this amazing venue. When people say your wedding day is the best day of your life I always thought is it really ?Surely I could top it with other amazing days I have had while traveling the world - festivals, concerts ,sky diving, sitting under the star lit sky in the Whitsundays, dancing the night away in Thailand the list goes on so I thought it will be a good day but not the best .I can honestly say I had to eat my words as I did have the best day of my life in Ballinacurra House and the reason mostly is because of the amazing staff and the most beautiful wedding venue I have seen in a very long time. I moved to the UK 6 years ago after a lot of traveling myself and my now husband decided to return to Cork where I am originally from to tie the knot. We must have viewed over 50 venues these were in the UK, Ibiza twice and Cork and nothing jumped out to us like Ballinacurra House did. The venue is so pretty with loads of character, amazing grounds for pictures and beautiful themed bedrooms it is one of the most classy and quirky venues I have ever seen. From start to finish we had an amazing experience. Des, Mary , Orela the wedding planner and all the other staff helped us out so much and no task was too big or too small. I would advise anyone who is looking for a magical experience just to go visit Ballinacurra House and see it for yourself how wonderful this venue actually is you will not be disappointed I promise you.

I recently had my wedding at this amazing venue. When people say your wedding day is the best day of your life I always thought is it really ?Surely I could top it with other amazing days I have had while traveling the world - festivals, concerts ,sky diving, sitting under the star lit sky in the Whitsundays, dancing the night away in Thailand the list goes on so I thought it will be a good day but not the best .I can honestly say I had to eat my words as I did have the best day of my life in Ballinacurra House and the reason mostly is because of the amazing staff and the most beautiful wedding venue I have seen in a very long time. I moved to the UK 6 years ago after a lot of traveling myself and my now husband decided to return to Cork where I am originally from to tie the knot. We must have viewed over 50 venues these were in the UK, Ibiza twice and Cork and nothing jumped out to us like Ballinacurra House did. The venue is so pretty with loads of character, amazing grounds for pictures and beautiful themed bedrooms it is one of the most classy and quirky venues I have ever seen. From start to finish we had an amazing experience. Des, Mary , Orela the wedding planner and all the other staff helped us out so much and no task was too big or too small. I would advise anyone who is looking for a magical experience just to go visit Ballinacurra House and see it for yourself how wonderful this venue actually is you will not be disappointed I promise you.

Honestly, my husband and myself have not quite found the right words or eloquence to write about how absolutely perfect and magical our weekend at Ballinacurra was. We celebrated our wedding on NYE and from start to finish it was the most amazing and incredible experience of our lives. Our wedding coordinator, Mary, helped us from start to finish and was there to answer every question. She made us feel like old friends visiting and we can't even begin to convey how special that was. Our families and friends have not stopped talking about their holiday in Ireland. We chose Ballinacurra as our wedding venue because we wanted something unique and memorable. The service was INCREDIBLE-the staff at Ballinacurra is the BEST!!! The food was AMAZING! Now that we are back in NYC, our memories are keeping us warm and we can't stop reliving our wedding. We feel that we can't even begin to explain how wonderful Ballinacurra is-all we know is we are planning to come back someday!! Thank you Ballinacurra and especially Mary for creating the wedding of our dreams!!

We booked our wedding in early 2016 and married in Ballinacurra on 19th November. We had a day that's as exactly what we had dreamed , Mary and the team get a real sense of the couple and we felt so comfortable. Nothing was a problem and I really felt so very special. The venue has everything you want and more - family are still talking about their rooms - sharing photographs. No regrets , I'd change nothing.

My husband and I had our wedding reception here last November and we couldn't recommend Ballinacurra house highly enough, especially if a couple want something different from the formal, traditional hotel wedding. Our guests were blown away by the house, it oozes style and character. Everything our guests were served was top class, from the canapes and tasting menu to the cocktails in the cuban cocktail bar and brick oven pizzas that night. In fact so many of our guests said it was the best food they ever had at a wedding! I loved that we had so much freedom to pick and choose our menu and that we didn't have to stick to the usual 'packages' provided by other venues. Their wedding co-coordinator is fantastic and the staff on the day were so friendly and efficient, making an effort to get to know guests by name. It was a fantastic experience staying in the house with all the different themed rooms and I only wish we could have had all our guests stay. The grounds are fabulous and there are great photo opportunities around! I think Oscra the Irish wolfhound is the most photographed dog in cork! We are so glad we chose Ballinacurra house and are delighted we can say we wouldn't change a thing about the day!

From the moment we and our guests checked into Ballinacurra House we felt at home. Everyone is still commenting on how Elaine knew everyones names from the moment they arrived - she is such a wonderful person. All of the staff that greeted us and showed us to our rooms were so friendly, welcoming and professional. James made everyone feel so welcome and provided incredible service in the bar. Orela was amazing and helped us so much with all the planning. We would have been lost without her since we were planning our wedding from New York. Everything about Ballinacurra is amazing. We love the decor throughout the house and the grounds are beautiful. The food was amazing throughout the weekend, and we have high standards - we like to call ourselves foodies. From the wedding day to the recovery day the food was 5 star. The wedding day fish, beef, and the lemon desert were so yummy and on the recovery day the food was equally delicious - we all had seconds of the pork that Dave had slow roasted from the night before. Oh and the late night pizza was fab!! The food wasn't 'wedding food' that you get in a lot of places that are serving big crowds. It was high end fine dining food - thanks to the amazing chef Dave. The service was seamless during dinner with a perfect flow and as we chatted with our guests going from table to table between courses we saw that the clean plates going back said it all. Thank you for making the most important day of our lives so perfectly special and memorable. Des and Lisa - thank you for sharing your beautiful home with us for our wedding. Don't change a thing - keep it the perfect exclusive venue that it is.

Hi Orela, I just wanted to take the time to officially send a thank you to you and everyone at Ballinacurra. We had high expectations, but boy did ye manage to excel them! From day one of booking you have been absolutely excellent- so easy to deal with-helpful, organised, efficient and always friendly. You made what can be an overwhelming experience into one of pure ease. On arriving to the house on Friday evening, this standard continued- every member of staff we met was polite, helpful, and seemed to have learnt everybody's names in about an hour!! You made us free that our weekend was the most important thing, and made us all feel so special. Ye were constantly attentive without every being invasive, nothing was too much trouble. The house itself was absolutely perfect- beautiful to look at, intimate enough to allow for a close knit feeling, but with just the right amount of little hide always should people have needed them. The food was simply amazing- from the Friday night one pots, to canapes and the wedding dinner- even the breakfast was delicious!! And it wasn't just us who thought this (as admittedly we may have been slightly biased!!)- we had countless compliments from family and friends with praise for the house, staff and food. Please pass out thanks also onto Diane (who was excellent and so lovely), and all the staff involved over out weekend with you. We would pick Ballinacurra over and over again if we had the chance!! Aisling and Alex xx

I can't say enough good things about the staff and the venue. Organizing a Wedding from Canada was a daunting task, I had never set foot in the venue until my Wedding day but was completely taken care of from start to finish by Orela and her wonderful team. She went over and above responding to my many emails after hours (due to the time difference) reassuring me with every concern, big or small. Guiding me through the entire planning process I would have been a nervous wreck without her. The staff coordinated all the external vendors in my absence. The venue is absolutely stunning and very flexible and unique. The food was just out of this world. This was the best weekend of my life and definitely exceeded all my expectations.

The team at Ballinacurra could not have been any more helpful. They bent over backwards through the entire planning process to help us out with suggestions, accommodating and requests and generally putting us completely at ease. When the guests arrived for the weekend, every member of staff quickly learned every guest by name. This simply, but thoughtful touch made everyone feel right at home. I would recommend the team at Ballinacurra to anyone. Everything ran super smoothly. Couldn't be happier.

Just cannot recommend highly enough such s special place and a special team working there. It was the best day of our lives and Ballinacurra played a huge part in this. A unique venue the food was exceptional and again wonderful people working there.

An unbelievable experience 10/10 I just hope I'm invited to a wedding there to experience it from the other side.

Outstanding staff, food and venue!

The only thing I've marked it down on, is the value, as the place is not cheap. But you do get the entire grounds and house to yourself, which is incomparable to hotels and such. The team are great and I am delighted that we chose Ballinacurra.

Virginia, Mary and all of the staff at Ballinacurra were extremely helpful, responsive and flexible in helping us organise our wedding at ballinacurra. The venue itself was perfect, the grounds in autumn colours looked beautiful. Food and drinks were impeccable - I highly recommend going with the chefs seasonal recommendations. The Cuban cocktail bar was a massive hit with out guests also.

Ballinacurra went above and beyond any other venue I've had experience with. All our guests commented on how amazing the staff were and also how beautiful the grounds and delicious the food was. Everything about Ballinacurra makes the perfect wedding venue!

If there were a 10 star rating I'd give it to Ballinacurra without a doubt! I have NEVER come across service and quality we got from them! Our wedding was in June 2015. Every bit of effort made by Virginia, and people who worked in the venue on the day was beyond excellent!