County Arms Hotel

Where can I start, we booked our wedding in the county arms hotel in march 2018. That's when we met the lovely dee Smith! We absolutely loved the county arms hotel, we attended a wedding there and had said this will definitely be where we go! And of course he popped the question and off we went! When we went to view the hotel they were absolutely lovely to talk to, they even gave us some tasters to try there and then. The food is absolutely amazing, honestly the nicest food we have tasted, especially the duck springrolls , I never tasted anything like them! If you havent been to try the food you must go, even if not for a wedding just pop in and try the dinner it's fantastic. We then got talking to dee and we just knew talking to her , we wanted it. The hotel itself is fantastic but my god meeting herself really topped it, you know when you meet someone and you just click straight off , well this was one of those moments. We couldnt wait to get moving. We had booked with them to get married in august 2020. So the planning began the little chats every couple of months and catch ups checking in to hear all our plans. So a year before came and we got fully on board with planning BUT!! Of course that dreaded word.. covid .. hit with a bang. We rescheduled for march 2021.. then april 2021.. then December 2021 Meanwhile inbetween having a new little baby just 8 weeks before , the 3rd and final wedding date . Anyway dee was 100% while I was panicking, crying and running on literally no sleep what so ever she always called me with a positive attitude. "Dont worry niamh I got this" Always feeling absolutely brilliant after speaking to her. I must say only for dee , we both said , we definitely would have cancelled the wedding altogether because we just felt as if it was to much going on in such a short time. We went for our meal tasting when the baby was 4 weeks old and it was absolutely amazing with a complementary over night stay (which was well needed with a newborn at home) and we met dee the next morning to run through the day that we had planned. (Us both still in a panic wondering, will we just cancle.) She literally made everything for us that morning , we knew she was amazing but my god you wouldnt believe it, we came out with smiles from ear to ear thinking, this is fantastic , she literally had absolutely everything coverd from a to z. We literally had nothing to worry about. So on the run up to wedding of course with having started to gather bits and Bob's since bloody 2018 , I rocked up with 2 large cases , 2 boxs and god knows what else so dee was delighted thinking wow she has her overnight case and all.. no no .. just a ball of decorations, from avengers toys, decs all random bits, she thought I was mad, but nonetheless, done an absolutely fantastic set up of a candy cart decorated in marvel theme, photo guest book, bathroom baskets , kids area , you would want to see what she done. It was amazing. I didnt know what anything in the case was, where it was going , but you can be sure dee found a spot for it. I sat in bed while mikie done a night feed one night text dee at 5am, he just looked at me and said seriously are you actually emailing dee at 5am, but it was what was in my head at that time and I just knew well when I woke the next morning and looked at my phone all my questions would be answerd. The county arms itself are amazing, they really go above and beyond for their couples. They done all the decorating from the ceremony and the ball room and right down to giving meals to suit everyone. Michael's dad has Gall bladder issues and had to have no butter or fat throughout his dinner and they made sure to have him sorted and looked after. We had some celiacs and vegans also and they made sure to look after everyone. Michael's mam isnt one for a fancy dessert and they were willing to serve a bread and butter pudding for her. Just absolutely fantastic service. All the staff are amazing and will really do absolutely anything you want or ask for. I love some pornstar martinis and they made sure to go and buy some passion fruit so I could have my favourite coctail on the day. I cannot express how amazing this woman truly is. She goes above on beyond for you and any couple that have her are very lucky! She will make your day absolutely amazing , she goes the extra mile to make it extra special. The most amazing co-ordinator in the most amazing hotel. We couldnt have asked for better. Niamh & Michael

My fiancé and I got engaged in June of this year and decided we didn’t want a long engagement. With that, we decided we would look at some venues just to see what was available for the winter of this year. We had heard of County Arms in Birr through friends and family and we sent an email to enquire. This was to be our first introduction to Deirdre (Dee). We got a quick response and Dee was so lovely on the phone, that we organised to go view the hotel. From the moment we met Dee, she was warm and welcoming. We sat down and chatted comfortably relaxing more, as she allowed us to guide the conversation while she teased out what we wanted. Dee was a fountain of knowledge from start to end. We walked in that evening not really knowing what we wanted for our big day and walked away knowing in our hearts we wanted our wedding there. The venue was beautiful but Dee herself and the small touches she brought to our visit decided it as much as the location itself. We knew our wedding day was in safe hands. She is clearly so passionate about what she does and went above and beyond to allay any worries or fears we had with the ever-changing Covid guidelines. Not only was she at the end of the phone to answer one of my husband’s many queries but she did so with patience and kindness. She was reassuring and made the few months in the leadup to our wedding day so effortless. We never worried and anything we wanted, she got it. We had 100% confidence that she had everything covered. If we needed a recommendation she had a list of suppliers, if we had an idea, she brought it to life. She even recommended our amazing photographer. She added small touches such as, giving us a taste of the menu on our first visit, offering us the use of the sweet cart and the hotels easel at the church. She even accommodated a change in room when we realised we could book a band. After a beautiful meal in the cosy intimacy of the upstairs drawing rooms, she seamlessly moved us downstairs to the sparkling lights of the ballroom to boogie the night away. The final personal touch was when she surprised us with a cheese board for arrivals (something I had mentioned in passing way back). She made our total experience wonderful from start to finish and our day completely stress free. Dee is a knowledgeable, considerate, warm, accommodating and welcoming powerhouse of a wedding coordinator who understood the intimacy of our wedding day and we were so lucky and thrilled to have her coordinate ours. Steve & Claire

We were at a family wedding and the hotel and staff were amazing the hotel/rooms were spotless, inviting and so comfortable. The food was absolutely gorgeous plentiful and the staff were so friendly, couldn't do enough for you and I honestly cannot wait to go back to the hotel to staff there.