Balgonie Castle
Balgonie Castle
4.5
Points of Interest & LandmarksCastles
This location was reported permanently closed
About
Balgonie Castle is the home of the Laird of Balgonie & Edergoll. Balgonie Castle is in the heart of the Kingdom of Fife and is over 700 years old. The Morris' were the first in Fife to secure a Civil Weddings Certificate. We have been a filming site for Outlander and an inspiration for the Game of Thrones Red Wedding Scene.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.


4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles64 reviews
Excellent
47
Very good
6
Average
0
Poor
5
Terrible
6

Hunter
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2019 • Friends
My wife & I we’re very lucky to be the last couple who would exchange vows inside the chapel of this lovely castle. We had the greatest day with our family & friends, in which we cant thank the Laird & Lady of Balgonie Stuart & Kelly enough for their hospitality on the day itself, not to mention all the help & advice they provided during preparation on the built up to our special day. Balgonie Castle has a great historical story situated in a lovely part of Fife for anyone who is honoured to take a tour of the grounds, remember to keep a look out for the green lady.
Written 16 August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

blackfaceewe
Scottish Borders311 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2016 • Family
I am a registered Blue Badge Scottish Tourist Guide and Event Manager. I am very lucky to visit a huge number of places all over the country and also organise fun events for my clients. We had a superb Disney Pixar 'Brave' Day at Balgonie Castle. A very warm welcome from Kelly and Stuart and RobbyMorris and The Laird of Balgonie with tasty refreshments in the Lundie Hall followed by a very personal tour of the castle including the atmospheric chapel and great hall from the Laird himself.The group were dressed in costume and we had an archery competition as much as the windy weather would allow.The day was filled with laughter and fun and was hugely enjoyable because Kelly and her family had welcomed us into their historic home and made my American visitors feel like a million dollars. Thanks to all at Balgonie Castle including Finn, an adorable deerhound.A fantastic day making much treasured memories.
Written 2 April 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Yab C
Fife, UK3 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2015 • Couples
Small family run castle, with owners still in residence.
Plenty to offer Highlander Tour and castle tour.
If you love history, you will love this wee find
Well worth a visit, especially with a 2 for one voucher with Spree
Thank you
Written 1 February 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

holidaymaker1987
scotland uk41 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2015 • Couples
Reading other reviews, our experiences are similar to the bad reviews given. Their stories seem all too familiar!! The lack of professionalism with the business is ridiculous and astounding that someone could "run" a business the way they do. When we first met she told us that they are reasonably priced (we agreed) and that they don't "rip you off like other wedding venues do" she also exclaimed that they are just simple folks looking to make money to keep the castle going. We were very humbled by this but what was to follow told a different story.

The Facebook comments (by Kelly) is unprofessional, astounding and are quite negative at times which puts you off wanting to go there. All the way through the year reading the comments made me not want to get married there. It actually made me cringe at times. This is supposed to be a woman with experience but it doesn't show.

I want to start off by saying, our family and friends made our wedding day special and we did have a good day but only because I was able to put the horrible time I had with Kelly behind me for my wedding day. Also, they do not organise anything, we did all the organising and decor needed. How she can claim to be a wedding coordinator is beyond me because she barley communicated with us the whole time and none of them attended the wedding they sent CJ instead who walked around like a security guard so much so the guests asked who he was and why did he look official.

We had problems only after we had paid them a 1/3 of our deposit which was a hell of a lot of money to us at the time. The amount of times I had emailed Kelly and she didn't seem to know what was going on, met with Stuart and he didn't even seem to know who we were which is ridiculous for a pre-arranged visit. You are supposed to feel special but we didn't. We did read some of the reviews (after payment was given) but decided that they were probably unfair as she had seems so genuine and lovely our first visit. She is far too emotional and takes things personally but these reviews are about our wedding days (supposed to be the happiest day of our lives) which we have paid for as customers. Despite what her Facebook comments insinuate, these weddings have not been done out of the goodness of her heart and she hasn't done us any favours. We could have got married elsewhere but chose the castle as they seemed friendly, it seemed a bit different and the price was reasonable.

Over the course of a year, I had emailed her asking questions only to never get a response. This meant I had to email again and ask the same questions which were answered. We had pre-booked our wedding date provisionally to start with and had a cheque to give them only for Kelly to tell me our date wasn't booked and that we better give her the deposit now or our date will be given away.
The tone of the emails sent by Kelly were appalling at times and really got my back up. On the day, my guests were asking who the two little boys were which we later realised were relatives of the owners. I wouldn't have minded if we had a good experience but we did mind as we had hired the castle for our wedding day with our guests whom we had invited not for their family to run around in. We had after all paid good money to hire the venue.

We had pre-arranged a meeting with Kelly to pay the final balance but had an email saying that the cost of the meals had went up all of a sudden. We did not agree this and there was nothing in the leaflets to say that the cost of the meals were subject to increase.

When we went to the appointment, we were greeted by Stuart and we brought up the subject of the price increase which we weren't happy to pay. He agreed that we wouldn't have to pay the inflated price so we paid the price we were originally quoted. I was then emailed by Kelly to say that I still owed money the week my wedding was due to take place. We had originally agreed that we could chill our wine but apparently now we couldn't - annoying and unprofessional. I replied saying we had sorted everything but the reply I got was unbelievable. She said her prices had went up because they pay their staff a living wage (nothing to do with us what they pay their staff!) and because of the result of the referendum (nothing to do with anything!).This resulted in us visiting citizens advice the day before our wedding!! We then had a rehearsal the night and the events manager asked me if we were providing the buffet!! No, we paid you to do this within our package, I said. He said we hadn't. This happened the night before the wedding!! He told me he wanted ÂŁ200 for it. My husband to be and father in law had to take my mobile to prove what we had agreed within our package. We were left so angry about this, to do this to a couple the night before their wedding is disgusting!. Everything was sorted and the laird was a very nice man all the way through. He was kind and it seems ashame that the others spoil it.

As I said, our friends and family made the day special and everyone enjoyed themselves but that's down to us and our other suppliers who helped us. These types of issues seem to come across in everything I've read which should tell you something. It has so much potential but has been let down by the owners of the business. The laird has so much to offer the business but as he said he's "too old to run the business as told by the others". Until the business starts being more professional and is run properly as a wedding venue which meets the standards of every other wedding venue then I wouldn't recommend it for a wedding inclusive. I can't stress how nice and genuine the laird is and we were touched by the hand drawn medieval wedding certificate he made for us with all the researched details he had found for us to add to the certificate. He honestly made our day with this.

So to summarise I would say the castle should be more organised, we need better communication, positive communication and do what was agreed to start with instead of imposing unfair t's and C's which were only constructed after payment was made. Positives was the laird he was great.
Written 9 August 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sarah02R
Cupar, UK3 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2014 • Family
Where do I start?!

I would like to start with a positive, the venue is beautiful especially at night when all candle lit, there is a bit of a smell in some of the rooms but what can you expect from an old building, so not really an issue. That’s really where everything took a turn for the worst!

All the planning from our side was fully given to the venue and all guest lists were exact along with dietary requirements! It was the venue’s lack of professionalism and experience in this sector that let the day down!

We had asked for certain items to be removed from the Chapel for the ceremony, they were not!

ÂŁ15 per child for a mini hot dog, a pizza (to share), a banana, a Capri Sun, and a selection of sweet treats, most venues provide a 3 course meal for that price, even the top wedding venues in Scotland!!!!!!!!!!!

After hearing that they intended to put the buffet out at 19.30 we were perplexed to say the least?! What an odd time to be putting the buffet out at, so we informed the venue that we did not want the buffet to go until at least 22.00 at the earliest, (normal buffet time) to which we were told the reason for the buffet going out so early is so that the staff can go home before 9pm!!! Suiting the needs of staff over the needs of guests! So we came to the agreement of 20.45, however on the night the buffet appeared before the first dance at 19.30 just as the evening guests were arriving!

The Piper (the venues own) was meant to pipe the Bride & Groom to the table for dinner as promised and did not, and after asking on more than one occasion if a Toastmaster would need to be provided, we were told that "one of the 'staff' would do that because they are always around on the day" This did not happen!

The seating plan provided by the venue is incorrect showing more seats available that what is actually there which resulted in the complete unprofessional and rude comment from one of the staff about the Bride not being British and this being the reason they gave for the miscommunication!!!! Appalled and utterly disgusted is a severe understatement!!

My suggestion to the venue would be to take some advice and time to look at what other venues levels of service are and take a leaf from their book, the first and foremost priority should be to meet and EXCEED your customers needs NOT put your own priorities before that of your customer!

I can only thank our amazing families, friends, the bar supplier and DJ for all the effort and time they put in to provide an excellent day and night!
Written 26 October 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Murray021
Glenrothes, UK2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2015 • Couples
I'm a local, and this is my second wedding here. After being requested by the 'castle' staff some months ago to submit our food orders-weird at the time?! We then discovered at the wedding no choice or menu was given? What's the point of that? Just cold soup, cold fried chicken and pork-we think and a cheap apple pie with melted cream???what was the pint. No vegetarian options. Rude owners who lack any semblance or clue ion home to be polite or run a wedding venue. Weird, odd experience, not to recommended. AVOID!!!
Written 12 July 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I want to Thank You for your critique. We buy our meat locally at Booker. It was roasted Chicken and Pork. It is our company policy to offer a three course meal from our appointed menu. This is how we offer very low prices to customers. We have always let everyone know, we are just home cooking here not highly trained Chefs. You did have a choice to have one of our outside preferred caterers to provide your meal. You could not afford that. Cheers!
Written 9 August 2015
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

LindacGlasgow
Glasgow27 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2014 • Family
We got married at Balgonie Castle on 6/12/12. From the start the level of service was surprising to say the least. We visited the castle in response to a special offer we had seen online we were told when we asked about it that Stuart was unable to discuss prices and we would need to talk to Kelly.we called and texted her but didn't get a reply for 2 days .She then told us that she had just taken the offer down and we would have to pay full price.We wanted to get married there so we agreed. We went back to the castle and paid the deposit.
We got a text from Kelly a couple of weeks later to ask us if we wanted to book the date she appeared not to know anything about us and when we explained that we had booked and paid the deposit she said that she didn't have her book with her
This was the tone of proceedings from then on in .It took days to get replies to texts another mix up with money when she again asked us to pay our balance after we had done so and again appeared not to be aware of any of the details of our booking.On one occasion we arrived for an arranged meeting to find no one there and on another 2 occasions had arranged meetings with Kelly which she failed to attend with no call to cancel ,and to find that Stuart was unable to help us.
About 3 weeks before the wedding I asked Kelly for contact details for the Piper and organist so that I could discuss music for the wedding.She told me she would have to ask their permission to give out their numbers and that the piper did not want anyone to call. She also told me that some brides made their booking and did not make any contact afterwards and simply turned up on the day of the wedding! Communication was consistently difficult.
I went to the castle ten days before the wedding as arranged to meet Kelly.We were met by Stuart who told me Kelly was unwell.I explained that I needed the contact numbers for the organist and piper. he was not happy and raised his voice stating it was not his fault that his wife was unwell .I repeated my request for the contact numbers. he left the room and went upstairs shouting and screaming about phone numbers his behaviour was disgraceful, he came back down and shouted as his elderly father, and unbelievably at me.! I told him in no uncertain terms that his behaviour was unacceptable .All this in the prescence of me my partner my sister and her husband, we were appalled. He then went on to complain bitterly about the family health and the pressure they were under.
I went home and called the piper and the organist who stated that they had no concerns about speaking to brides and who both told me that they had not been booked.Despite the fact that I had paid both fees at the time of booking the wedding! I resolved the situation and arranged the music for the wedding.
Later that night I got a call from the piper who told me she had been cancelled for my wedding in a call from the castle. I called Stuart who denied they had made the call.
At no time were any arrangements made for the wedding by them all arrangements were made by me. They were rude uncooperative and tardy in their communications with us .The stress caused by them ruined the run up to my wedding
After our encounter with Stuart we received an email from Kelly stating that she would not be supervising our wedding and would not communicate with us further Stuart would take responsibility.
On the day of the wedding Stuart appeared at the chapel and then was not seen for the rest of the night a family member had to take on the role of MC and if it hadnt been for the support of our caterer Richard at delicious catering it would have been a disaster .The place was freezing and many of our guests had their coats on all night! The Laird an 84 yr old man, was left to tend the fires ,one of which went out, by himself all night. He is a perfect gentleman and did his best to do what he could .
The venue is beautiful but the stress involved with trying to communicate with the organisers makes it a poor choice for a wedding . We have spoken to several brides who had similar experiences.Brides Beware !!!
Written 17 December 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jeri638
Kathmandu, Nepal78 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Hokey. Not worth the visit. We had a private tea in the darkest Room there. Boring. Garish tapestries. We were frozen solid while the laird continued to talk on and on. Even after it started raining.
Written 25 October 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Shona M
Glenrothes, UK44 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2015 • Couples
Wed by candlelight, very atmospheric...carved door panels, the Lairds pride, very scottish decor and good amenities. Also a small hall for functions. Lawned area within castle walls. Marquees for musicians. Balcony for photos of bride and groom.
Written 9 February 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

James R
Falkirk, UK1 contribution
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2019
I think the signs to this castle should be either taken down or at least people should be informed that it is no longer open to the public. Even the pages on the internet don't inform you.
Written 19 August 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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