Compare a castle wedding by the route through the day, not by the number of turrets in a photograph. Ceremony rooms, dining spaces and bedrooms answer different questions. A venue that suits a small residential gathering may organise a larger reception quite differently.
Dundas, Dalhousie and Glenapp provide three useful starting points for that comparison. This is desk research from the operators’ current wedding pages, checked on 2 November 2026, rather than a ranked list or a claim to have visited. Availability, prices and the arrangements for your group need a direct enquiry.
Send the same brief to each venue
Start with ceremony and meal numbers, the date range, overnight guests and any access requirements. Explain if you want everyone to stay together or if most guests will leave after the reception. Ask for the indoor ceremony option and the spaces guests use while rooms are being prepared.
Keep those answers beside the broader venue comparison questions. Do not compare one venue’s ceremony capacity with another’s dinner capacity, or assume a bedroom count tells you how many people can attend the celebration.
Dundas Castle: understand the changes between spaces
At South Queensferry, Dundas Castle describes ceremonies in the Auld Keep’s Great Hall, reached by a staircase. Its published maximum there is 110 ceremony guests. The wedding facts page separately identifies other ceremony and dining arrangements, including a Pavilion Marquee, and lists 17 bedrooms.
The useful enquiry is how your chosen spaces work together. Ask which route guests take after the ceremony, how anyone who cannot use the staircase would participate, and where people wait during changes. Describe access needs directly rather than interpreting the venue’s photographs.
Dalhousie Castle: compare the hotel and exclusive-use arrangements
Dalhousie Castle’s wedding offering, at Bonnyrigg in Midlothian, includes a Chapel and an exclusive-use option covering 35 bedrooms. The operator also describes refurbished reception spaces. Those details establish an active wedding offering; they do not confirm the availability of a particular date or layout.
Ask exactly what is private under the proposal you receive. Which rooms, grounds and periods of access are included? How are bedrooms allocated and paid for? What setup and clear-down windows apply? Keep the written answer with the quote, especially if some guests will book their own accommodation.
Glenapp Castle: make the stay part of the comparison
At Ballantrae in Ayrshire, Glenapp Castle advertises weddings and exclusive hire, including private celebrations for 2 to 70 guests. It offers indoor and outdoor ceremony options. Treat those as choices to discuss with the team, not as interchangeable arrangements with identical costs.
For a residential celebration, ask how arrival, the meal, overnight accommodation and departure fit together. If some guests stay elsewhere, work out the transfer plan before deciding that the venue handles the whole weekend. A clear accommodation allocation can matter as much as the reception-room plan.
Put the differences into a short comparison sheet
Before comparing totals, walk through a hypothetical guest’s day at each property: arrival, somewhere to leave a coat, the ceremony, drinks, dinner, evening transport and the overnight room if booked. Mark every change of room or building. Send the unclear stages back to the venue as questions. This is often where two apparently similar proposals begin to look different.
For an access enquiry, describe the journey a particular guest needs to make. Ask about entrances, surfaces, steps, toilets and the route to their bedroom, including the wet-weather version. “Accessible venue” on a comparison sheet is less useful than a written answer about the actual spaces and arrangements you would book.
Compare what happens before and after the celebration
Ask when deliveries can arrive and when suppliers can begin setting up. If your florist needs the ceremony room before guests arrive, establish whether that access is included or must be arranged separately. Clarify where packaging and equipment can remain during the day. These details affect the work suppliers quote for, even when the reception itself looks straightforward.
For bedrooms, separate the rooms included in your contract from accommodation guests must book themselves. Record who pays for any unfilled allocation, whether a minimum stay applies and when room choices must be final. The venue’s advertised bedroom count alone cannot answer those contract questions. Couples bringing relatives from overseas may want those terms settled before sending accommodation instructions.
End the comparison with three decisions: which property fits the day you want, which costs still depend on an assumption, and which arrangements need a direct answer before a deposit. If a feature is essential, such as everyone dining in one space or a workable step-free route, treat confirmation as a condition of the shortlist.
| Venue | First question | Written confirmation to request |
|---|---|---|
| Dundas | Which ceremony and dining spaces suit our numbers? | The route between them and arrangements for specific access needs. |
| Dalhousie | Which hire arrangement are we being quoted? | Private areas, bedroom allocation and access periods. |
| Glenapp | How does the proposed celebration fit the stay? | Ceremony fallback, accommodation and guest transfer responsibilities. |
For every quote, record catering, furniture, staffing, accommodation, taxes and any separate charges. A starting price cannot answer those questions without its conditions. Ask suppliers to explain what happens when the guest count, timings or weather plan changes.
Finally, check who is doing the work you imagine the venue will do: receiving deliveries, moving flowers, collecting belongings and meeting transport. The planning guide helps put those handovers into the day. If an Edinburgh base matters more than a castle setting, compare the city wedding formats before narrowing the shortlist.
Continue in the venues notebook.