Beech Hill Weddings: From General Manager to Wedding Celebrant
Beech Hill Country House is one of those wedding venues I know from a slightly different perspective.
I first walked through its doors as General Manager in the summer of 2021, just as hospitality was beginning to find its feet again after Covid. I left in autumn 2024, after more than three years and hundreds of weddings.
Today, I walk through those same doors in a completely different role: as a Humanist wedding celebrant and one of Beech Hill's recommended wedding partners.
It is something I am immensely proud of.
Starting again in 2021
When I arrived at Beech Hill, Barry and Adam had taken ownership not long before the pandemic. Like so many hospitality businesses at the time, there was an enormous amount to rebuild.
My focus was operations. We had to build a team at a time when recruiting people back into hospitality was incredibly difficult, while also making sure the experience for every couple and every guest was where we wanted it to be.
Those early days involved long hours, plenty of problem solving and a huge amount of energy.
But there was a philosophy behind it that I particularly loved.
When something was not working, the question was not simply, “Who got this wrong?”
It was:
What can we do better?
What training does someone need?
How do we improve the experience?
That approach became part of the culture we built.
And nowhere was it more important than weddings.
A wedding was never simply another function
Yes, a wedding venue is a business. But I never felt that Beech Hill approached weddings as simply another function on the books.
A couple might have spent years saving and planning for this one day. Their families and friends had travelled to share it with them. Our responsibility was to understand the experience they wanted and do everything reasonably possible to help create it.
That meant looking at the whole journey.
What happens when they arrive?
Where are they getting ready?
What happens before the ceremony?
Where do the guests go afterwards?
What happens if it rains?
What happens next?
Barry was particularly good at continually asking those questions, and it is an approach I have carried directly into the way I now plan ceremonies.
Strip everything back. Work out what the couple actually needs. Then make sure it is covered.
The ceremony spaces at Beech Hill
If you are considering getting married at Beech Hill, the grounds are undoubtedly part of its appeal.
There are several possibilities for the ceremony itself, including the lakeside, the forest, Skipton Hall and Ardmore, with the Garden Pavilion providing another option for larger weddings.
But I make absolutely no secret of having a favourite.
The forest
I love the forest.
There is a woodland walk down towards the ceremony space, gravel underfoot and a small staircase bringing you down from the higher level.
When everything is in leaf, the trees create a natural canopy overhead. You can hear the waterfall in the background, birds in the trees and the wind moving through the leaves. On a bright day, little shafts of sunlight break through onto the benches below.
You almost do not need music.
There is also a sheltered area for signing the marriage schedule, allowing the legal elements of the ceremony to happen within the ceremony space.
I have worked in beautiful wedding venues all over Ireland during my hospitality career, but there is something about that forest that remains very special to me.
Lakeside ceremonies
The lakeside has an entirely different character.
Water cascades down beside the ceremony area, with the bridge, gazebo, decking and mature trees creating a beautiful backdrop. There is a lovely natural aisle into the ceremony too.
Would I tell a couple to choose the lake instead of the forest?
No.
I would tell them to choose the one that feels like them.
That is ultimately what ceremony planning should be about.
What if it rains?
Anyone planning an outdoor wedding in Ireland eventually has to have this conversation.
My answer is generally: have a proper backup plan, then make every reasonable effort to have the ceremony you actually want.
If you are planning an outdoor ceremony at Beech Hill, tell your guests. Appropriate footwear matters when people are walking over gravel and natural ground. Think about umbrellas, wraps and everything else that can keep people comfortable.
But I would not abandon an outdoor ceremony because an app shows a cloud.
During my time as General Manager, we had couples who desperately wanted to marry outside and we did everything possible to make that happen.
One wedding in particular has never left me.
The weather was decidedly uncooperative. There were dark clouds, occasional blue skies and a couple who really wanted their outdoor ceremony.
We went for it.
Just as they were exchanging their vows, the heavens opened.
Not with rain.
Hailstones.
Umbrellas went up everywhere while the ceremony continued.
And almost as quickly as it had arrived, it disappeared. By the time the newly married couple were walking back down the aisle, the sun was splitting the stones.
Later, there was something even more lovely about it. Their first date had taken place in similarly dramatic, thunderous weather.
Somehow, it suited them perfectly.
That wedding taught me something I still carry into ceremonies today: perfection does not necessarily mean everything happening exactly as planned.
Sometimes the unexpected bit becomes the story everyone remembers.
A backup plan does not mean giving up
There are occasions when the weather simply will not cooperate.
Skipton Hall gives couples an indoor ceremony option within the character of the original house. For larger numbers, the Garden Pavilion can also be used for the ceremony and then turned around by the team for the wedding meal afterwards.
I have seen that transformation happen.
It requires organisation, staffing and precision behind the scenes, but that is precisely why contingency planning matters.
I have also seen ceremony timings moved because the weather forecast gave us a better window earlier in the day.
If there is a sensible way to make the ceremony a couple dreamed about happen, my instinct is always to explore it.
Why understanding the whole wedding day matters
Moving from General Manager to celebrant has reinforced something I already believed:
the ceremony does not happen in isolation.
It sits inside a much bigger wedding day.
There are musicians who need cues, photographers looking for particular moments, guests who need to know where they are going, a venue team preparing what happens next and a couple who should not have to worry about any of it.
Having spent more than 20 years working in weddings and hospitality, I understand those moving parts.
As a celebrant, I work with the venue team rather than independently of them.
At Beech Hill, that feels particularly natural because I understand how the venue operates, how the spaces work and what is happening behind the scenes while the ceremony is taking place.
Returning to Beech Hill as a celebrant
I left Beech Hill in autumn 2024 because I had made the decision to change career.
Initially, I had imagined completing my celebrant training while continuing as General Manager.
Then I realised I knew myself better than that.
When I commit to something, I commit properly. After more than 20 years in hospitality, it was time to choose whether I wanted to continue down that road or build a new career of my own.
I chose the latter.
Interestingly, once I qualified, I deliberately stayed away from Beech Hill for a while.
There was a new management team establishing itself and I wanted enough time to pass that, when I eventually returned, I could walk through the door simply as another wedding professional working alongside the team.
When that first ceremony eventually came, it did not feel strange.
It felt like coming home.
There were familiar faces and people I had worked alongside, but my role was completely different.
I was there for my couple.
And it felt entirely right.
From General Manager to recommended wedding partner
When Barry later contacted me about becoming part of Beech Hill's recommended wedding partners, there really was no hesitation.
I know the venue. I know the people behind it. I understand how they approach weddings and I believe in what they are trying to deliver.
But on a personal level, there is something rather lovely about the full circle.
In 2021, I walked through the doors as General Manager and helped a team rebuild a wedding operation emerging from an extraordinary period for hospitality.
In 2024, I walked out to begin an entirely new career.
And now I walk back through those same doors as a Humanist wedding celebrant conducting ceremonies for a new generation of Beech Hill couples.
I am exceptionally proud of what we achieved as a team during my time there.
And I am equally proud to be returning now in a completely different capacity.
Planning a Humanist wedding at Beech Hill?
If you have booked Beech Hill and are not yet sure what you want your ceremony to look like, that is completely fine.
It needs to look like you.
You do not need to arrive at our first conversation knowing what readings you want, whether you want to include a ritual, how everyone will enter or exactly what you are going to say.
That is what my planning process is there for.
I will guide you through each stage, introduce the choices at the right time, ask the questions that help us uncover what matters to you, and gradually we will build the ceremony together.
By the time the day arrives, the aim is very simple:
a ceremony that genuinely reflects you, your family and your friends, in one of the most beautiful settings I know.
Planning your wedding at Beech Hill Country House?
Learn more about my legal Humanist wedding ceremonies in Northern Ireland, or get in touch to check your date.
