Winton Castle

My wife and I recently got married at Winton Castle and we could not have been happier with the overall experience. For a couple choosing to not have a formal wedding planner and planning our wedding from the United States in a different timezone, Winton were able to effectively plan our wedding and alleviated a ton of stress in the overall wedding process. Going into the wedding, we were not sure how our big day would unfold, but the Winton team (specifically Lexi!) ensured it exceeded our every expectation. If you want a wedding at a stunning 17th century Scottish castle without any additional stress, definitely choose Winton. It seemed much more of a family friendly castle than a business.

Winton Castle is quite literally the most romantic wedding venue and will forever hold a very special place in our hearts. It truly was intimacy on a grand scale. My wife and I were married at Winton in April 2019, and enjoyed this fabulous place for the whole weekend. The entire wedding party plus immediate family stayed in the castle itself and beautiful farmhouse and cottage on the estate. We arrived on Friday and stayed until Sunday, and were extremely well looked after by a fantastic team, lead by Janis. It really did feel like our very own castle for the weekend.

The team were extremely helpful, evidently taking enormous pride in their roles and exuded a genuine passion for such a wonderful place. Their attention to detail was exemplary. The catering was equally fantastic.

The castle itself is spectacular, whilst also having a very welcoming homely atmosphere. Each room is unique with a rich history and is very well looked after. We highly recommend Winton for any celebration.

I’m writing this as I sit next to my new husband on the plane ride home, following a picture-perfect wedding and honeymoon. In the week following our nuptials, my phone has been overrun with messages from friends and family who had the most wonderful things to say about Winton—and, more specifically, Winton staff. No words can adequately relay how strongly and positively you impacted our lives, but herein lies an attempt.

Finding people who can outshine the beauty and splendor of the Winton property is not an easy task—and yet you’ve done just that. Many of our guests asked how Scott and I had the good fortune of finding Winton. Call it fate, call it the magic of Google key words… whatever it was that led us to your website back in January, I call it evidence that we have been greatly blessed.

From my first email exchange with Rae, her kindness, affability, flexibility and attention to detail were all put on grand display. No idea was silly, no request too grand. If we had a half-baked idea (a flag, Sonos music, a “favorite ‘berry” station for the prosecco), she made it work—with notable respect to budget. Planning a wedding from 4,000 miles away is as daunting as it is exciting. Intuition told me we were in good hands, and the precision of that intuition was cast in a spotlight for the 48 hours surrounding our big day. No stone was left unturned, and your team anticipated even the most minute needs of guests young and old.

Together, our families and friends traveled more than one million miles to get to Winton. A million! For months, I worried. Would they think it was worth it? Would it be worth the time, energy and resources it took to get there? From the minute we checked in to the castle, those fears disappeared.

Fay, with her kind voice and gentle take-charge approach, was nothing short of a wedding angel. She attended to the needs of our friends and family like a fairytale character with a magic wand! From setting up evenings in the library, replete with a warm fire, drams and prosecco, to quickly arranging last-minute transport for dozens of guests to Winton Arms after the Highland Games, she was unflappable. And always had a smile. As stories have trickled out from friends and family, we’ve learned that other staff members similarly went out of their way to arrange odds and ends for guests—including transportation services that fell far outside the scope of the wedding. Lexi, the gardener (wish I could remember his name!), EVERYONE was incredible.

Same goes for the vendors Rae recommended. That guidance proved invaluable, from hair/makeup to the band and the bus to photography and every little detail in between.

From misplaced sunglasses to T-shirts and handwritten cards, you stayed on top of all of the details so we didn’t have to. We never felt rushed to leave, even though another event was lined up just hours later.

As an added bonus, we had the distinct pleasure of chatting with Sir Francis several times during the course of events. He even carried our luggage out himself. Unbelievable.

The clay shoot, the Highland Games, the wedding… the events you coordinated yielded memories that will stay with all 121 of us for a lifetime. Happy are those lucky enough to have experienced Winton. Blessed are those of us lucky enough to have shared it with our closest loved ones.

I wish you and your team the very best. We look forward to keeping in touch and hope to return with a family of our own someday! All my best and with tremendous gratitude.

We celebrated the wedding of our son and daughter-in-law at Winton Castle in early July 2022. An Irish groom and an American bride, celebrating their wedding in Scotland. Overall we had a fabulous experience, it was beyond anything we could have wished for.

In advance of the event, Fay was extremely organised, with every conceivable detail covered in her checklist. That gave us great peace of mind.

Over the few days we got to know the team at Winton very well. They are all extremely professional and competent, and in addition they are extremely warm and friendly – nothing was too much bother for them. From the more experienced members of the team to the younger local people, they were consistently helpful, friendly and displayed a genuine ‘can do’ attitude.

The meal was delicious. I would have been delighted to have such a meal and service at a top class restaurant, never mind from a kitchen in a marquee. The beef was exceptional. A number of the guests had special dietary requirements, and the attention to detail was impeccable, from the Canapés right through to the main meal.

I don’t think I have ever been to a wedding where the guests mixed so well. Young and old, Irish and American, family and friends. I believe that was partly down to having full access to the many interconnected rooms at the Castle. Many guests raved about the meal, the venue and the staff. Everyone had fun. The whisky tasting in the cellar was a big hit! Indeed, numerous guests told us that it was the best wedding they had ever been at.

When I reflect back, I think of many ‘small’ things that exemplify the approach of the Winton team. Tom bringing all our luggage up to the bedrooms when we arrived. Niall bringing it back down before we left. Fay and Tom on the roof the night before, in the dark, hoisting the Tennessee and Northern Ireland flags. Rae putting on the floral buttonholes for the men, before we left for the church. Orla coming over to me after the meal, asking how my speech went. Fay taking time out to detail the history of the library to some guests. Sir Francis helping me load my car the day after the reception.

Fabulous. Thank you all.

We chose Winton as our wedding venue after a long search and several viewings of other castles in and around Edinburgh. We were drawn to the fact that it allows you have the entire wedding inside and on one floor (providing you have a wedding of an appropriate size), as well as having a great winter wedding offer. Several rooms like the Library allow guests to have a sit down and chat without being drown out by the disco music and the bathrooms on the main floor are great for guests who can’t do stairs very easily.

It truly was the perfect spot, we had many compliments from guests at how amazing the venue was. Fay and the Winton wedding team were a pleasure to work with, they were great at keeping in touch and being flexible when we had guests cancellations at the last minute because of Storm Eunice. They also arranged for us to have access to the castle roof for pictures with their famous chimneys at the grooms request. The castle itself is kept in great condition and the family really want you to feel like its home, you are free to look at the books on the shelf in the library, and sit on the fancy couches and chairs. As a wedding venue it was great in that I didn’t really need to splash out on decorations since the castle itself has more than enough going on to occupy your guests.

The Bridal Suite is a beautiful room with lots of space and a massive bathroom that probably has the same square footage of our flat! Because we were married in February it was also remarked several times that it was ‘surprisingly’ warm inside, as people are used to the idea of drafty and cold castles, not at Winton! Sad that my wedding day went by in a flash I could have easily stayed forever!

We originally planned our wedding at Winton for January 2022, but due to an increase in covid, we postponed until November 2022. The Winton staff were so understanding and accommodating with covid (unlike other castles we had considered). We also appreciated the fact there are a limited number of weddings each year and how the Winton team are so personable throughout the planning process and each wedding there is special as there’s not one on every week! My husband and I cannot recommend Winton Castle highly enough. Incredible castle venue and most importantly lovely staff who covered everything and more for our special day! Big thank you to Fay for working so closely with us to make our day perfect.

We had our wedding at Winton in September 2022. We cannot recommend Winton highly enough! Beautiful venue, lovely staff – nothing was too much trouble. It really was a personalised service with the wedding co-ordinator Fay and made it all the more special for us.

We had our wedding at Winton Castle in December and had the most magical day. Everything went exactly as planned and exceeded all our expectations. Intimacy on a grand scale could not describe Winton Castle any better! Thank you so much to Rae and the entire Winton team for being so attentive, friendly, and willing to meet all our needs from our very first meeting all the way through to our big day. The attention to detail was not missed and all of our guests raved about how amazing the day was. We didn’t have a wedding planner and Rae and her team ensured everything went smoothly and had a wonderful list of recommended suppliers. We also rented all onsite properties before and during our wedding and they were all spectacular. All houses are extremely spacious and were fully equipped. We will definitely be back for a long weekend with friends and family.

In October 2017 we booked the castle and grounds for our son’s wedding as well as the cottage and farmhouse (a further 11 bedrooms) on the estate. Over the following 20 months we had a number of communications with the Winton wedding planner on various aspects of the wedding and the ‘pre-wedding week’ and responses were always quick. Attention was given to even the small issues and we were made to feel that nothing was too much trouble.

We ended up booking a couple of pre-wedding activities with the Castle (laser tag and Highland Games) and I can honestly say that the organisation and execution of the Highland games by the Winton staff on the day before the wedding was brilliant. It was the ideal ice-breaker for the guests to get to know each other before the big day.

The accommodation in both the Cottage and Farmhouse was roomy and comfortable and it proved ideal as a self-catering venue with various sitting rooms and games rooms downstairs for the wedding guests to relax in the week leading up to the wedding. Both had all the mod cons you might need such as Washer, Dryer, Dishwasher, WiFi , CH as well as log fires.

The day itself went without a hitch with no small thanks to Janis, our wedding planner who was provided by Winton castle. That said, ALL of the Winton staff were excellent and very attentive to our needs. I can thoroughly recommend this venue for a large wedding.

My husband and I got married at Winton Castle in February 2020, it was the most special day and weekend we could have imagined! The castle is such a beautiful venue, the room layout flows perfectly and it felt both grand and homely with the fires lit. Every room is beautiful – so there was no need to decorate them much further; we chose to add some table decorations and that’s it.

With infinite thanks to the Winton staff, particularly our wedding planner Rae, the event ran smoothly from the day we first contacted Winton! We didn’t have to worry about anything; on our wedding day, I was confident that Rae and the Team had it all organised, they did and it all happened effortlessly!

Rae was absolutely fantastic! She kept us on-track, asking all the right questions and prompting for information in plenty of time – it never felt stressful. There was never any pressure or ‘up-selling’. Rae just seemed to understand exactly the type of wedding day we wanted, and arranged everything in such a calm way.

My family (9 adults, 2 children) stayed in Winton Cottage for the long weekend and were delighted with the accommodation from arrival to departure. It felt like a home, and there was plenty of space for everyone! I slept at the Cottage the night before the wedding (Friday night) which worked so well. There was plenty of space for some quiet time which was lovely! The Winton team were very accommodating, providing extra towels for my husband and two Best Men to get showered and ready at the Cottage after I had left. I’d definitely stay there again for a holiday!

I had plenty of time for a relaxed breakfast with everyone and zero worries about transport to the venue! My dad then drove me, my sisters and our things (2mins drive/ ~ 700m) to the Castle where we got ready in one of the gorgeous bedrooms in the Castle! There was plenty of room for us and to have our make-up artist and hairdresser both working their magic at the same time. Our photographer had worked at Winton Castle many times before so he knew what he was doing.

The Winton staff were brilliant! Rae was a calm and friendly face before entering the wedding ceremony! Throughout the day, the Winton staff were friendly and attentive but you also barely knew they were there – delivering excellent service without any fuss!
On such a quick day, they made sure there were opportunities for my husband and I to have a few minutes to ourselves, to take it all in which we loved. We stayed overnight in the Castle in the beautiful bedroom and bathroom. Having a leisurely breakfast in the ceremony room the morning after was lovely and allowed us to soak up how special our wedding day was.

Thanks again to all of the Winton team.