We wanted to add some thoughts on what there is to see in NI, should you be thinking about spending a little time there around the wedding!

(In fairness, should you ask any of the locals at the wedding itself you'll get all the recommendations you could possibly want 😅)

Orange Tree House is beside Strangford lough with some beautiful and sometimes dramatic scenery! Greyabbey is a small village where the venue is, with some cute cafes, restaurants and a medieval monastery.

Nearby there is a National Trust site called Mount Stewart which is really pretty and worth a visit for a walk and a tea.

The venue is about 20 minutes drive from Portaferry, this is a small town that has a fun aquarium and seal sanctuary (Exploris). From here you can potentially take the Strangford ferry over to Strangford for a visit to Castle Ward.

Around places to go for coffees / food there is Eden Pottery nearby to the wedding venue - this is a cute little cafe but doubles as a pottery studio where you can go to paint some pottery! In Bangor (where Christine grew up) there are lovely cafes by the sea like the Guilletmot and Joxer. The Jamaica inn is a good spot for a pub lunch. Harbour and Co in Donaghadee is also a nice food spot, right beside the Copeland Gin Distillery.

A really fun city to visit, there are some nice touristy things to do like the Titanic exhibition, W5 (fun museum for kids!) or some Game of Thrones tours (should you be a fan 😮). The cathedral quarter is a really lively part of the city where you'll find restaurants and night life.

This is probably top of the list of places to go. On the north coast there are so many places of beauty like the Giant's Causeway (World Heritage Site), the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, beaches a plenty and again more Game of Thrones spots - you can see filming locations like the King's road all over the place.

One tip in general would be if you are going to the North Coast consider getting National Trust memberships - you will make the cost of the membership back so easily!

Northern Ireland is still within the UK, but it's worth noting for those who may need to think about visas that the Republic of Ireland is part of Europe, and so has different entry requirements (in case you were really hankering for an OG Guinness in Dublin 🍀)