321 Days: Riverdale Barn, Aghagallon

Last Monday Jim and I finally visited Riverdale together.  My brothers kindly agreed to drive us there and take some snaps of the venue and grounds while we chatted with Oonagh. There were quite a few pictures so I’ve selected some of my favourites.

NB. some of the pictures are panoramic and this has made things look a bit curvy!

  
Riverdale has two barns which sit side by side. We were keen to have our ceremony and reception in the same place to minimise travel time and give us and our guests more time to have fun - so will have our wedding in the smaller barn with the gorgeous porthole windows, and our food and dancing in the other.  In the evening our guests can relax and chat in the smaller barn while the music carries-on across the courtyard.

Smaller Barn - I had a bit of a practice at walking up the imaginary aisle here. :)

They've added a covered walkway between the barns which will allow seamless and dry movement between both barns (and the bar) regardless of the weather - very useful considering Northern Ireland's tendancy to rain or possibly snow in all the wrong seasons!! Since my last visit they've changed the flooring in the smaller barn and added some doors in the archways which still allow lots of light in.  They've also added a gorgeous wood burner but I hope we don't need to use it.

We've decided to have a sitdown meal for our wedding reception, which will be held in the larger barn.  The venue will be at capacity with our guest numbers (around 140 people) but there will still be plenty of space to move around.  Guests will be seated at long banquet tables which we hope will encourage more conversations, allowing our guests to get to know one another and make great memories.

Larger Barn where we will eat and dance

There are lots of great places for photographs and if the weather is nice our guests will be able to explore the grounds. If the weather is not so nice there are lots of covered areas for photographs and the gorgeous stone walls are a perfect indoor backdrop too.

It was also great to see Riverdale in spring/summer which is when our wedding will be.  When I first visited it was autumn, so it was great to see it full of life.

 
We also had a wander round the grounds. I LOVE the stepping stones across the water (below) but as the clumsiest person alive, I have horrible visions of me falling in.

In the evening Riverdale is a vision of lights and candles, and hopefully, under a clear night sky full of stars our friends and family can enjoy drinking and dining al fresco, possibly with Riverdale's great outdoor BBQ.

We can’t wait ‘til next May to see Riverdale full of our family and friends.

Riverdale Facebook Page

Amy
x