Lagan Valley Island

We had our wedding in Lagan Valley Island on Saturday there and had such a fantastic day. Our experience with the venue was good right from the moment we went to a wedding open day back in 2013 and met the friendly staff and saw the beautiful surroundings. The whole booking process was easy and the staff couldn’t do enough to help us every step of the way.
The wedding packages are fantastic — they work out at great value as the packages include chair covers in the room where you have your meal, and it only costs a bit extra to have them in another room too. All the other essentials are included with the packages, and you can pick and choose extras for your day, like tea/​coffee, shortbread and so on after the ceremony, bottles of wine and juice for the tables, evening buffet food, and so on. The staff work with you every step of the way to make sure you get the perfect day the way you want it.
The Cherry Room, where we had our ceremony, is a lovely room, and afterwards you can step out onto a terrace which is stunning for photos. The centre in near Castle Gardens which are lovely for photographs (and are free of charge to book for your photos). The river walkway nearby is also lovely, and there are plenty of nice spots indoors if the rain does make an appearance!
The Chestnut Suite was where we had our meal. The room is nice and bright, but is a nice size for small groups. It looked lovely when decorated, and the centrepieces included were lovely. The evening reception was in Lighter’s which is a bigger, round room with seating, a bar and space for a DJ or whatever else you have.
In terms of food, all the food we had was delicious. The main meal was huge — I couldn’t finish it all! They had bowls of extra mash and vegetables put out. The evening food was also tasty and people seemed to enjoy it.
The only thing I would say is that it would be good if the DJ could play until 1am and guests stay until then — it was around 12:30 when the staff asked the DJ to finish up.
I really recommend this centre as a wedding venue. They also host various other events, like shows, music events, and so on.

I recently attended a wedding reception at Island Arts Centre and it’s a beautiful, modern, extremely well designed building for such functions. Architecturally it consists of curved walls and circular rooms. Large glass windows let natural light in and allow a view of the green landscape. Pleasant, helpful staff and a delicious buffet with scrumptious veggie options of veg pizza, sandwiches and a lush garlic and herb dip. There was plenty for all the meat eaters as well. Admittedly not a large selection of wines but we had a quality Prosecco and Sauvignon Blanc and thus the wannabe wine snob within me was more than happy. I’m giving this spot 4 stars because I think it’s such a great venue and I had an enjoyable time at the wedding. I believe the whole building is referred to as Lagan Valley Island however they don’t just offer event facilities — as per their website «Lagan Valley Island has many functions; It is headquarters of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council and the facility is also a unique mix of civic, business and arts facilities — home to council offices, the Island Arts Centre, Council Chambers, a purpose built Conference Centre, Theatre, and stunning wedding facilities». I fully intend to return to see a play or a visual arts exhibition. If I can fault this place in any way — it would just be that it’s perhaps a little tricky to get to if you don’t drive.