May 17th, 2012 | Weddings |
We’ve got a wedding-related treat on the blog today! Funkey Blogger Katie is getting married this year, and she’s shared some of her tips on the early stages of wedding planning. Look out for more ‘Katie’s Countdown’ posts leading up to her big day!
On 11/11/11, in my very favourite seaside town, my other half ‘popped the question’. After a weekend of delirious happiness and excited phone calls, we returned home. And then it started; the planning.
We decided to get married within a year, and set our date for the end of October 2012. To us, eleven months sounded like a huge amount of time to plan a wedding. Turns out, it’s not. Luckily, getting married out of ‘wedding season’ has meant we haven’t had any problem securing venues or suppliers. Personally, we’ve found planning a wedding on a shorter time scale has been great as we haven’t had time to over think details. Of course, this might not work for everyone – and if you want to get married in the late Spring or Summer, you would probably need to give yourself a bit more time.
I’ll be popping up here on the blog at various points in the next few months to share my experiences and advice. With just five months to go, we’ve got all of our initial planning out of the way. Today, I’m sharing a few pieces of advice that I learnt over those early stages!
Before you do anything – decide what you like.
This sounds silly, I know. We all know what we like, right? The thing is, I found there was a big difference in what I liked for other people’s weddings and what I liked for my own wedding. All the ideas I’d had about my ideal day before my engagement just didn’t seem like what I really wanted once I was actually starting planning. I needed to decide what I actually liked.
When I got engaged, I started to read a lot of wedding blogs and magazines. Ripping out images (or in my case, pinning them virtually on Pinterest) was really helpful. It meant that I was able to look back over the images that had appealed to me and instantly see what I liked. For example, after I’d pinned more than a dozen images of vintage-styled lacy wedding dresses… I realised that was the style I wanted! If you’d like to see my Wedding inspiration board on Pinterest, it’s here.
Get the big ticket items done first.
There’s no point spending time on DIY projects, or choosing your wedding flowers, or deciding how to wear your hair, if you haven’t got the big ticket items sorted. For us, these items were; the ceremony, the reception venue, the ceilidh band and the photographer. These are often the suppliers that get booked up the quickest, so it makes sense to get them in the diary first. These are also often the things that will set the tone for the day, so there’s often not much point in deciding on the smaller details until you’ve got these things sorted.
As for how to choose those big ticket items? This is where our time constraints were actually helpful – we went completely on instinct. And a good few months later, we haven’t regretted any of our choices for a second.
It’s never too early to start looking for THE dress.
Foolishly, I didn’t get started looking for my dress straight away. I decided it was still far too early when we first got engaged, and didn’t even think about booking an appointment until February. I then discovered that some of the more ‘exclusive’ bridal shops book appointments more than six weeks in advance!
After a few unsatisfactory visits to shops, I took my mum and my chief bridesmaid to the National Wedding Show. It was a great opportunity to try on dozens and dozens of dresses, and I ended up ordering one there. At that point the wedding was more than seven months away – but the look of panic in the eyes of the exhibitors when I told them I was getting married in October this year and still didn’t have a dress was immense! My advice? Get started early.
Good luck!
Katie’s Countdown will be back on the blog soon! If you have any questions or requests, leave them in the comments or tweet us @funkeydoos. We’re also keen to host some guest posts from Scottish wedding suppliers. Sound like something that’s right up your street? Get in touch!
May 14th, 2012 | What's Hot |
The Queen on the day of her Coronation
Jubilee fever has hit the nation, and the countdown is on until June 2nd when the Queen will be celebrating sixty years on the throne! Events and parties will be taking place up and down the country to mark this momentous event, and we’ll even be given a long weekend off.
If you’d like to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee in style, we recommend a fab Scottish weekend away. See out the long weekend in luxury, and raise a toast to the Queen with a wee dram or two! Here on the site we’ve got a wonderful selection of events and packages designed specifically for the Jubilee.
How about a pamper treat in Angus? Head to the Carnoustie Golf Hotel for three night’s bed and breakfast Diamond Jubilee Package. Included a three course dinner on two evenings and afternoon tea on one afternoon. At £207.50pp, the best part of this package is that it includes two thirty minute spa treatments per person!
For a two night break fit for a queen at any point during June, take advantage of Loch Melfort Hotel’s June Jubilee package. For just £160pp, enjoy a two night stay with a full Scottish breakfast each morning. You’ll also be treated to a wonderful four course dinner on your first night, and a £20 voucher towards dinner on your second. For extra entertainment, collect your complimentary tickets to the National Trust Scotland’s Arduaine Garden.
For another west coast break, check into the Regent Hotel in Oban for their Diamond Jubilee 4 Night Package. Includes dinner, bed and breakfast for four nights – and a fab firework display on the Sunday! £159pp
For a Jubilee celebration that’s available all year long, take a look at Macdonald Pittodrie House’s Pittodrie Diamond Sundays. Available for £110pp on Sundays throughout the year, enjoy a complimentary room upgrade, fruit and chocolates on arrival, a four course dinner in the hotel’s award winning restaurant and a full breakfast the next morning.
For more Jubilee packages fit for a royal – take a look at our short break section.
At Funkeydoos, we’ll also be celebrating in June with a special competition, so keep an eye out at the beginning of next month for details.
May 10th, 2012 | news |
Our mission here at Funkeydoos.com is to find and display the best hotel business and leisure events, packages and deals that Scotland has to offer. We average 13,500 unique visitors per month, and we would like to invite you to show them what your hotel has to offer!
We’re very proud to say that Funkeydoos.com is growing at an average rate of 40% per quarter. This growth is being reflected in the services we’re offering. We recently added the ‘Funkey Business’ section to our site, enabling hotels like you to showcase their business and conference offerings too.
Along with event listings, the Funkeydoos team send out a fortnightly e-zine, tweet, blog and maintain a popular Facebook page as well as running regular competitions Whether you’re a large or small hotel, country or city based, we can definitely assist in generating additional footfall to your property.
If you’d like to join this fast growing site and become a funkey hotel, there are three very affordable ways to do so.
One: Take a 12 month unlimited listing (unlimited event listings for both our leisure and business sections).
Two: Take a 12 month unlimited contract for either Funkey Leisure or Funkey Business
Three: Enter into a pay-per-click agreement with us.
Sound like a marketing tool that might work for you? We’d love to have a chat about which cost package suits you best. Contact us on 0141 225 3682 or email us here.
May 7th, 2012 | How To |
Across the UK, many people are taking a well deserved day off for the May Bank Holiday. If you are too, we hope you’ve been enjoying the three day weekend. Whether you’ve planned a jam-packed few days of adventuring, or whether you’ve just been putting your feet up – it’s great to have a bit of extra time out.
In keeping with the day, we’ve decided to offer some advice on having a relaxing break. Why not make yourself a cup of tea and sit back and read this?
Think about what you really like.
It’s no good booking a rural hotel retreat if the idea of country walks and quiet evenings in front of the fire fill you with dread! If it’s peace and quiet you’re after, here on Funkeydoos we have packages from some beautifully remote hotels. If that’s not quite your style – why not think about a spa package, or even some retail therapy at a city centre hotel?
Go all inclusive.
What’s more relaxing than not have to worry about anything once you reach your chosen hotel? Many of our packages here on Funkeydoos include entertainment, breakfast and dinner – and some even include lunch!
Choose a package with leisure facilities.
These days, a large number of hotels offer fab leisure facilities. Why not find a hotel with a pool, a jacuzzi, or even a sauna? That way, whatever you choose to do during the day you’ll be able to let off steam literally when you return.
Consider a room upgrade.
Here at Funkeydoos, we think there’s nothing more relaxing than luxury accommodation. At most hotels, there’s an option to upgrade to a superior or executive room for just a little bit more than the standard. For a real treat, why not think about doing this? An upgrade often gives you more space, a better view and maybe even a few extra treats too. Go on, we reckon you’re worth it!
Want to get started finding your perfect relaxing break? Why not browse some of our latest leisure packages?
May 3rd, 2012 | Why Not? |
We don’t think we’d be too biased if we said that Scotland is the best place in the world for golf. After all, the game was first played here back in the 15th century. Here in the land of the sport’s birth, it has always been hugely popular. From courses in the highlands right down to courses in the borders, there’s many a golfing challenge to be had right here on our doorstep!
Whether you’re an experienced golfer or a newbie, this month we’re asking you Why Not improve your golfing handicap? With golfing packages starting from just £55 per person – there’s no excuse not to perfect your swing! Take a look at our full sporting events section here, or take a look at some selected events below.
For a fabulous game of golf with a view of the ocean, take a look at the Turnberry Resort’s Sunset Golf package. £55 pp for a round of golf on the challenging Kintyre Course.
For a luxury hotel break with unlimited golf, check out the Fairmont St Andrews’ Golf, Golf and More Golf package. Included is accommodation for two nights, full Scottish breakfast each morning and unlimited use of the Torrance and Kittocks courses, buggies and the driving range. £349pp.
For a great Sunday deal, take advantage of the Macdonald Cardrona Hotel’s Sunday Driver package. For just £95pp this package includes dinner, bed and breakfast, full use of the spa and leisure facilities and 36 holes of golf.
Finally, for a once-in-a-lifetime golfing opportunity… feast your eyes on the Suite Golf package from the Old Course Hotel. For £2110pp, this package includes a three night stay in a luxury suite, the chance to play at four of the world’s best golf courses and a huge selection of other treats.
Will you be playing golf this summer? If so – where are you teeing off?
We’d also like to give a huge shout out to a couple of special funkey friends, Grainne who celebrates a big birthday today and Dan who turns 30 on the 5th May. Happy Birthday to you both!
May 1st, 2012 | Funkey Region |
This photograph of Crieff from Drummond Castle was taken by Cthonus
This month, we’ve decided to offer up the crown of Funkey Region to Crieff and its surrounding area. Crieff is a lovely market town right in the heart of Perthshire and has a great deal to offer visitors.
Crieff is such a great spot , that it has even been immortalised in verse! Infamous Scots poet William McGonagall once wrote;
“Ye lovers of the picturesque, if ye wish to drown your grief,
Take my advice, and visit the ancient town of Crieff.”
We’ll save our judgement on the quality of the verse… but the sentiment is one we definitely agree with!
Crieff has a very rich history (especially in terms of whisky!), and visitors from across the UK and further afield flock there every year. But it’s not just the whisky distilleries that attract tourists to the town. It’s also famous for being the home of Innerpeffray Library, Scotland’s oldest lending library, established c.1680. Even more famous a landmark is the beautiful Drummond Castle, which is just 2.5 miles south of the town. The castle is particularly famous for its formal walled gardens, which were used in the film “Rob Roy” starring Liam Neeson and have to be seen to be believed!
If you’re thinking about a visit to Crieff and the surrounding area, we can suggest some fab packages!
Fancy something spooky? Why not take part in the Huntingtower Hotel’s Murder Mystery Package on the weekend of the 26th October? This two night package includes dinner, bed and breakfast along with mega entertainment! £147.50pp
Love fishing? Celebrate the Official Closing of the Salmon Fishing Season on the River Tay at the Kenmore Hotel on the 15th October. Enjoy an evening with the hotel on the Boar’s Head terrace to see the last boat come in. Includes a dram of Dewar’s Whisky and a spectacular fireworks display. £25pp.
Want to get away with the girls? The Hilton Dunkeld House Hotel’s Luxury Girls Night package is perfect. Enjoy a night of luxury accommodation, dinner in the garden restaurant, a bottle of Prosecco per room, a full Scottish breakfast, complimentary use of the spa and leisure facilities and a spa treatment each. £135pp, this offer is available until the end of October.
Finally, here’s one for the food lovers! Murrayshall House Hotel is offering regular Cookery Demonstrations throughout the year. Join their head chef for the demonstration, and enjoy a glass of wine and lunch while you’re there! £18.50pp.
Do you often visit Crieff and the surrounding area?
April 26th, 2012 | Funkey Business,Top 5 |
Do you often arrange business meetings or conferences? If so, Funkey Business is just what you need! Just like the leisure side of funkeydoos, we scour the length and breadth of Scotland to find fab hotel deals you won’t be able to resist. Funkey Business is all about finding great meeting and conference packages – in a range of different locations on a range of different terms.
It’s important to note that all prices given in our Funkey Business section are guide prices. Do contact individual hotels to negotiate a final price based on number of delegates, etc.
We’ve gathered our top five city business deals available across Scotland this spring. Be sure to take a look at our full selection of business packages too!
At number five is the Apex International Hotel in Edinburgh
The Apex International’s Holiday Madness Off-Peak Offers deal is great if you really want to get more for your money. For just £25 per delegate for a full day on a bank holiday, your conference will receive room hire for a full day, tea and coffee, a hot or cold buffet lunch, access to a range of equipment, a complimentary soft drink per delegate, jelly beans for everyone (!), and conference stationery. As a special funkey extra, the hotel are also throwing in a fruit smoothie for each delegate during the afternoon break!
At number four is the Huntingtower Hotel in Perth
The Huntingtower Hotel’s Meeting for Less package invites groups of up to ten delegates to enjoy a two hour meeting for just £5 per delegate. Included in this great value package is use of a projector screen and flip charts, delegate stationery, coffee and a bacon bap each.
At number three is the Best Western Palace Hotel and Spa in Inverness
Their Day Delegate Rate package includes a huge range of extras. For £34.95 per delegate, your groups can expect unlimited refreshments in your meeting room including fruit and biscuits, a buffet lunch, stationery packs, flip charts, use of a LCD projector, free wifi access and direct dial telephones for your convenience. Your meeting room will also be available thirty minutes before the start of your meeting for you to set up, free of charge. This package is available throughout 2012.
At number two is the Hilton Glasgow Hotel
If you book your meeting before the 30th June, you’ll be able to take advantage of the Hilton Glasgow Hotel’s Flexible Meeting, Flexible Offers package. In addition to a great full day rate of £29 per delegate, you’ll also be able to choose two funkey extras from a list. Perhaps you’d like one in five delegate to go free? Perhaps you’d like access to a LCD projector or a complimentary drinks reception? The choice is yours!
At number one is the Scotsman Hotel in Edinburgh
The Scotsman Hotel is one of Edinburgh’s most exclusive hotels, and their Day Delegate Rate package will really help you to make a great impression. For £45 per delegate, you’ll be able to invite delegates to the hotel’s impressive boardroom to enjoy three tea and coffee breaks, a two course lunch and basic equipment hire.
April 23rd, 2012 | Spotlight |
In our opinion, there are few better ways to spend an evening than in the presence of good food, good company and live music. Whether it’s a jazz band or a ceilidh, we’re not fussy. And if there’s an open fire and a dram nearby – so much the better!
Here on Funkeydoos, we have a whole section dedicated to live music. A number of our funkey hotels hold regular events of this sort, and we can wholeheartedly recommend them! A venue that is particularly well known for great musical events is the Links Hotel in Montrose. The hotel is based in an impressive Edwardian townhouse and always has a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Tomorrow night American country singer Keven Welch will be performing at the Links Hotel. Tickets are just £6.50 each, and the show kicks off at 8pm.
If you’d like to make more of a weekend of it, you’ll love this event at the Aberdeen Douglas Hotel. Over the first weekend in August (Friday 3rd – Sunday 6th) the hotel are hosting a Dominic Kirwan and Friends package. For £169 per person, enjoy two night’s accommodation, a full Scottish breakfast each morning, and shows and late night parties on both Friday and Saturday night. And that’s not all! To send you off on your way you’ll be treated to Sunday lunch and an afternoon show!
Wheres’ your favourite hotel venue in Scotland for live music events?
April 19th, 2012 | news |
Here at Funkeydoos we make it our job to make sure you know about the fab deals and packages that are available across Scotland. We’re constantly working to make it easier and easier for you to find this information – from posting it on our Facebook page for you to find, to Tweeting special interest events, to putting together blog posts to spotlight some of the best.
What you may not know is that we also work hard to develop new features for funkeydoos.com to make the site simpler and more fun for you to use. On the blog today, we wanted to show you some of the many features that could be making your ideal hotel events even easier to find!
Funkey Business
One of our newest site features is Funkey Business. This is a whole section of the site dedicated to business and corporate event offerings. If you’re looking for a meeting room or conference facilities – this is for you! We’ve collected some of the best offers from hotels across the country. This should be your first stop for business events!
Funkey Faves
Found so many great events you can’t choose? Don’t worry – that’s why we created Funkey Faves. When you spot an event you love, click the circular ‘FF’ button to add it to your Funkey Faves. We’ll bookmark as many events as you need here. To find them, click the button that looks like this in the top right corner of your screen;
Funkey Extra
This feature is highlighted in gold on each listing page and lists additional rewards/benefits on offer at a variety of hotels in our Funkey Business section. We’ll soon be rolling this out to Funkey Leisure listings too!
Booking
Of course, there’s no sense in finding all these wonderful events if you don’t know how to book them! When it comes to taking the plunge, you have two choices. Firstly, you can use the contact details for the hotel that we list at the end of each listing and contact them directly. Don’t forget to mention that you saw the event on Funkeydoos, as this will ensure that you receive all funkey benefits included in the listing! Alternatively, we can contact the hotel and book on your behalf. Email us on info@funkeydoos.com if you’d like us to do this for you.
How does Funkeydoos work for you? We’re always keen to hear your feedback and ideas. And, of course, if you need any help with the site don’t hesitate to get in touch.
April 16th, 2012 | Why Not? |
Every month we like to invite our blog readers to try something a little different. In this post, we’re suggesting you try your hand at a culinary adventure. Whether you aspire to be a Domestic Goddess or a Domestic God, we’ve got some events that will send you well on your way.
Whatever your level of expertise in the kitchen, we think it’s always fun to try something new. We’ve got a handful of tasty events suitable whatever your experience. Put your chef’s hat on and join us!
Why not indulge your sweet tooth and take part in the Cupcake Masterclass at the Blythswood Hotel in Glasgow? This event takes place on Sunday 20th May an includes lunch, a glass of bubbly, a masterclass on cupcake decoration, and four boxed cupcakes to take away with you. It costs £40pp.
Why not learn from the masters? The Doubletree by Dunblane Hilton Hydro Hotel’s Nick Nairn Cook School is a wonderful opportunity to learn to cook. Even better, in addition to a day’s cookery tuition you’ll be treated to a luxury two night stay with dinner on both nights. It costs £299pp.
Why not go au naturelle? Airds Hotel and restaurant have put together a Mushroom Foraging Weekend in September that aims to teach you the joys of ‘vegetarian stalking’ and hoe to transform the spoils of your labours into a gourmet dinner. You’ll also enjoy a luxury two night stay at the hotel with dinner and breakfast included. £355pp.
Why not learn about growing your own? Boath House Hotel are offering you a chance to learn all about it on their Kitchen Garden Course. This June visit the hotel for two nights on a dinner, bed and breakfast basis and enjoy a morning in the Kitchen Garden with the head chef learning about how to use home grown items in the kitchen. After lunch, you’ll then be invited to attend a cookery demonstration. £320pp.
Will you be learning a new kitchen skill this spring?
