Romantic setting for fairy-tale wedding

hotel is anywhere near any conurbation when standing on the terrace

surveying the grounds.

A haven of calm, Montgreenan Mansion House Hotel lies amid 50 acres of

gardens, woods and manicured lawns. From the library window and through

a carefully contrived gap in the far circle of trees, Ailsa Craig can be

seen sitting serenely at sea unflustered by the passing time.

The serenity is reflected in the house itself in its regular but not

harshly regulated lines, obviously drawn and structured with the

authority of a master hand. Montgreenan is grand but not imposingly so,

built as it was in 1817 by Dr Robert Glasgow as a family home; an

atmosphere it retains.

The sense of tranquility and seclusion begins with a driveway through

mature woods, which seems to act like a conduit for time travel. A few

moments ago and one was on the A736 to Irvine and now after a sharp

right turn, back in a grander age of gracious country living. It does

not take much to imagine Montgreenan as the perfect setting for a

fairy-tale wedding; a thought which will undoubtedly strike visitors to

its Wedding Fayre on Sunday.

Whenever the hotel is playing host to a wedding party, the staff turn

out to greet them at the front door in their Victorian style uniforms

and inside the building reeks of romance with antique fittings and

original woods tempered with the cosiness of a family home.

Having a wedding at Montgreenan is, according to owner Darren Dobson

like having your own country mansion for the day and he should know. The

hotel was the family home when the Dobsons first took it over eight

years ago and it was more than just the romance of the setting that

caught him. He met his wife Christine through Montgreenan when she

arrived with her cake creations for wedding parties.

At the time, Christine had her own business outwith Montgreenan but

her spectacular cake creations are now part of the service the hotel can

offer to weddings and Christine will be taking part in the wedding fayre

alongside a range of relevant companies. Also on show on the day will be

exclusive bridal wear and mother of the bride outfits from Ann Priscilla

of Ayr, Italian hand-made favours and wedding stationery from Caprice of

Clarkston in Glasgow and flowers from Joan Ross of Kilmarnock.

Photographers Clifford Beckett, of Irvine, and Catherine Wood, of

Saltcoats, and representatives of Hart Videos, of Kilmarnock, and the

Small Video Co., of Burnside, will be on hand to discuss their services.

Visitors will also be able to check out a few of the options for

actual -- as opposed to a cerebral -- transportation on their big day

with Blue Red Blue Cars, who offer blue luxury cars for weddings (all

the better for showing off white dresses in the photographs) and a

company called Arriving in Style, which is based at the Ayrshire

Equestrian Centre and supplies horse-drawn carriages for weddings.

The wedding fayre will also provide an opportunity to soak up the

atmosphere of Montgreenan with its Adams-style fireplaces, grand big

windows and pleasant furnishings. They may also spot the odd antique

doll -- part of a large collection of 60 or so -- or family portrait or

two of laughing children. Although it is very beautiful, Montgreenan is

also a warm and cosy place. This intimacy means it can handle small

parties, perhaps for second weddings, and larger affairs with up to 100

guests through its spacious public rooms.

The restaurant can comfortably handle wedding parties of around 65

people with the tables arranged so that the main party are facing the

windows looking out onto the terrace and the gardens below. Weddings

with a larger guest list can be accommodated in the drawing room, which

after the meal is transformed for the reception, while small wedding

parties will find comfortable dimensions for the occasion in the Italian

room with its antique furnishings.

Generally speaking the main party, after being greeted by the staff at

the door perhaps with a glass of champagne, will be gently steered into

the library. On fair days, they can also be led through the French

windows and onto the terrace for a ceremonial cake cutting which will

live on in the memory.

Dishes such as roast sirloin of Scotch beef and seafood from the

nearby shores are popular with wedding parties, served up with genuine

Wedgewood, crystal and silver. Part of a consortium of privately owned

hotels with high standards of service called Best Western, the

Montgreenan has notched up an AA Rosette for its excellent cuisine

created by chef Alan McCall.

Staff generally find the hotel is taken over by a wedding and many

times all 21 rooms will be booked for the occasion with the bride and

groom also electing to stay the night. Its six main rooms are all on the

first floor. All individually styled, they range from the honeymoon

suite with its soft pink carpeting and lace be-decked fourposter and

double jacuzzi through to the room named for the house's former owner

Lord Weir, with its original china fittings and bath set on a vast

mantle of marble.