A Perthshire castle featured in a Channel 4 documentary has become so popular the owners have had to build a 350-capacity pavilion in the gardens to accommodate wedding guests.
Tracey and Rob Beaton have spent millions of pounds and thousands of hours renovating Culdees Castle, just outside Muthill, since buying the dilapidated near-ruin in 2019.
They bought the property, which includes the castle, its grounds and a house for £730,000.
And their work bringing the ageing building back to former glory has been documented on Channel 4 show Renovation Nation.
They always planned on running the castle as a wedding and holiday spot, supplementing the construction as they earned from their business.
Culdees Castle renovation
But the pair, who also tied-the-knot in their renovated chapel, decided to reprioritise how their business would run, as the challenges of transforming a literal ruin started to mount.
They maintain the rebuild is still going ahead, but the focus shifted in 2024 from hosting weddings inside completed parts of the castle, to much larger marquee-style parties in the garden.
And after noticing a change in the cost of marquee hire, they decided to build their own pavilion.
Rob said: “As interest in weddings ramped up, it became clear we couldn’t accommodate enough people in the castle.
“The other option we had was to put marquees on the lawn. However the price for marquees has rocketed to around £15,000 – £20,000 for two days’ hire.
“So we made the very hard decision to (step back) work on the castle and instead build a pavilion in the garden.
“This is to accommodate much larger numbers, so we can now seat roughly 350 guests. It’s been a really good addition.”
Building costs on the rise
Rob adds how the cost of building materials has also changed how their business runs.
“It has all been impacted by the rise in building costs and materials.
“There’s not a lot we can do about that, and we have had to really throttle back on what we have been doing with the castle and reprioritise harder.
“And the weather was so awful last year and material costs have played such a massive part in that. In some cases, we were told over the course of a week the cost of wood and timber had risen by more than 25%.”
Renovation Nation and new shows
Interest for restoration and DIY television shows has never been higher. And after two successful seasons on Renovation Nation, Rob said there could be even more on the horizon.
“We have had a lot of guests, both for the glamping and weddings, who have said they have seen us on TV.
“But has it increased interest? It has probably increased wedding interest, but the glamping has always been busy anyway.
“And we have had another TV show approach us, linked with Netflix, who want to come and film in the grounds.
“Series three of the Channel 4 show we are still talking about. But the production company want to move us to a prime time slot.”
Conversation