The Caves and The Rowantree

The Caves and The Rowantree are exciting truly unique and atmospheric venues situated deep in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town. Its huge arches, that support Edinburgh’s South Bridge, form a multitude of unique and diverse rooms. Both venues can accomodate the full day weddding experience from your ceremony right through to the evening reception and they are licensed fro Civil, Humanist and Religious wedding ceremonies.

Our smaller venue, The Rowantree was originally called Lucky Middlesmass’s Tavern and is mentioned is poems by Robert Ferguson. It was the watering hole for the all the key figures in the Scottish Enlightenment, where they met as part of the Oyster Club, Rabbie Burns, David Hume, Adam smith, Deacon Brodie, with visits from James Watt and Benjamin Franklin. For weddings of between 30-60 day guests and up to 110 evening guests, please contact us to send you an e-brochure for The Rowantree.

The Caves is our larger venue. There is no venue more Edinburgh than the Caves, or more Scottish either if you consider there was once so much Whisky stored here that it became known as “Whisky Row”. Every room has a story to tell and a special place in Scottish history -from vaults that served as the stables to the French Cavalry who were at one time body guards to the Royal Family, to remains of the houses that pre-date the Bridge itself – with the original terracotta floor tiles still intact! For weddings of between 65 - 130 day guests and up to 450 evening guests, please contact us to send you an e-brochure for The Caves.


The huge vaults which make up the venues are the sub-structure of the South Bridge built in 1788 where used as storage space and workshops for the South Bridge business's. By the turn of the century the area had became a renowned red light district with countless brothels and pubs operating within the abandoned complex. Burke and Hare the infamous serial killers who sold corpses to medical schools, are rumoured to have hunted for victims in the Edinburgh Vaults. Eventually the vaults were filled in with rubble and lay forgotten in Edinburgh History until the venues were discovered and excavated in the mid 90's.

 

Both venues only offer exclusive use.

 

Make your day a truly magical one by choosing The Caves or The Rowantree, enchanting and beautiful wedding venues...

 

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Address:  The Caves and The Rowantree
8-12 Niddry Street South, Edinburgh
Lothian & Borders, EH1 1NS
Contact:  0131 557 8989
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From a total of 45 reviews

Summary information

World Heritage Site We have our own in house chefs Two exclusive use venues accomodating for large or small weddings Civil Marriage Licence Unique, atmospheric, very Scottish venue in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town Close to the Royal Mile

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Reviews for The Caves and The Rowantree

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    • 09 Mar 2012, Mr and Mrs Littlewood rated The Caves and The Rowantree  

      A note to say!!!
      Dear Marcelle, Just a little note to say a big thank you for all your help, guidance (&patiende!)in planning our wedding reception at The Rowantree on 26th November 2011. A great day was had by all and we appreciate all your efforts in ensuring it ran so smoothly. Many Thanks Mr and Mrs Littlewood

    • 12 Jan 2012, Mr and Mrs Davies rated The Caves and The Rowantree  

      THANK YOU
      Dear Marcelle THANK YOU so very much for all your help on Friday. You were amazing, you accommodated all our random requests so well. The place looked and smelt lovely and I really appreciated you putting all my little scented things around the place and what you did with the acorns and hearts and table things was gorgeous! I loved it all so much. We had a really wonderful day, thank you for all your help and little touches. Everyone has been raving about the food, it was exceptional. My mum commented that it was by far the best wedding food she had ever had. Thank you for catering to our many dietary requirements, please thank the chef for the extra work with the meringues, they were delicious ! You were so kind and sweet to my dad and I when we were waiting to go in. I would also like to thank you for taking the photos from the gallery, that was very good of you. We are so pleased that we got married at The Rowantree, you helped to make our wedding day extra special and for that I cannot thank you enough. I hope things are going well and you are enjoying helping many other couples make their day special, you are very gifted at it and are certainly in the right job ! Thanks again, you are a star. Mr & Mrs Davies :-0)

    • 13 Dec 2011, Mr and Mrs MacGruer rated The Caves and The Rowantree  

      Lovely and unique venue
      To Marcelle and team, Just wanted to drop you a note to say thank you for ensuring our wedding went so smoothly last month, everyone has been telling us how amazing they thought it was! The Caves is such a lovely, unique venue and we're so glad we chose it. The food was lovely too and thanks to the chef for providing different potatos for Duncans mum! It was a nice little touch that she appreciated. We will definitely be reccomending you to anyone getting married in Edinburgh! Thanks again Mr and Mrs MacGruer

    • 28 Nov 2011, Cathy Foster rated The Caves and The Rowantree  

      Gluten free wedding guest
      I just wanted to say a big thank you for providing lovely gluten free food for me yesterday, as one of the guests at Duncan and Amie's wedding. The main meal was delicious, and having bacon rolls like everyone else later on in the evening really made my day. I really appreciate the effort your staff made (as well as it being an overall amazing day!), please pass my thanks on to the waiting staff for their help & the kitchen for the lovely

    • 21 Nov 2011, Anne and Dale rated The Caves and The Rowantree  

      the best beef they have ever tasted
      Dear Caroline, We just wanted to say thanks to the Caves for making our wedding day so amazing!! We couldn't have asked for a more special venue, it really did make our day perfect!! All of our guests also had an amazing time and have raved about the venue and especially the food, many people have said it was "the best beef they have ever tasted"

    • 21 Nov 2011, Graham and Jennifer rated The Caves and The Rowantree  

      Yum Yum Yum
      Dear Marcelle and the entire wedding team, We just wanted to send you this short email to say how happy we were with our wedding at the Rowantree. Everything from start to finish was perfect and really exceeded our expectations. Please pass on our thanks to the chef and all of the waiting staff for all the effort that was put into providing such a wonderful service. People are still talking about how good the food and service was. We would like to say a special thank you to you Marcelle, for all the hard work you put in over the past year, you really took all the stress out of planning a wedding. Best Wishes, Graham and Jennifer.

    • 18 Nov 2011, Kerryn and Paddy rated The Caves and The Rowantree  

      Professional, reassuring and generally lovely
      Dear marcelle and everyone at The Caves, Thank you for making our day so amazing! From the intial showround to the planning to the execution on the day itself, it could not have gone more perfect. So helpful, professional, reassuring and generally lovely. We didnt have to worry about a thing. best wishes kerryn and Paddy

    • 18 Nov 2011, Tami and Charlie rated The Caves and The Rowantree  

      More than we could have ever dreamed of
      Caroline Thank you will never be enough. Our wedding day was more than we could have ever dreamed it could be. You and your staff were absolutly incredible and there is absolutly nothing we could have changed. Thank you so much for all your help, it was truly beautiful. Much Love and Higs Tami Caroline Everything fell into place so magically and we know this is due to your help and diligence in helping us plan the event so well!!! thanks again Charlie

    • 09 Nov 2011, Denise and Charlie rated The Caves and The Rowantree  

      Amazing Day
      Caroline and Marcelle I just wanted to drop you a note to thank you and everyone else at The Caves for making our wedding in The Rowantree so special. Charlie and I had an absolutely amazing day and can truly say that there's nothing that we would have changed. It was exactly what we wanted. The Rowantree was just perfect and really gave us the intimate (and fun) feeling that we wanted on our big day. Our guests had an absolutely fantastic time. I especially loved the fact that regardless of whether they wanted to dance or chat (without shouting) that everyone could stay in the same space and feel part of everything that's going on, which I find is very rare in a wedding venue. We would not hesitate to recommend The Caves to anyone planning a wedding or a party......we loved every second. Thank you all so much, again. Best wishes Denise and Charlie

    • 16 Aug 2011, Adam and Julia rated The Caves and The Rowantree  

      Better than we could have ever imagined!
      Hi Marcelle We just wanted to thank you for all your help and the hard work you put into making our wedding day perfect for us. It went better than we could ever have imagined and we were thrilled with everything! Everything was beautiful - even more beautiful than we had expected - and the day ran without a hitch. Our guests were blown away with the venue and the food, it was fantastic. We have had a look at our unedited photographs from John Need and they look amazing, he has done a fantastic job and the venue looks stunning. The pictures of our pyrotechnics look great we will send you some when we get the edited ones back from the photographer. Thanks again for everything you have done for us, we really appreciate it. It was definitely a day we, and probably most of out guests, will never forget! Julia and Adam

    • 11 Jul 2011, Natalie and Eddie rated The Caves and The Rowantree  

      Fabulous time
      Dear Marcelle and the rest of the staff, We just wanted to send you a quick email to say thank you for such a fantastic evening on Saturday! We had a fabulous time with great staff and wonderful food - everything was perfect! Hopefully we will have an excuse to hold another party at the caves and we will certainly be raving about you all - i'm sure our guests will too! Thanks again, Natalie and Eddie :)

    • 11 Jul 2011, Lauren and Daniel rated The Caves and The Rowantree  

      Perfect!
      Dear Caroline, Marcelle, & Entire Caves Staff--- I just wanted to offer the most sincere thank-you for everything you did to make our wedding day the most amazing and magical experience we could have imagined! Everything went off without a hitch and that was almost totally due to the dedication and hard work put in by your entire team! Planning a wedding from a different country can be a very stressful experience, but working with you made the entire process incredibly easy and stress free! You always responded to my e-mails extremely efficiently and were very helpful with any issues that came up. I want to thank-you for going out of your way to help with things like suggesting a hair & make-up artist, bagpiper, photographer, etc. I know these are not your normal responsibilities, but they were extremely helpful and we can't thank-you enough for everything you did for us on our special day. All of our guests were incredibly impressed with The Caves...both because it is such a unique and beautiful venue, but also because of the very impressive staff! Our wedding day was perfect and I wouldn't hesitate for a second to recommend The Caves to any other couple that is planning a wedding in Edinburgh! The food was delicious, staff was friendly, and everything was perfectly orchestrated!!! Thank-you again for everything you did for us--it was perfect from start to finish!

  • Total Reviews : 45
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Facilities for The Caves and The Rowantree

Venue Type :
Civil Ceremony License
Exclusive Use
In the City
Historic
Landmark
Evening Entertainment :
Evening Reception Facilities
Dance Floor
Entertainment License
Live Band Facilities
DJ Facilities
Venue Staff Assistance :
Wedding Coordinator
Dining Options :
Seated Meal Facilities
Buffet Meal Facilities
In House Catering
Alcohol License
Capacity :
30 to 50 guests
50 to 75 guests
75 to 100 guests
100 to 150 guests
150 to 250 guests
250 to 400 guests
More than 400 guests

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