Kasteel van Bouchout

© Geertivp — CC BY-SA 4.0; © Nils Van Geele — CC BY-SA 3.0; © Jean-Pol GRANDMONT — CC BY-SA 2.5.

A wedding at the castle and botanic garden

Bouchout Castle stands within Meise Botanic Garden in Flemish Brabant, near Brussels. Its historic rooms, castle garden, lake and Erekoer courtyard provide different settings for a ceremony, reception, dinner and evening celebration. The castle was Empress Charlotte’s home until 1927. Family parties, meetings and corporate events are also possible. Meet@MeiseBotanic assembles the spaces and additional services around your project. Other garden venues, including the Orangerie, Vlaamse Hoeve and Plant Palace, are separate spaces: their capacities are not added to those of the castle.

Three rooms with different layouts

Ground-floor Sansevieria measures 124 m², 16.2 × 7.8 m: eighty theatre-style, 108 at long dinner tables, eighty at round tables or 120 at a reception. It can host a ceremony or dinner with dancing, subject to an approved floor plan. Adjoining Sequoia measures 37 m², 7.9 × 4.8 m: eighteen at long tables, twenty at round tables or thirty at a reception. Victoria overlooks the castle garden: 164 m², 18.7 × 8.7 m; 140 theatre-style, forty-eight classroom, forty U-shaped, ninety-six dinner or 140 reception. These are alternative layouts, not cumulative places. The courtyard can be used in good weather; separately confirmed ceremony and terrace capacities and a wet-weather plan remain to be agreed.

Catering, menus and drinks

There are six catering partners: Bring it on!, Delivento, Huis van Dijck, KTCHN, Overveerlek and Witlof. They use seasonal ingredients and seek local, organic, ecological and fair-trade options. Vegetarian, vegan and diet-friendly choices are offered; discuss particular allergens and any certification directly with your chosen caterer. Another professional caterer requires an agreement with the garden. Private hirers may not provide the catering themselves. Agree menus and guest numbers directly with the caterer. Obtain separate confirmation of drinks packages, wines, glassware, service, own drinks, corkage, cake and any kitchen-use charges; no general wedding rate for these was found.

Getting there and parking

Visitor entrance: Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium, Keizerin Charlotte entrance. The map pin marks the castle itself at 50.9280891, 4.3287153 inside the estate. Take A12 exit three for Meise. Bus R50 links Brussels-North, Meise and Londerzeel and stops at the main entrance; check current timetables. Bicycle parking is available at the entrances. Official parking information gives €7 per car or coach; stays up to forty-five minutes are free. There are eighteen charging spaces. Parking hours are adjusted for event customers. Suppliers must follow the designated route and delivery windows. Do not direct every guest’s car to the castle: internal vehicle access is restricted.

Accessibility, facilities and accommodation

The garden provides accessible parking and toilets, loan wheelchairs and walking frames, and surfaced paths with a smooth strip beside the cobbled avenue. Assistance dogs are welcome; other pets are not. Two official sources differ about upstairs access: the event guide describes a lift to Victoria, while the general accessibility page says the castle’s upper floors are not wheelchair accessible. Obtain written confirmation of the actual lift route, doorways, toilets and evacuation arrangements for your guests; full accessibility is not guaranteed. An electric shuttle train for approximately forty people can be hired, and golf carts may be used for events. Wi-Fi and audio are listed in documentary information; request the current room inventory and charges. The older technical sheet mentions projection and a mobile microphone on request, not a guaranteed current inventory. No confirmed hotel rooms, bridal suite or dressing room were found; arrange overnight stays separately.

Hire prices and budget

The current quotation sets out spaces, times, guests, catering, equipment, furniture, options and the total price. An older undated official technical sheet gives daily base figures: Weapons Room €1,100, Gothic Room €470, Beauffort Salon €260, Conference Room €1,100, White Salon €260, Brabant Room €520, Empress Salons €470, courtyard €310, kitchen €180, roof terrace €350 and whole castle €5,000. These are historical documentary figures under old room names, not a current quotation; year, season and VAT are unestablished. The old €31.92 insurance premium and supervision supplements are likewise not confirmed as current. The newer VS251125 terms include entry, a rental supervisor and entrance security unless otherwise agreed. No current fixed wedding package, minimum guest count, per-person menu price or VAT treatment was published in the consulted sources. Have optional activities, special requests and extra setup days costed separately.

Timings and estate rules

The event guide allows evening events until 3 am at the latest; contractual start and finish times apply. Noise is measured at the ring road: no more than 70 dB(A) from 7 am and 45 dB(A) after 10 pm; continuously operating equipment must meet the stricter limit all day. Public areas are not exclusive during opening hours unless otherwise agreed. Tents require prior permission; fireworks and sky lanterns are prohibited. Fire or barbecues require explicit approval for particular outdoor areas and safety measures. No nails, drawing pins or adhesive tape; do not move furniture without permission. Deliveries and setup run from 8–10 am or 4–6 pm. Leave the premises cleared and indoor areas swept at the end; organisers take their waste away. Commercial filming requires written permission; drones are not allowed. Garden visiting hours are not automatic party hours.

Booking, payment and changes

Under the VS251125 terms, a provisional booking lasts three weeks; a signed order confirmation makes it final. Pay by bank transfer within thirty days of receiving the invoice. Submit changes by email at least fifteen days ahead; later changes may incur additional charges. Cancellation is free up to the thirty-day boundary; from thirty days the charge is fifty percent, and seven days or less means one hundred percent of the agreement value. Confirm the exact boundary date in your contract. Organisers must insure their liability. Safety concerns or force majeure may require cancellation. Ask the quotation to state any advance payment, deposit, cleaning, extra hours and applicable version of all terms.

A focused enquiry and contact

State your date, room choices, guest numbers for ceremony/reception/dinner, long or round tables, dancing area, rain plan, accessibility needs, catering, diets, drinks, suppliers and setup. Request an itemised current quotation showing VAT, charges and inclusions, and have the conflicting accessibility information clarified. Meet@MeiseBotanic contact: meet@meisebotanic.be, +32 2 260 09 20 or +32 2 260 09 71; website plantentuinmeise.be. Official social channels: Facebook plantentuinmeise2, Instagram plantentuinmeise, LinkedIn Plantentuin Meise, YouTube botanicgardenbelgium and Bluesky meisebotanicgarden.bsky.social. No availability has been checked. The openly licensed architectural and garden photographs date from 2021, 2006 and 2005; they do not show current wedding layouts.

Photo credits

Kasteel van Bouchout 2021 — Geertivp — 2021-09-21 — Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and converted to WebP; adaptations under the same licence. No endorsement implied.

Kasteel van Bouchout — Nils Van Geele (Nilsvg) — 2006-08-19 — Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized and converted to WebP; adaptations under the same licence. No endorsement implied. Watermark removed by Mattplaysthedrums on 1 October 2021.

Meise (Belgium), the Bouchout castle (XII-XIXth centuries) — Jean-Pol GRANDMONT — 2005-06-29 — Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 2.5. Resized and converted to WebP; adaptations under the same licence. No endorsement implied.