Dunvegan Keep

I can’t possibly do justice in words to the overwhelming feeling of warmth, love, and joy I had when on the grounds. I knew I had to have my wedding there.
Dunvegan Keep is owned and operated by Ciara and Craig Turner. It’s in a residential area. You either knock on the solid wood door that gives you the feeling that you’re going to enter a castle — or, go past the statues, entering the enchanted garden complete with a turret. The trees have moss and lanterns hanging from above, the coy pond is very pretty, the cobblestone walkway makes it seem like you’re in another land. The Knight’s quarters is separate from the main area and the men gather there to get dressed. It is so well decorated that it makes for some very interesting photos. There are so many items throughout the property that Craig made by hand that are so inspiring that I can’t choose one as my favorite. It’s as if you’ve transported back in time to find beauty surrounding you every where you turn. Nearly every professional I spoke with when I was looking for vendors knew of Dunvegan Keep and nearly all of them said a variation of something like «Oh my, you’re having it there? That place is beautiful — a photographer’s dream.»
For your event, you’ll need to find your own catering. We used, and loved, Circle C Café and Catering. Parking on site is limited but Ciara and Craig run a shuttle to and from nearby parking in 5-​minute increments for arrivals and at any time throughout the night for departures. It was quite seamless.
We planned for an outdoor wedding and cocktail hour with an indoor reception. However, it rained cats and dogs on our day (Nov. 22, 2014). Thunder and lightening galore. But, Ciara and Craig handled rearranging the reception space to elegantly handle the wedding ceremony, then moving chairs out for cocktail hour, and then having the tables still in place for the reception. It worked perfectly. They have a sound system there so using a well timed iPod instead of a DJ was one of our better decisions as well. There are skylights, as well as some (color of your choice) accent lighting in this room. The lighting and lightening wound up changing the atmosphere somewhat to enhance the event of the moment.
If I had my wedding to do all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. Their story and photos can be found on

Unique and beautiful venue — I had never heard of it until I attended a wedding there last night. I was assisting the photographer, so I got to see everything behind the scenes as well as the show out front. I was so impressed with how the owners, Craig and Ciera Turner, work to be sure everything goes as perfectly as possible. When an afternoon rain shower caused the bride to be nervous about holding the ceremony outside, Craig hauled the huge «enchanted tree» decorations into the reception hall and set them up. All of the vendors the bride brought in (caterers, DJ, dance troupe, bartenders) were given considerable accommodation, including the huge «Retreat» building for the dancers to use as a dressing room. The venue is located in a residential neighborhood, and the owners actually live here. Because of the limited parking, the owners shuttle guests to the venue from the parking lot of a school a few blocks away. Craig is an artist, and his fabulous paintings of jungle animals hang in a few of the public rooms. He also painted the ceiling of the Retreat building, and maintains the lush and beautiful grounds of the venue. The hands-​on personal service and the considerable love and care that Craig and Ciera lavished on this wedding made me fall in love with it and them. This is definitely at the top of my list of venues in Austin.

I recently attended a wedding here, and it was absolutely beautiful. The grounds provided guests opportunities to explore during down time, and a completely memorable event. It was overall FANTASTIC!

My fiancé and I recently had our engagement photos taken at Dunvegan Keep and the entire experience was wonderful!
The pictures came out beautifully! We were there for close to 3 hours and probably could have stayed longer except we both had to get to work. There are countless places to take pictures with the scenery being great outdoors as well as indoors. The guest house has some really unique places but the coy pond and archways are excellent as well. I do know in the spring it has a lot of color and flowers but it also looks great without. The flowers only add to the beauty of everything.
Ciera and Craig (the owners) are also wonderful as well. They only charged us for an hour even though we were there much longer. They were also kind enough to arrange a tour for us. Craig was excellent with the tour and showed us everything, even places in their house where we could have taken some pictures. We actually had to reschedule our original shoot because of rain and they made it so easy. They are both very prompt when responding to phone calls and emails and they are just very considerate and polite. Also, Craig built everything himself and when you see everything up close and all the details its just spectacular.
I would definitely recommend this venue for more than engagement photos. Any type of photos can be taken here. It also makes a great wedding venue. We considered it as one for our wedding and only ruled it out because of our guest count. We did get to see it set up for a wedding when we took our tour. It has a great outdoor spaces to have the ceremony but also has a nice indoor space that can have the feel of a church or chapel.

Craig and Cierra have such a lovely castle of a home that amazed us that they actually live there. They were so very helpful when my wife and I had our wedding there. They accommodated last minute changes and shuttled our guests to and from the ceremony. Have nothing but the very best things to say about Dunvegan Keep.

Dunvegan Keep was the perfect location for our intimate wedding ceremony. I am so glad to have found this wonderful gem! I loved my family’s reaction when they arrived on site. In particular, I was happy to see my father roaming the maze of beautiful stonework, greenery, and «old world» designs before the ceremony. Craig and Ciera were hospitable, quick to reply to emails and phone calls, and very helpful before and during the ceremony. Thank you, guys, for helping to make our day beautiful, meaningful and unique!
All the best,
Sharon & Erjon
11.11.12 wedding

Love this place!
A photographers dream. Craig and Ciera have done wonders. And this place is a wonder. With several different venues to choose from. The detail work is amazing. Things you would not even think of are included. Even Spanish Moss in the trees.
Perfect place for Events. But even better, is the availability for all kinds of photography. Portraits, seniors, family, engagements, etc. Reasonably priced and a fantastic gem hidden in South Austin!

If you are looking for a unique, beautiful and intimate venue in which to hold your wedding and reception, Dunvegan Keep is the most mythical, magical setting anyone could wish for.
The owners, Craig and Ciera Turner are just a delight to work with, in every aspect, and should feel justly proud of their wonderful property.
Having attended large, ‘cookie-​cutter’ type weddings and receptions, our son & his fiancée were looking for somewhere more unique and intimate for their September wedding.
They found Dunvegan Keep on the internet, and I cannot believe we had never heard of it before.
It was an absolute gem of a find!
I strongly encourage anyone to check out their website, and trust me, when you see how beautiful it is online, the real thing is even better!
It is truly the stuff dreams are made of.
Outdoors, there is a huge ‘secret garden’ with numerous areas providing different, stunning backdrops for the wedding ceremony and photographs. — including the wonderful stone ‘Keep’; beautiful plants & flowers; gentle fountains; romantic archways etc.
For the indoor reception it feels like you could have stepped right inside a fairytale!
There are impressive stained glass windows & doors; heraldic images and artifacts; stunning artwork & bronzes; and many other whimsical touches, offering even more beautiful backdrops for bridal photographs.
Although you are easily transported back to more romantic times of chivalry — conjuring images of bold knights and blushing damsels… they have a great, 21^st century, sound system available so you can create your own playlist over dinner and for dancing!
After all the other planning that goes into preparing for a wedding, we are very much looking forward to the ‘big day’ at Dunvegan Keep, knowing we are in the capable hands of Craig & Ciera! :)

My daughter was married at Dunvegan keep Easter weekend, and the day was perfect. Craig and Ciera Turner, the owners of an amazing house and garden, made sure everything looked beautiful. It was as if we had friendly, relaxed relatives who opened their estate to us for the day and then cleaned up afterwords.
We’d had a little concern about the shuttle to transport guests to the house, since it’s in a neighborhood, but that was handled very smoothly too.
Very unique setting, and dinner inside the stone and glass conservatory was magical. Royal Fig did a great job with catering, also.

My wedding is this upcoming Fall in October and Craig & Ciera the owners of Dunvegan Keep and Michelle from Allison’s Events have been truly amazing to work with. Everything has been smooth sailing so far and I am so excited to surprise my guests with such as beautiful venue!!!

I got married at Dunvegan Keep this summer and it couldnt have been anymore perfect. My family and friends were in awe at the location. This was the first place that my wife and I went to and everything else just fell short. When we met Craig Turner, the owner, he was working on the grounds. He showed us around and talked to us like real people. He wasnt trying to sell us on anything, his hard work spoke for itself and thats why we chose to have our special day at Dunvegan Keep. Dunvegan Keep is for those who want something memorable and special on their wedding day. Craig helped us by recommending an amazing planner (Michelle Bromley with Allisons Events) who was familiar with his location and was an absolute lifesaver. The whole process from viewing the grounds, to signing the contract, to the actual event was painless. Highly recommended.

In an update to this review, the owner DOES allow specific DJs to perform at this venue.