Kelham Island Wedding & Jameson's Tea Rooms

A look at Caroline & Adrian’s lovely Jameson’s Tea Rooms & Kelham Island wedding in Sheffield.

The wedding of Caroline, the Sheffield bride, and Adrian, the Cornish groom, took place a month before Christmas, 2016. Even though it was freezing cold outside, it was one of those perfect bright, crisp winter days . So an ideal occasion for guests to wrap up warm in their big faux fur coats to enjoy a day of celebration and old-school glamour!

There was definitely a vintage feel throughout the wedding, which took place across three distinctly different venues. The day started at Kelham Island Museum in one of Sheffield’s oldest industrial districts. It’s such a great place to take photographs. There are huge machines and tools on display, charting the steel city’s manufacturing past, as well as quaint cobbled streets, bunting, an old-fashioned phone box and the River Don quietly meandering by.

Caroline looked stunning as she walked down the aisle to Somewhere Only We Know by Lily Allen (very Christmassy!) wearing a gorgeous white Maggie Soterro lace dress. She had a huge white fur stole around her shoulders, like a snow queen. And her two bridesmaids were in stylish, floor-length navy blue dresses with pale pink scarves, hair accessories and nail varnish, along with pearl jewellery for that timeless and elegant touch. I particularly loved the choice of wedding readings, including one from the Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, which was very atmospheric.

After the ceremony there were plenty of great photo ops, including some good shots of the wedding guests lined up alongside Little Mesters Street, a reconstructed lane full of small workshops, while the newly-weds walked through to excited guests, who applauded and threw confetti by the plenty.

In keeping with the vintage theme, the couple had hired a magnificent cream and blue double-decker bus from the Yorkshire Heritage Company to take us to the second venue – Jamesons’ Tea Rooms. However, the vehicle was so old it was a wonder it actually made it there without breaking down! But it was all worth it when we walked through the door, and made for plenty of laughs onboard.

We were greeted with trays of champagne, the cat-themed tables were beautifully laid with vintage china and candles, and there were Christmas decorations and pretty, colourful baubles hanging in the windows. The whole atmosphere felt lovely and festive. The wedding breakfast of afternoon tea was served by smart waiters and comprised the most fabulous spread including scones, quiche, finger sandwiches and five different type of cakes (the white chocolate and raspberry was particularly delicious!) And the speeches were hilarious, especially Adrian’s mum who had the room in stitches with her tales of her son’s misspent youth!

In the early evening we were back on the bus again destined for our the final venue – Bloo 88 in Sheffield’s city centre – for pizza, cocktails, yet more cake, and lots of dancing. And, despite the bride saying she didn’t want any ‘cheesy music’ at her wedding, her new mother-in-law insisted on playing some wedding classics, including the Macarena, Oops Upside Your Head and Saturday Night Fever… Pretty funny, but at that point it was time for me to make a hasty retreat home!

My favourite moment of the day was the speeches, for sure, they were SO funny, the mums really went in on their kids. My favourite photos have to be the ones walking through Little Mesters Street – I just love that kind of natural photography at weddings, and it’s great to see the happiness on everyone’s faces.

♡

Venues : Kelham Island Museum | Jamesons’ Tea Rooms | Bloo 88

Vintage Bus : Yorkshire Heritage Company

Bridal Dress : Maggie Soterro