Indie Industrial Warehouse Wedding

We had come across WWW when looking for inspiration for our wedding. Non-traditional was high up on our list so we really enjoyed researching unique weddings. WWW is brimming with alternative styles and ideas.

Eleanor and William

Well isn’t that just a lovely way to start this gorgeous real wedding feature? Thanks guys! So stoked to have been able to give you plenty of indie wedding ideas for your big day. WWW readers Eleanor and William were hitched on the 10^th August 2019 at 92 Burton Rd in Sheffield. The venue is an old warehouse with super cool industrial vibes, just perfect for their inner city informal wedding vision. This really is what wedding dreams are made of folks.

They kept the warehouse venue decorated simply to really show off the space, flowers took centre stage in blush pink roses and eucalyptus, with a statement arch featuring neon lighting as a very cool backdrop. As self professed gig lovers, these two had music as a top priority and chose meaningful tunes and live music to accompany their celebrations. Confetti, sequins and delicious treats all feature below and I’d really recommend having a read of their wedding report, it’s ever so lovely!

Huge thanks goes to Stevie Jay Photography for sharing these truly magnificent captures of their very fun and romantic nuptials.

The Proposal

We both love Manchester, we always have since we’ve been together. We love the nightlife and the diversity of the city. Will took me just after the New Year, I thought just for a night away. He told me we were staying in a Travel Lodge, when we got there he’d actually booked the Hilton in Deansgate. My birthday is on the 7^th of January so I presumed it was just for that. However, he surprised me in the panoramic sky bar looking over the city we love later that night!

The Vision

We both knew that we didn’t want a traditional venue. It didn’t really suit our style. We had looked at loads of hotels and barns and it just didn’t fit. I’d heard of weddings held in city centre locations and put this idea to Will. We both agreed that we wanted somewhere that nobody we knew had done before so we decided we wanted inner city with lots of flowers, open plan spaces and brick work. We both love gigs so we knew music and entertainment would be of high importance.

‘Indie weddings’ was probably the thing we searched for most before planning came into motion.

The Planning Process

Planning was probably the most stressful, exciting things we’ve ever done. We had quite a long engagement. 2 kids, 3 houses later we decided after 5 years it was time to book a wedding. Will left most of the planning to me, but had input where I felt a joint decision was important. Instagram is packed full of venders that have so many brilliant ideas. I think 90% of our wedding was booked through things I had seen there!

Budget

It went way over what we had anticipated. We had said £10-12k, in the end I’d roughly say more along the lines of £17-£19k. We honestly haven’t added up the total amount. Our wedding day was amazing and we don’t regret a penny we spent. Some things are just better left unknown! We shopped smart, bridesmaid dresses and flower girl dresses were ASOS and Monsoon. We hired local independent businesses to supply the venue. Nothing was excessive, everything was required.

The Venue

The very first time we went into 92 Burton Road we knew this was the place we wanted to get married. It was just everything we wanted it to be. It’s an old warehouse, so it has an industrial feel to it which we just fell for. Bare brick bar and walls, heigh ceiling with girders, it couldn’t have had more of a Sheffield heritage if it tried. It’s a blank canvas and the beauty of it is that you can transform it to whatever masterpiece your heart desires!

The Readings & Music

We are gig mad so we found music planning really exciting, though at times our ideas clashed and it was quite hard to agree with song choices. However, a few weeks before we decided we’d have Ben Howard ‘only love’ to walk down the aisle to. We walked out to Courteeners ‘Summer’. Our first dance was ‘Small Bones’ by Courteeners (they’re our fav band) we had confetti cannons realised at the last bridge of the song, it was amazing! My very dear friend Grace did a reading in the ceremony, she read ‘on your wedding day’ by Anon. We had Michael Mulholland come and play his acoustic Guitar and he also DJ’d. He made our wedding what it was! He was just so good.

Beauty

I have been going to Fiona for the past 6 years for make up, she’s brilliant at what she does. I knew that I wanted her to do my make up for the wedding. I wanted quite natural colours, so we went for gold and nude colours on the eyes, but still with some bold smoky undertones.

I was very fortunate to have my friend do all of our hair. I’ve known Katie for years and trusted her fully. She knows me and knows my likes and dislikes. I knew from the beginning I’d have my hair down. She did my hair beautifully soft curls and a Dutch braid to the right side of my hair. The pearl hair broach I chose just pulled it all together. I loved it!

One of my bridesmaids went for an up do, she had a side bun and the other has much shorter hair. She had beach waves and a flower crown which tied in perfectly with the flowers girls who had the same. I love flower crowns, they suited the venue so well.

The Flowers

The bouquets, flower wands, button holes, ceiling hoop, frame pieces and all the table flowers were designed and created by April at Monica F Hewitt. April really listened and understood what we were looking for. We wanted lots of foliage with a hint of colour, so we went for lots of eucalyptus and blush pink roses. I actually cried when our flowers were delivered I loved them so much! The whole warehouse smelt incredible!

The Details & Décor

I wanted our wedding to not be too ‘done’ I wanted it to be spacious, light and airy. We knew how the flowers would play the major role in décor. There was a ceiling hoop which was dressed with foliage and fairy lights. We hired settees and arm chairs from a local supplier, Modular Moods.

We also had a copper and neon frame and lettering for the dance floor from The Word Is Love, this was placed on the back wall were the ceremony was held. We had a huge ribbon bunting hanging from steel girders that Will’s Mum made for us.

We made a kids area to keep our younger guests occupied. I bought a monochrome tipi, large rug, a pop up caravan, loads of cushions and blankets and made a cosy area for them. Will made a sweet shop out of pallets and we got loads of different jars and filled them full of goodies, which went down a treat. There was a couple of football tables for them, colouring and games area.

We used gin bottles for the table vases, a local bar supplied us with them and they looked great. We had lots of candles dotted around in various size recycled jars and glasses. For place settings we used miniature Henderson Relish bottles with brown paper luggage tags tied onto them. Henderson’s is a well loved relish in Sheffield and it was important for us to have local touches.

We made our welcome sign from a mirror I found in a charity shop and had vinyl lettering made which we stuck on. The order of the day was made by us again, this time using pallets, Will painted it and I did the writing. We tried to find ways of being creative and cutting down on cost. Our seating plan and menu was designed for us by a friend of mine who is a graphic designer. I had the menu framed and the setting plan was suspended from a habitat clothing frame I found in Argos for £12. It’s easy to find ideas that look expensive but aren’t if you’re willing to research!

The Cake

I’d seen Sara’s page, The Bake Lab, on Instagram. I showed Will her work and we both loved what we saw. We went for a 3 tiered naked cake. One layer was lemon curd, then white chocolate, raspberry and pistachio and finally salted caramel. Our cake was decorated with flowers to match the bouquets and fresh berries.

Bridesmaids

The bridesmaid dresses were from ASOS. I saw them just after we had booked the wedding and fell in love with them. I loved the sequin top and floaty skirt, they looked amazing on the day!

Groomsmen

We didn’t have any groomsme, just Will’s best man, Tommo. He had the same Farrah Suit as the groom. Just without the waistcoat. He looked brilliant and I think it was really special for 2 boys that have grown into men to be dressed so handsomely for such a big day for both of them!

Your Outfits & Accessories

Bride: I knew I wanted a boho inspired dress. I didn’t want anything too over the top. I tried on lots of different styles but deep down I knew the type I wanted. My best friend got married a couple of years before and she told me about Wed2Be and the beautiful dresses they did. I went in and she was right. I found my Heidi Hudson dress and fell in love with the low lace back and floaty train. I wore a pearl headpiece to the side of my hair and a beautiful veil. I wore my late Nan’s diamond earrings and my Mum bought me a gorgeous bracelet to match. My shoes were dark metallic grey from Kurt Geiger.

Groom : Will wore a charcoal fleck Farah Suit. He wanted a suit to match his style. It had a gold ‘F’ pin on the corner of the jacket collar, which was such a smart touch. He teamed this with a white Farah shirt, blush tie to match the bridesmaid’s dresses and a pair of Clark Originals for footwear.

The Honeymoon

We went to Kelso, in Scotland for 4 days. We stayed in a lodge. It was perfect to get away to literally nothing! It was so peaceful and quiet where we stayed. After a hectic year of planning and the stress building up to the wedding we really needed some peace. We are also going away in April next year to the Canary Islands; we really wanted to book something so we had a countdown for something else!

Your Photographer

We found Stevie through a local photographer and she recommended her to us. When we saw images she had taken and read about her love for relaxed approach to photography we decided this would be right for us! We didn’t want stuffy posed pictures, we wanted candid shots, in the moment images we’d be able to treasure forever.

Memorable Moments

Decorating the venue the day before and seeing our vision all come together.

Seeing each other walking down the aisle.

Seeing all of our family and friends after the ceremony.

Driving around Sheffield in soft top VW drinking champagne.

Seeing our children looking so beautiful.

Advice For Other Couples

Make sure you take a moment to take it all in. Have a look around the room when you’re having dinner and look at your guests. It was an overwhelming feeling that all those people are there to support both of you on the biggest day of your lives. Don’t sweat the small stuff, everything works out and if it doesn’t nobody will notice. Just have the best time.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

Oh the style! Such a cool indie style day and didn’t Eleanor and William look just gorgeous and super loved up?

Eleanor and William, thank you both SO much for sharing your wedding day with us xo Lou