Quintessentially Sheffield wedding ideas, for couples in the greatest city in the world
- Meg Senior
- Sep 29
- 5 min read
I’ve been a Sheffield wedding celebrant for five years, but have lived here for a decade now, and let me tell you: I adore my adopted home.
Yes, you read that right: I’m not actually from Sheffield (although my accent might have already given that away…). I’m originally from Blackburn, but I am firmly, deeply, irrevocably head over heels for this wonderful city, and its even more wonderful people.
As such, one of the best parts of being a Sheffield wedding celebrant is when my couples tell me that they want to include things in their wedding ceremony and reception that pay homage to the Steel City.
If you’re looking for some quintessentially Sheffield wedding ideas, here’s some of my inspiration from the city’s finest (a.k.a. my awesome, let’s-have-a-wedding-that-reflects-us-as-people-and-isn’t-boring-and-bland couples). Plus, at the bottom of each, I’ve included a prompt to help you think about how you could apply this to your wedding, because I’m nice like that.
Sheffield wedding inspiration from real-life weddings
Paying homage to the history of the city
Sheffield has an incredible history, with so many different elements, but maybe one of the most famous is steel. This was particularly important to one of my couples because one of them was a steelworker, so they decided to weave this into their personal vows. Specifically, they described their vows as “the extra layer of steel they wanted to add to strengthen their relationship”. The poetry of it!
How you could apply this to your Sheffield wedding: is there a particular part of Sheffield’s history that we could mention or weave into your ceremony?
Picking a Sheffield wedding venue with local meaning
I’ve got a list of some of my favourite Sheffield wedding venues here, including a section on historical gems (though even the venues that aren’t in that section have a real connection to the city’s make-up).
Alternatively, you could make like a lot of my local couples and choose your venue because of its proximity to something that means a lot to you both. In particular, I’m thinking of the fabulous couple I had who got married at Kelham Island Musem because it's bang next to The Fat Cat pub where they shared their first kiss. Kelham Island is also known as The Real Ale Capital of the country. This couple really appreciated good beer, and Sheffield has gallons of the stuff!
How you could apply this to your Sheffield wedding: are there any venues where you have really fond memories that you’d love to build on with your wedding day?
Incorporating the football into your day somewhere
You don’t have to have a football-themed wedding if you don’t want to: you can still nod to it in more ways than one. For example, in a city that's mad about football, it just makes sense that many of my couples have chosen their wedding date around football fixtures.
Some have gone further, and incorporated their team into the day itself. In our work together before the day, one of my brilliant couples responded to the question “What values are most important to you in life?” with WAWAW - which of course means “We’re all Wednesday aren’t we?” - When I weaved this into the ceremony script, there was a hearty response from guests… plus a counter response from attending Blades, of course!
How you could apply this to your Sheffield wedding: are there any ways you want to weave in your team throughout the day?
Picking the best suppliers
Sheffield’s called The Big Village for a reason – I can work at a wedding literally MILES away from the city, and still know one of the guests because they happen to hail from Sheffield.
These village vibes can extend to your suppliers, too. If you need a recommendation for a supplier, feel free to ask someone already on your team; the area is BURSTING with creativity and brilliance, so they’ll be able to recommend someone who can fit right in. Here’s a few of my faves, to get you started:
Modern, creative photography that you won't be able to stop staring at (and neither should you! You look like a movie star having the most fun EVER!)
Award-winning events styling and planning team who will translate the wedding of dreams that's currently in your head into the wedding of dreams you actually have in real life.
Ok, technically not within city limits but it's a stone's throw away, and so close it might as well be!
Henderson’s Relish being the Guest of Honour
Another Sheffield institution is Henderson’s Relish. A popular Sheffield wedding favour is a mini bottle each, but it also goes down marvellously in menu choices. Steak and Hendos pie, anyone? (Make mine a meat-free please!)
How you could apply this to your Sheffield wedding: chat to your caterers about including it in your menu somewhere, or you can buy miniatures direct from them. You could even have a Hendos illustration on your table stationery, or say something about you being “Strong & Northern” in your wedding ceremony.
More Sheffield wedding inspiration
All of the above examples have been (lovingly) swiped from some of my amazing couples. But if you’re looking for never-been-seen before Sheffield wedding inspiration, here’s a few more that I’ve yet to see (and if any of them sound like a bit of you and you want a wedding celebrant to pull it all together, then get in touch pals!)
Using Pulp lyrics as vow inspiration
Picture the scene: a romantic (but not too mushy) ceremony. Maybe a string version of a pop song. A local beer on arrival. And then, when declaring your love for each other, you utter the immortal words: “I wanna sleep with common people like you”. Meant to be, no?
(Want more Sheffield music inspiration for your wedding? I’ve written a blog about that too).
Climbing references
It seems like everyone moves to Sheffield to climb, and if that’s you – why not incorporate that into your wedding day? As well as your favourite summits being your table names or personalised indoor climbing handgrips being everyone’s favour, we could have some real fun with climbing language in your ceremony.
Looking for a Sheffield wedding celebrant who loves weddings, loves Sheffield, and loves you?
Thank goodness you found me. I’d love to chat to you about your Sheffield-inspired wedding plans – get in touch here to get a date in to chat.
Or click that lovely button down there, if you prefer:
The main images on this page are of Levi and Willem's wedding, and were taken by Steven Haddock. He's a very cool photographer, go check him out!
