Venue Hire
London Canal Museum is a unusual and attractive place for your wedding reception. There is something about water that adds extra romance to the most romantic day in your life - your wedding day! You can arrive by boat for an extra special touch. Even if a cruise won't fit into your schedule, the attractive, tranquil urban beauty spot that is Battlebridge Basin is a great setting. Choose a place to celebrate your wedding which will be interesting for your guests, and memorable for life.
The ground floor is ideally suited to receiving your guests. There is ample circulating space and plenty to look at. Conversation between guests who have not previously met will be encouraged by our exhibits and the spectacular opening in the floor which reveals the preserved Victorian ice well below. The rear windows look out onto Battlebridge Basin with its colourful canal boats, and, weather and time of day permitting, guests will be able to take in the view and some fresh air by strolling out to the waterside. The first floor is the area where the main party is likely to take place. There is room for 120 people to be seated at tables. If you opt for a buffet style unseated meal up to 200 guests can be accommodated.
Typically a reception starts with a champagne reception on the ground floor, then guests move upstairs to ear. After the meal space is cleared for dancing. However there is a great deal of flexibility - you can plan the event in accordance with your own preferences.
You can set up a bar and we suggest you ask your caterer to arrange staffing. Tables are normally all that is needed. We have plastic tubs available to use as large ice buckets for chilling wine. Provided that the host is paying for all the alcoholic drink, you do not need a licence. Alcohol cannot be sold in the museum without a licence. If you wish to have a cash bar this can often be arranged with a local public house, subject to the Temporary Event Notice procedure under the Licencing Act 2003. A cash bar cannot operate without this.
The museum is open to the public every day except Mondays, from 1000 to 1630. The museum is available for wedding receptions from 1630 onwards. Our conference room is available to be booked for storage on the day of the wedding reception and also afterwards. This means you can have things delivered before 1630 on the day, your caterers can start preparing, and everyone can be ready more quickly once the hire period starts. If your guests are due to arrive before all the preparations have been completed, on the first floor, they will be happy enjoying a reception on the ground floor whilst catering staff complete their work. Guests should not normally arrive before 1630.
It is not normally possible for ceremonies to take place before the museum closes to the public at 1630, and for this reason we are not licensed for the legal ceremony. Local registrars finish work around 1700, which allows insufficient time. Alternative ceremonies not requiring to be held in a licensed venue may be held in the museum.
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Large Picture Gallery
A boat trip on the Regent's Canal could bring your wedding party to the museum from Camden, Islington, or, time permitting, a starting point further along the historic Regent's Canal. Boats can be hired to convey up to about 70 people and the museum has its own mooring where guests can walk straight off the boat into the building. We can advise you about the arrangements if you are interested in this option to make your day extra special.
A typical wedding schedule looks like this, but it's your party - so you can plan it as you wish!
| Approximate time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 1300 | Caterers begin delivering to museum kitchen and meeting room (used as a temporary store) |
| 1400 or 1500 | Marriage ceremony at Church, Registry Office, or other location |
| 1500 or 1600 | Optional boat trip to museum to arrive 1700 or later |
| 1630 | Museum closes to general public. Caterers begin setting up museum first floor with dining tables or other preparations. |
Phase 1 - Reception |
|
| 1645 or later | Guests arrive at London Canal Museum. Champagne reception on the ground floor |
Phase 2 - Meal & speaches |
|
| 1745 or, usually, later | Guests go upstairs. Meal and speaches |
| 2030 | Guests come downstairs. Cake cutting ceremony in photogenic position. Whilst this is taking place caterers clear the dining tables and fold some of them away to make extra space for dancing. Bar is set up on the first floor. |
Phase 3 - Dancing |
|
| 2100 | Guests go back upstairs. Dancing on the first floor. |
| 2300, midnight, or 0100 | End of event. Bar closes 15 minutes or so before the finishing time. Guests depart. Minicab numbers and telephone are available at reception. |
Consider other peoples' wedding receptions you have attended. Do you remember the venue? If it was a hotel, probably only vagely. But in a museum? You'd remember that! An interesting venue makes for a memorable reception.
