Saying 'I Do' at Bristol Beacon: Conor & Sam's Wedding

With over 150 years of music history echoing through our walls, Bristol Beacon offers a wedding setting like no other. We sat down with one of our lovely couples who chose us as the place for their special day, Conor & Sam, to catch up about their wedding and find out more about them as a couple.

Congratulations! We’re so excited to hear about how the big day went. But we wanted to start at the beginning. What initially drew you guys to Bristol Beacon as a wedding venue and had you been to the venue before?

Sam
I think it was a mixture of things. We’re both music lovers and we’ve been here for gigs before, so Bristol Beacon has been part of our history as a couple. When we found out that you guys did weddings, we were like ‘oh that would be really cool’!

The music history definitely pulled us in, as well as the fact it’s very different and niche in terms of wedding venues. We’re quite an untraditional couple, so we didn’t want that traditional wedding either.
Another aspect that drew us in was the location. It was so handy. All of our friends and family who didn’t live in Bristol could get anywhere they needed – it made everyone’s life so much easier.

Conor
Also just seeing the different spaces was such a big thing for us. We walked into the Cellars and that was it.

We knew immediately that that was where we were going to get married. It was just an immediate connection.

You guys mentioned that Bristol Beacon had been a part of your story as a couple. What had you been to here before?

Conor
We’d seen Future Island together, here before. That was incredible.

Sam
I also came here a lot during university.

What was the standout moment from the wedding for you both?

Sam
The Simons’ Bar drinks reception was so much fun. Because we had our alone time and Dan [one of our House Managers] was able to help coordinate our friends and family accordingly. All the staff were fantastic. They were chatting with us, asking us how we were feeling. Most importantly, they brought us our margaritas!

Everyone was just really friendly.

Connor
Simons’ Bar is just such a good space. We had quite a lot of photos in there, some of our favourite photos in there. I think it’s just really unique with the arches…

Sam
And the tiling!

What stood out most to your guests? What were their initial reactions when you told them you were thinking of Bristol Beacon?

Sam
Everyone loved it.

Connor was here before me, I arrived for the ceremony. So the first time I saw everyone was in Simon’s bar and everyone was like, ‘This is so cool’. Not only is the location great, but also everyone was just taken aback by just how different the venue was for a wedding.

Also a lot of the people we know have been to lots of weddings this year, and the feedback I’ve had so far is that our wedding was everyone’s favourite because it didn’t feel too restrictive, it felt informal. Which the layout of the building and the way that Dan and the whole team worked together, allowed for everyone to relax and soak it up. It just felt so chill.