When you imagine getting married, what do you see first – the person or the place? If you’re in the first phase of planning a wedding hopefully the person is pretty much decided on. The place though . . . that’s still up for debate.
To help you decide, we’ve handpicked 40 wedding venues in Manchester that will be vying for your attention if you’re newly engaged. They cover the whole spectrum of options – traditional, glam, cool, quirky, contemporary, and centuries-old.
All these venues are fully licensed for weddings and civil ceremonies, and they’re all in Manchester or the surrounding boroughs. Use our longlist to make your shortlist before you decide on ‘the one’.
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Book Now Piccadilly
Manchester Marriott Hotel Piccadilly
After a multi-million pound refurbishment, Manchester Marriott Hotel Piccadilly is one of the city’s major hotels and certainly looks the part for stylish stays.
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Book Now Piccadilly
Malmaison Manchester Piccadilly
Malmaison Manchester Piccadilly is an impressive boutique hotel in the perfect spot. It’s just minutes from Manchester Piccadilly train station, a heartbeat away from the Northern Quarter with its buzzing nightlife and independent shops, and well-placed for Manchester’s commercial centre.
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Book Now Media City
Seven Bro7hers Media City
A stone’s throw from their brewery and taproom, Salford alemeisters Seven Bro7hers have a beerhouse and kitchen with outside space right in the heart of MediaCity, where they’re serving up “the best pints in town” alongside a choice of hand food with which to mop up the hop.
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Spinningfields
20 Stories
Manchester’s highest restaurant, bar and terrace 20 Stories was the opening of 2018 and still maintains its status as one of the city’s most popular place to eat, drink, be snapped and be seen.
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Northern Quarter
Afflecks
Afflecks, previously known as Afflecks Palace, is a hip indoor market spread over four floors. Established in 1982, it’s a Manchester institution.
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Manchester City Centre
Albert Hall
The upper floor of this Grade II listed Wesleyan chapel lay empty for 40 years before Mission Mars bought the building in 2012 and opened it up as a music venue. The only question is why didn’t anyone do it sooner?
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Standish
Albert’s Standish
Albert’s Standish is a reliable option. You won’t get the best food in the world but you’ll get a menu full of crowd-pleasers, great service and all the buzz, which is what Albert’s is really about.
It’s a place to see and be seen as you tuck in to everything from traditional fish and chips to turmeric roasted cod, from salads to pizzas. There are also brunches aplenty as well as afternoon teas.
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Worsley
Albert’s Worsley
Albert’s Worsley is a reliable option, especially if you’re trying to please a big group. Even if you don’t get the best food in the world, you’ll get a menu full of crowd-pleasers, great service and all the buzz, which is the main reason people flock to Albert’s.
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Media City
The Botanist Salford
Part of a UK-wide chain bringing the outdoors in with its signature English country garden style, The Botanist in Salford also has a large terrace for al fresco eating and drinking, and private dining spaces including The Potting Shed, while botanicals put in an appearance on the list of gin and tonics.
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Oxford Road
Contact Theatre
We were shocked when Contact Theatre, or just Contact, as it prefers to be known, announced it was celebrating its fiftieth birthday in summer 2022. Maybe it’s the out-there architecture or maybe it’s the youth-focussed programming, but we could have sworn it’s not a day older than 25.
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Castlefield
The Crystal Maze Manchester
It’s a dream come true for kids of the 90s: a chance to show off your skills on the legendary TV game show, The Crystal Maze.
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Northern Quarter
Ducie Street Warehouse
Ducie Street Warehouse is all sorts of things, but one of those things is a restaurant. It’s an all-day affair with everything from classic brunches to late-night cocktails. On the menu you’ll find a good selection of small sharing dishes and large plates – it’s a sociable kind of place. And of course, you’ll also find Ducie Street Warehouse’s signature focaccia flatbreads.
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Bury
East Lancashire Railway
The East Lancashire Railway has a long and rich heritage, stretching all the way back to when the first trains steamed into Bury in the 1840s.
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Ardwick
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House
Visitors to Elizabeth Gaskell’s House can explore the author’s home where she wrote most of her novels such as North and South and Cranford.
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Manchester City Centre
The Fountain House
The Fountain House is the newest lodger of the Gothic-arched Memorial Hall sitting one corner of Albert Square, and its modern old-fashioned surrounds and plentiful portions of proper pub grub – mostly British but with a little European inspiration – do the imposing building proud.
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Gorton
Gorton Monastery
Its proper title is Manchester Monastery but most people in the city know it as Gorton Monastery.
This Grade II Listed building towers over the surrounding residential streets, acting as a focal point for the eye, and in recent years, for the community too.
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Ancoats
Hallé St Peter’s
Hallé St Peter’s provides a rehearsal and recording space for Manchester’s renowned orchestra as well as being home to the Hallé’s choirs and its youth orchestra.
The Grade II listed building is an interesting brick-built church in the centre of Ancoats. A three-storey modern extension, The Oglesby Centre, provides additional practice rooms and performance spaces.
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Manchester City Centre
HOME
With five cinemas, two theatres, a bookshop, and over 500 sqm of gallery space, HOME is one of Manchester’s biggest and most dynamic arts venues.
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Old Trafford
Hotel Football
Hotel Football is about as near to Old Trafford as you can get without camping on the penalty spot. Located directly opposite Manchester United’s ground, the hotel is as on-brand as you’d expect. After all, it’s the work of Gary Neville and some of his Class of 92 counterparts.
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Book Now Oxford Road
Hyatt Regency Hotel Manchester
The Hyatt Regency hotel is one of the most highly rated hotels in Manchester, with incredible views of the city and University Green from the rooms on the higher floors. 212 rooms are decked out in a modern style, all with floor-to-ceiling windows and king beds.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
King Street Townhouse
King Street Townhouse is a 4-star luxury hotel in the heart of Manchester City Centre. It’s well known for its spa facilities – including a very special infinity pool with views of the city from the top floor of the building.
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Salford Quays
The Lowry
Flagship arts venue The Lowry was at the heart of 1990s’ plans to breathe new life back into Salford Quays. Now in its third decade, it’s maintained its reputation as one of Greater Manchester’s top visitor attractions thanks to a lively, ever-evolving programme of art, music, theatre, comedy and more.
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Salford
The Lowry Hotel
The Lowry Hotel is Manchester’s premier 5-star hotel. While technically in Salford, it is ideally located next to Spinningfields, Manchester’s trendy business district, home to plenty of Manchester’s favourite bars and restaurants.
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Manchester City Centre
Manchester Art Gallery
Mosey down Mosley Street between Piccadilly Gardens and St Peter’s Square, and you can’t miss the Greek columns that flank the front of Manchester Art Gallery. It’s one of Manchester’s most visited cultural attractions thanks to its central location and extensive collection of historical and contemporary art.
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Book Now Deansgate
Manchester Hall
For years this beautiful building was off-limits unless you were a member of the secretive Masons society. Then in 2017 the Freemason’s Hall became Manchester Hall – an events venue and hotel – and you no longer needed a secret handshake or a well-connected father-in-law to take a look inside.
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Oxford Road
Manchester Museum
Manchester Museum reopened in February 2023 following a £15m transformation to make it more inclusive and more imaginative in how it tells its stories.
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Old Trafford
Manchester United Museum & Stadium Tour
Even if it’s not a match day, there’s plenty happening at the iconic Old Trafford stadium. The best way to experience it (aside from watching a game, of course) is to go on the behind-the-scenes Manchester United Museum and Stadium Tour.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel
Just a few minutes walk from Manchester Piccadilly train station, making it a great base for both business travellers and tourists.
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Salford
Ordsall Hall
Ordsall Hall is a piece of Tudor history just a short walk from the contemporary comings and goings of Salford Quays. Please note: it’s closed on August Bank Holiday Monday.
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Spinningfields
People’s History Museum
The People’s History Museum tells the story of the development of democracy in Britain. It’s the only museum in the UK that focuses on the revolutionaries, reformers, workers, voters, and citizens who believed in ideas worth fighting for, like equality, social justice and co-operation.
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Manchester City Centre
The Portico Library
The Portico Library is as peaceful and relaxing as any library could be, despite being situated on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre with trams zipping past every few minutes.
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Manchester City Centre
Rain Bar
Rain Bar is a pub from JW Lees in an old umbrella factory. It’s a beautiful building and looks even better now after its recent refurb. The jewel in the crown though, or the spoke in its brolly, is a large outdoor area to the rear overlooking the Bridgewater Canal.
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Book Now Piccadilly
Residence Inn by Marriott Manchester Piccadilly
Residence Inn by Marriott Manchester Piccadilly is the chain’s first long-stay venture in the North of England. Situated less than ten minutes from Piccadilly Station, handy for Ancoats and the Northern Quarter as well as the city centre, the hotel is a mix of studio apartments and one-bedroom suites over 12 floors – there are impressive views of the Manchester skyline from the upper levels.
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Manchester City Centre
Royal Exchange Theatre
Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre is an exciting clash of modernity and history and the same can be said of its programming.
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Altrincham
Runway Visitor Park
For spine-tinglingly close views of the huge planes landing and taking off at Manchester Airport, head to the Runway Visitor Park.
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Salford
Salford Lads Club
Boxing has been taught at Salford Lads Club since it opened back in 1903. The founders, the Groves brothers, wanted to get the local lads off the streets and out of the gangs, and boxing was one way to do that.
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Castlefield
Science and Industry Museum
Much like the once mighty industrial power of the North, Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum has shrunk noticeably over the years. But it’s still well worth a visit.
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Victoria Park
Victoria Baths
Only open on Wednesdays (and closed entirely during the winter months), Victoria Baths isn’t fully geared up as a visitor attraction. But it’s still one of Manchester’s most beautiful and best-loved buildings. If you get an opportunity to see inside, take it. You’ll be smitten.
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Stretford
Victoria Warehouse
Victoria Warehouse has been a fixture on Manchester’s industrial skyline for almost a century. Once used to store cotton, it’s now a huge events space that plays host to concerts, festivals, weddings, conferences, exhibitions and more.
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Book Now Manchester City Centre
Voco Manchester
Voco Manchester originally opened as Hotel Brooklyn on Manchester’s Portland Street in 2020 as one of the world’s first fully accessible hotels.
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Oxford Road
The Whitworth
Any art lover’s trip to Manchester would not be complete without a morning or afternoon spent gazing at the walls (and wallpaper collections) of The Whitworth.