Married in a Movie Theatre | Reflection on The Little Theatre Cinema, Bath (UK)

Reflecting on the unique experience of marrying in a vintage movie theatre

We happened upon The Little Theatre Cinema in central Bath (pronounced Britishly Bahhh-th, dahhhling, and not Americanly Baaaaaaaaaaaath) entirely by accident in 2015. It was date night and, as we were already roaming around the SouthGate Shopping Centre, we accidently stumbled upon the Theatre nestled quietly near the Thermae Bath Spa. Oh, and what a find it was.

We were not only stunned by the rich, lush colours of the interior (primarily red, gold and royal blue), but also by the subtle homages to the Golden Age of Hollywood; from the vintage posters (they had me at Audrey Hebpurn) to the carefully maintained, gold interior cornices (potentially older than the United States). I could feel the spirits of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Vivien Leigh sashaying the hallways.

I was giddy with excitement and could hardly pay attention to our movie, The Theory of Everything. As we emerged from the film, we thanked the friendly staff and noted how much we loved the theatre itself. In earshot of the staff member, I turned to my husband and said, “I wish we could have our wedding here, it’s absolutely perfect!”

“Oh, you can.”

“I’m sorry … what now?”

“We have weddings here! I’m happy to put you in contact with our team and you can have a look on the website to get an idea of our packages.”

And then I became Lucy Ricardo:

From there, the journey began.

Packages & Preparation

Of course, we chose the Main (Screen One) Auditorium Package (this was referred to as the Vintage Package when we hired the venue in August 2016). The subsequent option is the standard Wedding Package (Screen Two).

For our wedding, we chose to have a Jewish blessing (albeit quite a unique and non-traditional version), so we were quite concerned whether Little Weddings would be able to accomodate. Not only were they incredibly accomodating, they were also very supportive and patient as we prepared all the finer details for the blessing; I think there are some religious limitations that they perhaps aren’t allowed to accomodate, but this didn’t seem to affect us in any way. Also, although we would have our legal documents and Registrar signatures completed prior to the blessing at the Little Theatre, they nevertheless ensured an area on stage for the signing of our Ketubah-like art work and ensured Rabbi knew where to stand on the stage.

In terms of preparation, Little Weddings was absolutely brilliant. In addition to prompt and professional coordinating, (be that with us, our wedding planner or our photographer) they patiently held our hands through the entire process — more details on this below.

Staff & Services

We love the Little Weddings and The Little Theatre staff, they are lush! Their attitude is always one of “what can we do to help?” or “how can we serve you best?” There was never a moment that we felt a question or request was too silly (and trust me, I’m sure there were loads)! They’re also very down to earth, chill and funny.

We created a photo montage (with music) to be displayed on the screen as guests waited for the ceremony to begin — and we were quite nervous about how this would work. With the help of the Little Weddings team, who walked us through all of the technical aspects and instructed us carefully on how to create the DVD (they also tested it on numerous occasions to ensure it worked), it went brilliantly and the guests absolutely loved it!

The Little Weddings team also accommodated our request to have some time to ourselves immediately following the ceremony. This is a Jewish tradition where the bride and groom are escorted to a room (the Yihud room) in order to spend some time together before all the madness truly ensues. They very kindly created a quiet and private space for us on the balcony of the screening room; they also helped our ushers bring food and drink to make sure we were well relaxed, which was well needed as the photographs followed the Yihud. We could also relax knowing that the staff was taking care of our guests with popcorn and prosecco! Our guests still comment on the lovely prosecco/popcorn combo — I doubt they even missed us!

The Day

Surrounded by beautiful Bath architecture and tucked away from the main streets, The Little Theatre and their staff created a magical experience.

• They expertly served guests in the courtyard pre and post ceremony.
• The decorations accentuated our wedding decor perfectly, without being gauche or muted; the vintage aspects were well balanced between the natural splendor of the theatre and the clothing of the servers.
• All requests from the preparation stage were actioned professionally and without glitch. It was orchestrated beautifully.

Most importantly, and this is the objective of all wedding venues as well as planners, we never worried. We knew that whatever happened, the Little Theatre staff would work alongside our wedding team to deliver a glorious wedding day.

If any of this resonated with you, give a girl a slamming high five. It’s always comforting to know when one person’s crazy matches another. Or join me in the Twitterverse!