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About

On Hitched.co.uk since 2021

Last update: May 2024

Brunel Museum is a unique wedding venue located in South East London, England. Couples can celebrate their special day in a Grade II listed building that was founded in the 1800s by the Brunels, a renowned engineering family.

This industrial-chic destination gives you the opportunity to curate your dream day according to your tastes and preferences. Exposed concrete, original brick walls, various artworks, and cultural exhibitions lend distinctive character to both The Grand Entrance Hall and The Engine Room. The Botanical Roof Garden and courtyard are ideal for welcome or post-ceremony drinks and photo opportunities. Rotherhithe Underground station is conveniently located just a short walk from the museum.

Facilities and Capacity

The Brunel Museum can accommodate wedding ceremonies up to 120 guests and seated wedding breakfasts for up to 80 guests. The underwater tunnel shaft has been reimagined as The Grand Entrance Hall and is entered via an elegant staircase that will take your guests towards an underground adventure. It was the first underground theatre in the world and over 150 years ago acrobats, tightrope walkers, and entertainers performed here. Needless to say, it is a fitting location for unconventional, vibrant parties and memorable occasions. This venue is licensed for civil ceremonies and couples may liaise with Southwark Registrar to arrange legal formalities. The Engine House’s cellar stone walls celebrate Brunel’s final projects with prints, posters, and paintings that lend a cultural aesthetic. To-be-weds can opt for exclusive hire of the museum for their milestone celebration. You can make use of the mixer deck, amplifier, powerfull projector, cinema screen and speakers for your evening entertainment. The gobo LED coloured lights at this venue will no doubt elevate the party atmosphere and aesthetic of your special soirée.

Services Offered

Brunel Museum offers two wedding packages, with evening or all-day hire options available. You can acquire the assistance of an on-site wedding coordinator for an additional fee or choose to oversee and manage your day independently. The events team collaborates with trusted suppliers for all your decor, catering, and entertainment needs. Midnight Apothecary partners with the museum to provide upscale beverage packages.

History

Brunel Museum is a charity organisation with a focus on education and history. The director and board of management are passionate about celebrating the legacy of the Brunel dynasty.

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Frequently asked questions

Venue type:

Unusual weddings
Historic
In the city
Unique weddings

Ceremony options:

Civil ceremony licence

Dining options:

Corkage option
Alcohol licence
Buffet meal facilities
In-house catering

Evening entertainment:

Dance floor
Entertainment licence
Live band facilities
Evening reception facilities
DJ facilities

Venue staff assistance:

Wedding coordinator

Other features:

Exclusive use
Car parking
Confetti permitted
Changing room for wedding guests
Pet-friendly
illustration notebook

Do you have any questions?

Reviews for Brunel Museum

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4.9 out of 5 rating
4.9 out of 5 rating
12 reviews
99% recommend it
  • Quality of the service
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Response time
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Professionalism
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Value for money
    4.9 out of 5 rating
  • Flexibility
    5 out of 5 rating
Annabel
Annabel H. Sent on 07/11/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Magical venue with great staff

Brilliant from day 1! Really helpful and responsive to all emails. Such lovely people to work with and help navigate the process.
The Brunel is a wonderful alternative venue with multiple beautiful layers - the dramatic tunnel shaft to the magical roof garden. It is a space that doesn't need much decoration if you don't want to however also allows for personalisation if you want.
Also, we highly recommend the Midnight Apothecary which is their partner drinks provider - there were so many compliments on the cocktails they served.
Davide
Davide Sent on 07/05/2023
4.8 out of 5 rating

Excellent from start to finish

Where do we start? An excellent experience from the first contact to the big day. We can't praise Alicja, (the wedding coordinator at the museum), enough for all her support. She listened to our ideas and liaised with the caterers, photographer and everyone else involved to make sure everything went smoothly on the day. Her flexibility and availability meant we were able to work around having the wedding on the same day of the London Marathon and the disruptions that came with that! Did we mention the spectacular venue? The Tunnel Shaft fully decorated looked amazing and our guests can't stop talking about the place. The British weather didn't collaborate on the day so we didn't use the rooftop garden much but we still managed to get some lovely group photos taken there. We would recommend the Brunel Museum to anyone looking for a quirky location and we definitely recommend having Alicja coordinating the event as she is excellent at what she does and would take away the stress on the big day.
Sean
Sean M. Sent on 27/08/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Utterly incredible

My partner and I celebrated our civil partnership ceremony & reception at the Brunel Museum, August 2022. After meeting with Kath, Museum Director, a year previous, we knew our non-traditional civil partnership celebration was in good hands. Alicja, event coordinator, was instrumental in making our day absolutely incredible. We bounced idea's around in numerous meetings in the build up and provided her with an itinerary of the day which she executed to a tee- food on time, communication with guests was amazing, and doing all the background work whilst everyone else simply enjoyed the day.

Our 90 guests made use of all corners of the museum- the tunnel shaft for a beautiful ceremony, the terrace for drinks as well as limbo & other garden games, the rooftop garden for intimate pictures & quiet chats, the round table and grassy area for picnics and eating, and the museum for learning about Brunel's great work.

Alicja coordinated our 2 food trucks to set up on the driveway outside the museum barn doors which kept noise and bbq smell away from guests, and organised our salad and donut bar on tables inside the museum on the lower floor. The bar (provided by Brunel Museum-collaborator Midnight Apothecary) was set up on the main terrace, as well as the lovely Bossco coffee cart opened it's hatch for guests to get a boost of energy too.

Alicja and her team magick'd away the ceremony chairs in the tunnel shaft for late night partying in the evening with a DJ, and organised firepits and marshmellows in the garden with the setting summer sun- our guests were blown away.

We cannot thank Alicja and the whole Brunel Museum team enough for seeing our vision and then competently taking the reigns so my partner and I could just soak it all in. We can't wait to stop by for a little drink at one of Midnight Apothecary's summer cocktail evenings to trigger our happy memories.

(Ps. all immensely affordable, Alicja and her teams helping hand is worth double the price they charge, and they have a fantastic bunch of suppliers from drinks, coffee, food, lighting- everything! to make it an incredible day).
Christian
Christian L. Sent on 28/07/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Perfect informal cozy outdoor venue

As residents of the Rotherhithe neighbourhood, we were so grateful to have our reception dinner at The Brunel Museum around the Ship-Shaped Table. The lights in the trees and the beautiful seats and backdrop really set a cozy scene for the 25 of us. The Events Co-ordinator was unmatched in both her communication and friendliness. The Midnight Apothecary's cocktails were surprisingly even better than I expected, unrivalled even at the finest bar you've ever been to. The shaft tour is a must, and our guests loved it. Would highly recommend this venue to be included in your wedding day plans if you can.
Freya
Freya N. Sent on 21/03/2022
5 out of 5 rating

A very special venue and a brilliant team!

The museum staff were incredibly helpful in the lead up to and throughout our event. They were really flexible and thoughtful, allowing us to plan out the day exactly as we wanted it to be, including last minute rain cover solutions! We couldn't have been happier on the day and our guests were full of praise for the venue and staff team.
S
Steph R. Sent on 22/07/2024
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing Venue and Amazing Party

We had our 10 year anniversary at the Brunel Museum and it was a once in a lifetime party! The venue is so amazing, the staff were superb and the drinks from the Midnight Apothecary were beautiful and tasty! Love the place as a museum and a party venue!
J
Joseph T. Sent on 05/08/2023
4.4 out of 5 rating

Quirky, unique venue with friendly and supportive staff

The Brunel Museum is great for those looking for a small, quirky, DIY wedding venue which is soaked in history and industrial, Victoriana charm. The different areas of the Museum including the shaft, piazza, engine house and roof garden make for a varied, fun venue - in which guests aren't just couped up in one area.

As this is more of a DIY venue, do be prepared to go the extra mile in the prep. Although, we found all the staff to be incredibly helpful and very willing to accommodate and support with everything. We used Midnight Apothecary (affiliated with the Museum) for our drinks - which were great, and we would definitely recommend! Our guests loved the cocktails on the roof garden. We also worked with Ben - a lighting engineer also affiliated with the Museum - who helped us to create an amazing atmosphere in the shaft for our ceremony.

The venue is also located in a beautiful part of London by the South bank of the Thames and surrounded by cobbled streets. It makes for beautiful photos. We would recommend a Summer wedding here as the roof garden and piazza are great spaces, which could be tricky to use in the rain. It is also easily accessible via taxi, Jubilee Line and the London Overground.

We had a superb day, and if you are looking for a unique, historic and DIY wedding then we are sure you will also have a fantastic wedding day too!
F
Fiona Sent on 09/07/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Beautiful relaxed, versatile venue by the river

As soon as we visited the Brunel museum we knew it was the exact place we wanted to get married. It's a beautiful, historical venue in the heart of London and yet at the same time so incredibly informal, friendly, and intimate - exactly what we wanted for a relaxed celebration with friends and family. Alicja's coordination services at the museum are highly recommended as she helped provide recommendations and liaise between all the required suppliers in advance, always with extremely rapid communication and plenty of help when we needed it. On the day, both Alicja and Letizia were amazing hosts and ran everything smoothly behind the scenes. We loved the versatility of the space, from the atmospheric ceremony in the tunnel shaft, cocktails in the roof garden, casual dining on the terrace, to dancing the night away back in the shaft. We really couldn't have asked for a more perfect day, thank you!
M
Matt Sent on 10/05/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Beautiful, historic and unique venue with lovely staff

We had a perfect wedding with the Brunel Museum. Everything went exceedingly smoothly. The staff were lovely and supportive from start to finish. You won't find another place like this in London!
L
Lydia M. Sent on 30/01/2023
5 out of 5 rating

Perfect location for a London wedding

Alicja and the team couldn't do enough for us! We were overwhelmed with their kindness and support through the planning process for our non-trad civil ceremony. They worked through all the logistics for moving our 100 guests around their fabulous space. The result was an intimate, personal, beautifully curated day that went off without a hitch. It was the perfect day, in large part due to the fab venue as a backdrop and the hard work of the Brunel team.
M
Matt M. Sent on 09/09/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Amazing experience

We attended my brother and his partners celebration here and wow! What an incredible and unique venue.

Allcja was very attentive to every detail and was a lovely person to meet! The venue was super flexible and really made the day one to remember.
C
Catherine Sent on 09/07/2022
5 out of 5 rating

Wedding ceremony

We had our wedding ceremony in the tunnel shaft. The guests were blown away by the unusual venue and we still receive compliments about it. The space is easy to work with and the staff were fantastic, especially the Midnight Apothecary staff who set up the after ceremony drinks. Couldn't recommend it more. Also, there are some excellent places to get wedding photos, both on the rood garden and further up by the river with St Paul's and Tower Bridge in the background.
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Preferred suppliers

Cocotte Catering
5.0 out of 5 rating , 1 review
· Catering

Map

Brunel Museum, Railway Avenue, Rotherhithe, SE16 4LF SE16 4LF London - South East (South East London)
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