Manchester is a vibrant, bustling and eclectic city right in the heart of the Northern Powerhouse. It’s home to some of the country’s most well-known music acts, sports teams and TV shows, and played a key role in the industrial revolution. The city is also known for its fantastic range of cultures and attractions, and has an almost endless selection of places where you can eat, drink, sleep and experience something new.
This all makes Manchester the perfect location to host your wedding, whether you’re looking to have a sophisticated and luxurious inner-city ceremony, or something rustic and surrounded by nature Its colourful history, diverse population and welcoming nature mean you can have the wedding of your dreams somewhere in or around the city.
Our 2025 Wedding Report found that 9% of all UK weddings took place in Manchester and the northwest, with 82% of local couples choosing to stay in the area for their wedding. This demonstrates just how strong Mancunian pride is, as well as the huge range of venues to choose from, so couples don’t need to venture far to find their ideal location. Couples in Manchester also spend an average of £18,408 on their wedding, which is over £2,000 cheaper than the national average of £20,822. It’s also a fair bit cheaper than Manchester’s north easterly neighbours, who spend an average of £20,415 on their big day. That means, not only is Manchester a hugely popular wedding destination, but couples will also usually pay less for the privilege. Whatever sort of wedding you’re hoping to have, you have a great chance of finding exactly what you’re after in Manchester.
With Manchester being home to so much history and such a broad range of people, cultures and beliefs, the different types of wedding venues available is absolutely enormous. From magnificent country manors to cosy and intimate hotels, whatever your preference, there’s definitely going to be plenty to choose from.
Some of the most popular luxury wedding venues in Manchester include the quirky Oddfellows on the Park, the breathtaking Lucky Cat by Gordon Ramsay and the magical Elegance Q Banquet.
If you’d like to make the most of the stunning countryside that surrounds Manchester, there are some exceptional venues that let you get married immersed in nature and the great outdoors. Stone Pavillion offers panoramic views of the rolling hills; The Stables Wedding Farm is on the grounds of an 18th-century listed building; and Tipis in the Peak is unique and full of character and charm.
As you might expect in such a diverse city, Manchester also has its fair share of unusual venues. Victoria Warehouse gives you that rustic and industrial aesthetic, The Monastery is utterly beautiful and enchanting, and Manchester Art Gallery allows you to tie the knot among artwork produced by some of history’s biggest names.
If you’d prefer to keep things simple or you have a smaller budget, Manchester also has you sorted. Venues like St James’s Club Manchester, Elizabeth Gaskell’s House and The Whiskey Jar are all brilliant city venues that are perfect if you don’t have a huge budget but still have big plans.
In Manchester, the average cost of a wedding venue is £5,623, excluding catering. This is only slightly less than the overall UK average of £5,945, but notably below what couples pay in London at £7,020. This is another reason why locals choose to get married in Manchester, which can offer better value for money than other in-demand regions across the UK.
Just like the rest of the UK, the weather in Manchester can be a little all over the place. While you can generally expect there to be certain weather patterns depending on the season, there’s nothing to say you won’t get torrential rain during the height of summer or even a snowstorm in April.
Spring (March - May) may start out grey, but as flowers bloom and the days get longer, the temperature will be at the higher end of the typical 10°C (50°F) to 15°C (59°F). If you’re lucky, you might have a dry day, but there’s every chance you might experience showers, so you’ll want to make sure your venue has plenty of indoor space.
Summer (June - August) is the most popular time to host a wedding in Manchester. Temperatures average 20°C (68°F) but it’s common for that to creep as high as the mid-30s, which means very hot and very long days of sun. If you time it well, it makes for the perfect opportunity to host an outdoor wedding, which is ideal at venues like Cheshire Woodland Weddings, Swanley Meadows - Tipi Weddings and Events and Buxton Pavilion Gardens.
Autumn (September - November) is when all those warm autumnal shades of orange, yellow and red begin to emerge but the days get a little darker and wetter. Temperatures slip from a cool 12°C (54°F) in September to 7°C (45°F) in November, which means an outdoor wedding might not be high on your list of options (but definitely make sure to get some outdoor pictures – have a word with your photographer and ask them about what they can do).
Winter (December - February) is when Manchester is at its coldest, with temperatures often dropping to below zero, but at an average of 4°C (39°F). With the cold comes even fewer opportunities to have an outdoor wedding, so you might want to find a nice warm venue, like The Lowry, Smokies Park Hotel or Cottons Hotel and Spa. During the winter, there’s also a higher chance of frost and potentially even snow, which can make for the most magical wedding photos.
Being such a major city and a huge hub for British industry, Manchester is incredibly well connected.
By train, Manchester Piccadilly, Victoria and Oxford Road stations link the city to major destinations across the country, including direct services from London, Edinburgh, Birmingham and almost every other major town and city. Trains regularly run from London Euston to Manchester Picadilly and take a little over two hours.
For air travellers, Manchester Airport (MAN) is a major international airport just nine miles from the city centre. Around 147 flights leave Manchester every day to destinations across Europe, the USA and beyond, making it simple for guests to get to the city from across the world.
For guests travelling by car, the city’s proximity to the M60 and M62 motorways makes it easily reachable by road from absolutely anywhere in the UK. Many venues in Manchester also provide plenty of on-site parking so your guests have one less thing to think about.
To get around the city, Manchester has a great network of buses and taxis, as well as the famous trams, which aren’t nearly as precarious as Coronation Street would lead you to believe.
When it comes to accommodation, Manchester has plenty of hotels and B&Bs to suit all types of budgets and tastes. Many hotels also double as wedding venues, giving you the option to have an all-in-one wedding experience. Check out some of the city’s lovely hotel wedding venues, like The Shrigley Hall Hotel and Spa, The Royal Toby Hotel and Statham Lodge Hotel.
The average time for booking a venue ahead of the big day in Manchester is between 12 and 18 months. However, because Manchester is such a popular city to get married in, this could be as many as two years or even more. This is especially the case if you’d like to book one of the more popular venues or you’d like to get married during the summer or at the weekend, which is when the majority of other couples will want to book.
To make sure you’re not disappointed, you’ll need to secure your number one choice of venue as far ahead as possible. If you’re flexible with your date or venue (or even both) then you might be lucky enough to secure something around six months ahead, or possibly even sooner if you’re happy to get married during the winter or the middle of the week. You’re also likely to save some money by doing this.
According to our 2025 Wedding Report, couples in Manchester spend a lower amount on flowers, at just £936 compared to the national average of £1,132. Instead, couples in Manchester are embracing bold, attention-grabbing floral centrepieces, making sure a central statement-making arrangement does all the talking.
As well as thinking carefully about flowers, couples in Manchester are also replacing long-standing wedding decor traditions like fairy lights in favour of long, flowing fabrics that have an air of theatricality about them. This can also transform a venue and introduce elegance that might not have otherwise been there.
With the ever-growing popularity of Manchester’s Gay Village, the city is a hugely popular destination for LGBTQ+ weddings, which is only set to continue thanks to the city’s diversity and inclusivity.
Similarly, eco-friendly weddings are also on the rise, with couples conscious about how their special day impacts the environment. As a result, it’s becoming far more common for couples to choose vendors who are close to home (or their chosen venue) and make more energy-saving or green choices.
