Penarth Pier: Unusual Vintage Wedding Venue

Do you dream in Art Deco?  If you're like me and are not really the castle type, then an Art Deco pavilion and pier might be more your style.  I have put so much work into researching venues that I think I should share it with you all, so that it may help another bride-to-be in her quest.  Even if you’re not getting married, there are some spectacular settings that are worth a visit!  One of those is the wonderful and unusual Penarth Pier.  Penarth is a Victorian seaside town here in South Wales, just outside Cardiff, and its beautiful pier has been a favourite spot of mine over the years.  Thanks to a £4.2 million renovation project, the pavilion has reopened and is now available to hire for events, as well as housing a cinema, cafe and gallery space open to all.

The pier was originally built in late Victorian times, when Penarth was a favoured seaside resort.  It was added to in the 1930s with a stunning Art Deco pavilion - built twice, actually, because the original one burnt down!  The pavilion held a sprung dancefloor in its ballroom, and was a very popular nightspot.  As with all of these dance-hall type buildings, they fell out of use, and it wasn't until the 1990s that restoration began.  I used to walk past the pavilion to the end of the pier and look back at it, imagining what it must have been like to go to a dance there in the 1930s.  I always thought that it would make the most wonderful wedding venue and I used to peep through the missing window panes at the empty interior, wishing they would 'do something with it'.






My wish came true, and the pier reopened in 2013.  As a wedding venue, it's quite exclusive, as they only have 6 dates a year for a full day wedding, and that's reflected in the hire charges.  (Last year (2014) I was quoted £3,500 for a full day's hire, and their catering packages start at £36 per person.)  The pier itself is a fantastic location for photos, as you can judge from the 'Hitchock Heroine' shoot that I did there a little while ago.  It's also a popular place for engagement photos, proposals, and has featured in TV programmes such as Torchwood and Dancing on the Edge.






I'll leave you with the poem I wrote when it was still crumbling.

The Pier

 

Clean deco lines

Mint green and cream

Against the grey sea

Whispered secrets

Drift through the walls

Of the ballroom

Empty of dancers

I like to imagine

We'll be married there

I'll wear red shoes

And skip down the pier

To drink champagne

Served by a butler

On a silver tray

The fishermen will

Wish us luck

And cast their lines

Over our heads

Like red arrow trails

Soaring up and up

With our balloon hearts

The chubby children

By the shop

Stubbornly lick

Ice-cream cones

Because it's July

Ignoring cold slaps

Of the wind on cheeks

Pensioners walk

And talk and sit

Their memories fly

In the breeze

Like children's kites

Tiny brass plaques

Anchor them here

Further information:
If you want to find out more about weddings at Penarth Pier then visit their website here.
There's an article here about the first couple to get married at the pier.
And another pier wedding features here
I've written about Penarth Pier previously here and here and there are more photos here.