Events - Weddings
If you would like to find out about weddings at the Silk Mill we would like to hear from you.
Click the image below to see a virtual tour of the gallery, kitchens and outside space that is rather out of date as i made it during lockdown! New one in the works...
Feel free to email us on info@silkmillstudios.co.uk if you have questions or would like to arrange a visit.
You can see pictures of the gallery set up in a variety of ways on our Instagram @silkmillweddings page
Celebrate your special day exactly how you want it! The Silk Mill opens its doors to couples looking for a unique space in which to host their wedding and wedding reception.
The Silk Mill in the centre of Frome & close to St John’s C of E Church hosts weddings as well as arts & music events. Our natural light gallery & south-west facing courtyard is suitable for couples seeking a bespoke, approach that allows creative freedom.
Our seated capacity is 100 & we have full disabled access. Without furniture we can accommodate 200. We have an outside space also licensed to hold weddings.
The 2026 cost to hire the gallery to hold the full ceremony is s £3,050 for the full wedding and £2,700 for celebration only. For 2027 please add £150 to each figure. These costs do not include the services of the registrar which you need to organise yourselves swiftly as this service gets very booked up. Follow the link to this guide to the Somerset Wedding Registration Service. They have recently updated their offer. You can read more about it at the bottom of this page.
The link to the SWR Service contact form is here.
Since Covid 19 we recommend that you take out insurance against cancellation as our deposit is only returnable in the event that we can get a replacement booking which is similar to yours.
The west facing terrace is a real sun trap and within sight of St John’s Church if you wanted to have a more traditional ceremony and walk down to the Silk Mill for the festivities. We have two waterproof canopies covering part of the courtyard between May & October.
We put the gallery at your disposal for 4 days over the weekend from Thursday to the following Monday morning. You can run your own bar with no corkage charge but you will need to appoint someone who has a personal licence. We have a premises licence (so there is no need to apply for a Temporary Event Notice/TEN) but even if you are not charging for drinks, our licensing objectives need to be met. Part of the licence states that we are required to restrict the playing of live music until 11pm and recorded music until midnight. Our licence requires that you have a security guards if you have more than 75 people.
We have a fully equipped kitchen with 5 ring / 2 oven cooker, dish/glass washer, ice maker, two fridges, a freezer, a warming cupboard and a Ban Marie food warmer that uses hot water and sufficient utensils for 100 covers. You can organise catering yourselves or we can recommend a selection of excellent local businesses to help with this and other aspects of your very wonderful day. See here for a short film that shows you round the facilities.
We have bunting and a fire pit which are available to hire from us.
Click here to go to the page where we have listed lots of the people we have worked with in the past and can recommend.
We have two awnings (see one in photo above) up for the summer months. We have 110 wooden and metal stacking chairs, twenty 50cm x 2.2m folding tables with 40 matching benches of the same length. If you want more or different; marquees, chairs etc. these can be hired in. We have photoshop files that will help you arrange your seating plans.
Our wedding licence allows wedding ceremonies to be held outside anywhere on the site. The bar is on wheels and can be moved as necessary.
We recommend that you visit the venue to explore the practicalities and then if you would like to make a booking we ask for a 25% (non-refundable) deposit and the balance one month before the wedding. If you would like information about availability of dates we would love to hear from you via the contact form at the bottom of this page.
We of course welcome couples of all combinations
These festoon lights are up all year now.
Below you can see a patchwork quilt that is available to hire for £100 and which was made to fit across the gallery.
You can use these drapes in the gallery if you wish.
Socially Distanced Wedding
We were one of the lucky ones who were able to get married this year. Due to the tightening of restrictions and with the help of Kate and our friends and family we pulled the wedding forward a week and got it all done in two days. It wasn’t the wedding we had originally planned (both being from big families wanted 100 guest but settled for 30 as we just wanted to be married) but the day was perfect. If you are struggling to decide what to do about your up coming wedding the silk mill was our dream location,
Review from Whimisical Wonderful Weddings
“My partner and I booked the Silk Mill at the last minute to get married at a very busy time of year, New Years Eve! Kate was extremely friendly and accommodating in getting our booking organised and truly went above and beyond to assist us. She allowed us to view the space as much as we needed, she sent over all necessary info including dimensions and facilities. Kate’s assistance and helpfulness really made all the difference when organising our own wedding. Certainly an amazing place for a wedding – it truly can be transformed into the vision that you want.”
The Silk Mill in Frome (Tom’s home town). It was the first place I looked at after a google search, and we both instantly knew it felt right. We were so lucky to find the venue – we were allowed 2 full days to set up and had wonderful help from the owner, Kate.
It was a complete blank canvas, which we loved. We were free to do whatever we wanted (as long as we returned it to its original state)! It is an old silk mill which has been lovingly restored, and is generally used for art exhibitions and cultural events. The inside has white brick walls with wooden beams and a beautiful sky light running the length of the building so there was lots of natural light.
Read the full Whimisical Wonderful Weddings review and look at the gorgeous photos by Andrew Brannan.
Boho Weddings Feature
We are proud that the beautiful 2018 Silk Mill wedding of Alice & Alex Hagues has been featured in the Boho Weddings Blog.
The wonderful photography by Red Maple captured it all perfectly.
‘We were essentially looking for a blank canvas venue with complete flexibility in terms of catering, set up etc. We struggled to find a location which ticked this book in our area, along with the capacity for around 100 ceremony and 200 evening guests. Above all we were looking for a place we felt a connection with, and the unique, creative aspects of The Silk Mill – an arts space, studios and gallery all rolled into one – stood out to us from the start, based in one of our favourite towns, Frome, in Somerset. Plus, as a gallery space the lighting is incredible with beautiful glass ceilings above historic, characterful beams.
Click here to read the whole blog post which is full of ideas and good advice!
Reviews from the Wedding Secret:
"We were the first couple to have our whole wedding (ceremony and all) at the Silk Mill and it was absolutely everything we could have wished for. Aside from being a wonderfully calming space, filled with light, the room is really a blank canvas, which enabled us to create exactly what we wanted for the day, which was a relaxed and informal atmosphere. Kate and Damon were extremely helpful at all stages, passing on recommendations for various practical things (trestle table hire, security staff etc.) but without imposing anything on us at all. We would wholeheartedly recommend the Silk Mill for anyone who wants a lovely space for a DIY, hands-on wedding celebration in the heart town."
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"We really enjoyed getting married at the Silk Mill, and loved being able to make it exactly how we wanted it. It’s a beautiful space with wonderful light - right in the centre of Frome yet hidden away. Having already had our legal ceremony in Bath we were able to hold our exchange of rings ceremony outside under the colourful awning, looking out over Frome.
Kate was so helpful the whole way through, and very relaxed and friendly in terms of decorations, access times, caterers and how we used the space. We also had plenty of time before and after to set up and clear up which made everything less stressful. Our caterers were able to use the kitchen, and also had a BBQ outside. We would highly recommend getting married at the Silk Mill!"
We love seeing how people make the space special so here are lots of pictures of recent gorgeous weddings!
Unique chandeliers from Stories & Light at October Studios:
Review from Rock My Wedding
“The Reception
Our reception was held at the Silk Mill Studios in Frome. We chose it because we wanted a completely blank canvas to do whatever we wanted with, and the mill – an old textile factory provided exactly this. We spent 3 solid days leading up to the wedding decorating it both inside and out. Every chair, table knife and fork we put out ourselves, just the two of us. I have always been creative and I always said if I ever got married that I wanted to do everything myself. At times I think we took this slightly too literally but standing there on the day looking around at everything the two of us had made, I could not have been more proud.”
Follow the link to see Lucy & Jonny’s pictures on Rock My Wedding.
Details of registrar offers and costs
The Registrar for the legal ceremony is booked by the couple. Somerset Registration Service now offer a variety of services that we outline here for your information:
THE CLASSIC CEREMONY:
This is similar to the original full ceremony offer and is based on the most commonly requested format. Couples can include music at various stages of the ceremony, optional giving away element, optional ring vows, and one reading of their choice. This ceremony is perfect for couples who don't want a lot of extras in their ceremony but still want something special for their family and friends to witness.
THE ENHANCED CEREMONY
This package includes music, optional giving away element, optional ring vows or personal vows, up to three readings or two readings and one of our new unity ceremony options.
The four choices are a sand ceremony, a hand joining ceremony, a knot tying ceremony or a memory box ceremony. This package is perfect for couples looking for something more unique that they can put their personal stamp on. More fun, more romance, more individual choice - this is a response to feedback from our big ceremony survey last year It an additional £75 for this package.
Read more about these new additions on the website:
Ceremony Enhancements - Somerset Registration Services (somersetweddingservice.org.uk)
You can find all the fees and charges here: Costs - Somerset Registration Services (somersetweddingservice.org.uk)
FEES FOR CEREMONIES TAKING PLACE FROM 1 APRIL 2024
CLASSIC CEREMONIES
Approved Premises Classic Ceremony, Mon – Sat– £570
Approved Premises Classic Ceremony, Sundays – £630
Approved Premises Classic Ceremony, Bank Holidays – £750
ENHANCED CEREMONIES
Approved Premises Enhanced Ceremony, Mon – Sat– £645
Approved Premises Enhanced Ceremony, Sundays – £705
Approved Premises Enhanced Ceremony, Bank Holidays – £825
All bookings need to be made through the registration service and not the Silk Mill. They get very booked up so we are always happy to pencil in your date while you check that you can book a regsitrar for your wedding.
A Halloween Wedding held here in 2015
'Everybody just went on and on about how beautiful the venue was!'
'Having the time to set the space up how we wanted it made our wedding feel very relaxed.'
'Frome has got so many wonderful people to contribute towards making a wedding special and a bit different'
Wedding Enquiries - contact Kate to book a visit.
We are very flexible about time and can meet you at the Silk Mill after office hours or at a weekend if it helps. If you would rather meet us virtually we can do a video - call tour of the space. Send us an email and we will arrange it.