Frequently Asked Questions
You may have some questions that arise when planning your big day. Please find below a list of frequently asked questions to help you. If your query is not answered below, please contact our team who will be more than happy to assist you.
The Queens' Building is fully accessible for wheelchair users, with lift access available at two entrances to the building.
We are able to set up a bar within the Octagon space which will stock a variety of beers (including draught beer and lager), wines, spirits and soft drinks. If you wish to have a bar as part of your evening reception we do ask that a minimum spend of £500.00 is achieved to enable us to provide this facility. The bar can offer cash / card payments to your guests, or charged to your main account. You can discuss with our wedding co-ordinator exactly what drinks you would like available on this bar if you are allowing your guests to enjoy it on your main account.
Last Orders at the bar will be 10:45pm if your evening comes to an end at 11pm.
We will provide a silver-plated cake knife and a clothed table on which to display your wedding cake. Our dedicated chefs will cut and serve your wedding cake at your preferred time within your special day.
It is our preference to use imitation candles within any of our venues for safety reasons.
We are licensed to host civil ceremonies in the Octagon for up to 240 guests. A civil ceremony typically lasts around 30 minutes.
The booking of a Registrar for your civil ceremony is made directly with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. We recommend contacting them in advance to check their availability and to confirm their fee, which is payable to them directly. Further information is available on the Tower Hamlets website.
At time of writing the approximate costs for the registry advice, the fee for a registrar to attend a licensed venue and conduct a ceremony are as follows:
- £600.00 for a Friday & Saturday (between 10am-4pm)
- £712.00 Sundays and Bank Holidays (between 10am-4pm).
A changing area for the wedding party is included on a complimentary basis within our packages.
Children are welcome to all types of wedding celebrations at Queen Mary. We have two children’s packages available for you to select from. We do ask that children under 15 are supervised as they move around the venue.
We will set up a cloakroom to support you wedding in space nearby to the Octagon.
Regrettably we are unable to permit any type of confetti to be thrown on the grounds of our Mile End Campus. We have taken this decision to minimise our impact on the environment and our community. If your heart desires a confetti photograph then we would simply need to make arrangements to have this confetti cleared away which would incur a service cost. Please speak to your co-ordinator if this is something you wish to include within your weddings arrangements.
Queen Mary Hospitality have an extensive wine list available to help you enhance your wedding reception. If there is a specific product that you would like to offer to your guests please speak to your co-ordinator who can explore the possibility of sourcing it for you. For any product that we can’t source for you we do offer a corkage option as outlined below:
- £15.00 per bottle of wine plus VAT
- £20.00 per bottle of sparkling wine / Champagne plus VAT
- £40.00 per bottle of 70cl spirit plus VAT.
The polished Oak floor of the Octagon is ideal for dancing. When the room plan is designed, a dance floor space will be allocated.
If you would like to enhance your dance floor experience, our recommended supplier Yes Events has a great variety of dance floors including traditional oak parquet, chequer board and various LED options.
When contacting suppliers regarding a dance floor, we recommend a dance floor size in the Octagon of 20ft x 20ft. We understand prices start from £500 plus VAT.
We have set out a payment plan in line with your booking terms and conditions to help you pay for your wedding in instalments throughout the planning process. These instalments are as follows:
- On confirmation of booking: An initial deposit invoice of £1500 will be issued along with your booking contract.
- 6 months prior to the wedding date: An interim deposit invoice of £5000 will be raised.
- 2 months prior to the wedding date: An invoice for the outstanding balance will be raised.
All invoices will be emailed to the email address we have on file for you and are issued with 30 day payment terms. All invoices will include VAT at the current rate. Payments can be made via a bank transfer or by credit or debit card. Further payment details are noted on our invoices. Regrettably we are unable to accept American Express credit cards.
- Final account: After your special day, our Wedding Coordinator will be in touch with you to reconcile your final account.
We can cater for any dietary requirements you and your guests may have. The menu tasting is a perfect opportunity to discuss these requirements and ensure that we cater for all of your guests’ needs. Please note should kosher meals be required these are subject to additional charges.
We understand that you may want to provide those small touches to make your day personalised to you. These might include wedding favours, photographs for a remembrance table or perhaps quirky signage for the day. We recommend that you deliver these to us the day before the wedding so that we can take care of placing them in situ on the wedding day.
We have an easel available that you can use to display your wedding breakfast table plan. This is available as part of your wedding package.
Our Terms and Conditions of business are issued with your booking contract at the time of booking. Please see below our flexible terms put in place as a result of COVID-19.
2.0 COVID-19 Postponement Clause:
If your wedding cannot take place as contractually planned as a direct result of COVID-19 we have introduced a postponement clause to our terms of business to help you alter the arrangements. If you wish to exercise this option you agree to notify us in writing at your earliest convenience, but no later than two months before the Wedding date, unless within this time, the situation surrounding COVID-19 legally prevents the arrangements from taking place.
2.1 Postponement: we will work with you to find a new suitable date that is mutually agreeable to all parties, within one calendar year proceeding your original wedding date. Once a new date has been agreed any deposit amounts that have been paid will be transferred to this new date. Any contracted package rates or room hire rates will be applied to the new date and therefore no price increase will be applied to your new date for these elements. Any additional catering you choose to have to enhance your wedding day will be charged as per the menu prices applicable to the event date.
2.2 Cancellation: If postponing the arrangements is not an option for you and you wish to cancel your contractual arrangements with Queen Mary University of London as a result of a national or Global Pandemic being declared then the cancellation terms are applied.
Cancellation Terms
1.0 Cancellation Terms
1.1 If you cancel your Wedding with us we will not return your Confirmation Deposit and the following additional cancellation charges apply:
1.2 If you cancel six months or less but more than two months before the Wedding date we will not return the Interim Deposit you have paid. If you have not paid your Interim Deposit at the time of cancellation you will be required to do so;
1.3 If you cancel two months or less but more than one month before the Wedding date you will have to pay 75% of the total estimated charges. If the amount you have paid, including any deposits, exceeds 75% of the total estimated charges we will refund the excess amount;
1.4 If you cancel one month or less before the Wedding date you will have to pay 100% of the total estimated charges (less any deposit(s) you have paid).
We are located in the heart of east London (E1), served by excellent public transport links with Mile End and Stepney Green Underground stations just 10 minutes' walk away. Further details of how to find us are available on our Location page, however, for your convenience our venue address is:
Queen Mary University of London
Mile End Road
London
E1 4NS
We have complimentary parking available should your guests choose to arrive by car. You can discuss the details of this during your planning stages.
We are fortunate to be a residential campus in the heart of London, which means that there are accommodation options available to support your wedding arrangements. The options range from a single ensuite room to a studio apartment or one bedroom flat. Please speak to your Wedding Coordinator for available options surrounding your wedding date.
If our accommodation is not available on your wedding date, we have a list of local hotels available for you to consider other options.
We offer a menu tasting experience for the bridal couple as part of your wedding package. Two menu tasting sessions are held annually. One supports our spring and summer menu and the other supports our autumn and winter menu. Your wedding co-ordinator will advise you as to which one applies to your wedding date. During the menu tasting evening you will sample the full menu for your season and have the opportunity to sample a selection of wines at our wine table where we can recommend what to pair with each dish. Your wedding co-ordinator will be on hand during the evening to catch up with your wedding arrangements and our hospitality team will be available to talk all things food and drink.
A handheld microphone and PA system are included within our packages for speeches and announcements. If you require additional microphones these are available on a pre-arranged basis, at £55.00 each.
The Octagon is a grade II listed space with a three storey high domed ceiling. It can seat up to 240 guests for a civil ceremony and wedding breakfast. As a minimum, we suggest 100 guests to ensure the majesty of the space provides the perfect setting. Our packages are therefore based on a minimum of 100 adult guests. You should provide a clear indication of total anticipated guest numbers at time of booking. Throughout the planning stages please keep your wedding co-ordinator updated with any significant changes so that these can be reflected on your main account.
You should provide your final numbers to your wedding co-ordinator at least five clear working days prior to your big day. These form the final chargeable numbers and provisions and facilities will be supplied based on these numbers.
We offer complimentary parking for up to 10 vehicles within our onsite car park.
Breathtakingly romantic, our Grade II listed spaces offer peace and opulence allowing unrivalled opportunities for photography and videography on your special day. Communal areas available to you for photography are the main lawn in front of the romantic Victorian clock tower, alongside the Regent’s canal or our inner courtyard space.
You are permitted to access the galleries within the Octagon, however this is reserved for the bridal couple and the photographer only, to comply with health and safety guidelines relating to weight restrictions in this space.
We would love to keep in touch with you after the wedding to see your photographs and see our space being truly enjoyed.
To understand privacy and cookies in use on this website, we have a dedicated privacy and cookies notice, which informs you of what to expect when Weddings at Queen Mary (the weddings brand of Queen Mary University of London) collects personal information via this website. It applies to information we collect about:
- Visitors to our websites
- People who request a site visit or send an enquiry
- People who communicate with us via our 'Live Chat' facility.
To find out more, visit our Privacy page or contact us at commercialmarketing@qmul.ac.uk.
We have a wonderful network of suppliers we are happy to recommend – all of whom have provided services for a wedding at Queen Mary. We would recommend enlisting their services as they will be able to better guide you through what works within our venue.
We recognise that our menus may not suit all cultural requirements and therefore the Octagon is available to book on a ‘dry hire’ basis, which means you enlist an external caterer to run your wedding day within our space. Pre-approved external caterers are permitted into this incredible Grade II listed space, enabling you to create the wedding day of your dreams. Please see our Dry Hire package for details.
All of our packages include access to the Octagon until 11pm. If you wish to party on until midnight then this is possible and an extension fee will be added on your main account during the planning stages. This extension fee is priced at £350.00 per hour and covers the additional staffing and facilities that will be required to support this additional hour.
We aim to make the process of planning your wedding as simple as possible; a dedicated member of our team will be with you every step of the way to ensure that your big day is perfect. The wedding co-ordinator will support you from your initial enquiry right through to the important contract stage and then our dedicated events manager will ensure the day goes off without a hitch!
The Octagon provides excellent acoustics for a live musician or band. We have a list of recommended musicians that have provided entertainment within the Octagon space previously.
If you would like to play digital music the Octagon has an inbuilt PA system allowing pre-recorded music to be played via a CD or MP3 player via an AUX cable. This system can also support microphones for speeches and announcements.
The Octagon is also home to a historic 100 year old Steinway Model D Concert Grand Piano, one of only two made in this finish in the world. This fine instrument is available to be hired for use during your ceremony or reception to provide the perfect note to echo the union of your marriage. The cost to hire this Piano to support your wedding day is just £150.00, VAT exempt and will be added to your main account during the planning stages. This cost helps us to maintain the instrument and ensure it is tuned for use.
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Some of our couples have shared some kind words about their Weddings at QMUL experience. Feel free to take a look and see what they have to say!