Venue Review: The Kensington And Chelsea Register Office At Chelsea Old Town Hall

Why book?

Sitting on a particularly lovely corner of the King’s Road, Kensington and Chelsea Register Office at Chelsea Old Town Hall is the definitive choice for a city-chic London wedding. With Grade II listed bags of effortless charm, beautiful and flexible rooms that were very recently brought bang-up-to-date with a generous refurb, and an enviable photo opportunity on the iconic front steps, Kensington and Chelsea Register Office is the quintessentially London choice for a wedding venue.

Venue style

This is the ideal backdrop for a stylish couple looking to bring forth a cosmopolitan wedding but retain an intimate feel. The Kensington and Chelsea Register Office is one of those truly timeless London institutions that has retained its modish moment in the sun over two centuries and countless weddings.

Set the scene

Reap the just rewards of accessibility ease, with guests seamlessly gliding into proceedings thanks to bountiful transport links. While the Kensington and Chelsea Register Office’s prime location is certainly in and amongst the buzz and hum of the city, inside you find a refined haven of ceremony spaces – with light flooding in from 19th-century windows – that can gracefully slot into any design vision you might have. And lest we forget the photocall on the steps, where you will join the great and the good from Golden Age stars Sharon Tate and Judy Garland, to society bride Phoebe Knatchbull, and veritable king of the fashion crowd, Harris Reed.

For those with the good fortune of opting for a May wedding, you will see the floral art show Chelsea in Bloom. The Kensington and Chelsea Register Office partakes, adorning those iconic blue doors – awaiting the happy couple’s jubilant exit – with an abundant arch of botanically inspired silk flowers.

Event spaces

The ceremony spaces at Kensington and Chelsea Register Office are box-fresh, benefitting from a recent update that has invigorated the rooms with modern polish. There is the Brydon Room, the largest of the three primary venue spaces, that can play host to 38 guests. The brainchild of local interior designer Simone De Gale, the room is spring-like, airy and light-filled, accented by beautiful mahogany woodwork and epic double doors that guarantee a show-stopping entrance.

The Rossetti room, for 12 guests, makes a statement from the outset framed against a gorgeous neoclassical arch under which you make your entrance. This characterful focal point is unique, alongside bucolic oil paintings in gilded frames, jade panelling, a carved alcove (that you can expect to feature an expansive floral arrangement from Fleur de la Couture), and light streaming in from soaring windows.

Then there is the Harrington Room, a lovely smaller space to accommodate an intimate ceremony of eight guests or a whirlwind elopement. Your ceremony will be set against a simple symmetrical backdrop with natural fern-green accents, a glittering crystalline chandelier, and soaringly high ceilings. And, of course, take note of the beautiful wooden parquet flooring that is a mainstay of the rooms at the Kensington and Chelsea Register Office.

Food and drink

After your nuptials, eat, drink, and be merry at some of the finest restaurants in the capital. There are the Chelsea mainstays, gastropubs The Alfred Teneson, The Surprise, or The Pig’s Ear, as well as the iconic Cadogan Arms (a mere five-minute walk away), or, for fabulous after-hours hosting spaces, think of old-world stalwarts The Hurlingham or The Sloane Club.

Accommodation

London plays host to world-best hotels that have written the book on luxury, and Kensington and Chelsea host a plentiful array: from the design-forward At Sloan to the charmingly urbane 11 Cadogan Gardens or Beaverbrook Town House.

The story

Kensington and Chelsea Register Office at Chelsea Old Town Hall has long sat at its prestigious King’s Road address, dating to the 1860 patronage of Earl Cadogan. It was designed by William Wilmer but closed not long after opening, as it was deemed structurally unsafe. Architects of the moment submitted plans, and the winner, John McKean Brydon – of whom the Brydon room is named – designed the superior structure we see today, alongside the addition of the giant Roman Ionic columns and lovely embellishments by his friend Leonard Stokes. Grade II listed status was granted in 1969, and so we have this supremely lovely building seen today, a prime example of neoclassical architecture.