Alison and Ben Kilner

Number of guests: 75

Why did you choose the National Space Centre as your wedding venue?

We both had an interest in space and we had previously visited for the day and loved the venue so on discovering you offered weddings and price wise it was within our budget there was no point in looking at alternatives. We loved the fact that there were so many quirky things included in our package.

Tell us about your day and what areas in the National Space Centre did you use?

We had the drinks reception in the Rocket Tower, ceremony and speeches in the Planetarium and buffet meal/reception in the main centre area. We loved how everything flowed so well, we weren’t even bothered by the fact that the public were still in the venue for the first hour of the ceremony.

What extra touches did you add? 

We had the space themed cocktails and used the smoking rocket feature at the drinks reception, had a planetarium show following our speeches, the weather machine during the reception and had the ride simulator operating for a period of time. All of these things made our wedding completely unique to anyone elses wedding that we had been to and were commented on by our family and friends.

What did your guests think about your chosen venue?

Given that the centre was around 120 miles from our home and all family/friends so they had all had to travel a fair distance and stay over we had nothing but positive feedback from our guests. Everybody just felt that the venue offered so many unique photo and experience opportunities and was like no other wedding they had been to previously. Even now 3 years on people still comment on how great they found our wedding.

Are there any tips you would offer couples planning to get married? 

I think it’s worthwhile completely embracing the space theme in absolutely every element of the day, if there’s anything the staff can help with just ask as we found everyone on the team the day of our wedding to be most helpful as well as during the planning phase.