James & Ruth

Real weddings

Soul and Motown band Downtown Underground brought their funky, dancefloor-filling style to James and Ruth's rustic wedding at Whirlowbrook Hall in Sheffield.

Posted by Kat Dadswell

Our wedding took place at Whirlowbrook Hall in Sheffield. It is a beautiful stately home in our home city, close to where Ruth grew up.

Downtown Underground were the icing on the cake on our special day!

The overall theme was simple, rustic yet with a classic look to the day. There were candelabras with flowers and lots of candles.

We found Downtown Underground while browsing online for wedding bands available in Yorkshire. When we heard them we immediately contacted Function Central who were quick in replying to our requests.

We chose Downtown Underground for their upbeat, soulful sound. We wanted a full dance floor all night and had read many good reviews about them.

The band were spot on and all our guests kept commenting on how great they were. They even learned and performed our first dance, Sam Cooke's "That's Where It's At" for us which was very special.

They were very easy to deal with when organising specific songs and extra bits and pieces and all of the band members were friendly and professional.

The most special moments of the day were: saying our vows in the church where my parents and grandparents also married many years ago. Having all of our loved ones in one place to witness our big day.

And last but not least our first dance and the awesome party that followed the wedding celebrations all night long!

Advice for brides and grooms-to-be: Pay a little extra for a great band. You will not regret it – it really makes a good party into an excellent one.

We would highly recommend Downtown Underground for anyone who is after a soulful, fun and energetic sound. They were the icing on the cake on our special day!

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Photographer: Jon Dennis from S6 Photography
He was fantastic - friendly, professional, helpful and simply a wonderful photographer. There was no stressed 'getting the photos done'. He was so efficient and noone was stood standing for ages. He is a dream with natural, fun photos.

Flowers: Tracey Campbell from Campbells Flowers in Sheffield
She picked up on the look we were after straight away and created a simple, yet very romantic and seasonal selection of flowers for my wife's bouquet, the bridesmaids bouquets and hair flowers.

She also organised the flowers and candelabras for each table including the top table and a lovely floral garland all the way down the staircase.

She was really friendly and thoughtful, thinking of all the little bits and pieces like vases for all of the bouquets and name tags for all of the wedding party corsages.

Cake
A friend of ours, Sarah Axe created the wedding cake which was simple, traditional with cake lace. We showed her a few photos of what we wanted and she just got to work creating it. It looked and tasted fantastic.

Chair covers & table runner: Diane Spink from Simply Seated
We met her at her home and chatted for ages about wedding and all manner of things.

We chose lace and hessian style seat covers which she organised beautifully in the room, throwing in a free top table table runner for the same price.

Very reasonable, very professional and organised.

Car: Cupid Carriages
They sent a Rolls Royce Phantom with a friendly driver who was helpful with getting the bride and bridesmaids in and out of the cars.

We had some rain on the day and he was there with the umbrella to get my wife to and from the car. Also with the champagne after the ceremony!

Venue: Whirlowbrook Hall, Sheffield
Judith Clark and the team couldn't have been more helpful, kind and excited about our big day.

Nothing was too much trouble for them from the moment we first viewed the venue right through until after the wedding day.

The whole day ran very smoothly due to their professional and efficient manner. We couldn't have chosen a better venue!

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from£1,995

Downtown Underground

Manchester
6-7
(115)

World-class pop, funk and soul function band, refreshing and recreating the classic soul sounds of the 60s, 70s and 80s, alongside soul-infused contemporary pop and R&B.

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James & Ruth

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