A Sheffield wedding full of harmony, for a couple who bonded through Barbershop singing.

Louise Gather
2 days ago
4 min read

the hide sheffield celebrant wedding ceremony barbershop singing — Pics: Photos By Kiera

The Couple And Their Plans

The world of barbershop singing is pretty insular. Everyone knows everyone, or at least has links to someone who does. I can say this with confidence, because I am part of it myself (shoutout to Ignite UK!) So, when a couple who met through barbershop singing realised there was a wedding celebrant who also sang in a chorus, it shouldn’t have been too much of a surprise. Even their photographer, Kiera (photos by Kiera) was previously a barbershopper, and a strong contingent of the guests were chorus or quartet members. I was so pleased that Becca and Rob were up for fully embracing this in their ceremony. When we first chatted before they booked, I floated the idea of filling their ceremony with barbershop puns (because there is a lot of niche terminology with this hobby) and they were all for it.

Their wedding day was held at The Hide in Sheffield, instantly recognisable from the vibrant yellow signage and the mega cool bar inside, made from an old retro citroen van. Although the venue has hosted weddings for a few years, it is under new ownership by Jon and Nicola Dennis. Jon is also a wedding photographer, so he’s seen enough wedding days to know what works well and how to keep the couple, the guests, and other suppliers happy!

The ceremony space looked amazing with lots of pillar candles (more on those later, though…) and the flowers from BLOSM really showcased their pink and orange colour scheme! I adored Becca’s flower crown and Rob’s pops of orange with his tie and pocket square.

The Ceremony

The ceremony began in a very exciting way… for several reasons. Firstly, Rob entered to his own theme tune: a song written for him on his stag do called ‘Best Foot Forward’ (as his surname was Foot!) It even had choreo, which the guests were taught before we started! It was performed by his groomsmen / singing buddies, with everyone encouraged to sing along with the chorus and with the moves. Honestly, it was the most fun and wholesome thing to watch, and I still sometimes catch myself singing ‘Best Foot Forward’ to myself!

Becca and her bridespeople then entered to ‘Grow As We Go’ by Ben Platt, once again performed by their talented musical friends. And, as Becca reached the front and spun around to greet her guests… the back of her dress brushed against a floor-level candle and caught fire!! It’s the first time I have had to extinguish a fire at the start of the ceremony, and I hope it will be the last.

As if that wasn’t enough excitement, the rest of the ceremony was packed full of fun moments. We had a ring warming and a group singalong of ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ - Becca spent most of this boogying with her 90 year old nan, who was absolutely loving it. The ceremony also included two readings, one of which was a dramatic and deadpan delivery of the Bryan Adams song, Heaven - it was extremely funny and went down very well.

After they had exchanged vows and rings, we ended the ceremony with some communal vows and then by announcing their brand new married name which they were both taking. They walked back down the aisle together to another singalong, this time ‘I’m A Believer’, while Becca’s mum worked some magic with a bubble gun!

A story snippet: (spot the singing / barbershop puns!)

Then, at BABS 2023, it was like the planets aligned. Becca was single and sick of the disasters of internet dating. So many swipes left. She cried on the way down to Bournemouth, wailing to her car companions that she was destined to die alone. Hannah even suggested that a ‘barbershop boyfriend’ would be good for her, and that maybe she’d find someone at BABS? ‘No!’ Becca sobbed. ‘They’re all old! Or married! Or gay! Or weird!’ And she wasn’t wrong, really, but luckily she found someone who ticked just one of those boxes: weird.

Rob admits that he had fancied Becca for a while, but had never thought about acting on it and knew his pickup skills were lacking. Soon after arriving in Bournemouth they bumped into each other with their mutual friends and ended up sitting and chatting.

They were a bit tiddly after a few drinks, and Becca joked about the risk of her falling over if she had any more. So when she inevitably went up to get another, Rob decided to take the lead and said the famous words every woman longs to hear: ‘Don’t fall over!’ Becca was stunned. Her heart skipped a beat.”

wedding vows the hide sheffield celebrant ceremony

A sneak peek at the vows

“I promise to be your biggest cheerleader just as you are always mine.”

“I vow to keep singing silly songs (complete with dance routines) whenever you need cheering up.”

“I promise that if you’ve had a hard day at work, I’ll cook you a nice tea and grate a bit of extra cheese on top of it.”

“I can’t promise that I’ll ever be anywhere close to being as much of a DIY expert as you, but I will always listen to you, and together we can overcome any challenges that life puts in our way.”

The rest of the day

Becca and Rob kindly invited me to stay for the rest of the day. Rather than a formal 3 course meal, they opted for a variety of big pies to be shared out on each table, which were delicious. Kiera captured some absolutely epic pics of the wedding party on the streets outside, and plenty of gorgeous candid moments, too. Later, their amazing band (Reckless Saints) arrived, and the dancefloor was full right from the start, and a greek food truck set up outside to provide late night snacks of chips and kebabs.