Blackstock Market occupies 60,000 square feet of old industrial Liverpool on Blackstock Street, a few minutes north of the city centre in Vauxhall, and it has become one of the more likeable things to happen to the city in years. It is a food and drink market first — a dozen independent traders under one roof, from Pattersons and Laros to North Garden and Roast House — but it is also home to the Hot Water Comedy Club, three purpose-built theatres and live music most nights of the week. Some corners of the building have been deliberately left as they were found, all raw brick and worn timber, and they turn up in films fairly regularly.
For a wedding, that mixture is the whole appeal. Nobody is going to accuse you of choosing something generic. Couples tend to build the day around Lily’s Lounge on the first floor, a genuinely handsome private space split into three connected areas, with its own bar and a seating bridge overlooking the room below; it seats 140 and holds 200 standing. Above it, the Blackstock Roof Garden is a Mediterranean-styled terrace that takes up to 240 for an open-air reception, which on a warm Liverpool evening is a very hard thing to beat. Smaller rooms — the Smith Suite, Wally’s Room, the Mezzanine, the Barn — fill in around them.
Practically, it is refreshingly straightforward. The building is licensed for ceremonies, fully wheelchair accessible, and there is free on-street parking around it. Catering can come from the in-house kitchens or from the traders themselves, and outside caterers are allowed for a small fee, which matters if you want a particular cuisine done properly.
Where the band plays
Lily’s Lounge is the natural home for a band. It is a room built for entertainment rather than converted into one, the bar is right there, and there is a PA and speaker system already installed, so a smaller act can plug straight in. The three connected areas mean guests who want to talk can drift away from the dancefloor without leaving the party, which is the quiet luxury of a venue like this. If you are taking the roof garden as well, it makes a lovely spot for acoustic sets during drinks before everyone comes back down for the main event.
How the evening runs
The building is licensed well into the small hours, but weddings here generally run their live music to around midnight, which gives you a long, unhurried evening rather than a sprint — two full sets with a proper break, and plenty of room either side for the traders to keep feeding people. That late-night food offer is a real advantage; few venues can produce hot street food at 11pm without a second thought.
Load-in is easy by city-centre standards, with vehicle access to the building and none of the pedestrianised-street problems you get closer to the waterfront. It is worth confirming with the team which sound system is included and whether a limiter applies in the room you have chosen.
Bands available in Liverpool and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Liverpool.
- Liverpool Wedding Bands
- Liverpool Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in Liverpool
- Wedding DJs in Liverpool
- Corporate Entertainment in Liverpool
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.