Church Reception?

[SarahLovesJS]

As a sequel to my earlier church wedding thread, I am going to ask about church receptions? So I was getting stuck on the whole ballroom with chandeliers idea, but I am thinking more and more about how I don''t want to spend that much money. So, I was wondering, why not have the reception at the church? I need to look at the hall first, but I was wondering what y''all think.

Downsides I see so far: Have to find someone to decorate (e.g. pay $75/hr or $2,000 flat fee for wedding coordinator and assistants), no alcohol (But honestly I don''t really want alcohol, we don''t drink much and it''s so expensive), may restrict the church we can use or time we can use the church since some have Saturday evening services, probably restrictions on music.

Upsides: Muuuuuch less expensive, can get catering from anywhere we want as opposed to having to use an onsite caterer, can rent whatever linens we want and even other items such as fabric to really make the room our own.

So what do you think? Did you do this? Would you consider it? Finally, how would you feel about going to a church for wedding and reception? That probably sounds funny, but can it still be as elegant as a ballroom with the right decorations? Thanks in advance!

 

[Haven]

We''re having our ceremony and reception in our synagogue. We visited several different locations before we settled on the synagogue, and we ended up choosing it because we really wanted to use a specific caterer, and the country club we were going to use had their own caterer. For us, we won''t really be saving any money, but the syngagogue is a special place for me, and I love the idea of having our reception there.

And our wedding is going to be very elegant, if I may say so myself.

I think it''s the convergence of all of your smaller choices that make the affair elegant, not just the space. For example, we went to a wedding in the Sears Tower (Chicago) just a couple weeks ago. The room was incredible, the view was breathtaking, yet the DJ played a string of horrendous songs (think: Baby Got Back) which just cheapened the event, in my eyes. (Don''t flame me--those songs are fine in moderation; this was an onslaught of poor taste.)

As for how I''d feel about going to a ceremony and reception at a church--traditionally, the most formal weddings are held at the church or at the (very large and grand estate) home, so to me, church weddings always seem more formal.

Holly just made a great post in the LIW forum in the Out of Hand thread about weddings and what''s important, in case you''re looking for some more encouragement.

Good luck!

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Thank you so much! That was actually really encouraging, I agree. It is about all the elements and not just the place. It''s really easy to lose sight of what the day is actually about. I just needed to be reminded of that I think. I watched way too many wedding shows, haha. Not to mention I have a never-ending battle with my expensive taste. I really just want something simple and beautiful and I know he wants the same thing. Chandeliers are great, but why pay like $17,000 for alcohol when you could have a beautiful reception for less than half that? I am not trying to impress people, or even create some "fairytale" $50,000 wedding, I just want something relatively inexpensive and of course something elegant.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

I think it depends a lot on the church. I have been in some Catholic churches that have amazing places for a reception. I have also been to church receptions in rooms with bad carpets that looked as though they were normally used for senior''s bingo night. It just depends, I have been to non church receptions where the place doesn''t exactly scream class either.

 

[bee*]

We''re not doing it ourselves, but if it''s saving you a lot of money and you''re happy with it, then that''s what''s important.

 

[mimzy]

i think you could have a totally classy church reception

. normally i wouldn''t support hiring a wedding planner unless you are CRAZY busy, but in that case it might not be a bad idea to really professionally dress up the place, because chance are the space is going to be very plain. however, that does have the possibility of driving up the cost to that of a fancier place....

they also might not actually restrict alcohol. i''ve been to church receptions where it was definitely flowing freely. some churches also DO have their own caterer, so that''s something you might want to watch out for also.

with all that said, i have been to a church reception where everything looked really cheap....(tacky cheap, not inexpensive cheap). there were fake flowers everywhere (which i know actually aren''t all that cheap) and other decorations (tin foil giant hershey kisses, a plastic banner, etc) that really didn''t do anything to class up the space. so just beware of that

that was probably no help haha

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Date: 2/18/2008 7:44:36 AM
Author: mimzy
i think you could have a totally classy church reception

. normally i wouldn''t support hiring a wedding planner unless you are CRAZY busy, but in that case it might not be a bad idea to really professionally dress up the place, because chance are the space is going to be very plain. however, that does have the possibility of driving up the cost to that of a fancier place....


they also might not actually restrict alcohol. i''ve been to church receptions where it was definitely flowing freely. some churches also DO have their own caterer, so that''s something you might want to watch out for also.


with all that said, i have been to a church reception where everything looked really cheap....(tacky cheap, not inexpensive cheap). there were fake flowers everywhere (which i know actually aren''t all that cheap) and other decorations (tin foil giant hershey kisses, a plastic banner, etc) that really didn''t do anything to class up the space. so just beware of that

that was probably no help haha

Nope, you were helpful! Haha. As far as I know the church doesn''t require a caterer; however, I had not thought of that so now I know to ask! I guess I just want a classy ballroomish look without the ballroom price. Also the ballrooms nearby are so far from the churches we are looking at. That really bothers me. I hate to ask our OOT guests to travel from the church 20-30 minutes to the reception. There''s a non-ballroom option nearby, but it''s on the water and just as expensive. It''s beautiful, but I hate the cobblestone floor and FI does, too. So confusing.

 

[Fancy605]

one of the SWEETEST receptions I ever attended was in the fellowship hall of the church where the couple was married. It was such a cozy, loving atmosphere. No one missed the alcohol. No one missed the dancing. It was all about spending time with loved ones, and it was perfect. I actually attended that wedding in the afternoon, and that SAME day, more towards evening I went to a big, evening buffet style dinner and dancing country club wedding. It also was fun, but in a different way.

Anyway, my point is that while venues can play a huge roll in a wedding, the couple plays the biggest roll, and often times it doesn''t matter when or where the wedding is. If the couple is truly in love and they are surrounded by guests who love them, then the wedding will be amazing no matter when or where it is.