Choosing a Wedding Venue

If you have always dreamed of a big church wedding in your home church, choosing a venue for your nuptials is not difficult. For the rest of us, picking the place to exchange our vows is more difficult.

Brides and Grooms who are not members of a particular church but who want a church wedding need to start early to find an available sanctuary that meets their needs. There are numerous things to consider when selecting a church.

The first thing to do is get started as soon as possible. Churches give first consideration to their members, so if you want to secure a spot, reserve early.

Next, you will want to find a church that has a sanctuary or chapel that will comfortably host your prospective number of guests without leaving a lot of pews empty.

When you have found one or more churches that meet your space requirements, find out what their policy on decoration is. Believe it or not, there are churches that will not let you decorate at all while others allow only limited enhancement to the church. Also check out what the general church décor is to make sure that the red pews won’t clash with your turquoise and purple color scheme.

Next, you’ll want to find out who officiates at the weddings. You may want a pastor at the church to perform the ceremony or you may want to bring in someone you know to do the honors. Central Christian Church in San Antonio, TX is happy to rent their facilities to area couples needing a venue for their wedding, but they require that a pastor on their church staff officiate.

Which brings up another requirement some church venues have – premarital counseling. Central Christian Church, mentioned above, requires that all couples who get married in their facility go through premarital classes at the church. They see offering their location as a venue for non members as an outreach ministry.

If you want to choose a venue other than a church, you have many options.

You may be thinking about an outdoor wedding such as one held at a park or on the beach. If it is a public space, you’ll want to contact the city, county, or state commission that oversees the space for reservation options. If it’s private land, you’ll want to contact the owner. Keep in mind that you should have a back up option in case of bad weather.

If you have friends or relatives with a big home or garden, a private wedding for a small number of guests can be quite nice. You won’t have to worry about finishing before the next bridal party comes in. Keep in mind though, that someone is living there before the wedding and they’ll have to live with any mess your guests make afterwards. Don’t let your wedding be the basis of any hard feelings.

Private wedding chapels are also an alternative. Often these chapels look like churches, but they’re owned by private parties.

Beautiful hotels can also be a great option for people planning to get married. One of the advantages is that the ceremony and the reception can be held at the same place which eliminates travel for the guests. Out of town guests can even be put up at the same hotel, sometimes at a discount package price.

Where ever you hold your wedding, you want it to be a romantic event. You’ll be happy you gave careful consideration to your decision when choosing a venue.

Regards
Roger Mayne
Surrey Weddings

For more wedding tips and advice, as well as a full directory of wedding suppliers in Surrey, visit Surrey Weddings