Has anyone had their ceremony and reception in the same room?

pends123

We plan on renting an activity center in our town to host 200-250 people on a Saturday night Summer/Fall 2015. We've been engaged for almost 2 years now and are finally ready to get this show on the road. I've been to only one wedding (when I was in middle school) where the ceremony and reception were in the same room but they were separated by a curtain. The center we plan on renting has a small "stage" (just a platform that's one step up - wide enough to hold a traditional head table which receptions at this space often do) in the front corner of the room where we would perform the ceremony while guests are already seated at their dinner tables.

I guess I just wonder how others have gone about having their ceremony and reception together. If we start the ceremony at 4:30 and plan on taking most if not all pictures beforehand, should we begin dinner (buffet style) right at 5?  If that would be the case, should we start the ceremony at 5:30 instead?

Any and all opinions are welcome! I'm in my early 20s and have only attended a few weddings in my adult life so any direction is truly appreciated!

OliveOilsMom

@kmmssg Didn't your DD have this type of set up?

OP - Since you have a stage, I would perform the ceremony there.  Forego the head table and have a sweetheart table off to the side of the stage.  Then have your WP seated either around the reception with people they know (and their SOs) or at their own table with their SOs.  Please don't separate your WP members from their SOs by doing a head table. 

What I would try to do, is have your sweetheart table, parent tables, and WP tables on the complete opposite side of the room from the stage.  Then have 2 rows of chairs at the front by the stage for your parents & siblings.  That way, your guests could be close to the stage, but still have your parents seated in an honor position.

If you truly will get ALL pics done before the ceremony, your plan to go right into dinner is fine.  However, if you plan to have any further pics (even of just you and your new H), then I would have a small amount of apps available for guests to eat while you finish up your pics.  Most guests won't eat dinner until the B&G are eating.  The apps could be some fruit trays, veggie trays, etc., doesn't have to be fancy.

If you are having your ceremony and going right into dinner, then I would probably start later, but that's just me.  I prefer to eat later.  So you can use your discretion on the start time.

Senecaf

We did the ceremony and reception in one room but cocktail hour in another so the staff "flipped" the room during that time. I beleive it is called California style when guests are seated at their dinner tables for the ceremony.

Are you planning to do no cocktail hour? If so I would do ceremony at 5:30 and dinner at 6. 5 seems a little early to me.

pends123

@OliveOilsMom Definitely aren't doing the head table. I actually think we are just going to sit at a normal table w/ family. Planned on having finger food (veggies and dip, cheese and crackers, etc.)set out ahead of time so our guests could have them even before the ceremony. FI and I already own a home together and aren't superstitious about not seeing each other before so we'll probably be greeting guests as they come in (foregoing a receiving line since everything is in one big room and we won't be leaving the room after we are pronounced husband and wife and everyone will already be seated at the tables).

@Senecaf Nothing is set in stone so if we decide to take all pictures, even with family members, before the ceremony, I don't think there would be a need for a cocktail hour.  I agree that 5 would seem a little early for dinner.

pends123

Our pictures will probably be taken on that platform where we'll do the ceremony because there's no nice place to take pictures outside of the venue so even if we were to do a cocktail hour for pictures, we'd still be right there in front of everyone.  But I definitely want to get at least the majority of pictures (FI and I/us with our small wedding party/us with immediate families) out of the way before.

pends123

@OliveOilsMom Thank you for the suggestion about chairs for the honorary guests. I'll keep that in mind.

photokitty

We had everything in one room.

The tables were set and moved to the back half of the room. We had a curtain partition to hide them. After the ceremony we asked all the guests to come outside for a group photo. During this time the staff flipped the room. They only needed 10 mins and we had 150 guests. 

We did not have a head table.

We took all our photos before hand, we had a long first look with just the two of us and then family photos an hour prior to the ceremony.

tammym1001

We had ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception all in the same room. Ceremony started at 4:00. Everyone was seated at their dinner tables for the ceremony. Once the ceremony was over we did a few pictures outside with the wedding party. Cocktail hour was from 4:30 - 5:30. Our wedding party went back inside for cocktail hour after about 15 minutes of pictures and DH and I went and took more pictures of just the two of us (we didn't do a first look). We just came back in the room when we were done with pictures and the servers started putting out salads when we came back in and then dinner was served. It worked out really well.

weddingcactus

I went to a wedding where the ceremony and reception were all in the same room. It was a rustic old barn that had been converted to be used for events and had a massive fireplace at one end. The guests took seats at dinner tables and the ceremony took place in front of the fireplace. I think your'e smart to do most pictures before the ceremony. It seemed like most of the pictures were done between ceremony and dinner at the wedding I attended and guests became quite restless waiting for anything to be served. If possible, I'd do a small beverage (preferably cocktail) and appetizer time between the ceremony and dinner so that guests aren't fidgeting and waiting for the bride and groom to return for dinner to start. And you don't want to miss your own dinner either.