Ceremony Venue Help

CherryHelp

Hello,  I will try to make this quick.  We are in ft lauderdale Florida.  And aparently there are very few indoor spaces available for ceremony only that are indoor and do not cost over 1000 and will let us use our own officiant.  and yes it must be our officiant.  I have found 3 options please tell me what you think. (keep in mind minimal bridal party about 70 guests)

option 1.  is a Woman's Club.  It is a beautiful historic building, which is nice because it goes with reception.  reasonable price after deposit returned and flexible, good local for pics (next to park) con: almost no on site parking, guests would have to park on the street and this is near downtown...on a saturday evening...eh

option 2.  Condo club house...  It is more than enough space, parking would not be an issue will cut down on transport cost and bride can get dressed comfortably at home.  right on the water, so also nice for pictures. Con: extra money for decor and chair rental.  also the clubhouse look a little dated.

option 3. reception venue.  The reception venue only do ceremonies outside.  I was going to try and convince them to let us do the ceremony inside.  let the guests sit at the tables while the ceremony takes place on the dancefloor.  Con: not entirely sure if this is possible. 

Please tell me what you think.  Im pulling my hair out over this.  And for health reasons must be inside. 

dkk05310609

I like option one, mainly because that sounds like our venue lol. Im assuming where you live is alot bigger then where i live, so, we are going to be using a private transport service, kinda like a trolley to drop the guests off at the church and to the reception sense there really is no parking! We even got a paper in our rental packet saying no parking for the church, but i refuse to let it go....ANYWAYS is it possible to do a trolley service from a bigger parking area to your venue?

doublenn

Since your only con to having the ceremony at the reception venue is that you don't know if it's possible, I say you should contact them right away to ask! It would cut down other costs, less travel time for your guests and wedding party, meaning that you get more time to party! maybe. If they can't, I would go with the woman's club venue.

AllisaurusRex

I would nix the condo right away. That could add up fast. Chairs are pricey and then they may not be dressy enough so you'll want covers and sashes, or just sashes, then aisle decor, then some kind of backdrop behind you two...cha-ching. For the Womens' Club, it sounds like the parking would be a nightmare, and I'd be one unhappy camper if I had to park a block or more away and walk in heels. It certainly is possible to have a ceremony in the reception space, with guests seated at their tables. If that's something you like the idea of, then go for it. I don't see why it would be a problem for the venue, unless you wanted to have the ceremony set up and then flip it to a reception space, but it sounds like you want the reception already set up around the ceremony. Are there no other venues near you? If there are any colleges nearby, I would maybe contact them to see if they have a chapel and if they rent it for weddings. Since most college chapels are non-denomenational, they usually do not have a resident officiant and will allow you to bring your own in. Around here, the premier wedding ceremony venue is a college chapel. It's gorgeous and historical and right on the lake, and it's only $500 to rent. And it's so pretty inside that the only decor we're adding is an aisle runner. Just an idea because it sounds like you're not in love with any of the 3 options you gave us.

CherryHelp

I really am not in love with any of the idea's...The Womens center would be perfect but that parking issue just kills it for me. and no dkk05310609...no trolley or anything that I can afford.  I have tried to get in touch with the Museum and Library as it is also close to the recep site.  But they are literally ignoring me.  I wanted to look at a few other options before contacting the reception people. 

Can you guys think of anything else cus honestly I can't... Maybe I need new fresh minds to help.

doublenn

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_ceremony-venue-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:f172d85f-7eef-4e49-8f2d-98a5c0dfa4d1Post:a337a8b4-70a9-4372-8d94-e3b5c73ad08a">Re: Ceremony Venue Help</a>:
[QUOTE]I really am not in love with any of the idea's...The Womens center would be perfect but that parking issue just kills it for me. and no dkk05310609 ...no trolley or anything that I can afford.  I have tried to get in touch with the Museum and Library as it is also close to the recep site.  But they are literally ignoring me.  I wanted to look at a few other options before contacting the reception people.  Can you guys think of anything else cus honestly I can't... Maybe I need new fresh minds to help.
Posted by CherryHelp[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>Would it be in your budget to hire valet parking guys? Then they would deal with the parking, no?

</div>

CherryHelp

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_ceremony-ideas_ceremony-venue-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:10Discussion:f172d85f-7eef-4e49-8f2d-98a5c0dfa4d1Post:373d40ce-f756-44f1-b43d-8109d087acb4">Re: Ceremony Venue Help</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Ceremony Venue Help : Would it be in your budget to hire valet parking guys? Then they would deal with the parking, no?
Posted by doublenn[/QUOTE]

I have not looked into it...I will check on that. 

Thanks for that. If anyone thinks of anything please let me know...this is starting to get overwhelming.