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Okay ladies - venue question - kind of updated in comments

hellosweetie1015hellosweetie1015 member
First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
edited January 2015 in Chit Chat
Everyone says not to overbook your venue. Brilliance, obviously.

But what if you overvenue your book?

I ask because we're talking to Fi's parents tonight about maybe using their church as a wedding venue. The issue is that it's capable of housing, like, 500 and I'm likely maxing out at thirty including FI and I, officiant, and photographer. It's simple, extremely budget-friendly, and frankly at this point I'm okay with it being a billion times too big, but I keep feeling like if certain members of my family find out that I had the space and chose not to invite them, it's going to cause a ruckus. And I keep wondering if it's even possible to "shrink" the space visually.

So - wwtkd?
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Re: Okay ladies - venue question - kind of updated in comments

  • JennyColadaJennyColada member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    edited January 2015
    We held our ceremony (which consisted of me and DH, photog, 4 guests) in a huge outdoor garden. The month before our wedding, the same space held an outdoor event with approximately 1200 guests.

    Don't worry about it.
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  • lurkergirllurkergirl member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    I wouldn't worry about the size. If it's a great deal, then I think you should take it. Could you do something like rent a private room in a restaurant for the reception to cut out the idea that you could have invited more people?




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  • bethsmilesbethsmiles member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Having the space for 500 people is totally different than having the budget for 500 people. If people ask simply say "We could afford to invite everyone we wanted" that has nothing to do with the fact that there would have been space for them at the venue.


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  • hellosweetie1015hellosweetie1015 member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    Cool. I will cross it off my "shit to stress over" list then!

    I think the plan is definitely to have a smaller reception option anyway - bigger spaces = mo' money, and mo' money is not a thing we have hahahah.
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  • AddieCakeAddieCake member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    I'm with Beth. Space and budget are not the same.
    What did you think would happen if you walked up to a group of internet strangers and told them to get shoehorned by their lady doc?~StageManager14
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  • huskypuppy14huskypuppy14 member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    My venue could hold 350 people, and we had 110 (invited about 160). In the planning stage, my MIL kept asking if there was a venue max, and I said of course, but that doesn't mean we are filling it. I should have said there is plenty of room to fit more people, but there isn't plenty of money to pay for it.
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  • hellosweetie1015hellosweetie1015 member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    I guess I know budget =/= space, haha. I honestly didn't think about that though. We certainly don't have the budget to fill the place to capacity, plus I have no desire to have that many people there anyway.
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  • anjemonanjemon member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment Name Dropper
    I think the PPs had the right idea to focus on more space, not more money. 

    But I also don't think it's bad if something like your church has a lot more space. Both my sisters got married at our parent's home church, which easily holds about twice the numbers invited. It feels a little strange to have all that room, but I don't think anybody really notices if you're not trying to decorate the space.
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  • wrigleyvillewrigleyville member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    People get married on golf courses, which can technically hold about 2000 people.

    ;)

    Don't stress it.
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  • WhatawagSBNyWhatawagSBNy member
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    Sometimes people choose a chapel of their church just to be able to say , space was too small. That seems backwards to me, letting the people you don't want at your wedding control where it happens.
    You like the church, do it.


    I have seen people decorate just a few pews center front of big churches with a few floral arrangements on the row behind them, to make it seem more intimate than a huge empty churches in pictures and during the ceremony.
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  • JoanE2012JoanE2012 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Are you just referring to the ceremony space?  If so, I wouldn't worry about it.  I've been to plenty of weddings where the pews were no where near filled.

    Where is the reception being held?  If it's in a hall that holds 500, I'd see if there's a way to put up false walls or dividers so the room doesn't seem overwhelming and empty.
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  • hellosweetie1015hellosweetie1015 member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    The reception venue is still up in the air, but likely in a private room of a restaurant. We bandied about the idea of maybe getting a couple lanes at a nicer bowling alley (mostly jokingly, haha, although I do really like that idea...) but FI has some good connections in the restaurant and hospitality business in the city where the reception will be so we're hoping to nail that down.

    We have a venue now! And an officiant (pending my passing the counseling sessions he likes to do with his couples) and a pretty set date!!! So excited.
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  • WhatawagSBNyWhatawagSBNy member
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    It is exciting when things start coming together!
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