ceremony advice?!

Sierra524

Hey all! I went to the church yesterday where the ceremoney is going to be held. Its really small & comfortable, which I like. But, its really boring. Lets see, you walk into the church, and there is small lobby. Enter lobby, on left there is a desk with a tv above it. On the right, there is a coat rack and a podium type thing. Right from the lobby are the doors into the where the ceremoney will be. There are no pews!! Just banquet chairs. There are about 40 on each side. All the chairs on on the same level. Then there are a few small steps, and a stage. On the stage is a drum set that cannot be moved all the way to the left. Its not really in the way. There are no windows, but there are a few ceiling windows. The room is really small. Our colors are blue & lime green & ivory.
Any decor tips, or any advice on how we should have things set up would be GREAT. I dont even know where to start. The only thing I have in mind so far is to have the desk be where our guest book will be & I was even considering making some sort of video with pictures to put on the tv (no song or anything, just pictures). Thats it. I dont even know if we should get married on the stage and be above eye level from our guests or if we should move the steps and just get married off the stage, but at eye level with everybody else. So, really, any advice will help!

NYCMercedes

Have you been to a Sunday service there? Where is the altar?

Jen4948

Does the church have an event coordinator or any photos of weddings that have taken place there before?  If it has either, they might give you some ideas about what can be done with the space.

Sierra524

I am going to try to get some photos. I dont know why I didnt do that originally.

Lisa50

It sounds like a very intimate setting.  I'd concentrate decorations near the focal point for the ceremony -- where you're standing -- with a large floral arrangement (on a stand) on each side of the horizontal space (within 3 to 4 feet) in front.  I might, might have two (or four) more floral arrangements (again, on stands) at the outside corners of the chairs, framing the seating area.

Once photographs are taken, I'd make sure a couple of friends (who've offered to help) transport each floral arrangement to the reception.

itzMS

Some friends of mine got married in a similar church that you describe.

The bridesmaids and groomsmen all stood up on the stage with the bride & groom and pastor. Lots of guests thought it was nice, because they could all "see" us and get some good pictures. You should probably ask the pastor where he prefers you stand...you might not have much choice.

In terms of decorations, my friends did several flower arrangements along the front of the stage, but nothing much elsewhere. No one will really notice, truly.

mvance3

Are you able to dim the lights??  If so, maybe have them dimmed low but still high enough to see everything and then use oodles of candles.  Line the aisle with candles and place them in clusters around the altar and where you guys will be standing.  To avoid any accidents, try putting them in glass cylinders (you can get them at the dollar store...super cheap that way) so you won't catch anything on fire and simply rope off the aisle so people use the side aisles to get into their seats to avoid anyone knocking them over.  Candlelight makes everything look better!