Ceremony

msbkb

Hi Ladies!

I am looking for a place to have my ceremony.  I really want to be married in a church or chapel.  Our wedding reception is downtown so I wanted somewhere close.  My home church is about 20 minutes away from downtown and I really didn't want people driving that far.  I'm really leaning towards First Baptist Dallas' Heritage Chapel.  Anyone have there reception there?  Any other suggestions?  I looked at the DFW Vendor list and rentmychurch.com but it seems there are lots of other churches/chapels that are not listed there.  Places I like but are booked or unavailable are:

SMU Perkins Chapel
Royal Lane Baptist
Highland Park Methodist

Thanks in advance for all your help!!!!

juliebug1997

There are lots of churches that only want members to be married there.  They see it as a committment not just to your future spouse but also to God that you intend to go to church after you are married.  They don't want people getting married there who are just looking for some place pretty; they see that as not being committed to religion. 

nextrightthing

First United Methodist Dallas is on Ross and it is really pretty.  Depending on your date, it might also be booked.  Also, have you looked in Prestonwood/Preston Hollow?  There are a lot of pretty churches there, and it isn't much further than SMU.

fallbride1109

This is JMO, but if you have a church home, 20 minutes is certainly not asking too much for your guests to drive.  I would think you would also get a much better deal financially at your own place of worship. 

nextrightthing

Also, since you have a home church, maybe ask your minister? 

juliebug1997

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_ceremony-5?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:102Discussion:0cfddd66-b5e5-46a4-ba1b-4e1dd9bee049Post:9da2b2e2-ce15-448a-a66a-ea0d3bfabb8b">Re: Ceremony</a>:
[QUOTE]This is JMO, but if you have a church home, 20 minutes is certainly not asking too much for your guests to drive.  I would think you would also get a much better deal financially at your own place of worship. 
Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

Ditto this.  I think my guests drove about fifteen minutes from CTK to North Park.

msbkb

Thanks ladies!  Not concerned about "pretty" just wanting convenience.  Thanks for putting it into perspective that 20 minutes isn't that far! 

professorscience

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_ceremony-5?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:0cfddd66-b5e5-46a4-ba1b-4e1dd9bee049Post:9da2b2e2-ce15-448a-a66a-ea0d3bfabb8b">Re: Ceremony</a>:
[QUOTE]This is JMO, but if you have a church home, 20 minutes is certainly not asking too much for your guests to drive.  I would think you would also get a much better deal financially at your own place of worship. 
Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

This exactly.  It was probably a 15-20 minute drive from Christ the King to Cityplace, but that's nothing in Dallas.  =)

courtski2004

I had a good amount of OOT guests and felt the same way about the distance between unfamiliar locations, but as long as you have maps available at the ceremony location to direct people to the reception your guests should be just fine. 20 minutes really isn't that bad--and if getting married at your home Church saves you enough money, you could potentially put that towards a shuttle for your guests who may have trouble navigating the distance. Or they could caravan like people tend to do anyway. With mapquest and smartphones, I don't see how people can get lost anymore 

MarieSD

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_ceremony-5?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:102Discussion:0cfddd66-b5e5-46a4-ba1b-4e1dd9bee049Post:d1c0ad06-0f68-4f5f-bf18-828d45afc4c0">Re: Ceremony</a>:
[QUOTE]I had a good amount of OOT guests and felt the same way about the distance between unfamiliar locations, but as long as you have maps available at the ceremony location to direct people to the reception your guests should be just fine. 20 minutes really isn't that bad--and if getting married at your home Church saves you enough money, you could potentially put that towards a shuttle for your guests who may have trouble navigating the distance. Or they could caravan like people tend to do anyway. With mapquest and smartphones, I don't see how people can get lost anymore ;)
Posted by courtski2004[/QUOTE]

It was 15-20 minutes from our home church to our venue. We had a bunch of OOT guests who didn't want to drive in TX, so we arranged for a shuttle to take those guests from hotel to church, from church to reception, then back to hotel. Originally the hotel we chose was willing to do those pickups and dropoffs for free for guests that were staying there since it was in the 3-mile radius they advertise (score!!!) but later they claimed there was a mixup/miscommunication so we ended up hiring a shuttle bus for the whole time. H and I rode the shuttle instead of having a limo. It was better, IMO, because it was easy for me to get in and out of in my huge dress. And the entire wedding party fit in there with us.

ktwed1

MarieSD- what a great idea with the shuttle bus. Most of our guests will be OOT and that is really something to consider.