Ceremony & reception at the same place?

hannahlisa

So I have a fantastic reception site lined up and I am so excited about it. They do do ceremonies there as well but the logistics of it could get sticky/annoying. Scenario: You go to a wedding, you walk up stairs (or elevator) to the ceremony, ceremony lasts about 15 minutes, you go back downstairs for the cocktail hour, you go back upstairs after that hour for dinner, after dinner a few tables will have to be moved for the dance floor but not necessarily a few take-down procedure where everyone would have to move but maybe just a few people, dances start. Is that too much hustle and bustle? Would you look for a different site for the ceremony so you (as the guest) could just arrive for cocktail hour and dinner and dancing? Would it be better to not have to worry about the set-up and take down as the bride on the wedding day but rather just have it ready to go when you get there? I am so confused. One minute I think it will be fine, the next minute I think What a Mess! Input would be great! Thanks!

Mrs.Luebke

I had my ceremony and reception in the same location and it worked out very well. I don't think guests will find it an inconvenience at all-they don't have to drive anywhere, it's all in one place. As for the moving tables off the dance floor issue-my location had to do this as well. There were 2 tables that needed to be taken off before the first dance could start. We ended up having the WP sitting at those 2 since we didn't have a traditional head table. It was a much smoother transition than I'd anticipated. It sounds like it'll be weird, but in the end, it's really not a big deal to have to do that. Just try and have people seated at those tables that you're confident won't mind the disruption.

LittleSweetie

I think 2 spaces would be ok if you could have the dance in the same place as dinner. I think it'd be fine if it was Ceremony -> Cocktail Hour -> Dinner/Dance, but if you had to throw in another change after dinner, that might get annoying. As it is, it seems ok!

LittleSweetie

*2 spaces at the same venue is what I meant

emilykathleen511

My sister had her ceremony and reception at the same location and it went very well! I am also planning to do this (except my ceremony will be out on the golf course, then the guests will walk inside to the clubhouse for the reception). I think it is way more convenient to be located all in one spot!

hannahlisa

I love the input ladies! Now if I could just convince my mother that it would all be fine at one place nd then maybe my mind will stop bouncing!!

wittyschaffy

I think that if you can arrange it so you only have to leave the space once (i.e. between the ceremony and cocktail hour) that would be better than making everyone move around twice. I like the suggestion of pp who had just the "head table" moved for the dance floor so that you don't have to jockey around your guests. If that can't be done, maybe you have some sympathetic family whom you could seat at those tables?

kclepire

I think this sounds just fine.  Actually now that I think about it this is what will happen for our rain back-up plan.  I actually like the idea of moving rooms because its will change it up and get people moving and then people will move and talk to others.

jrflannigan

Where is this site? It sounds identical to my location. It went incredibly well and people loved it! It's actually less messy than you think and no one has to drive anywhere. My wedding was at St. Anthony Main Event Centre. We made ours even slightly crazier by doing all three of your first steps and then after dinner going back downstairs for cake cutting and dancing. Still, perfect! I worried for an entire year about the logistics and everything was more than perfect.

hannahlisa

It is at the Five Event Center. Its such a great space!! Your comments have eased me! Also, its only an extra $100 to have the ceremony there which is better than an extra 3 or 4 hundred having the cremony at another location. Thanks!

walkerhl

I just had my reception at Five on 10.10. The atmosphere was amazing....exactly what we wanted...and I'm so glad we ended up using that space. When we first looked at it, we thought about having our ceremony there as well. We ended up not doing our ceremony there (because of guests...where would we put 200 people while they switched over the room?....and because my mom really wanted us to get married in a church). We ended up having our ceremony at the First Unitarian Society (behind the Walker). Loved it...it was really reasonable, you can have whoever you would like marry you, you don't have to be a member, and it was close to Five. While I'm sure it will work (Jennifer will make sure it does!) I will say that I am honestly glad we did not do our ceremony there. For us, when our guests first got there people took off exploring the building. It would have been hard to keep them in one place. We did cocktail hour on the main floor and I would say it held 100 max comfortably. We didn't have any sit-down tables on the dance floor (just more standing cocktail tables) which worked really well because they didn't have to be completely removed....just pulled off to the side. Hope that helps!

NuggetBrain

That's what we'll have to do for our wedding if it rains (ceremony is planned in a park). I think it will be fine, as long as the guests have somewhere to go while they're making the change between the ceremony and reception.

flower_lover

I think the logistics sound just fine. Consider that during the ceremony and dinner people will be sitting, so they usually welcome the opportunity to stretch their legs a little in between.At our reception, they had to move a couple tables to make the dance floor bigger, and like you, I was worried about this. However, the reception coordinator assured me at every wedding there are always people who leave after the dinner and not to worry about space. This was the case at our reception, and I've heard many, many Knotties who have said the same thing. One thing to consider-- seat people at the tables that will have to be moved who are either likely to leave after the dinner, or who wouldn't mind moving elsewhere if their table is moved. I think I put some good friends there who I knew would want to get up and mingle after the dinner, and that worked well.