Need Honest Advice About Venue

bruna29

Hi ladies. I am typically just a lurker here, but I need some honest opinions about a wedding venue I have selected. Our date isn't until Oct. 12, 2013, but I wanted to get the venue out of the way early so that we could have a firm date in mind. We selected a small wedding chapel in Waterford, MI for our ceremony as neither of us are very religious and we didn't want to get married in a church (we have not selected a reception site yet). We are only inviting a maximum of 50 people (all close family members) and are throwing the idea around about doing an intimate dinner for a reception afterward.

The issue is this: the chapel we selected has multiple ceremonies in one day. So every couple that books there gets an hour and a half at the site. That includes the ceremony, guests arriving and leaving (including receiving line), as well as any/all pictures at the ceremony location. I would have to arrive to the chapel already dressed as they do not leave time for the bride to dress.

My question is will I feel rushed on that day (or if it was you, do you think you would feel rushed)? I am starting to have doubts about this location, and if I am having doubts, does that mean it's not the right place for me? I don't want my guests or myself to feel rushed on my wedding day, but as they only give us an hour and a half, I am afraid I will feel too rushed to really enjoy everything.

Thanks in advance for any/all replies!

matuofm

Hmmm.  I know that I would definitely feel stressed in that situation.   Even if your ceremony is only 30 minutes long, you're going to need bare minimum 30 minutes for photos.  Plus people are going to be showing up at least 30 minutes in advance.  That's your 1 1/2 hours right there.  And you haven't had any time for the florist to get in and set up the arrangements before guests start arriving, etc.

bruna29

Well, the place will already be decorated using the location's decorations (silk flowers and everything like that). If it's nice enough, we can have our ceremony overlooking the lake and they have a nice garden area. We're not allowed to bring in our own decorations, so we have to use what they have. We can only bring in our own bouquets, bouts, and stuff like that. So we wouldn't have to worry about adding decorating into the time. I still don't know if it's enough time, even though the ceremony coordinator reassured us that the ceremony would take only a maximum of 15 minutes. Doesn't that seem too short for a wedding ceremony?

rcj2rcd

An hour and a half isn't much time - your photos at the ceremony site will have to be limited.

We arrived at our church at 12:30, took photos until 1, ceremony from 1:30 to 2:30 (it was a full mass). It took about 20 minutes for the guests to clear out, then we took pictures at the altar for another 20 minutes - so we spent close to 3 hours at the church.

From what I learned from our wedding, it's easiest to get all of the family/portrait pictures done at the church - it's a PITA to try to corral everyone at the reception - I would compare it to herding wild cats.

matuofm

In Response to Re: Need Honest Advice About Venue:
 From what I learned from our wedding, it's easiest to get all of the family/portrait pictures done at the church - it's a PITA to try to corral everyone at the reception - I would compare it to herding wild cats.
Posted by rcj2rcd[/QUOTE]

LOL.    I'm totally picturing relatives in semi-formal attire streaking past you on all fours while you lunge to grab them by the scruff of the neck.

emarston1

It can be done but it would be tight.  We had our ceremony site for only 3 hours and I thought that was going to be an issue (but it wasn't).

15 minutes is pretty standard for a wedding ceremony, unless you are doing a full Catholic Mass (ala RCD), it shouldn't take too long.  You can cut out extra songs, sand ceremonies, unity candles, etc.  Just kind of a wham bam thank you maam type ceremony.

I think you could do it especially if you only have 50 guests.  Our guests started arriving at 2:30, ceremony was at 3, over by 3:20, exit, go back in the chapel for pictures.  We were done by 4:15 I think (?).  We could have done it faster if need be.

And I don't think you are having doubts, you are just having logistical issues that you need to work through.  But honestly, if the ceremony location is used to doing it this way, I wouldn't worry too much.  They do this every day so they know exaclty what they are doing.

missmelanie81

I think it can be done. We have our ceremony location for 2 hours.  My chapel also asks that the bride come dressed. Its a historic chapel and they dont really have dressing rooms.

SarahBara7

You will be fine!  Just plan in advance to be completely ready when you get there.  I'm crunched for time at and after the ceremony so I am getting ready really early in the day and getting all of my "girl" pictures done before the ceremony so that after we only need a limited amount of "group" pics with BM/GM and/or family.

bruna29

Thank you everyone for the advice! I really appreciate it. I am feeling a bit better about the time frame now, but I think FI and I will still keep our options open as the deposit we put on our ceremony venue was small anyway. We're not going to cancel the chapel, but if we find somewhere else we want to get married, then we might go with that instead. We'll have to see. I do appreciate everyone's advice. Thanks again!

larzhope

We only had the church for 30 minutes for photos after our wedding, and what we did was H did all of his pics with his guys and all of his family before the ceremony, and I did the same w/ my girls and my family.  The only pics we got at the church were some outside photos of the whole wedding party (which, we didn't really want that many of these because we wouldn't really ever display them in our house anywhere), and pics of the both of us with each other's families. 

Our efficient photographer only took maybe 15 mins to get these shots done - she was awesome.

e3plus1

you could also do the receiving line at the dinner/reception instead of at the chapel to give yourself more time for pictures

klreese0213

i think it's pretty norm for a chapel to only give you an hour and 1/2, and multiple weddings in one day.
mine is the same way and my sisters was as well (two different locations).
i personally think you'll be fine. if you didn't get all the pictures you want, go somewhere in between the ceremony and reeption and/or take some photos at the reception site.
my plan is to take some photos as the reception site if we don't get the ones we want from the chapel location.