Suggestions Welcome: Ceremony Site Options

DetroitBride10

I am in the early stages of planning my wedding...tentatively scheduled for October 2010!  I consider myself to be spiritual person and my values are very important. Unfortunately, my church is not available on my wedding date so I am exploring other ceremony options in Detroit or Ann Arbor.  I am not a fan of having my ceremony in the same place as my reception but I am reconsidering so I can work within our tight budget.
I have narrowed the reception sites down to three options and fit within our budget. Listed below are the venues I am considering in preference order:

1.Kensington Court: PRO: Elegant indoor ceremony or outdoor courtyard CON: $$$ 

2. Waldenwoods: PRO: Beautiful ceremony site outdoor  CON: If poor weather ceremony will be held same location as the reception.   

3. Burton Manor: PRO: Centrally located. reasonable cost; CON: Indoor site only!

Do you know of any ceremony sites or churches (that allow facility rental)  in the Detroit, Ann Arbor or Ypsilanti area? I would appreciate your input. Suggestions Welcome!

soonjeffords

i know that my church offers rental for weddings... you might want to check it out! its in taylor, the beaconbaptist.com their only requirments is that you are both christians! if that doesnt work out for you there is a church in heritage park... VERY pretty and you are right inside of a beautiful park for pictures!!!!
http://www.cityoftaylor.com/node/582

ms nobody

The Michigan Union and Michigan League allow room rental for ceremonies. We are having our ceremony at the Union and having our reception someplace else 

The union and league are VERY affordable in terms of rental price. i think we paid maybe 275 for 5 hours? (they include chair/table/podiums). BONUS: both are VERY close to awesome picture locations in a2. 

they have a Valet service that costs around $2-4 per person, so parking is no issue, and it's what, 2-3 miles from kensington if that's where you want your reception, in ann arbor. 

Kensigton court is outrageous in terms of pricing on every level IMO. There are better options in ann arbor for receptions IMO.

corinne2010

The church that we are using allows anyone to rent it out. Its called Holy Cross Lutheran in Livonia. Risen Christ Church in Plymouth also allows you to rent the church for the day. GL!

Sue-n-Kevin

I'm not sure what you consider "too pricey", or how many guests you are having. We are having our cereomony & reception at Greenmead historical park in Livonia, on the corner of 8 Mile & Newburgh. They have a great chapel from the mid
1800's, plus a reception venue on site (you have to get your own caterer for the reception, and your own officiant). The chapel is non-denominational.

The chapel rental is $400 for residents, $500 for non-residents. For both the chapel and rental facility, we left a deposit of $1000. However, once all your plans are in place, you have to show them your caterer's quote and pay them 10% of the price of the catering bill (not including alcohol). The max capacity for the church & banquet hall is about 100. However, you can have a tent put up outside the double glass sliding doors on the side of the banquet venue if you wish.

Link below.

http://www.ci.livonia.mi.us/tabid/189/Departments/Community%20Resources/Greenmead/NewburgIntersection.aspx

jamenyha

The church we're using is in downtown Ann Arbor. We aren't members or even the same exact religion. It's St Andrew's and it's at Catherine and Division St. It's a beautiful, old church with stained glass windows and old wooden pews and the flooring is made from bricks from the old clay plant in Detroit. It's Episcopalian, but all you have to do is be Christian to get married there. Their service is similar to a Catholic service. It's worth checkin out.

ms nobody

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_michigan-detroit_suggestions-welcome-ceremony-options?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:88Discussion:73df66c5-b8d7-4fa7-8aa2-8119b865173dPost:2a2053b2-2822-4789-a5b5-3ec2182c741a">Re: Suggestions Welcome: Ceremony Site Options</a>:
[QUOTE]The church we're using is in downtown Ann Arbor. We aren't members or even the same exact religion. It's St Andrew's and it's at Catherine and Division St. It's a beautiful, old church with stained glass windows and old wooden pews and the flooring is made from bricks from the old clay plant in Detroit. It's Episcopalian, but all you have to do is be Christian to get married there. Their service is similar to a Catholic service. It's worth checkin out.
Posted by jamenyha[/QUOTE]
is this the church across from Community High?<div>that church really does give back to the community, rather than ignoring the homeless and detox population. They do breakfast every day i think. like no matter what. it kicks ass. </div>

boogerbearoriginal

It sounds like you haven't booked either venue, so is it just the date you wanted isn't available at your church? Have you considered choosing a different date so you can have the ceremony at your church?

IMO that's the better option than selecting some random place for the sake of a date, but that's just my opinion. Obviously there may be some reason you cannot change the date.

Supposing you cannot change the date, I would try to select a ceremony location that's close to the reception location you chose. Just to make it easier on guests. Many churchs do allow you to 'rent' the space even if you aren't a member.

For your reception locations, I am not familiar with the first two but we had our reception at Burton Manor and were very pleased with everything. I have a full review in my bio.

HTH!

DetroitBride10

WOW! All the the suggestions, input and feedback have been great! I plan to begin research on the leads provided and hopefully make some decisions within the next week or so.  I understand securing the venue is key but I want to make sure I am making an informed decision. Your experience and candor is appreciated.   Thanks again all!