Non-Traditional Indoor Options

Re: Non-Traditional Indoor Options

• sunflower1998

  

  November 2010 edited December 2011

  We had both ceremony and reception at Contemporary Art Center in VB.  The backdrop of our ceremony was a full-wall glass window and it was really beautiful.  Also provided a great place for outdoor pics in a private location.  There are some photos on my bio and the info for rental prices is at cacv.org.

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• waltzingmatilda13 member

  

  November 2010 edited December 2011

  I went to a wedding at the Mariner's Museum and it was beautiful. They had the ceremony in an inner courtyard and the reception in the entrance hall which has one full wall of windows. It wasn't the cheapest location ever (we looked for our wedding) but it was definitely unique.

  
  

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• lizelwell

  

  November 2010 edited December 2011

  I actually had thought of the CAC, that is where we got engaged, but it is suuper expensive. And we are planning to check out this Mariner's Museum this week, I've been talking to their coordinator.  It is a little pricey but much cheaper than the CAC.  Thanks for the tips!
  
  p.s. if anyone has any tips for a tighter budget that'd be great. even open to churches, just maybe more simple style ones (also, we will have approx 300 for the ceremony and 200 for the reception)
  

  ~elizabeth hope

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• waltzingmatilda13 member

  

  November 2010 edited December 2011

  In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_virginia_non-traditional-indoor-options?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:236Discussion:ec4d6165-62d2-43e0-8a50-d4ea04aaadb3Post:eb764e79-2031-41db-b4b3-b1377ef059df">Re: Non-Traditional Indoor Options</a>:
  [QUOTE]I actually had thought of the CAC, that is where we got engaged, but it is suuper expensive. And we are planning to check out this Mariner's Museum this week, I've been talking to their coordinator.  It is a little pricey but much cheaper than the CAC.  Thanks for the tips! p.s. if anyone has any tips for a tighter budget that'd be great. even open to churches, just maybe more simple style ones (<strong>also, we will have approx 300 for the ceremony and 200 for the reception</strong>)
  Posted by lizelwell[/QUOTE]
  
  
  Are you inviting more people to the ceremony than the reception? I'm confused.

  
  

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• lizelwell

  

  November 2010 edited December 2011

  the ceremony is open to whoever wants to come (particularly people from my church) and i am expecting around 300-350. the reception will be by invite only and we are planning to invite around 200-250 depending on the ability of the location, the cost, etc

  ~elizabeth hope

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• waltzingmatilda13 member

  

  November 2010 edited December 2011

  Oh, I've only ever heard of that if the wedding was in the bride or groom's church, the church being for the entire congregation thus you can't really not have everyone there.
  
  I think you might want to reconsider or at least make it very clear in your church bulletin that the reception is by invitation only. Having the ceremony and reception in the same place might mean you have some party crashers who just don't know any better and follow everyone to the reception location. This is why I think it really only works in the church because everyone leaves and only those invited to the reception would even know where to go.
  

  
  

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• lizelwell

  

  November 2010 edited December 2011

  lots of people in my church have done it before. in the church bulletin it will say open ceremony and reception by invite only and then at the end of the ceremony they will announce that those invited to the reception can make their way to..etc. i'm not really worried about that part. when i said ceremony and reception in the same place i more so meant some area of the same facility, like wouldn't have to drive somewhere else. not necessarily in the same actual room. i am fine with having it two completely separate locations as well that you need to drive to. thanks for the advice, i can see how that would definitely need to be made clear

  ~elizabeth hope

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• mkarns

  

  November 2010 edited December 2011

  I've also seen some cool weddings done at Chrysler Museum in Norfolk (BEAUTIFUL!) and Granby Theater (unconventional) in Norfolk. It's tough to have a tight budget with such a large guest list. Believe me...the small things add up.

  Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml

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• waltzingmatilda13 member

  

  November 2010 edited December 2011

  In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_virginia_non-traditional-indoor-options?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:236Discussion:ec4d6165-62d2-43e0-8a50-d4ea04aaadb3Post:9e9ed017-b794-44b2-b9a9-293e3cf2e1d7">Re: Non-Traditional Indoor Options</a>:
  [QUOTE]<strong>lots of people in my church have done it before. in the church bulletin it will say open ceremony and reception by invite only and then at the end of the ceremony they will announce that those invited to the reception can make their way to..etc.</strong> i'm not really worried about that part. when i said ceremony and reception in the same place i more so meant some area of the same facility, like wouldn't have to drive somewhere else. not necessarily in the same actual room. i am fine with having it two completely separate locations as well that you need to drive to. thanks for the advice, i can see how that would definitely need to be made clear
  Posted by lizelwell[/QUOTE]
  
  Okay, I was just trying to make sure that people knew what was going on. And I figured you wanted the ceremony and reception in the same building and not the same room. That's what we did, but ours was on a military base, which is why I didn't suggest it.

  
  

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• lizelwell

  

  November 2010 edited December 2011

  oh gotcha, yeah thanks!  : )
  does either the bride and groom or the parents of either have to be military to do it on base? my fiance's cousin is active military and my grandpa was navy (no longer living), does that qualify us?
  

  ~elizabeth hope

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• waltzingmatilda13 member

  

  November 2010 edited December 2011

  Well, we did it at the Officers' club at Langley and the only requirement was that someone who is/was in the military be a member so they could be a sponsor. So if your cousin is an officer and joins the club then you could do it. I don't know how much the fee was because my MIL is a lifetime member because her husband (DH's father) died while he was active duty so she gets full benefits for life.
  
  ETA: But I can tell you that it saved us so so so much money. Everything was cheaper to begin with and then you get a 10% discount on top of it. We had 87 people (including us) for a full buffet and 4 hours for something like $2,700. That included the room, food, bar, staffing, etc. So if the fee is too expensive to make sense to your cousin you might be able to pay it for him/her and still save money.

  
  

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