Ceremony Only Venue

I think 5 hours is enough time to do the ceremony in the same location as the reception.

Have you checked the Venues tab above. You can sort by location and 'ceremony only.'

I think 5 hours is enough time to do the ceremony in the same location as the reception.

Have you checked the Venues tab above. You can sort by location and 'ceremony only.'

I honestly think that is plenty of time; we work in several museums and that's kind of typical. I'd probably try to make that work rather than booking another place.

My venue is only for 5 hours too and we are doing ceremony and reception there. Way more convenient for you and guests to not travel between places- and you loose so much time traveling!

honestly, I'd find it weird to have a separate ceremony and venue location if the ceremony wasn't a church. That seems like the only real reason to need a separate location.

From experience, I think you're going to be limited on options when looking for a ceremony only venue. We had our reception at a restaurant so we needed a ceremony only venue for that part since we didn't want to get married in a church or courthouse. I called a lot of places and many wouldn't even entertain the idea of ceremony only. I think 5 hours is a decent amount of time with the venue you currently have to do the ceremony and reception. If the ceremony is 20-30 minutes it won't take too much time away from "party time" I'd try and make that work. Plus it'll save you some money by not having to pay two venues. We paid $1K for our ceremony only venue. We had access to the grounds for three hours max and that was for the ceremony itself, cleanup, and photography. If you could cut that cost I'd recommend it

My venue is for 5 hours as well and we plan to have the ceremony there too.

Thanks everyone! I think I’ll take all of your advice and make the venue I have work. I appreciate how helpful you all are!!

Yea it is strict on time. I thought it was cutting it close. I can always plan to go outside and have the museum as a backup and do what you recommend and have short ceremony and short cocktail hour. We’ll be doing pictures before the ceremony so that actually may work. We have open bar all night so the one hour cocktail reception is really not necessary.

Thank you Mrs fall bride! That would definitely be my preference over shortening my party time!

Another thought would be to go to an all heavy cocktail /station reception. Then there is no wait time for courses to come out. I did one like this at a boutique hotel in NYC last summer, and it was really fun; light cocktails when people arrived, ceremony a half hour later, heavier cocktails and food for 3.5 hours, then dessert. Music and dancing the whole time. It was fabulous, and that works especially well in an art space.

Another thought would be to go to an all heavy cocktail /station reception. Then there is no wait time for courses to come out. I did one like this at a boutique hotel in NYC last summer, and it was really fun; light cocktails when people arrived, ceremony a half hour later, heavier cocktails and food for 3.5 hours, then dessert. Music and dancing the whole time. It was fabulous, and that works especially well in an art space.

I'm having both ceremony and reception for 4 hours. It's 1200 additional for 1 hour which we just didn't want to do. So we will make it work.

We had our wedding at the Rockport Art Association a few years back and were able to extend the reception time till 11pm for a small fee. Maybe that is still an option?

I personally understand why you didn't want the ceremony and reception together neither will I. I am going through the same thing right now for my wedding... I had a party at a place that gave me 7 hrs to work with... From 4p to 11p... In that time the set up was included... The actual party started at 7... We had to be out by 11... So it wasn't a whole 4 hrs... Them 3 in a half hours went by so fast. So I hope you followed your own thoughts and didn't do it all together.