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luxury
Where Oh Where Should We Wed?
Peacock Alley
If Joseph can put up with all this wedding planning, I know I’ve picked the right man! I’m sure he must be getting tired of me not coming to a decision on our ceremony location. I’m just having such a hard time figuring out what I want. Usually I know what I want and I just go for it, but last summer changed all of that for me.
Our weather last summer…. well, it was terrible. It rained almost constantly, never got really warm, and it ended faster than summer ever has before. I’ve always had my heart set on an outdoor ceremony, but do I want to risk it all on the weather? I’ve come to the conclusion, that it might not be worth it. If I plan everything and have to change it last minute, won’t that just be more frustrating? Notifying all the guests, calling vendors that were dropping off decorations, and having to get everything setup at a backup location.
I don’t know about you, but I think my time the day before and the day of my wedding would be better spent not worrying about all of these things. So, I went out in search of an indoor location—and I’m still searching six months later. I’m not religious, I don’t attend church (neither does Joseph), so we both felt a bit odd getting married in a church. It is the obvious choice, but somehow I feel…hypocritical, or as if I’m “using” them. Is that wrong? I just feel that I should maybe find another venue if I’m not in regular attendance at service on Sundays.
Southwest Church (the church my parents were married in)
At the moment I am going between two locations (but I’m going to throw in the third just to see popular opinion):
1. The “Peacock Alley” — grand entrance hallway of our reception ballroom
2. A small church that my parents were married in
3. Forget about the weather and find an outdoor location as originally planned
I’ll mention my small worry about choice number one. Everyone will arrive at the ceremony, be stuck at the ceremony location while Joseph and I go for photos and I think everyone might get bored easier by being stuck in the same place. At least by driving in between it breaks it up a bit.
It can be hard to locate churches in your area if you do not attend regularly, what I found very helpful of course, was Google and Google maps. It can help narrow down the search at least a little bit. But one place that not everyone would know about is the Association of Christian Celebrants of Quebec. I’m not sure if other provinces have this, but it would be worth looking at if you are having trouble either finding a church, or finding someone to officiate a ceremony that is outdoors, or at a reception hall. Here’s the link to the website in Quebec: http://www.accq.org/en/welcome.htm
If you’ve heard of this association for other provinces feel free to post! I’d really like to hear what everyone is planning for their ceremony locations, it seems that popular trend is starting to move away from churches, but maybe that’s not so true when you start asking around.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back in two weeks with some cake ideas!
Tags: blogger search, ceremony, church, indoor, luxury, outdoor ceremony, quebec
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7 Responses to “Where Oh Where Should We Wed?”
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Jess,
I think Peacock alley really fits your luxury wedding. Outdoors is beautiful, however more stressful. This year has been humid and very hot, with crazy rain showers. You will appreciate that air conditioning with that dress on, and so will your guests, they won’t be melting at the ceremony.
Hey Superstar! I was mentioned in your first post – yay! I feel so special haha! The peacock alley fits very well with your whole wedding so far (well, it IS in the same plcace so that makes sense). I think that considering that it’s centrally located downtown makes it a good spot for peope, it’s hard to be bored since there’s so much around to do (if people really feel they don’t want to be in the same place all afternoon/night). Then again, considering how close you are with your parents the small church could be nice too, but it really depends on how you feel. If you feel like it would be somewhat hypocritical, then pick someplace that you do feel comfortable with – it IS YOUR DAY afterall!
x’s and o’s, I MISS YOU!!!
Thanks for the great points!
I hadn’t really thought of karaoke, that might be fun!
A slideshow would be nice too – that would keep people entertained also.
It sounds like more and more are finding it simpler and nicer to keep everything at the same spot.
I guess I feel the pressure to from my grandmother – who would prefer I marry in a church, part of me feels I should try to do it there to please her, however I know in the end I ultimately have to be happy with my decision.
I love the look of “Peacock Alley”!! You could always arrange for some type of entertainment for the guests while you and your hubby are taking pictures. I do agree that it would be less of a worry if everything happened at the same venue. You could set up a karaoke challenge? Have your guest play Rock Band? LOL! It’s an idea.
There is one thing you could consider, however I’m not sure if there’s a similar venue where you are. In Winnipeg, there’s an in door garden at one of our parks where many couples have wed. Have you looked into something like that?
Emily’s right: there are churches that are very ‘open’, that route would be a great choice too – although I do very much love the idea of getting married where your parents married.
The outdoor weddings are just gorgeous but you’re right, you never know what mother nature has in store for you and having to switch venues last minute would be nerve racking!!
What a tough choice! But I wouldn’t rush into anything just to secure a venue – make sure it’s what both you and Joseph are comfortable with and couldn’t imagine getting married any other way. This is your day and you shouldn’t have to cut corners.
It’s such a hard decision I know! Other than the big reason we went with a winter wedding (fiancé’s long summer hours) was the weather – in Winnipeg we had the same thing last year, and I couldn’t imagine what I’d do if it decided to chuck it down the day of the wedding. It seems like it’d be so stressful so I would definitely look for somewhere indoor; you can decorate it with your colours and I know some churches are open to couples who aren’t religious – my best friend got married in a United church and it was small and very close to the house she and her hubby had just bought, but they were very welcoming and it was lovely. I would look into that, and also into hiring an independant officiant so you don’t have to worry about feeling ‘hypocritical’ with religious oaths or anything like that. I think the idea of your parents’ church would be lovely :)
I agree with Heather.
We’re having our ceremony and reception at the same venue as well, with hors d’ouvres, drinks, and a classical guitarist playing while we’re out getting our photo’s done. The other bonus is we got to select the officiant for our ceremony rather than being ‘stuck’ with the pastor/priest that resides over a church. We are not religious, so a church wedding just didn’t fit us. Having an independant officiant who we can work with to customize the ceremony seems to flow with the rest of our day and just made sense to us.
As for an outdoor wedding, although beautiful, I can understand your concerns. Many venues, however, should have a back plan for bad weather and you wouldn’t have to worry about changing things yourself. Perhaps that should be a question on your list of outdoor venues.
Good luck and hopefully you’ll let us know what path you took.
I think it would be nice to have everything in the same location. That’s what we’re doing. We’ll have a cocktail hour and put on a slideshow while we’re doing photos. It’s nice for the people that aren’t driving to stay in one location.
On the other hand, it would be kind of special if you got married in the church that your parents were married in. I think it is kind of hypocritical… but at the same time, it seems to be the norm. Lots of people don’t go to church, but like the atmosphere that a church provides. Churches are usually beautiful spaces.
I was nervous to go with an outdoor wedding for the same reasons as you. Some outdoor locations have backup rain locations on premise though. If you could find one like that, then it could work. It’s usually an extra fee, but outdoor weddings are so beautiful.