If you recently got engaged, I’m sure there are plenty of things swirling through your head. From sharing the exciting news with all of your friends and family, to planning the big day itself, you might not know where the best place is to start. If you find yourself in that position, you’ve come to the right place! Here on our wedding blog, we strive to not only provide you with wedding day inspiration, but also easy tips that any couple can implement to ensure a seamless wedding planning experience. Simple enough, right?
Well, on this week’s blog, we’ll be discussing one of the decisions that you’ll be making early on in the planning process. And that decision happens to be finalizing your dream wedding venue. After having a rough budget sketched out for your wedding, you’ll have the opportunity to tour different wedding venues around the area and ultimately decide which one is right for you. With this, one of the questions many couples are faced with is deciding between having separate venues for the ceremony and reception or holding both at the same location. There’s obviously benefits to each, but today we’ll be going through some of the advantages of having everything at one venue. Having said that, let’s hop right in and discuss wedding venues capable of hosting wedding ceremonies and receptions!
Photo in the thumbnail is courtesy of Mustard Seed Photography.
Attendance
No matter if you’re having a large celebration with hundreds of people or a more intimate wedding, every couple wants everyone they invite to attend, right? After all, why would you be inviting them in the first place? And if possible, you would like them to be there for both the ceremony and reception! One major advantage of holding each part of the celebration at the same venue is that more people will likely attend both. There’s less logistical obstacles and transportation concerns tied to getting from one venue to another, and in turn they’ll likely hang around for both. This is particularly true if the reception is a decent drive from the venue where the ceremony was held. While this certainly won’t be the case with all of your guests, it is something to consider beforehand.
Easier For Everyone
We already briefly hinted at above how holding the ceremony and reception at the same venue can be easier for your guests. Well, to be honest, the same can be said about the experience for the couple getting married as well. Just think about it: You’ll only have one on-site coordinator to communicate with, rather than two. The entire billing process will only go through one company, rather than two. Any vendors you hire, such as photographers or florists, only have to go to one venue. And, to top it all off, when you’re giving directions to your guests, there’s only one location you need to fill them in on. All in all, the last thing you need in the midst of planning your dream wedding day is unnecessary stress. Holding both the ceremony and the reception at the same venue can help alleviate some of that!
Keeps the Wedding Timeline on Schedule
With so many different parties involved on the actual wedding day itself, it’s safe to say that a day-of wedding timeline is essential. However, just having a wedding timeline established is only half the battle. You also have to make sure everything stays on schedule and that’s where your wedding planner/coordinator will be an invaluable piece to your big day! As you can likely guess based on the theme thus far in this blog post, our next advantage to holding them both at the same venue is the fact that it typically helps keep everything on schedule.
Since your guests won’t have to drive from one venue to the next, it should always provide for a smooth transition from the ceremony to the reception. Right after the ceremony concludes, your guests can enjoy a cocktail hour while you utilize that time for photos. Whether that be formal portraits, family photos or wedding party pics, this is the perfect time frame for that. In the meantime, everyone will still be on-site and you won’t have to worry about anyone having trouble finding the reception venue. A true win-win!
Better yet, if the venue you select has two separate areas for the ceremony and reception, all of the decor can be set up ahead of time. A common set-up for this (at Madera Estates) involves an outdoor ceremony, before heading indoors for the reception.
Money Saver
While it’s never the easiest of topics to discuss, it goes without saying that money is something that’s heavily involved in the entire wedding planning process. This is part of the reason why we always recommend ironing out a rough budget early on. The major goal behind this is to help you and your spouse-to-be understand how much you can spend on different components of your big day. That could be for the caterer, DJ, wedding venue or any other vendor. If you’re interested in reading more about the financial implications, feel free to check out our blog we posted earlier this year. It breaks down wedding gifts, splitting the bills and the importance of establishing a budget. Click HERE to check that blog post out!
Nonetheless, with the topic of this week’s blog being tied to holding your ceremony and reception at the same place, the truth is this decision can be a money saver as well. For one, an obvious savings will come from not having to transport people from one venue to the next. Most of your guests will likely drive themselves, but you’ll likely be responsible for at least getting the wedding party from point A to point B. And even though rentals aren’t incredibly expensive, it is another line item on the overall bill (which could be tough if you’re already stretching your budget). To add one more money saver to the equation, chances are your venue bill will be cheaper having both events at the same place, as opposed to working with two different venues. Will this be the case with all event spaces? Probably not for everyone, but a general assumption could prove this to be true.
All-Inclusive Wedding Packages at Madera Estates
When it comes down to it, there’s no denying that every couple may have a slightly different vision in terms of what their dream wedding day looks like. Whether that be in regards to the food that’ll be served, the final send-off or anything else, it’s important to find a venue and wedding coordinator capable of making this a reality. For those new to our venue, Madera Estates is a luxury event space located in Conroe, TX, which is close by Houston and The Woodlands. While we’ve hosted a number of different events over the years, weddings continue to be our most popular service. And on that note, our all-inclusive wedding packages tend to be quite common there.
As we’ve discussed throughout this blog post, there are definitely plenty of advantages tied to holding your ceremony and reception at the same venue. In fact, this is something that is an extremely common occurrence at Madera Estates. With two separate areas (the Grand Fireplace and the Hacienda), our couples have various options at their disposal, as well as a back-up plan in case the weather doesn’t cooperate on your wedding day. All in all, we’re big fans of the idea of holding both the ceremony and reception at the same venue! If you’re ever interested in booking a free tour of our event space, feel free to select a time HERE that works best for you!