Church vs ceremony at the hall

Our wedding is on a Friday, so we have decided to have the ceremony in an ajoining room at our venue. We considered getting married at the church I was baptized in however it would mean a 45 minute drive for guests to get the venue .... in rush hour traffic. There wouldn't be any time for photos which is one of the things we decided meant the most to us.

The fees we are paying for the ceremony at the venue is about $800 and that included the officiant...

Our wedding and reception was one location only as it made it simple and easy for family and friends to not drive anywhere. The cost of the Officiant given you can have the choice of religious vs. the church of how much donation/service they ask to give. Look at the options and consider what works best for you both at the time. This is your day and it should reflect on how you two feel to get married.

So the cost different is negligible (if it's $1000 at the church, vs $650 + around $300-$500 for the officiant at the venue). I would consider the logistics in your case.

If you get married in the Catholic Church, your ceremony will likely be early in the day, usually around noon (someone correct me if I'm wrong but I always hear about the Catholic wedding hour). That means you have to be ready super early. Whereas if you're choosing a non-Catholic officiant where your reception is held, you can have the ceremony whenever you want. Not sure if Catholic officiants performing a ceremony outside the church is a thing, or whether they'll do it outside the Catholic hour but that's something you can look up.

If you have the ceremony at the church early in the day, you and your guests will also have a huge gap before the reception. I'm sure you can use the time to take photos but your guests will have to mill around randomly for a few hours.

Don't forget that a wedding inside the church means your fiance has to go through marriage class with you. Not sure if there is a cost to that but it's additional time you have to commit beforehand. If he's not Catholic, you'll have to see if he's okay with that.

Also keep in mind that it's cold and rainly in late November so the less people have to be outside and travelling is probably better.

Our reception and ceremony is taking place at the same location. It just makes it easier for guests so they don't get lost especially the ones coming from out of town. The savings is huge for us too. Your wedding is your dream so do what you feel is right but if you want to save some money your best to have both in the same location. I don't know what it's like where you live but in Alberta right now they have a program for a temporary marriage commissioner so you can apply to have someone you know marry you and then there's one less fee and it makes it 100% more comfortable as someone you love and trust can perform the marriage for you (though it is non-religious). I guess it all just comes down to what do you want for your day, if you have the money to spend and want to have a Church wedding you should go for it!

We're having our ceremony in our reception place to save time on travel and money as our venue had no extra fee for this.

However, this is your wedding and if you want to get married in a church you can make it work. Lots of people have ceremonies and receptions in different spaces. .

My fiance and I are having ours at the same place as our reception. That way our guests and ourselves as well don't have to move to another location.

But just remember it's your day and whatever the decision you choose, will be magical no matter what! If you're wanting to be more affordable, then having your ceremony outside of the church would be best imo. Weddings aren't cheap and if saving some money that can go towards something else that to me would be the best way to look at it But if you really want to get married in a church, then do it! It's YOUR day