Evening Cermony

I will not be doing this my at my cousins wedding they did this. They had the wedding outside and the reception inside. If that is not possible maybe they have a second room you could use?

We are having our ceremony at 5pm on a Friday, and then the cocktail "hour" will be right after with the reception starting somewhere around 6:30pm.
Majority of our bridal party pictures will be done before the ceremony as we are doing a first look. Then that way guests don't have to wait forever for food lol.
When we were doing the planning, we kept our guests in mind because we aren't a fan of having a large gap between the ceremony and reception.

We had an evening wedding outdoors by the water and the reception was in the dining room with the patio on the outside.

There wasn't any concern about switching time.

Is the venue willing to have the tables set up and ready to go after the ceremony time is of essence.

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That sounds like exactly what I would like! I don't necessarily want a cocktail hour as the reception will be cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and dancing, but we might need one solely for changeovers from the ceremony to the reception. Fingers crossed that we can find a space like yours!

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No problem! Some other "odd" spaces, like museums, aquariums, community centres, etc, also often provide multiple spaces... It's often the non-wedding wedding venues that provide the most flexibility...

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Yes, that would be great! I'll keep an eye out for venues that have adjoining rooms or even spaces that could be separated in some way and opened up after the ceremony is over. Thanks!

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That sounds like just what we need, haha! Our university does have space available to rent, but it is too small unfortunately. But perhaps I can keep checking and see what other Post-Secondaries in the area offer. Thanks for the tip!

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We are definitely open to having a ceremony venue and a reception venue, but I just figured it would be nicer/easier for people to travel to one location for the evening instead of moving from one place to another. But I do like the idea of having the tables there during the ceremony! I will definitely keep that in mind. Thanks!

My venue has an upstairs and downstairs space... Technically it's 2 rentals, but still inexpensive ($1500 total), and the ceremony is downstairs, and the reception is already set up upstairs.

Perhaps try looking at local universities? Our venue is the Alumni event centre at SFU in Burnaby, BC... they are multi-use venues for conferences, school events, weddings, etc, so they are often more budget friendly (they charge the same for a work conference as a wedding).... and they often have multiple areas for different sized events, so there could be 2 spaces to utilize for ceremony and reception, where everything is set up ahead of time.

It's not an overly traditional wedding venue, but that's also what makes it unique, less expensive, and more personable.

We are having our wedding in the same venue, our ceremony will be outside (fingers cross it doesn't rain), and the reception will be indoors. If the weather rains our ceremony will have to be in the same ballroom as our reception. So I'm not even sure how it will work for transformation time. It's possible you can find another venue that can have two rooms ready (might be extra cost).

We are having both of ours in the same venue but not the same room. Our ceremony is going to be outside (weather permitting) or in the atrium if it rains. Our reception will be in the grand hall which is the other side of the wall from the atrium.
It is possible to find one stop venues

The space we have has a separate ceremony area so we are very fortunate that for our evening wedding and reception, the second the ceremony is over, the guests move to the reception area. There's even a short cocktail hour in order for us to get photos on the grounds. I know for the sake of ease and organization, having both spaces helps funnel people around quicker and avoids confusion. Cost may also play a role as well. I guess it depends what works best for your needs.

I'm doing my ceremony at my reception hall. It will take them one hour to flip. The square of a section in the middle of the hall with the decorated tables moved to the sides and during cocktail hour they will flip the space. Actually, most places do it this way. Maybe keep checking venues?

Adjoining rooms would be perfect as the guest experience the ceremony first, then while doing cocktail hour the chairs can be placed in the reception area if chairs aren't already in the adjoining area as most venues have enough chair settings for each room they have. The reception area can definitely be set to avoid any delays and your guest won't have to move around so much going to far seperate venues....easy access and perfect timing!!

We found a venue that has a separate place for the ceremony and reception. They do exist, so it just depends what you looking for. There is always the option to have the ceremony and reception in two different locations. Or, you could also have the ceremony at the reception tables. My friend attended a wedding like this: they just turned the chairs around and had a makeshift aisle and then after the ceremony the guests moved the chairs back around for the reception.

We are doing our ceremony and reception in the same location. The location we decided on (a hotel) does have room so our cenermomy and reception will be in adjoining but different areas. The only thing they will need to do is move the chairs (which will have covers and sashes) from the ceremony side to the tables. This should only take about 15- 20 mins.

But when we were looking at other locations they were all able to switch the rooms over in about 45 mins. However the tables would already be in the room and mostly set up and just off to the side. They also had foyer areas that they could set up for cocktails while this was happening.


if you want a full transformation of the room you will need separate spaces.