If you and your fiancé are religious, you might be leaning toward having your ceremony in a house of worship such as a church, temple, synagogue, mosque or chapel. Before you decide, you should understand the pros and cons to choosing such a location as your ceremony venue. When you’ve made your decision, be sure and check out our directory for religious venues as well as other ceremony venues.
Pros:
It integrates your religious affiliation.
While you can add religious elements into any venue, if you and your partner have strong religious ties, having your wedding in a house of worship helps illustrate that to your guests. This is especially key if it is where you worshiped as a child or where you and your fiancé currently attend services.
It makes the wedding the primary focus.
If you have your ceremony at a church or synagogue and your reception elsewhere, it puts a little more focus on the ceremony.
It’s a good for a daytime wedding.
Because it is a house of worship, you will have to work around scheduled services. However, if you are interested in a daytime wedding, they will usually have availability.
You won’t have to worry about the weather.
Since the wedding will be indoors, you won’t have to worry about rain or snow ruining your wedding.
Music may be included.
Some houses of worship include music. This may be an organist, but sometimes it is a choir or even a band.
They are designed for ceremonies.
After all, they have them a lot.
Churches are prepared for ceremonies. Forget choosing a spot for the altar and planning your seating arrangements. The interior of a church is designed to host formal services, so the framework of your service is already prepared for you.
Cons
It may restrict the size of your wedding.
While some churches have space to seat hundreds, others may be limited on space. And it’s not like you can just add a few rows of chairs in the back to fit more guests.
Music choices may be restricted.
Some religious houses have restriction on what music can be played. Catholic churches, for example, usually only allow live “sacred” songs. So if you had your heart set on Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, you won’t be able to get married in most Catholic churches.
Decor options are limited.
Because the seating is usually bolted to the floor, you can’t always rearrange the space to you liking. Your decor options will likely be limited to aisle flowers and runners, but you should check with them to be sure.
You can’t host your reception in church. If you are looking to host the ceremony and reception at the same venue, then a church is not your best option. Some churches do include a hall within the same vicinity and may require separate booking and planning.
Some churches prohibit flash photography.
Each church has its own rules, which include the permission or prohibition of flash photography.
The process is difficult if you are not a parishioner.
If you are not a member of the church you are pursuing, you might be placed on a waiting list. Some churches do not allow non parishioners to even book a ceremony or may require an additional donation.
