Decorating the church.. is it necessary? Opinions please

Im really not doing decorations at my church either. Im putting all the effort into the reception because lets face it, your at the ceremony 30 mins max. I am going to do flower arrangements up front but I told my planner I really didnt want the church decorated alot.

It's definitely not necessary. All that is necessary is a mariage license, you, your FS, the officiant, the required number of witnesses; the rest is icing on the cake, nice but not necessary.

What does your church look like? mine has 3 vases of flowers that are always there if we have the money will buy flowers for that.. and they have screens we are going to do a slide show on.

@Elizabeth- we're having a full mass ceremony so it will be 50-60 min. I know in that time people may start to look around and think "hmm why didn't they do SOMETHING.. flowers, candles, it's really lacking some decor!"

Guess I'm just worrying what other people will think and I hate when I do that!

@Shannon- the church is beautiful and decorated with some plants.

We're also having a full Mass and have decided not to decorate the church for the wedding. If there are any flowers already in the church, then that is more than enough decoration for me.

Partially that's because we don't want to have to delegate someone to clean it up for us while we get photos done... but also because the Mass itself is a religious sacrament, so we're saving the fancy decorating for the party afterwards when we can appreciate it more.

I would think about what will be in most of your pictures. If the church is beautiful on its own and you are happy with it- then I think you should go with it. If you want something up front maybe ask the florist to make two floral pieces for the sides of alter (you could relocate these to your reception area after). You could also talk to your photographer about any concerns of things you want to avoid in your pictures.

Tricia,

Some churches actually require a floral arrangement of some type. You might want to ask your Priest/Minister. Otherwise it's just a matter of personal choice and IMHO it would not look bad not to have one.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I have never looked around during mass and wondered about the brides choice of decorating or not. Many churches, like yours, are beautiful on their own. Adding flowers by the unity candle table is fine. I have been to several weddings where they had one or two alter arrangements and then just a big bow (like the kind for christmas trees) on every or every other pew. I have also seen this with bows just on the reserved pews.

We're getting married in a Cathedral so I'm not worrying about decorating the church because is already beautiful inside as is. So decorating really wouldn't be necessary.

I will be having minimal decorations..I just feel like it's more worth it to decorate the reception area, where guests will be spending hours..I'll have petals lining the aisle, as well as maybe a tulip with a bow on every other pew..really not sure yet. But once you come out everyone will be looking at you, not the decorations :-)

Well I'm not getting married in a church, but we are not decorating because the ceremony is outdoors and there is the Puget sound on one side, and a huge mansion/castle type thing with a small flower garden and pond in front on the other side. i figure with that much natural beauty no one will care if we put some flowers up.