Having the ceremony/reception in same TENT?

Having a tent just in case of the weather is a good plan, but have your ceremony outside! The light is better for pictures (during the daytime anyway), and you can easily set up chairs for the ceremony and then have the groomsmen or guests move them inside for the reception.

I think the biggest challenge would be - how are you going to set up the tables (and table decorations/place settings) in between the ceremony and reception?

I've been to weddings before where we've had to move our chairs from the ceremony area tot he reception area... or where everything was in one big room, ceremony on one side, reception on the other. But the layout of the room always allowed for the tables to be set-up and decorated beforehand.

I agree, try to do it outside of if the weather is good! If it is bad weather . You could find some type of accordian like temp room divider to block of a section of the tent if the weather is bad.

I agree that it'd be nice to have the ceremony outside if possible.

Another option is to have some refreshments for a "cocktail hour" set up outside the tent somewhere. So you can direct the guests to the refreshments or some form of entertainment temporarily while the tables are being set up for dinner.

I've also been to a wedding where they did everything in the same place. We just sat at the dinner tables for the ceremony as well(it was a small wedding and everyone had a good view from where they were). After the ceremony we got our food at the buffet and sat back down.

I agree with what the other ladies are saying. I would go for outside. Rachel's cocktail hour ideas is perfect.

If youhave to do it in the same room, it is not all that bad. We had to do it in the same room. The table was set and the programs were where a charger would be. We turned the chairs in the direction of the fireplace where we were married. It was a bit crowded, but it worked out okay. I just made told our bartender the bar was closed until after the ceremony. My guests didn't mind at all either.

Yea we're doing a wedding at my sisters, but we're having the ceremony at church. If i were you and it wasn't raining, I would find a pretty spot to say the vows