Non religious venues: Where did you get married?

It is very, very cute!

OMG, tami, that's BEAUTIFUL!!!! I'd love to find a little place like that... I'm on the hunt now

We rented the lodge at one of our public local parks and are having a judge perform our ceremony. It was only $165 to rent the lodge and $200 for the judge to come.

We got married on the terrace of the restaurant where we had our dinner reception.

We first saw our officiant at a friend's earlier last year; but as 2nd Bride said, there's usually a list with the courthouse that issues marriage licenses in your area. Also, look in neighboring towns - vendors travel. If I remember correctly, our officiant was willing to travel within 25 miles from her zip code, and then there was a fee after that.

We got married at an historic mansion, as I wanted an outdoor wedding (with a rain plan).

As for our officiant, we had a hard time with this and eventually ended up asking one of our guests (friend of DH's parents who is a reverend) if they would be willing to perform the ceremony. Neither my husband and I are very religious. It was important to his mom for the ceremony to be religious though (originally she was gung ho about us having a Lutheran minister).

We're getting married on a boat.

As for officiants, you could try asking the office where you get your marriage license. I found out that my area doesn't actually do JOP or courthouse weddings, but they had a list of names/numbers/how long they've been doing it available for us.

In my state though, anyone from anywhere, (as long as you're 18) can be the "Marriage Commissonor"

My daughters wedding and reception were both held at a hotel. We used two meeting rooms (that open in to one larger one) for the ceremony and the ballroom for the reception.

As for the officiant, you can check with your local courthouse (many judges can perform weddings). The Mayor of our city is a friend, and just happens to be ordained, so I asked him and he was available that day (in between two other city functions. Thankfully, nothing newsworthy, requiring his time, happened during that day, whew! LOL!

We are getting married by a notary, but I think the first thing you should do is look up who is able to marry you in your state. Some states even have an option to search for an officiant on their official website where they list the requirements for obtaining marriage, licenses, etc. You may be able to find an officiant that will travel even if you can't.

As for the venue, an outdoor setting can be really good for a non-religious ceremony. My cousin and her husband actually got married in their home, which was a little cramped, but very lovely and personal. My friend was looking for venues in a small town and was having trouble too, but sometimes there are town halls that can work. You may be able to do your ceremony at your reception venue as well, especially if they have two rooms available. I think the size of your guest list will help you determine where you can get married unless you fall in love with a place and want to shape your guest list to fit the space!

Good luck!

We're getting married in a park. There's also the option of picking a reception site, then using the same place for the ceremony, which was something we also considered.

We found a great officiant who is a Celtic Minister... and getting married at the local botanical gardens.

I am planning on having my ceremony on the pedestrian bridge that goes across the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich. It costs like $200 to get the permit from the city and basically "rent" the bridge. I'm not sure about the logistics like if I need need or what not but it will be beautiful without the church vibe Does your town have any bridges or anything like that? Think outside the box!

Very beautful

Not yet married but will be married at a College Event Center in the Courtyard

FH and I are getting married and having our ceremony at a local hotel that also has a gorgeous chapel right outside 4 HUGE ballrooms. I'm the religious one outta the 2 of us and since my FH isn't, I wasn't going to push for us to get married in a church or anything.

My FH and I are getting married on an old farm. They have no renovated and do a lot of company picnics and bbq catering. We were happy to find this place because they can do outdoor events and indoors. If you're looking for somewhere nonreligious, any kind of park could work. Especially if it's a big wedding, I would take a look at places that have company parties or a lot of family reunions.

We got married by a marriage therapist at a country club-- it was a beautiful coupola(sp) overlooking the green golf course. I even got a ride the hundred yards from there to the club in a golf cart!

As for officiants, it used to be you could easily get ordained for just a day-- basically to marry your friends. Look into that, and maybe a reliable friend could be your JOP.

We're not married yet, but we'll be getting married outside of our reception venue -- it's in a forest preserve dealie.

When I worked catering a few people got married in a room adjacent to the one their reception was in (it was a big banquet hall/hotel with multiple large rooms) and one couple got married in the same room where dinner/reception was.

We're also having a good friend do our officiating. There are a couple different places for people to get ordained online. It's free and IMO feels much more personal than having a random officiant do it.

We got married in an art museum.

We were married at the zoo. Technically, we were at the museum that belongs to the zoo, since we wanted to be indoors in Alabama in late July We also considered hotels, a fancy penthouse restaurant/ballroom in town, the bamboo forest in town, and the Officer's Club on base.

FYI - the zoo was the least expensive (less than half anything other than the OClub), and the food was A-MAZE-ING (because they use the city caterer who is also responsible for feeding the mayor and other important people on a regular basis).

Officiants, good ones that is, are very rarely random. They get picked because they can command a ceremony, write a great script that speaks of the couple, and leave out what the couple doesn't want.

They should just be interviewed as carefully as interviewing a dj or a photographer to find someone who fits your style and level of spirituality (or lack there of) you are looking for.