Separate ceremony site from reception?

It used to be more common to have them at separate venues. Compare the rental prices of each. Unless you are having a religious ceremony that requires a house of worship, most people find it more economical to go with a reception venue that allows extra hours (many do not have curfews or charge extra except in the case where they offer a specific time slot and you go overtime) and they tend to be cheaper overall than a venue specific to weddings only that only allows you 4 hrs. Eventective.com has local lists of those with longer time slots.

I don't think the cost will be that different. For a guest, it is nice for everything to be in one place.

View Quoted Comment Thank you.

I did that. For me it was a lot cheaper but it was also because my ceremony site was meaningful and I wanted it there. Just keep in mind the commute time in between the ceremony and reception

View Quoted Comment Ohhh nice ! It’ll be a late afternoon/ night wedding for us and I really want it outside but I think we’ll end up doing it at the venue

I think this is most common when using a church for the ceremony.

Keep the commute time under 45 minutes between with no extra gap. Guests do not like extra gaps and will decline first before they go sightseeing, nap/shower or whatever else that people suggest they do in formal clothes.


Unless you have a religious ceremony, you will only be there 15 minutes plus picture time.

View Quoted Comment It would be way less than a 45 min commute and it’s only family attending so I know either way, they wouldn’t be too pressed even if it was 30 minutes.

View Quoted Comment Yeah I had my ceremony outdoors at 5 PM but my venue was literally just 2 miles away for the reception so that was kind of nice at least. I definitely see what everyone means though as a guest it’s so much more convenient to just have everything all in one location

View Quoted Comment Yeah I wouldn’t wanna have to move locations as the bride. But if it’s cheaper than my family (which is what my guests will be) will have to be okay with it.

We’re doing the ceremony and reception at one place. With this, we don’t have to worry about transportation and cost of ceremony location. I think its less stressful knowing everything is in one location and not stuck in traffic, having to reset up or something along those lines.

View Quoted Comment Yeah that’s why we are probably doing it at the venue, but with the venue that is like number 1 on our list the ceremony makes it a little more expensive. But I think it’s well worth it

As far as whether the cost is cheaper, I think it depends: are you planning to provide transportation for your guests between the two venues? If so, that can drive up the cost, and make it the same price as (or more than) holding everything at the venue. If not providing transportation, it can also take a bit of time for everyone to get from one place to the other (especially if they're more than a few minutes away from each other), so your reception may need to start later than planned to account for drive time between the two locations. Otherwise, many people hold their ceremony in a different location than the reception! Pick the location that you like best. If holding the ceremony in a separate location is way cheaper and you like the location better, I say go for it!

View Quoted Comment Thank you ! We will not be providing transportation. But we plan on doing pictures after the ceremony so I think that would help. But right now we’re just weighting the option.

I've only seen it done separately when the ceremony venue was a church. I'd think that it would be more cost effective to do ceremony + reception at the same venue.

If I could have the ceremony and reception at one place I would! But we are having the ceremony at at Catholic Church and then reception at a golf club.

The cost for reception only at some venues are cheaper without a ceremony, but depending on where you have the ceremony you may end up spending the same amount.

You'll also have decorate 2 places instead of 1, depending on photographer/videographer and wedding coordinator sometimes they also charge extra for multiple locations.

For the sake of guests it's more convenient to go to one location.

Thank you everyone! I think I actually found my venue tonight ! Which is in our budget AND can have ceremony and reception!