Separate venue and reception?

Having the ceremony and reception at separate locations is very common.


Confused because it sounds like you are not on the same page for the ceremony. If the Catholic ceremony is important to him, is there a reason you need or want a second ceremony? The Catholic one will be legally binding on its own and that will make for a very long day for both you and your guests when you can go straight to the party after the Catholic ceremony. Yes it is possible and very common to not have any gap between it and the reception.

With church weddings it’s very common to have the reception later in the day at a different location. When you find your venue they’ll ask if you plan to have the ceremony there and you’ll say no and then they’ll know to set it up just for a reception.

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Okay, thank you. I didn't know that venues did that. That's very helpful to know!

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Okay thank you, I've never really heard of the ceremony and reception being separate, but I'm glad to hear that it's common! We want to have the ceremony at the Church and then a reception elsewhere.

View Quoted Comment That’s the most common way to have it. Outside of cake and punch in the church fellowship hall and go home, a ceremony at the reception site is a new trend.


You talk to the priest at your church to discuss your plans and they approve or deny, meaning at least one of you is in current good standing with the church (up to date on tithes, confession, etc) , you attend pre-wedding classes at the church, get a license from the local government office and present to the priest for the ceremony to be legally binding. Then straight to the reception with no gap. People will tell you that a ”Catholic Gap” is unavoidable but that is only when you go for a specific reception venue that doesn’t allow for earlier start times. My family is Catholic and they have never done a gap. The venues with earlier start times are easier to locate and set up actually as well as being less expensive. There really should not be any gap longer than driving time with traffic to the reception, and you will lose guests if you have 2+ hours to kill between. Go on eventective.com and see what catches your eye and ask each venue when you can start the reception.

It's very common for church ceremonies to be followed by a reception at a different venue!!

My wedding ceremony was at a chapel just a few minutes away from my reception venue. You just won't set up for a ceremony at your reception venue!!

My ceremony:

My Reception Venue:

Photos by Samantha Laffoon Photography

We had our ceremony at the Catholic Church (I’m Catholic, husband isnt) at 11:00am and then our reception at 6pm at a venue downtown it worked out great. The “Catholic Gap” is totally a thing because most active churches won’t let you get married later in the afternoon/evening because they have a 5/6pm Mass. Our church only had 11:00 and 2:00 available on our date and the 2:00 had already been claimed.

Another Catholic bride that had our ceremony at a Catholic church and used another venue for the reception.

Ceremony was at 2:30pm. Reception immediately followed. We paid a cheaper price for the reception venue since it was only the reception and not the ceremony too.

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Great to hear!

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Your wedding looks so beautiful!

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Thank you! That's really helpful.

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I see, That's a cool idea!

Hi ! I'm having a different point of view actually, as in Europe we rarely have the main ceremony in the same place as the party... So I don't see a problem, if you don't - regarding the catholic ceremony most of all...?

As others have said it is very common to have a religious wedding in a church or other place of worship followed by a reception at a different venue. Most often with Catholic ceremonies I have been to, the ceremony tends to be earlier in the day and then there is a considerable gap before the reception starts. As a guest, I'm not a big fan of having a lot of time to kill between events and feel like this becomes an inconvenience unless you are staying within 20 minutes of either location, but it is what it is and couples plan weddings this way all the time.

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Gorgeous Lynnie! I had never seen a photo of your wedding!

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Thank you both so much!!

Hello Carolyn,
You can always set up many decorations in the church for it to look pretty like on the aisles and in front with flowers. Then many Catholic Churches have different religious decor and architecture and maybe if you search you can find one that looks more amazing. Plus you check with the the ones that also have reception halls. The the reception hall would be a good deal and quick transition from church to the party area.