What to do with empty church?

I would do a lot of candles. Keep it simple. Do you have a picture of the inside of the chapel?

This is one of the images I found of it. It's really a pretty place.

It’s besutiful. I would do candles along the ledge of the stage except where you’ll walk up. Do they have an altar or arch to use?

This is what it looks like from the outside

The problem is really that I can't hold the ceremony in there. It won't fit all my guests. So basically it's just going to be an empty building near the ceremony and reception. Do you think I could use it for cocktail hour or something?

Maybe cocktail hour. I would set up an indoor/outdoor cocktail hour. I would defintely use the chapel for photos.

I doubt that an old church is going to want unattended candles when all the guests are outside.

Muriel, definitely. I think if I did any candles at all it would be the fake flame low light ones. This church has been there since 1870. I REALLY don't want to be responsible for it burning down in 2018!

We're in the same boat! We picked our venue for the beautiful backyard & view, and there is this gorgeous chapel we're not using! My FW & I are planning on using it to get ready in, mostly because the is only one "bride" room and its much to small for both of us. And then we're going to take pictures in it. So we can capitalize on the beauty of it.

It'd work great for cocktail hour! Perhaps for dancing too if guests don't want to be in the sun or something. Keep the doors open so they aren't cut off from everyone and let people meander. You could store the food inside, too.

RZ_ToBe. Serving the food in there is an awesome idea!! It would provide AC for the wedding cake too. Thank you, that's totally genius!

I would check on restrictions it may have regarding having food and drink in there, especially if it is so old. They may be concerned with spills and damage in general.

Just checked on the rules. There aren't any restrictions on food or drink, but it is definitely a good idea to put down area rugs around the buffet so that I can protect their floors from stains/damage. I'm actually kind of shocked about how few rules there are (the only restriction is no fireworks). The proprietor is the state parks and recreation bureau though so maybe they're just not used to renting out for weddings.