Who do I see and/or book first? Church or Reception Hall?

I booked the church first, but wound up changing it to get the reception site (which allowed us to have the ceremony there anyway so it didn't matter). Part of it also had to do with the fact that the church contract wasn't iron-clad - we knew we could work around it. But it also depends on your area/budget. In my area it's the reception site that's hard to find, not the church. So that became the bigger priority for us.

Congrat's on the engagement.

Since you have over a year to plan, I would contact the church then the reception site especially since you would like a church ceremony. Now here is what you and your husband-to-be should discuss, are you willing to bend on the date? If one or the other isn't available would you consider your ceremony and reception being held at the same venue?

Planning early is great and it of course gives you time to not only save but you have an opportunity to play with ideas and enjoy the planning process.

I hope that this is helpful and you have fun. If you should need anymore advice from me, feel free to contact me on this website.

La-Tanya

Certified Planner/Co-Owner

JX2

A couple points to consider:

Some venues won't sign a contract more than a year out.

If you don't have a strong affiliation with a church and you don't care about it as much, get the venue first. But if you do, get the church first.

It depends on what is more important to you...getting a particular church or particular venue. Since you have time, ask each what dates or open and pick a date which both or open.

If you're Catholic, I would check with the church, and then try to book with the reception hall. Catholic Churches only marry early on Saturday because they have Saturday night Mass. Also, Friday or Sunday are usually cheaper. If you're in the Northeast, I wouldn't expect a discounted Saturday after March, but you never know! Reception Halls will usually put "holds" on dates, but won't sign contracts until about a year before the wedding date because of pricing considerations. Otherwise, people would be booking and signing contracts with the big venues 5 years ahead to lock in the pricing.

Thanks so much to everyone for your advice. As far as the contract and not being able to sign and lock in a price I heard otherwise. I'm not talking about 5 years but I heard that you can lock in a price at 2 years before and in my case it would be less than that. I am catholic but I have moved from the area where I used to go to church, the church I go to now I go for my faith but I'm sorry to say I do not like. I am actually looking for a church as well for 2 reasons 1) My FH and I are both Polish and need a priest and/or church that is Polish and knows our customs so I'm searching for that too 2) I want it to feel like a real church bc the one I go to now doesn't feel that way. Some of the ppl I spoke to said just to give the hall a call and ask them what their price range is and availabilty so at least I can have an idea so I think I'll do that in the next few days.

Kalina,

As MJ stated, you almost have to book the church first followed immediately by the venue. The church will likely have specific days of the week and times when you can get married. The venue will likely have specific times when you can have the reception. For example, if you're in the church in the morning you'll want to have an afternoon reception or church afternoon, reception evening, etc. You can obviously talk to the venues about the options, but I wouldn't suggest booking the venue until you know date and time for the church.

Dan

I would first book the church, as most churches come with an officiant. Once that is booked you can then search for a hall.

I understand your problem Kalina! I go to a church that is very modern and kind of plain looking but I like the community. I like the older, prettier, more traditional church across town, but it's far and there have been a lot of changing of priests lately. I would try to find a Polish church you like, or at least a Polish priest. There is a very nice Polish church in my town. I just did a wedding where they did the Polish traditional blessings at the reception because they did not have a church wedding. Good Luck! I hope you find what you're looking for.

I would book the church first. That is what I did. We knew what date we wanted and to me it was a little more important to get that first. I would then go to the venue and check with them.

As a planner I would also suggest to look at the church first and their availabililty and then work with the reception venue to see what works. Do you already have one specific church in mind or a couple?