My daughter graciously gave me a free hand with the reception. Between her simple tastes and her desire to be agreeable, finding a reception venue was not all that difficult. We had a couple important considerations that narrowed the search. Our wedding was taking place in winter so the reception would be indoors, and we were expecting between 200 and 250 guests for dinner.
As I mentioned in an earlier entry, the first place I checked was the ballroom at the community center across the street from where we lived. Although the room was definitely big enough and many nice amenities were included, the cost was out of reach. I also looked at our local Veterans Memorial Building and several other rooms I knew of – places where the receptions of family and friends had been held in the past. Sadly, if the cost was within our budget, the amenities were lacking, and vice versa.
As beautiful as hotel ballrooms and grounds can be, I avoided them because using them often meant having to use the hotel’s caterers as well; a package deal that would break the bank. Additionally, many of these venues offered a limited selection of rooms. They could either seat 100 guests or 400 guests with nothing available in-between. I saw no reason to pay for a room that seated 400 when I only needed a room for 200.
I’d already racked my brain on how I could make the reception work at my home church but the fact remained that we could only pack 165 people into the main fellowship hall. Another large room was available close to the main hall but the thought of splitting the reception between two rooms at church was not appealing to my daughter or me.
Just when I was beginning to think I would need to adjust our budget or end up having the reception in a barn, my daughter suggested that I make a phone call to our sister congregation across town. The church operates a school and had, in recent years, added a building that doubled as an indoor basketball court. My niece’s own wedding reception had been held there a few years earlier and the only reason I hadn’t called them sooner was because I kept thinking the room would be too small. As it turned out, my memory was pretty faulty! The Family Activity Center (FAC) could seat 244 for dinner and came with a commercial grade kitchen. And, my daughter and I were delighted to note, the chairs available were beautiful fully padded chairs, not folding metal chairs like we used at our church. This may seem a petty observation but having spent many hours on those folding chairs we were happy to think we could offer our guests greater comfort! I’ll be honest, the chairs sold us on the room in spite of the unglamorous presence of basketball hoops on the walls at either end.
I connected with the very capable woman who maintained the room for the church and asked if we might rent it. I didn’t expect to get the room for free as I would have at my own church but I was not prepared for the generous offer I did receive. First let me tell you what was included before I name the price.
We could bring some food by the night before the wedding to store in the kitchen. Because they held a church service in the FAC, I would have access to the room on Sunday starting at 11:00 am so that we could decorate and our DJ could set up. The lady in charge and her helpers would set up all the tables and chairs for our guests and the bridal party leaving room in one corner for dancing. I could use their tablecloths and china and they would take care of cleaning these after the reception. The helpers would prepare the food I brought and run the buffet lines. They made the coffee and kept hot water available for tea. They would cut and plate the cake. They would pour the sparkling cider for the toast, making sure all of our guests had some. At the end of the evening, they would tear down the tables and chairs, clean the kitchen, take out the trash, and mop the floor of the main room. All of this for a mere $700. As one friend put it, “This is a gift!”
My advice to brides: if you’re getting married in a church, see what they have to offer by way of a reception room. Perhaps the church has a sister church that might also accommodate you. There are many, many less expensive reception venue options open to brides than a hotel ballroom. Check ‘em out!
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