Ceremony and reception at different venues
Having a ceremony and reception at separate venues creates anxiety that guests who RSVP'd won't actually make the drive between locations, which ruins headcount numbers and wastes money on food and drink. This fear often forces couples to choose a less-than-ideal venue simply because it is closer to the ceremony site.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Keeping the drive between locations reasonable in lengthDid this help you?
- 2Limiting the time gap between the ceremony and receptionDid this help you?
- 3Asking people to RSVP to both events separatelyDid this help you?
- 4Hiring shuttles to transport guests between locationsDid this help you?
- 5Getting shuttles from the church to the venueDid this help you?
- 6Holding rings in a purse or pocketDid this help you?
- 7Asking the officiant beforehand or during arrival to stand to the sideDid this help you?
- 8Taking guests to a nearby bar or restaurant to kill time during gapsDid this help you?
- 9Flexibly booking the reception time later in the day to accommodate schedule uncertaintyDid this help you?
- 10Booking the reception venue first and reaching out to the church early to establish contact before their official booking books open.Did this help you?
- 11Signing the legal papers in the US months beforehandDid this help you?
- 12Doing the civil ceremony a few days before the celebrationDid this help you?
- 13Combining the civil ceremony, religious ceremony, and party all on the same dayDid this help you?
- 14Host all events or both ceremony and reception at a single venueDid this help you?
- 15Provide shuttles or transportation between each venue for guestsDid this help you?
- 16Keep the event low-key and allow guests to socialize and leave directly from one central spotDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“One concern I have is that once the wedding is over, people deciding to not drive to the reception even though they may have rsvp'd. I think that is highly likely and would skew our numbers for food and drink.”source ↗
“There’s a venue that we LOVE and it is about a 25-30 minute drive from our church. I was hoping to find a venue about a 10 minute drive from our church, but this one is just amazing.”source ↗
“We’re getting married at a courthouse and I have some questions I don’t know how to clarify.”source ↗
“Who will be holding on to the rings until we exchange them?”source ↗
“How and when do we communicate to our officiant to step out of the frame for the first kiss photo?”source ↗
“My biggest fear is that we can only get the earliest appt and there’ll be a huge gap between the ceremony and reception”source ↗
“This is super stressful, it may be a better idea to do the reception the next day or have a luncheon next day.”source ↗
“We are having trouble finding churches that will book more than a year-a year and a half in advance.”source ↗
“We are worried that if wait for the church to schedule, the venue might be booked.”source ↗
“We live in NYC so we're nervous about the demand in scheduling.”source ↗
“We are struggling to decide what to do about the civil ceremony.”source ↗
“I’m worried that doing it the same day will be way too much, both for the guests and us.”source ↗
“My other thought was just signing the papers in the US beforehand (potentially 5 months earlier, on our dating anniversary), but I’m worried it’ll make the wedding party/church ceremony feel less romantic and important.”source ↗
“Is that too much moving around? Is it better to just do it all in one place?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5How to keep guests cool at an outdoor August wedding ceremony
- 12How to have a wedding without a formal ceremony
- 3How to schedule a legal marriage before a destination wedding
- 8How to choose a wedding location with international guests
- 9How to plan a post wedding brunch people actually attend
- 7Can you actually plan a wedding in just a few months?