Tell me about your wedding if you had the ceremony and reception in the same room....?

Question

Hello All,
My beach themed wedding will be next April. We have rented a large banquet hall with a stage. The plan at this point is to arrange the majority of the dinner tables in a large horseshoe and have guests already seated at their dinner tables for the ceremony. Immediate family and friends (especially those who need to participate in the ceremony) will be seated in rows of chairs in front of the stage, in the area that will later become the dancefloor. We will walk up the middle of the room on an aisle runner, get married on stage (with an archway and latticework backdrop).....

Then what?? Go right into a dance? Step out of the room? What about a receiving line? How do we transition between ceremony and sending people up to the meal?

Please post answers if you have attended a similar reception/ceremony combination, or if you had one yourself, or are planning one.

Before anyone says "Seperate the wedding and the reception...split the room in two"....it will not work...that is not an option.

How am I having a beach themed wedding if I'm not getting married on the beach? The same way other brides have cowboy themed weddings without being on a farm, or other similar themes. I am using seashells, beach themed accessories and details. Our honeymoon will be on a beach. This is not a destination wedding. It is a theme.

Answer 1

I had my wedding and reception, this past april, in the same reception hall. We had everyone except for parents and grandparents, sit at their tables they were assigned. Then our parents and grandparents were arranged in chairs right in front of us. We got married on the dance floor. we had the aisle runner come down the middle to where the preacher and a trellis were. We did our thing and exited the building. Since we had gotten a limo to pick up the guys and girls separate, right after the "I do's" we went for a little ride in the limo and drank toasts with just the wedding party. While we were taking our little limo ride hors d'ouerderves were being served. We were only gone 15 minutes. When we came back, we were introduced as MR and MRS. Then we had our wedding pictures taken in front of the trellis. So of course, we had everyone watching us take our pictures. but right after pics we had our recieving line and went straight to dinner. then after that we did our first dance and all that other stuff you do at weddings. Everyone commented on how nice it was to not have to travel to a different place for the reception and they didn't mind sitting at tables at all. I hope i helped...Good luck!

Answer 2

I got married at a B&B, and we had the ceremony & reception in the same place. Fortunately, the room was set up with an enclosed veranda, so we walked back down the aisle, and into the veranda, where we had a receiving line. As the guests were walking through the receiving line and toward the bar, the B&B employees were busy re-arranging the chairs from the rows, and setting out the tables.

Perhaps you could have the back end of the hall set up with the bar area...Most of the guests won't even notice that things are being rearranged, if they have a cocktail, and are chatting with friends & family. If it concerns you, the reception hall may be able to provide some type of partition between the areas to disguise the work being done.

Answer 3

having that at the bottom of your invitations or even having a small card included in the invite to let them know that the ceremony and the reception will be held at the same venue. That way those that are just coming for the reception will know what time to arrive for that rather than arrive too soon and the ceremony will be still underway.

Answer 4

i've been wondering about this kind of situation myself, i'll be having the ceremony and reception in the same place too. i think that with the setup that you're describing, maybe the best thing for you to do is to have your recessional and walk out of the room, then the officiant can announce that people can go up to the buffett and help themselves. you can take that opportunity away from everyone to freshen up your makeup and take pictures. then maybe when you're intoduced back into the room, you can have your first dance, then instead of a receiving line, you and the groom can just mingle amongst the crowd. hope this helps!

Answer 5

You don't need to have a receiving line. Just go from the stage to your family, give them a little hug, then go to your dinner table and have the best man or your father do a toast or a prayer or both. Sometime during the course of the evening, you and hubby can go from table to table and visit and thank people for coming.

Answer 6

You CAN have a beach themed wedding without being at the beach...Just accesories is the key! I am having my wedding ceremony and reception party at the same spot...Its not a problem!

I am stressed to because my wedding is this July of 07.

Answer 7

Ours was in the same room, but in between we had a cocktail hour in another room. It gave time so the room could be reorganized. The tables were move in during the cocktail hour, and that is when the DJ setup also.

I think you need a 2nd area for a short time.

Answer 8

How can you have a beach themed wedding if you aren't getting married on a beach?

ETA: Lol, I've never seen a cowboy themed wedding that wasn't on a farm or a beach themed wedding that wasn't on a beach, or an autumn themed wedding that wasn't in the autumn.

But, that's your business. As for this issue, you don't have a receiving line. Just be sure to personally visit with the guests. Walk out of the room, and have the DJ announce that they can get up and eat.

Answer 9

If that is the setup then there is no recieving line your dj would then ask everyone to please stand for your first dance