Ideas to help you save money when planning your wedding ceremony.
The following article is an example of the content we have in our online wedding planning membership site HappyWeddings.ca under the heading of Ceremony Site. To learn more and get useful wedding planning tools for FREE click here!
As discussed in the Vision module, civic sites for either ceremony or reception are often less costly than the usual options. When you did your checklist for your location vision, you identified a number of places that you thought might be great for your wedding ceremony. The first step is to phone them, and see what they charge. Prices vary greatly, so don’t assume because one vineyard, for example, is expensive, that they all are. Keep phoning.
If you want to be married in a house of worship, you might be surprised at the fees that they will charge. Members can often get a discounted price, so if you are in search of a place of worship, you can attend throughout your engagement and become a member. Some places of worship are very costly to run, heat, and maintain, and the ceremony fee may reflect that if you are a member or not. Sometimes, having your wedding in a church of the same denomination, but a different location is a way to save some costs.
If you are having your wedding reception at a hotel, for example, the site might charge only a nominal fee to let you use another room for the ceremony, and sometime that is given at no extra charge.
Officiant fees also vary greatly in some cities, so it is good to ‘shop around’. Often, if an officiant meets with you regularly, helps you write your vows, and attends both rehearsal and ceremony, they will charge more than if they were to attend the ceremony only with a simple, vows-only ceremony. If you were to plan your ceremony fully yourself, and hire an officiant for the ceremony only, you could save a few hundred dollars. Most couples find the ceremony the most important part of their wedding, and want to ensure the ceremony is all that it can be. A reputable officiant can help you attain that goal.