Renaissance Wedding: Finding the Right Ceremony Site

While some things for your Renaissance wedding may be more important to you than others, the biggest one to set the mood is your ceremony site. Any place can be made to have the look and feel you want; it just takes the right decorations. Something that could save you a lot of money here could be having your wedding at your local Renaissance Faire. The buildings, minister (if you don't use your own), decorations, workers, and other small details will already be in place without you having to do anything. This can be a huge time and money saver. You won't have to decorate the chapel to look old, and thus not spend the money on those Renaissance wedding decorations. There is a down and upside to this route.

The biggest downside can be the cost. They can range from $500-5000 or more depending on all the amenities the faire offers. These prices may seem steep but they usually are package deals offering entrance tickets, food, and other things. Plus you will have on-site entertainment with what your local festival offers, which is no extra cost to you. These packages, however, can be a problem if you have a big guest list. Many of them are only for only for 25-50 guests, which includes the bride, groom, attendants, officiate (if you chose not to use the one provided by the festival), photographer, etc. Of course you can purchase additional tickets, usually at a discount rate. This can get expensive but at the same time not nearly as a traditional wedding because you would not be paying for other aspects of a reception. So it could cost the same or even less. It really can depend on what kind of reception you want to have.

At the same time you could want to have the festival for your ceremony backdrop but not consider it important for the reception. This could change your costs and help if you have a bigger guest list since then you could trade in value of the extras for more tickets, provided your festival allows this.

But you may decide this is too much research or there may not be a local festival that offers weddings. Any church can be made to look how you want with decorations such as flowers, cloth material, and candle holders. Plus since many have wood pews, so even if they are modern they aren't going to be as tell tale. The one thing that can detract with a church wedding is the carpeting. But since most guests will be looking at the bride and groom, the floor should not be noticed. The other problem could be the officiate. What your officiate wears might not be what was worn back in Renaissance times. Depending on the religion it could be similar and thus not noticed as different. And then again you may have an officiate who is willing to dress up for your ceremony.

I have heard of two other locations for a medieval, Renaissance, and fantasy wedding. These two are used less often but may be just what you want. They are an open field, with no buildings around, or a hall. The open field is good because there isn't any, hopefully, modern sites to detract from your theme. With this option you don't have to worry about too many decorations. It could be as simple as two trees to make your alter and seats behind this where the guests can sit during the ceremony. What makes this more authentic is that weddings used to be held outside and then afterward everyone moved into the church. A downfall to this could be weather. If the weather changes the day of your wedding, you might be standing in the middle of a rainstorm getting soaked while trying to get married. You could rent a tent for such an occurrence. The other problem is that depending on where your open field is it might be a hike for everyone. This could lead to lower turnout, but then again your open field could be in your backyard.

Having your wedding at a hall may be the most challenging since you will have to decorate. This however does not mean it is not without its advantages. You have complete control of what decorations do and do not grace your ceremony site. Of course that is also provided the hall owner does not have restrictions to tape, nails, thumb tacks, etc on the walls. Some ways to set up your site, if there are restrictions, is to have bolts of material hanging from the walls, if possible, or even your own stands. This option doesn't have to be expensive either. You can buy fabric and other decorations at fabric and craft stores with deep discounts. Several fabric stores have coupons they will send you to use on anything in the store, including sale items. Usually you don't get the sale price if you do that. You can also look at sites online for discontinued fabric at cheap prices to deter the cost. And craft stores can have coupons in the regular paper. Depending on how far away your wedding is, you might wait until after the season is for your theme and buy decorations when they are cheap.

Whatever site you choose, I recommend finding your site first. It will make the rest of the planning easier if you know what you have to start with, how much help your site is going to require, and any changes you may want to make. You can call companies about rentals, specific purchases, and get contracts started knowing your date and what you are going to need. Or at least think you are going to need since aspects may change as you plan and things are or are not available you wanted.