Civil ceremony venues

Some time ago I gave you some advice on how to plan an outdoor civil wedding in Rome or in any other place that allows you to hold the wedding ceremony in venues. In this article I would rather focus on the countless advantages that the celebration of the civil ceremony in venue has, both from a photographic and a practical point of view: if you have never been a guest in weddings organized in this way, perhaps you do not even imagine how much hold the ceremony in venue can radically change the whole experience of the wedding day both for the couple and the guests.

It goes without saying that, if you are a believer and it is important for you to celebrate your wedding in a sacred place, there are no benefits: the spirituality of the religious ceremony certainly comes first over everything else.
If, on the other hand, you are still undecided about what to do or if you intend to get married in a civil ceremony, find out what are the five reasons why you should prefer the civil ceremony in venue!

What could be more suggestive than a wedding ceremony in the woods?

1. Getting ready in venue

Usually when a wedding venue is well organized to celebrate the ritual in its spaces, it is also able to offer rooms where you can get ready before the ceremony. This chance is not to be underestimated and, on the contrary, it guarantees you a series of advantages of great importance:

• if the ceremony is in the morning, you will not have to wake up at dawn: you can think of sleeping in the venue from the night before, so that you are already on the spot;
• if the ceremony is in the afternoon, you can still get ready in venue: you will have enough time for the preparations and you will not have to worry about the traffic that you might encounter from home/hotel to the place used for the ceremony; everything will be simpler and without stress!
• if you are among those couples who would like to have loved ones present during their preparations, it is also a convenience for guests: they will not be compelled to move more than once or have parking problems: they will arrive directly in the final destination and will spend their time relaxing;
• both for you and your guests it is a convenience to have an available catering / banqueting service: during the getting ready and before and after the ceremony will be so pleasant to have snacks, coffee and fresh drinks. It will make all of you feel pampered! Just be careful to plan the services you need with the supplier;
• once get ready for the ceremony, you can have time to take photos with the bridesmaids or the best men or even your portraits: these types of photographs can also be taken if you don't get ready in venue, but if you are already in the place where you will hold the ceremony you surely have more time available for it;
• you can finally take advantage of the situation for the first look. For the uninitiated, first look means the first meeting of the couple, just before the ceremony, in absolute intimacy: having an entire venue available, you can definitely find a secluded corner in which to organize your first meeting, and then head together where the ceremony will be celebrated.

When a venue like Le 7 Fonti offers you a chalet in the woods, you can't miss it!

In the case of a civil ceremony in venue, logistics for you and your guests is better than any other situation: these are aspects that will contribute not only to reducing stress, but also to improving the experience of all your guests.

2. Customization of the ceremony

We assume that usually it is really difficult to find municipal halls at the same time beautiful, welcoming and not too sought-after: those of big cities, beautiful or ugly that are, allow use for very little time because of the large number of marriages to be celebrated; some small towns, on the other hand, have very well-kept rooms from an aesthetic point of view and are therefore in great demand even by those who do not live there, so the problem of the available time arises again.
Furthermore, in any case, you will not be allowed to make any aesthetic customization except for some quickly removable detail.

With the availability of an entire location in which to celebrate the ceremony, it is clear that you have maximum freedom on any scenographic aspect:

• the location of the ceremony, if different solutions are available;
• its orientation, to guarantee you the best result from the photographic point of view;
• how to reach the place used for the ceremony;
• the position of you, brides and grooms, in relation to guests;
• the set-up, which you can design as you like and in line with the style you have chosen for your wedding: the seats, the entrance, the altar and any details;
• the position of any musicians.

A wedding ceremony in a clearing in a wood, with guests sitting on jute-coated hay bales

But with a civil ceremony in wedding venue the personalization does not finish at the aesthetic side: in fact you can plan the ceremony as you like, postponing the indispensable bureaucratic part. So here are some aspects you could take action on:

• you no longer have time limits: if in the municipal house there is only room for bureaucracy, you can now make your ceremony unique and exciting;
• maybe for you as foreigners is the norm in your country, but not here in Italy: usually only during a civil ceremony in wedding venue you can exchange vows written by you;
• if usually in municipal houses you have no time to read your personal vows, the same is for your guests: you can let your guests speak for you only in a ceremony in a venue;
• have a short symbolic ritual that can represent you as a couple;
• have someone particularly dear to you officiate the ceremony. He/She will be the one who will marry you: imagine how many emotions you can experience together!

Having the chance to customize the civil ceremony, which is the fulcrum of the day when you will celebrate with your loved ones, is not to be missed for anything in the world: the importance and the uniqueness of your wedding must be respected and celebrated!
The result of all these improvements will be clearly visible both in the photographs and in the video: the setting that speaks of you, your eyes amused or moved, the words you will hardly forget, your intense emotions.

3. Reception of guests

Another advantage of hold the ceremony in wedding venue has to do with managing your guests. Whether you need to welcome guests from outside, or are planning a Destination Wedding, having a single place to spend the whole day — but also the previous and the next one — and not needing to move, it is comfortable for you but also for your guests.

Once you have carefully chosen the venue, in fact, you can think of spending several days with all or part of the guests, depending on your needs. Added services as a swimming pool, a SPA or even a beach (on which to celebrate the ceremony) will allow you to live a series of carefree days with those who are dearest to you.

Finally think about your wedding day: once the big party is over, you can relax all together because everyone will stay in the same accommodation. It is the right time to enjoy that cigar or that bottle that you reserve for special occasions.
Both you and your guests will have no time or night driving problems after a busy day. And all of you will meet the next morning for a cheerful breakfast with friends!

It's like you're prolonging your wedding party. And, I guarantee you, you'll carry these moments in your heart forever.

Late night toast!

4. More time availability

The wedding day will pass in a flash. You will remember every single moment with an intensity that our minds set aside only for the most important moments of our lives, but time will fly and, at the end of the day, it will always seem too short.
Holding the civil ceremony in wedding venue will allow you to reduce downtime for travel, so you can use that time for other activities: you could dedicate it to yourselves or to a photo session or you will have simply more time to spend with your guests.

We too will be happy with your choice: not only we will have more time to spend together, but we will be able to use it to capture even more memories and emotions.

In some cases here in Italy it is not really possible to celebrate the official rite in wedding venue, usually due to restrictions by the Municipalities. Do not consider it as a defeat, on the contrary turn this discomfort into opportunity! In fact you can think of celebrating two ceremonies: the legal one in the town hall, with a limited number of people, followed by a symbolic ceremony in the venue. The latter will obviously be completely free from constraints and you can let your imagination lead the way!

If you even organize the two ceremonies on different days, you will have two whole days to organize!
In the first one, immediately after the ceremony, you can take advantage of the presence of your photographer for a romantic couple shooting in the places that you particularly care about and that represent you. You will have enough time for any transfer and you can set up this photo service in a completely different way from the one on the second day: you will not need formal clothes and, indeed, you can also think about changing clothes according to the places where you will go.
Then there will be the second day, the one of the symbolic ceremony, in which all your guests will participate, followed by the big party that everyone expects and that you deserve!

After the wedding in the woods, we took advantage of the amazing light for the couple portraits.

5. Coherence of the photographic story

Holding a civil ceremony in wedding venue will also allow you to have the best photographic memory of your wedding. Being you in the same context for the whole day, the photographic story will be coherent in terms of setting – natural, architectural and relative to the furniture – and therefore also in terms of light present in the different environments in which you will move.

In fact if a meticulous editing manages to make coherent the light between different environments, the look of different contexts is impossible to mix in the same way: for example think about a situation in which the couple get ready in their own or parents' homes or in a hotel different from the venue, or at a ceremony in a church: they are environments that, compared with those of the wedding venue (which will be the fulcrum of the party that will follow) have zero overlap.

Look at the whole gallery of this Country Chic Wedding in Rome, from which the photographs that make up the following collage are taken:

Memories of an outdoor civil wedding in Rome

It is an harmonious story from the beginning to the end, in which no interruption is perceived even when moving between the different environments of the location. The portraits of the couple, which were always taken inside the venue, maintain the identical atmosphere of all the other photographs, as well as those during the late evening dances.

If you are therefore thinking of getting married with a civil ceremony, seriously consider the idea of realizing an outdoor wedding, so that you can take a lot of advantages and improve the entire wedding experience, for you and your guests.