Church halls - the MN chicken of wedding venues?

[StillCoughingandLaughing]

Obviously lockdown has limited the number of weddings, and therefore the number of wedding threads, this year, but one topic that comes up again and again is the topic of evening-only invites. I’m not trying to start another debate on whether they’re a good or bad thing - let’s face it, it’s been well covered as a discussion point. But one answer that comes up time and again from the anti-evening faction is ‘Cut your cloth accordingly - if you can’t afford a fancy venue, what’s wrong with the church hall?’

Apart from the fact that more and more people aren’t getting married in church, where are these vast, aircraft hangar type church halls that can fit every man and his dog for a sit-down meal? I went past one earlier (which got me thinking on this topic) and it was no more than a hut. Similarly, where I grew up there was a local hall people used to hire for teenage parties. You could probably get 100 teens in with a few folding chairs to sit between rounds of the Saturday Night dance and the Macarena, but for a meal with proper tables? Maximum 50 - 60 I reckon.

So what I’m wondering is, why do so many MNers suggest a church hall as the perfect way to get space on a budget? The cheap bit is obvious - but where does the space come in? Brides saying their dream venue only holds 50 for the day reception are told they’re being precious and should hire the church hall to double their numbers. Which church hall?

I can only conclude that church halls are the venue equivalent of the magical MN chicken. Just as an MN chicken will feed a family of six for a week, rather than the two meals at most a normal one would, I think the MN church hall is made of a special elastic and expands to the size of Wembley Stadium if need be. What other explanation can there be?

The other thing with church halls and other such venues is that they are mostly just a venue and you have to hire almost everything in rather then getting everything in a package along with their own in house planner to smooth things over

I did this first time round and there were lots of unforeseen issues: furniture rental company couldn’t find the entrance, kitchen didn’t have air conditioning and caterers almost went on strike, alcohol supplier tried to postpone delivery until after the wedding

With the potential to have to postpone I’d much rather have just one supplier

Yanbu

I couldn't find one that didn't insist the hall was returned to its original state by eother 10pm or 11.30 pm same day
And none of them wouldn't allow us to hire it on overnight and clean up early Sunday morning

Dumb thread Op

Dumb post, @ZenNudist.

@BackforGood

What a weird post.

Church halls come in different shapes and sizes, but the majority are as large as most function rooms in my experience.

Just thinking of the Churches within our suburb - all of their halls could seat 100 without issue....Baptist, Methodist, CofE, Catholic.

‘Weird’? Really?

I’m well aware that not every venue is the same size, and that church/villages halls are generally much cheaper than hotels - but my post was about people suggesting them as a cheaper AND more spacious option.

Ours is huge.

My old church sat 120 with tables, 150 once tables put away plus second joined call a further 80, ideal for a bar, evening buffets etc. We've hosted many receptions

@MilduraS

I went to a wedding with 120 guests in a beautiful village hall but it doesn't really solve the cost problem. Unless you're planning to serve sandwiches and budget soft drinks, the cost of catering for the extra people is where it hurts.

This is what I find interesting. It’s not just the cost to think about - it’s the logistics. I’m sure someone will come along to tell me their local church hall has a better kitchen than The Ivy, but I would imagine most have space for a few tea urns and to unload pre-prepped sandwiches. Even buffet-style, the catering must be a pain in practical terms.

My wedding was inna barn attached to a gastro pub, so day numbers were limited by the size of the barn, had a cocktail afternoon tea. There is a village hall next door with a big garden so we hired that.and popped a marquee in, the evening do started at 5:30 with a bbq, garden games, bouncy castle and later we had a fire pit with marshmallows.had a lovely time. We hired staff and were able to provide pimms, wine, soft drinks and cocktails and people could buy drinks at the pub if they wanted to.

You can hire staff just for your event. We had them to sort drinks and clearing tables and hired a bbq who came cooked, served and took plates and cutlery away.

We had our wedding in a church hall - we had 70 guests ( same guests for whole day/evening)
Plenty of room, buffet style food, dance floor, outdoor seating area and a massive field like garden - it was amazing. We decorated the hall with lots of festoon lights, paper lanterns, flowers and candles - it looked incredible. It only cost us £300 for the hall hire ( for 3 days too!)
We felt so jammy finding it!

I went to a village hall wedding just before lockdown. Jesus Christ is was rammed and uncomfortable.

It was about 150 people, not enough seats for 2/3 of the guests, buffet but nowhere to sit and because it wasn't summer you couldn't even put blankets outside and sit like a picnic.

It was so crowded and the disco started at about 7pm, most people left about 9pm. I felt bad for the couple but it was unrealistic planning. They needed less guests or a bigger venue. It was sardines.

@StillCoughingandLaughing

Caterers have trucks with stoves on them often. I've managed 650 person black tie events in marquees using generators! Logistically you can do a lot with a hall. It's down to what a couple want for a wedding, and expectations - buffets and the whole family pulling together to produce it was the norm until fairly recently. I catered my own wedding (control freak that I am).

It's a lot cheaper to use an unlicensed premises if you want to provide the drinks because you can buy from Lidl at £5 a bottle for instance.

If you don't want a village hall that's fine but it is a lot cheaper - we would charge around £300 for the rental for instance and for a 3 course sit down meal it's £25 a head including service, they bring their own heating equipment. I've done it for events

@Ducksurprise

Rural village (rather than church) halls, at least near me, are massive as they were awarded lottery funding a few years ago. I can think of three that could be used for a sit-down meal for more people than live in the village.

We hired exactly one of these. It had just opened so we were the first wedding - it's very popular now. We had about 80 people but could easily have had more 40+ more.

There's a massive variety of options around. When I got married we looked at loads of options from farmers field/marquee to pub function rooms to town halls, hotels, golf clubs and hiring an entire small stately home for a weekend. Also looked at a Cambridge College...

Marquees are pretty expensive to hire then you need the toilets, kitchen etc and it quickly gets very expensive.

Some Cambridge Colleges are remarkably cheap for alumni.

Hotel packages are often less flexible - you can't ditch the DJ in favour of a live acoustic band.

Pub function rooms can be anything from a dusty room with 10 tables to a smart modern (albeit characterless) room with sound system and dance floor.

One of my favourite weddings was in a barn on a farm. Elegantly decorated with miles of organza, looked great, hired in caterers with mobile kitchen, really relaxed vibe.

Least favourite possibly the Hurlingham Club with a high end but characterless function room (I'm sure the pix in the grounds were great) and overcooked (dry) guinea fowl as the main. Probably cost more than our house...

Our local church hall seats 130. That's their maximum capacity (fire safety etc) with tables and chairs. 250 maximum people if it's standing only, few chairs on the edges.

Outskirts of London.

Can't be that hard to find a large hall.... what about a sports hall, even bigger!? Some schools hire out too

Ah sure look it, if the church hall isn't up to scratch just cancel the cheque. And log it with 101 to be on the safe side.

Depends on the church hall.
I've been to some really lovely ones, over the years.

Tbh the best wedding I've ever been to was a civil ceremony and then a pub crawl

Duh OP...the massive yet quaint and cheap church halls are in the same towns that have amazing parks, brimming with ducks and other wildlife that will keep your toddler entertained all day come rain or shine (yet are not used by lots of dog walkers letting their pooches shit everywhere and/ or run off lead and jump on said toddler whilst shouting 'don't worry he's friendly!').

@SionnachRua

Ah sure look it, if the church hall isn't up to scratch just cancel the cheque. And log it with 101 to be on the safe side.

There are quite a few church halls where I live. People also will rent spaces in fire halls, which have rental spaces in rural settings, and sometimes other kinds of village halls. There are fewer of these in cities and towns but still a fair number of church halls.

I think the real issue is that if you are having a really big wedding, there are likely limited numbers of places that can hold so many people, and halls tend to look like halls. People who want a magazine wedding with 200 guests are always going to have fewer options.

I have actually remembered one. (Out of 5) which might manage it. But it is two rooms, t shaped divided by a folding wall/doors.

@StillCoughingandLaughing we used a caterer that my husband found from visiting his burger van whilst working he ran the burger van day to day but caters for events as well, there was chips, soup, hot rolls and cold buffet for 80+ people, cost us £500. Took us a while to solve the catering though

I've read many threads about evening invitations etc but I've never heard all this about church halls. 🤷‍♀️

[quote TwoAndAnOnion]@StillCoughingandLaughing
where are these vast, aircraft hangar type church halls that can fit every man and his dog for a sit-down meal?

If you were cutting your cloth accordingly you wouldn't be having a sit-down meal, would you? You've be having a buffet and mingle.[/quote]
Exactly.
People suggesting a church hall to cut costs aren't saying "have 6 bridesmaids, a 3 course sit down meal, evening entertainment and food, a huge cake and 120 guests - but do it in a church hall". The way I read it, church hall is short hand for "cheap and cheerful wedding" which is what some people want, and what some people can afford but don't want.

I have been to a few church hall weddings and they were great fun. Buffet food, self seve drinks, maybe a disco or entertainer in the evening. Not the same as the "big white wedding" but still good, just different, and still special for the bride and groom.