One certainly can have a wedding in a synagogue. But there is no religious significance to doing so. Unlike a “ church wedding” which to my understanding denotes a certain special spiritual significance. This is likely why while a few marry in a synagogue, the vast majority do not.
My guess is that the show featured synagogue weddings more than they happen “ in real life” because many non Jews don’t understand that Jews don’t attach any religious significance to a wedding in a synagogue and the producers wanted to not leave a mistaken impression and wanted to more closely mirror the other couples being featured.
D1’s wedding in Southern California (at the venue I posted above) was just over 100 people. The venue is about 30 miles from San Diego and most people attending the wedding spent a night or two in a nearby hotel. D1’s H’s family and H and I each gave the couple a budget we were willing to contribute. The couple stayed within the budget, but I don’t know what the final numbers were. My guess it that all in the wedding was a bit over $40K.
Of the ones I posted above, Madrona Manor would be pricey. The other 2 would/should be affordable. The one at the golf club had a few packages. The one up in the mountains we had to shlep up some kegs from BevMo! I believe they had the wines on site. But its pretty rustic.
One of the must haves for D1’s wedding last weekend was to have it at a venue where there were no other weddings performed that day. D1 and her H have been to 15 or more weddings of friends over the past 5 years so they knew what they liked and what they didn’t like.
At D1’s BIL’s wedding last fall they were having cocktail hour after the ceremony and they were all looking at the next wedding being performed. D1 and her H said this was not what they wanted. They also did not want a champagne toast. When the speeches were given at D1’s wedding everyone just raised their glasses with whatever they were drinking at the time.
D1 also did not want their reception to be in a hotel ballroom with carpeting. Everyone has different things they want/don’t want when planning a wedding/reception and this was one of hers!
The pictures below show the tables for the guests at D1’s wedding and the sweetheart table for the bride and groom. The flowers at the sweetheart table were brought over from the arch where the ceremony took place.
It is a contest and one of the categories is ‘venue’ so the more beautiful, the more points the bride gets. The one I’m thinking of was a gorgeous, gorgeous building either in NYC or just outside the city. There was a pre-wedding party in the lobby area and the bride greeted everyone, then they did the veil ceremony, then the ceremony in the sanctuary, then the dinner in another area. It was by far the most expensive wedding of the 4 featured that day. And IIRC, that bride came in last because everything was just so over the top.
But the building was gorgeous.
Most Catholic weddings have to be in a religious building if performed by a priest. A few exceptions are made but they are rare. We have one parish that has permission to have weddings in the grotto, but really, that means you are getting married on a sidewalk between the church and the school.
In Baltimore there were three wedding venues (huge) that were all owned and run by the same company. They were round, and like a pizza were cut up into slices depending on how many guest you were having (folding doors between the slices). They were catered by the venue, including the bar and the dessert and wedding cake. Oh, and a house band. The one I attended was fairly small, so there were not only other weddings after, there were other weddings at the same time.
The house band for the wedding next to the one I was at was one song behind our band! I thought it was awful but many many brides dreamed of a wedding at this venue and booked them years in advance.
My daughter is getting married at a venue owned by her MIL-to-be. Usually she does book several events for the weekend, but my daughter and BF are special, so they get the venue from Fri-Sun. It is likely that instead of a restaurant rehearsal dinner we’ll just use the venue for a Friday night party, either a BBQ or a food truck.
My daughter’s wedding was at the Grandview, a catering hall on the Hudson River in Poughkeepsie, NY, about two hours north of NYC. It was on Saturday afternoon in November and included an outdoor ceremony after a cocktail hour with amazing food and beverages, and luncheon afterward with choice of three entrees including salmon and steak. Wedding planning was included as were, I believe, the DJ, flowers, cake, photographer(s), and videographer. 100 guests for something between $20k and $30k.
D1 had her wedding at Cornell with 4 days events for 200 people. D2 is having her wedding in NYC for 120 people of 2 days events for the same price. The one in nyc everything is an add on.
May 4th was just the most amazing day. Everything was perfect even the little things that were not. As D2 said in her speech you could really feel the love for these two! They worked together to have the wedding they wanted and they pulled it off. One of the most touching things were the 5x7 printed personalized notes to everyone at the wedding. Tears were shed by many when they were read. As D1 was walking down the stairs with her dad to the groom a gust of wind caught her veil and pulled the comb out. The photographer’s assistant seemlessly grabbed the veil and put it back in so they continued down the aisle. The big worry about the ceremony was the 1 year old lab and how she would react to the flowers around her neck. She was perfect! The 4 year old husky (the best behaved dog I have ever met!) had a little roll and made a husky noise as the ceremony began which was so endearing! From the heartfelt toasts to the first dance to Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” this wedding was all them and everyone there enjoyed the ride.
The ‘in the pines’ wedding in WI I suspect will look like the chair set up, but the reception will be inside. Warned about outdoor shoes which is probably more for the ladies/heels. Will see once we are there, and also if the ground is dry or soft; bringing whatever is needed in the car.
Guests were also am advised about the rocky steps and paths and potential soft grounds so advised women to wear wedges (which I did) or block heels. We have another upcoming wedding to attend 2 hrs outside Seattle (@BunsenBurner have you been to Alderbrook?) and also advised about the shoes for the outdoor event. I found some cute block heels so returned the new wedge sandals I’d bought which I wasn’t wild about anyway.
I have some sparkly flats which will work. But if it looks like there will be soft ground, I will only wear the better shoes indoors and will have to think about what will look passable outdoors.
So fun to include the dogs! My girls wish their cats could be included but that’s not happening.