Guerilla Wedding Ceremonies
Tricks to Finding the Perfect Free or Low-Cost Wedding Venue
For flexible brides and grooms, planning a guerilla wedding can save a lot of money on venue site fees and provide a unique wedding story for the grandchildren.
Weddings are expensive. Even without everything the "Wedding Industrial Complex" insists you need, the basics can really add up, and site fees at popular wedding venues can cost thousands. If you don't want to spend a lot of money, a simple home or City Hall ceremony can be great - but what if you really want that amazing dream wedding location? That's where the guerilla wedding comes in.
What is a Guerilla Wedding?
A guerilla wedding is when a bride, groom and an officiant with a sense of adventure walk in unannounced to the location of your choice, and get married. You can even have a wedding photographerand a few guests if you like. If you're willing to sacrifice the large guest list and keep the ceremony relatively brief, you can get married almost anywhere cheaply, or even free.
Conventional and Unconventional Wedding Venues
You can hold your guerilla wedding ceremony anywhere that makes you happy, from the top of the Empire State Building to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Beaches, parks, museums, botanical gardens, zoos, bridges, historical sites, or ice rinks can all be wedding venues. Consider getting married where you first met - a bar, the laundromat, your college campus. A couple who met on a hiking trail might want to go back and say "I do" on that trail's scenic overlook. The sky is quite literally the limit.
If your potential wedding venue has an admission fee, expect to pay it for each member of your party. If you choose a city- or state-owed location such as a park or beach, find out first whether they require a permit.
Reactions to a Unique Wedding Plan
Different venues will have different responses to your unconventional wedding. At a large, sprawling site, a wedding ceremony might go unnoticed. After all, it's not uncommon for a small group to stand around "chatting" at the botanical gardens. You're more likely to have problems in a venue like a museum that normally charges a site fee for weddings and prefers quiet than someplace like, say, a bowling alley that's happy you're buying drinks and renting shoes and contributing a general sense of fun. An edgy art gallery might even embrace your wedding as spontaneous "performance art."
Not every potential venue will allow an impromptu wedding ceremony. You might be interrupted or even asked to leave. Couples who go this route need to be flexible and prepared to have a sense of humor about unpleasant surprises.
But while it will be a disappointment to have your ceremony stopped, remember that your officiant can marry you anywhere. You may lose your first choice of venue, but you can still get married that same day - that's where you'll use your sense of humor and flexibility.
Planning Ahead for a Smooth Wedding Ceremony
Planning ahead helps make any wedding a success. Scout out your preferred location in advance and spend some time there observing the atmosphere and flow. If possible, have an informal chat with a security guard. Be honest about your intentions and remember that even if he or she says you'll have no problems, that's not a guarantee. However, if you're told you definitely will have a problem, take their word for it and choose another wedding venue.
Make a general plan for entry, timing, and placement ahead of time. Try to choose a quiet but scenic nook or corner for your wedding ceremony and remember that you're in public - be respectful of others and keep the ceremony fairly short. Plan what you'll do afterwards, and choose a venue that can easily accomodate this, whether you want to go home, host dinner at a restaurant, or jet off on your honeymoon.
A guerilla wedding is not for everyone, but it's something to consider if you're on a budget or if you just want a unique experience at an amazing location. For more tips and advice on planning an unusual wedding, check out the forums at Indiebride.
And don't forget, you can absolutely have a photographer to document your unconventional wedding. Read about how to choose the right photographer for you, how to bargain with him or her, and why wedding photographers are so expensive in the first place.
