INFORMATION and GUIDELINES
For
WEDDINGS and RECEPTIONS
FIRST
CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Disciples of Christ)
Phone:
(317)773-4582
OUR BEST
WISHES AND PRAYERS TO YOU!
A wedding ceremony is a significant statement of your
commitment to become husband and wife. We are honored that you have chosen
First Christian Church for this special event. A Christian ceremony of marriage
is an act of faithful worship, a sacred celebration of God's gift of your love
and a witness of that love to the greater community. We hope we can be helpful in planning a
meaningful and spiritual church wedding for you, acknowledging God's blessings
and guidance. Congratulations!
GENERAL
INFORMATION
1.
The church facilities are to be
reserved through the church office as early as possible. (8 to 12 months is NOT
too soon!) As several sessions of pre-marriage planning and consultation
are necessary, you (as a couple) should arrange an appointment to see our
minister as soon as possible after the wedding date is reserved. Usually, it is
expected that our minister will officiate at your wedding. However, if a
minister from another church is desired to perform your service, he/she should
arrange a conversation with our minister well ahead of time.
2.
SCHEDULING - Weddings will be arranged
around the church's scheduled events. Due to the number of wedding requests
received, and to provide flexibility with our program scheduling, we cannot
accept more than two non-member weddings within any month. In very rare
circumstances, we may allow two weddings on one day, a minimum of 5 hours
apart. All decisions about scheduling will be finalized in consultation with
our Senior Minister.
3.
Sanctuary or Chapel? Thought should be
given to the area best suited for your wedding.
Our sanctuary seats approximately 450, and many
beautiful weddings have been held there. But, for a small and more intimate,
but equally lovely ceremony, our chapel can seat a maximum of 50 and still
provide the atmosphere for a church wedding.
4.
The ceremony itself is planned in
consultation with our minister. The
minister will offer suggestions and guidelines, using prescribed principles of
our church along with your creativity and expectations, to facilitate a service
that will be pleasing and meaningful for you.
A minimum of 3 planning sessions are usually needed in the 6 to 8 weeks
prior to the wedding. They will take about 1 to 1 ½ hours each, and cover the
details necessary to plan the service as well as discuss with our minister
several areas of marriage preparation. These sessions are arranged directly
with our minister.
5.
If organ and/or piano music is desired, the organist and/or pianist of First Christian
Church should be contacted directly, and as soon as possible. If our
organist/pianist is not available for your wedding, a substitute may be chosen
in consultation with our organist/pianist or Pastor. Please, as a matter of
courtesy to our organist and/or pianist, and to protect a valuable instrument
from improper use, do not arrange for an outside organist or pianist to play
without obtaining permission from the First Christian Church. Recorded music, vocalists, pianists, other
instrumentalists, and any other music for your wedding may be planned with our
minister.
6.
A rehearsal
is most often held the evening before the wedding ceremony, or may be arranged
at another mutually-convenient time. It requires about an hour to complete.
Please schedule this time as soon as possible to avoid church calendar
conflicts. The minister who performs your service will be in charge of the
rehearsal.
OUR
BUILDING AND GROUNDS
We are grateful that you desire to use our facilities for
your wedding and/or reception. We welcome you, and extend our
hospitality to you and your guests. Out of that courtesy, we truly expect that
our building and grounds will be treated with care and respect. Please be aware
of a few specific requests and details:
1.
Our church is an alcohol and smoke free
environment. Alcoholic beverages may not be served or smoking permitted anywhere
on the church property.
2.
Please do not throw rice IN or ON the
church property. Bird seed, which is difficult to clean up, is an acceptable
substitute, but only OUTSIDE of the buildings. (Soap bubbles work better than
either one! And bells rung or butterflies released are best of all!)
3.
We ask that you refrain from bringing
food and drinks into the sanctuary, narthex and chapel areas. If you are using
our Family Room for your reception, food and beverages are permitted there. If
not, the area near the kitchen, where seats and trash containers are located,
may be used.
4.
Rest rooms are located adjacent to the
sanctuary, just down the hallway, as well as near the Family Room. Help us
conserve energy by making sure lights and water are turned off when leaving.
5.
The Bride's dressing room (which
masquerades as our church library) is just beyond the short hallway leading
from the sanctuary. It provides a private place for the Bride and her
attendants to dress. Comfortable chairs and a full-length mirror are there for
your convenience. Although many men dress for the wedding before coming to
church, a dressing area for the men can be arranged convenient to the
sanctuary.
6.
If you choose our Family Room for your
reception, please let us know about the arrangement of tables/chairs/ other
items the week prior to the date so the church custodial staff can include
these preparations in the work schedule.
7.
Your caterer is requested to contact
the church office ahead of time for information about the facilities. Items
such as silver service, punch bowl, cups, plates, flatware, table covers, and
serving pieces must be provided by the caterer. These items are not
available from the church.
8.
The use of the kitchen is permitted only
with authorized supervision from our Christian Women's Fellowship.
9.
A Wedding Hostess from our church will
be present at the rehearsal and ceremony to assist you. In whatever ways that
are helpful, she will aid the Bride and attendants in getting ready: pinning on
flowers, lining up the wedding party, pointing out lights and amenities,
directing guests, keeping time, providing pins and buttons, and other numerous
behind-the-scene details that always seem to pop up at the last minute. The
name and number of our Hostess will be provided for you to contact as part of
your planning.
DECORATIONS
AND PHOTOGRAPHS
1.
Flowers are a beautiful addition to a
wedding. We welcome your florist at any time they would like to drop in to gain
a perspective of arranging your floral decorations. Flowers may be placed on
the communion table, the baptistry ledge, flower
stands, on the chancel or chancel steps, or at the base of candelabra. We do
ask that you not attach any decorations with tacks, nails, pins, tape, or
adhesives as they are damaging. Floral wire wrapped around things works fine.
2.
Aisle runners are something the church
does not have. Cloth or disposable ones are usually available from your florist
or a rental store. Our center aisle is approximately 50 feet long.
3.
If you choose to use our candelabra,
you will need to select from the following list. The unity candle holder will
accept up to a 4” pillar nuptial candle and two standard base taper
candles, which you will need to provide. In addition, the aisle candelabra use
standard base 10" taper candles, which you will need to
provide. Please use dripless candles only to prevent
candle wax damage. Equipment available for your use includes:
- Two
9-branch candelabra -
Kneeling bench
- Two
7-branch candelabra -
Guest book stand
- Eight
aisle candelabra (w/ glass tops) -
Music stand
- Unity
candle holder -
Candle lighters
- Flower
stands
4. Our
sanctuary and chapel are places of worship, and the furnishings and decorations
symbolize our faith. If you wish to move or rearrange any of them, it can
probably be accommodated. But please ask permission before you do so.
5. Photographs
and videos help create memories of your beautiful event, and are an important
component of the wedding. You hire a professional to do what they are good at
doing ... and that is to photograph your wedding. Our church policy is not to
interfere or limit the creative aspects of this task, and we do not impose
restrictions or guidelines for your photos. Please have your photographer
and/or videographer consult with the presiding
minister as to where and when to take pictures (particularly during the
ceremony).
WEDDING
FEES
If you are not a member of First Christian Church*,
there are two types of fees involved in the use of our facilities. There are
the fees for the use of the building, and the fees to those individuals who
assist you with your wedding:
1.
BUILDING USAGE FEES
·
Sanctuary - $400 (Includes the use of
candelabras and other related related equipment,
microphones, and sound booth.)
·
Chapel - $200
·
Family Room - $200 (Of which $50 is for
custodial fee.)
·
Kitchen - $100 (Use of the kitchen with
Family Room is only under supervision of our Christian Women's
Fellowship.)
1.
INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE FEES
·
Organist - $150
·
Wedding Hostess - $75
·
Sound Technician/Custodian - $100
·
Minister - $175
DEPOSIT - A non-refundable deposit of $100 is asked at the time
the church is reserved for your wedding, and will apply toward the total fees
due. If the wedding is cancelled the deposit is NOT returnable. If you
DO have to cancel your wedding date, please let the church know right away so
that our calendar may be kept up to date.
The balance of all
building usage fees are due the week before your wedding takes place. All fees for individual assistance should be
paid at the time of the rehearsal. Place them in individual envelopes and give
them to the Minister or Wedding Hostess for distribution.
DAMAGE DEPOSIT - Please leave a check for $100 with us. If
no damage to our facilities is perceived, then the check will be returned to
you without depositing it.
*If the Bride or Groom, or anyone in the immediate families,
is a member of First Christian
Church, then it is understood that no building usage fees
are charged. However, members may want
to offer the church an honorarium to help offset some of the costs involved
with the building.
Church members are
also urged to respect those who offer individual assistance, and remember them
with a gift for their time. As a guideline please refer to the above INDIVIDUAL
ASSISTANCE FEES for the amounts considered appropriate.
(Adopted 8/17/00;
Revised 1/7/O2, 5/5/03, 11/7/05, 5/07)
Worship
Committee meeting 10/3/05:
"Immediate families" is to be interpreted as Mothers, Fathers,
Grandparents,
only.
