Weddings and Receptions
 

Wedding Fees

The fee of $875 includes the use of the Grace United Methodist Church facilities for four hours (three hours prior to the ceremony and one hour from the scheduled start of the ceremony). Also included are the services of the wedding co-ordinator and music director/organist. This fee does not include the minister's honorarium which is usually $150-$200.Anyone who is on the church rolls or whose parents / guardians are members should speak with the minister for special member rates.

Your Reception at Grace

Wedding parties are invited to use the church parlor or the fellowship hall for their wedding receptions.The downstairs fellowship hall, adjacent to the main kitchen, is equipped with twelve 8-foot tables, two 6-foot tables and 120 chairs. The rental fee for three hours immediately following your wedding ceremony is $200. Grace's beautiful wood-paneled parlor may be used for light refreshments, cake and beverages. It is equipped with six 8-foot tables, one 6-foot round table, 65 chairs and several upholstered sofas and chairs. The balcony is available to your guests but, due to code restrictions, only for standing (no chairs or tables). The rental fee of $300 is for three hours immediately following your wedding ceremony. Wine and champagne are permitted at receptions as long as the church is treated with the appropriate decorum. Dancing is permitted in both rooms.

Bride's Room/Groom's Room

The bride's room is available to the bride and her attendants three hours before the wedding. The spacious room is downstairs and is furnished with tables, chairs, sofa, mirrors and a clothes rack. The groom's room is upstairs in the conference room of the main office. We request that both rooms be left clean and all personal belongings
be removed upon departure. Grace UMC is not responsible for personal items
brought to the church, however, every effort will be made to protect personal property including locking the bride's room during the ceremony.

Reservations and Deposits

A $200 deposit (above and beyond the $875 fee) is required to reserve your
wedding date on the church calendar. This deposit will be fully refunded if no damage or extra cleaning is necessary after your wedding and if the wedding party has exited the church within an hour after the wedding (a $50 charge for every additional thirty minutes will be deducted from the deposit). The total fee is due one month prior to your wedding date. If you have reserved the parlor or fellowship hall for your reception, this additional fee is also required one month prior to your wedding date.

Pre-Wedding Conferences and Guest Ministers

Because of the significance and commitment required in the wedding ceremony, any wedding performed by Grace Church clergy will require up to three meetings with the officiating minister. Guest ministers will usually have a similar requirement. Only clergy from the staff at Grace UMC, or guest clergy with the permission of the Grace pastor, are permitted to perform a wedding ceremony at Grace. The same policies and guidelines bind all guest clergy.

Music

Grace UMC views the wedding ceremony as a sacred service invoking the blessing of God as the foundation of a committed relationship between two people. All music should be appropriate for a service of Christian worship and the music director must give final approval to all music selections. Guest organists, pianists and instrumentalists may perform with the permission of our music director, however, the organist fee is required whether or not you use his services. Soloists or ensembles needing rehearsal time will be scheduled at the discretion of the music director.


The Wedding Rehearsal

The pastor of Grace UMC or the guest pastor (in consultation with the Grace wedding coordinator) is always in complete charge of the wedding rehearsal and the wedding service. If you have an outside wedding coordinator, please make sure that they understand their role does not include participating in or directing the wedding rehearsal.
The church will be open fifteen minutes prior to the rehearsal and the rehearsal will last no longer than one hour from the appointed time.

Flowers and Decorations

The natural beauty and spiritual nature of Grace requires minimal decorations. The chancel furnishings and communion rail may not be moved nor may flowers be placed on the Communion table, piano or organ. Pew bows may be attached only with ribbons or pew clips. Wax candles are allowed only as part of a tabletop unity candle (two dripless tapers and pillar candle) and as votives in glass containers as part of a candelabra. The
church has a unity candle holder, underlying protective cloth, two dozen LED votives and two flower pedestals for your use, if desired. Flowers and decorations should be delivered and arranged in the three hour period prior to the ceremony. All decorations and flowers must be removed from the church immediately following the wedding ceremony. The church property must be left in the condition in which it was found or the florist and/or wedding  client will be held responsible for any damages incurred by them.

Photography and Recording

All photographers and videographers are expected to revere both
the ceremony and the place. Photographers may take photographs freely
before and after the wedding in any part of the building. The photographer must cease posed shots thirty minutes prior to the wedding and take only spontaneous shots at that point in order to give the bride and wedding party time to reflect and focus.

Photographers, videographers and their equipment must not distract
from the ceremony or impede any guest's view. After the processional and until
the worship ceremony ends, no flash or video lighting equipment is permitted. Following the ceremony, post wedding pictures may be taken for a short period of time. Grace UMC is not liable for damage/loss of photography or recording equipment.

General Policies

No smoking inside the building. No photography taken during the ceremony except by the official photographer. Only birdseed or "designer rice" is allowed outside the church (on the grass and sidewalk areas).

C2007 Grace UMC/Pannell St. George Grace UMC Wedding Policy 2007