[vpandora]

Originally Posted by Omaha Rocks

One thing has always puzzled me - and this is not about the OP or anyone who has posted on this thread...

Why do non-religious people often feel that it's so important to get "married in a church"? That really makes no sense to me. Is it suspicion - thinking that being married there might magically make their marriage sacred or something? More blessed?

Do you define "non-religious" as someone who either believes or leans towards believing in God and just doesn't attend church? If so, that would be me. I was born a Catholic and my beliefs don't really align with the Catholic church. I was open to getting married in a Catholic church for the sake of tradition, but it didn't quite work out as I was not affiliated with any parish. Even the parish I was confirmed at (in the 8th grade) said I'd have to 're-join'. Even though I disagree with the Catholic church on many things, at my core I still believe that marriage fulfills a higher purpose than just legal protection and I wanted the ceremony to reflect the gravity of our committment to each other. It didn't have anything to do with superstition or anything like that. I looked into officiants from a non-denominational church, but ultimately decided against them. The information I received from them discussed planning the ceremony. It was made clear that they would do any kind of ceremony with any kind of rituals we requested -- so if I wanted a ceremony where everyone was invited to do the hokey pokey after saying the Lords Prayer, they probably would have done it. The officiant would just be going through the religious motions because I paid them, and that didn't sit well with me.

There was also an expectation from my family that I be married in the catholic church. For most of my family, I wouldn't give a second thought to what they wanted me to do. But for my dad and my 84 year old grandmother (who I'm very close to) I tried to accomodate their wishes. Ultimately we settled for being married by a Lutheran minister in an art gallery. My grandma and my dad were happy with that compromise due to the similarities between the Catholic and Lutheran churches.

[pheaton]

If I'm not mistaken, I think he means people that don't really care or think about God until something major is going on, like a funeral or wedding. Then all of a sudden they want to involve God. Outside of major events, God isn't good enough. Or they just act religious for the sake of their family members....

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by vpandora

Do you define "non-religious" as someone who either believes or leans towards believing in God and just doesn't attend church? If so, that would be me. I was born a Catholic and my beliefs don't really align with the Catholic church. I was open to getting married in a Catholic church for the sake of tradition, but it didn't quite work out as I was not affiliated with any parish. Even the parish I was confirmed at (in the 8th grade) said I'd have to 're-join'. Even though I disagree with the Catholic church on many things, at my core I still believe that marriage fulfills a higher purpose than just legal protection and I wanted the ceremony to reflect the gravity of our committment to each other. It didn't have anything to do with superstition or anything like that. I looked into officiants from a non-denominational church, but ultimately decided against them. The information I received from them discussed planning the ceremony. It was made clear that they would do any kind of ceremony with any kind of rituals we requested -- so if I wanted a ceremony where everyone was invited to do the hokey pokey after saying the Lords Prayer, they probably would have done it. The officiant would just be going through the religious motions because I paid them, and that didn't sit well with me.

There was also an expectation from my family that I be married in the catholic church. For most of my family, I wouldn't give a second thought to what they wanted me to do. But for my dad and my 84 year old grandmother (who I'm very close to) I tried to accomodate their wishes. Ultimately we settled for being married by a Lutheran minister in an art gallery. My grandma and my dad were happy with that compromise due to the similarities between the Catholic and Lutheran churches.

That makes a lot of sense. I'm glad you intentionally and carefully thought through the entire process.

Are you happy you went that route?

[vpandora]

Originally Posted by Omaha Rocks

That makes a lot of sense. I'm glad you intentionally and carefully thought through the entire process.

Are you happy you went that route?

Yes, very happy. My husband originally didn't care at all about religion being a part of our wedding (he is more agnostic than anything else) but he enjoyed the time we spent during our marriage sessions with the pastor and we got some better skills for dealing with recurring issues in our relationship. The ceremony was also more personal, as the pastor spent time getting to know us. Its not the most exciting portion of our wedding video, but hopefully watching it again years in the future will help remind us that it wasn't just about the photos, the party, and the gifts.

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by vpandora

Yes, very happy. My husband originally didn't care at all about religion being a part of our wedding (he is more agnostic than anything else) but he enjoyed the time we spent during our marriage sessions with the pastor and we got some better skills for dealing with recurring issues in our relationship. The ceremony was also more personal, as the pastor spent time getting to know us. Its not the most exciting portion of our wedding video, but hopefully watching it again years in the future will help remind us that it wasn't just about the photos, the party, and the gifts.

That makes sense.

From what I've heard, very few pastors will perform a wedding without first doing premarital counseling. And most pastors actually have either advanced degrees, or even terminal degrees - and those degrees are often in psychology and/or counseling. Kind of sounds like a hidden treasure.

[vpandora]

Originally Posted by Omaha Rocks

That makes sense.

From what I've heard, very few pastors will perform a wedding without first doing premarital counseling. And most pastors actually have either advanced degrees, or even terminal degrees - and those degrees are often in psychology and/or counseling. Kind of sounds like a hidden treasure.

In our case what really helped was the fact that the pastor could relate his own experiences with marriage to our relationship, and was honest about how his marriage had its own ups and that they use some of the same techniques he taught us. We certainly would not have gotten that perspective from a Catholic priest!

[Jason4225]

In regards to the OP, when I got married we looked at many places in Omaha. Lauritzen Gardens had amazing scenery, but I thought the reception hall was dark and dreary with the dark woodwork. We ended up having our reception at Josyln and it was amazing. Plenty of room for the guests, they can look at the art, and a decent sized dance floor. I would definitely recommend checking it out.

[freestuffjones]

Let's stop arguing about religion and get back to what OP was asking about... wedding venues in Omaha.

I used to be in the wedding business, and I do not know of any churches in Omaha that will let you rent their chapel if you don't belong to their denomination or parish. If you do manage to find one, they will probably make you use their pastor.

My suggestion is that you find an "all-in-one" location to have your ceremony and reception. It saves you the headache of working with two different places, saves money because you don't rent two places, and you work with one coordinator to make your special day great.

For downtown Omaha venues, I recommend the hotels like Magnolia, Doubletree, Embassy, and Hilton because then your guests can stay there and not have to drive around. Ballroom venues include Scoular, Paxton, TipTop, and a few others. If you're looking for museums, Joslyn, Bemis, Durham are all good.

If you need to find a wedding minister, I would check out http://signatureceremonies.net We worked with them a lot, and they always did a really nice job. My brides were always very happy that they got to make all the choices about the ceremony.

One thing I would stay away from is public parks. Even though they are cheap, there is no weather guarantee, and you have to put in a LOT of work to make the wedding nice. You have to rent and set up all the chairs, bring in your own electronics and microphones, find someone to run your music, and there's no inside place to relax in the A/C while your guests are arriving. Everyone gets sweaty and bug bites. Not good.

I saw some people who recommended the Gerald Ford birthsite, but I know for a fact that the large fountain in the center of the courtyard is on a timer, and staff CANNOT turn it off for your wedding. I have seen weddings where everyone is shouting over the fountain to be heard. Same goes for the fountain at Elmwood Grotto.

Best of luck to Original Poster! Hope this helps.

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by freestuffjones

Let's stop arguing about religion and get back to what OP was asking about... wedding venues in Omaha.

I used to be in the wedding business, and I do not know of any churches in Omaha that will let you rent their chapel if you don't belong to their denomination or parish. If you do manage to find one, they will probably make you use their pastor.

My suggestion is that you find an "all-in-one" location to have your ceremony and reception. It saves you the headache of working with two different places, saves money because you don't rent two places, and you work with one coordinator to make your special day great.

For downtown Omaha venues, I recommend the hotels like Magnolia, Doubletree, Embassy, and Hilton because then your guests can stay there and not have to drive around. Ballroom venues include Scoular, Paxton, TipTop, and a few others. If you're looking for museums, Joslyn, Bemis, Durham are all good.

If you need to find a wedding minister, I would check out http://signatureceremonies.net We worked with them a lot, and they always did a really nice job. My brides were always very happy that they got to make all the choices about the ceremony.

One thing I would stay away from is public parks. Even though they are cheap, there is no weather guarantee, and you have to put in a LOT of work to make the wedding nice. You have to rent and set up all the chairs, bring in your own electronics and microphones, find someone to run your music, and there's no inside place to relax in the A/C while your guests are arriving. Everyone gets sweaty and bug bites. Not good.

I saw some people who recommended the Gerald Ford birthsite, but I know for a fact that the large fountain in the center of the courtyard is on a timer, and staff CANNOT turn it off for your wedding. I have seen weddings where everyone is shouting over the fountain to be heard. Same goes for the fountain at Elmwood Grotto.

Best of luck to Original Poster! Hope this helps.

I don't think anybody was arguing about religion.

[pheaton]

Originally Posted by Omaha Rocks

I don't think anybody was arguing about religion.

I think we kept it surprisingly clean in here. I give credit to the maturity level of this thread.

If you want religious argument, head on over to the gay threads.

Did that signatureceremonies site make anyone else wipe their monitor? There is something on their background that made me think my monitor was dirty. . haha...