How Plan your Wedding Ceremony in a City Park | Charlotte Mecklenburg: Independence Park | The Rose Garden
This time last year, my husband and I were looking for a ceremony venue for our wedding. Wedding planning can be one of the greatest times in a woman's life but it can also be the most stressful. Planning a wedding should be amazing but it also shouldn't break the bank. The best way to save money when planning your wedding is to have it in split locations. Churches, parks, and recreation centers are some of the most affordable locations to host a wedding ceremony. This post, in particular, is centered around hosting ceremonies in parks; Most specifically Charlotte Mecklenburg Park and Recreations Independence Park.
Why did we choose Independence Park?
Independence park is a huge park that has a smaller area within it called the Rose Garden. That is where we had our ceremony. The Rose Garden is absolutely beautiful and I fell in love with the space as soon as I saw it. It was also only $52 bucks an hour to rent which helped us to make the decision quite quickly. I also loved the various ways of entry. We decided to have the guest enter under the arch and down the garden aisle and into the dome. It was the easiest and most logical decision since the parking lot was also on that side. Another great thing was that point of entry for myself and the bridal party was tucked off away from the guest. I liked that because it allowed us to save money on a fancy car. We just did an uber black and paid the driver a little extra to keep us in the car until the ceremony started.
Take Advantage of the Park Pillars & Seating!
The pillars came in super handy for decorating the space. We lined the aisle with floral arrangements and used the two closest to us as our candle lighting and memorial wreath ”tables”. The pillow seating was great way to utilize the seating provided by the park but also scaled it up a bit allowing more comfort and unique seating for the guest.
To get started planning your magical ceremony, you’ll want to check the CMS park and recs available rental spaces. Once you’ve decided the rental space you will want to reach out to someone from park and rec. I suggest you tour the space first. Once you’ve toured the spaced and found it to your liking, someone from park and rec will send over your paperwork along with a payment request. I was able to call and make my payment over the phone but it did take time to process so make sure you can be on the phone for approx. 30 minutes. I hope this post was helpful to any future brides. Enjoy the process!!