Your wedding day should reflect your personality and love story. Hosting a self-styled, bespoke wedding reception at St Paul’s Church in Cambridge gives you the freedom to design every detail while enjoying a stunning, versatile venue. Here’s how to make your vision a reality.
1. Choose the Right Space
• For an intimate reception, the smaller halls are ideal, while the main Church Hall provides plenty of space for larger parties. For all day and night receptions, the entire Church and rooms are available, so you can have break out spaces too.
• When booking, consider your guest list and the type of experience you want; formal dining, buffet-style, or a relaxed celebration with mingling.
• Top tip: ensure the space is not too small and not too big. How many guests, how many chairs & tables, how and where are you serving food and how much dance space will you need.
2. Plan Your Layout
One of the perks of a bespoke reception is flexibility. Think about how you want the space to flow:
• Church Hall: If you are getting married at St Paul’s, depending on how many guests are invited, the Church Hall will be occupied with chairs but there might be plenty of space behind to start setting up the tables for the reception. If you are just holding the reception here, you can spread out from the start.
• Dining & Serving area; depending on your style of food service, whether it be three course silver service or come up and grab it buffet, you will need to arrange space for your caterers. If they are cooking on site in our professional kitchen, that problem maybe taken care of, but if they are bringing in ready to serve food, then it is likely they will need a serving space.
• Table Planning; the ever evolving, dreaded table plan. The people make the party, so one great tip is how would you encourage conversation, think who would actually want to speak to another guest about similar hobbies or backgrounds.
• Dance Floor: It can be an intimate space or a full dance floor. Leave room for dancing if that’s part of your vision, but a great tip is to make the dance floor a bit smaller than you think, so when everyone is taking a break, it doesn’t seem like a huge empty space.
• Decor Zones: Use quiet, tucked away corners for photo booths or dessert stations. With multiple rooms, you can have break out ares for the old or the young to get away from it all. St Paul’s rooms are neutral and bright, making them easy to personalize with your own decorations.
• Top Tip: bring a measuring tape. Old school yet perfect for the job. Once you have measured everything make a drawing of where everything will go. You can use this on the day, so your friends and family know the plan.
3. Catering
• What’s for dinner? consider what you and your guests would prefer to eat and tie that into your budget. If you have plenty of fussy eaters, a buffet maybe easier.
• Finding a caterer: if you are looking to hire a local caterer or bring in food trucks, then ask around for recommendations. St Paul’s regularly use:
o Puddini: Puddini – Unique Catering
o The Modern Table: The Modern Table
• Our facilities: the church’s facilities can include access to our professional kitchen, which makes producing, serving and storing food convenient.
• Who’s the head chef? DIY catering can save enormously on costs and add a personal touch. If you have a great home cook in the family, would they be happy to take up the reins?
• Top Tip: home cooks are normally able to cook for about 30 guests, anything more, then it’s worth bringing in the professionals.
4. Decorate Creatively
• Bring in your style: transform the space with decorations that reflect your style. String lights, bunting, floral arrangements, and table runners can make a big impact without a big budget.
• Flower time: if you would like floral arrangements to be in place, then feel free to arrange a time for your florist to visit St Paul’s and put together some recommendations. Having a focal point as a display, such as an arch helps to draw the eye.
• Top tip: Making a mood board and getting ideas from online or other weddings is a great place to start.
5. Entertainment and Music
• DJ Sets and spinning decks: Whether you hire a DJ, set up a playlist, or invite a live band, make sure the sound system works for your space.
• Testing Testing: St Paul’s Church Hall has an entry level AV system, though most DJ’s and bands will bring their own equipment. If they would like to test their equipment in the space, then feel free to get in touch to arrange a time.
• First Dance: For a personal touch, create a playlist that includes songs meaningful to your relationship.
6. Logistics and Timing
• Start as you finish: St Paul’s is rented ‘dry’, so nothing is set up for you, hence you can make your wedding entirely bespoke. Coordinate with the bookings manager about setup and cleanup times.
• Hire a coordinator: If your wedding has a lot of moving parts and you want a stress-free day, then hiring a wedding coordinator is a great idea. They are not cheap, but they can be worth their weight in gold! Let them do the running around, chasing suppliers and moving chairs on the day, while you enjoy time with your guests.
• Planning: assign roles well ahead of the day to friends or family for tasks like greeting guests, managing food, and packing up afterwards. With a glass of wine in hand, your family & friends will do anything for you.
• Timings: at St Paul’s music must be stopped by 10:30pm and guests must leave by 11pm. Strictly for weddings, we allow the wedding party and selected members to stay on after 11pm to clear down and leave the space as they found it.
• Prepare for the worst - RAIN: Even in the height of summer here in Cambridge there is a chance of a quick shower, so be prepared. If you are planning an Autumn or Winter wedding, then make a thorough plan, think; where are guests putting umbrellas, is there any long walks involved (should you book transport), outside space might not be useable, therefore maximise internal space.
• Top tip: it’s best not have more time, than not enough. You can guarantee that someone or something will be running late for your set up, so leave plenty of time either side of your reception to set up and clean down.
Why St Paul’s?
St Paul’s Church combines charm, flexibility, and affordability, making it the ideal venue for couples who want a self-styled, bespoke celebration close to all of the ammenties of central Cambridge. With thoughtful planning, your reception will be as unique as your love story.
Interested in taking a further look around our spaces? Email us today on: bookings@stpaulscambridge.org.uk