Why Choose A Historic Wedding Venue For Your Big Day?

This is kind of like asking why someone would choose a beautiful venue. 

Why wouldn’t you want to do that? 

Who would prefer to book a venue that’s not beautiful or even ugly? 

That would just be weird. 

But aside from the obvious, there are also some compelling reasons to host your ceremony at a historic wedding venue that you might not have thought of yet. 

And there are so many absolutely fantastic options throughout the United States that most people just don’t know about.

Spoiler: Please read the whole article ( 😉), but #3 and #4 might be our top reasons.

You could be forgiven for thinking this is in Europe somewhere, but it’s actually in Michigan.

1. You’ll Be Supporting Local History & Culture

The USA used to have a passenger railway system and streetcar public transit systems in most major cities that were about as robust and extensive as any you’d find in Europe today. 

We don’t anymore. We also used to have absolutely breathtaking public libraries and train stations all over the country (even in Ohio). 

We still have some, but many, if not most, of them have been demolished and replaced with other, less impressive structures. 

Why? 

Because people stopped using them and stopped supporting their preservation. 

Whenever you choose to get married at a historic wedding venue, you are effectively voting ‘Yes’ on historical conservation and making a statement that you appreciate the wonderful historic sites of this country. 

And with enough people like you, we might even start building new buildings in those old styles again someday. We can certainly hope.

Fun Fact: Before the US Civil War, New Orleans (shown above) was the 5th largest city in the USA, and it was the largest city in the South until the 1950s.

2. You Can Go For a More Traditional Aesthetic Overall

If you got married at that Norwegian stave church in North Dakota, you’d want to dress up like a Viking couple, wouldn’t you? 

Be honest. 

It’s ok, we probably would too. It would really be the only sane and reasonable thing to do… 

Unless you just wanted to have a crazy wedding with everyone dressing up like pirates and ninjas. 

But having a Viking-themed wedding would probably be easier to pull off. 

And how much fun would that be?

This is the actual stave church in Minot, North Dakota. Minot! Who would have thought? Oh, and yes, we said ‘church.’ Most Vikings were already Christian by 1000 AD. That’s another fun fact for you. 

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Historic Wedding Venues Are Time Capsules

When you choose to get married at such a place, you are stepping back into the past, but in a safe way, without all the sporadic tribal raiding and Oregon Trail dysentery. 

So, why not lean into that and have fun with it by also looking the part yourselves? 

If you’re getting married at a colonial or antebellum era manor, you can dress like people would have during that time.

Likewise, if you’re getting married in the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor (which we’re 90% sure you didn’t know existed), don’t have the venue itself be the only thing historic. 

Dress up!

Inside the North Dakota Viking church

3. Become Part of The Unfolding Story 

One of the big reasons to get married at a historic wedding venue is that so many other people have also gotten married there throughout the ages. 

The place itself is basically a good luck charm for marriages. 

Just think of how many wonderful 50-year marriages started right where you’re standing. 

How many love stories are soaked into the walls? 

How many new branches of families, children, and grandchildren are around today because two people chose to commit themselves to each other right on that spot 100 years ago? 

It’s an unbroken chain that’s the reason we’re all here and why we strive to keep any of this going.

And the two of you can be the newest links in that chain. 

This photo was taken in 1970… nearly 60 years ago, a moment in time, just as real for them as your moment will be for you.

4. Re-Root Yourselves In What Works

Let’s be honest, lots of people get divorced these days. 

You know that, we know that, and everyone else knows that. 

It’s a sad but inescapable fact of modern life. 

But getting a prenup is not the only way to protect yourself from the seeping decay of modernity and its adverse effects on families and relationships. 

There are reasons to get a prenup, too, such as the fact that the process is almost a form of marriage counseling that forces both of you to clarify and agree on your values and objectives. 

However, what we’re talking about here in this section isn’t technically about the law.

Married Couples Did Things Differently Back In The Day

While not every marriage in 1925 was a happy one, most were undoubtedly happier and longer-lasting than the majority of those that are signed into existence today. 

That’s because people had a set of values back then that are generally quite different from those that are considered standard now. 

It’s those values that built the historic wedding venues and other sites that we all so admire. 

Those structures, the stories behind them, and the people who built them did not emerge spontaneously out of a vacuum or from some rift in the space-time continuum. 

They were living by their values. 

And if you choose to get married in the same place they did all those years ago, you might feel the weight of that history. 

You may even learn a bit about some of their stories. 

If there’s any place besides the Bible to get good advice and find good examples to follow when it comes to marriage, that place might be in the house that Love built. ⛪

Keep Focused On What Matters

Like those people from decades and ages past who pledged themselves to each other and lived out their beliefs, you too can do the same. 

And if you believe in something, why try to be ambiguous about it? 

Lean all the way into it and really own it. 

And most importantly, give yourself the opportunity to learn from the people who have already succeeded, stand where they stood, and write your own story on the walls, just like they did.